RAILWAY DISMISSALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20993, 2 October 1931, Page 10

RAILWAY DISMISSALS.

FALL IN SUPERANNUATION. LEGAL TEST MOOTED. Although no announcement has been madu, it is freely stated among railwaymen in Auckland that, a concerted effort is lively to be made by the four railway employees' organisations to test the legality of the Railway Board's action in retiring many employees on small superannuation after only 50 years' service. The retrenchment affects both fho first and second divisions of the service, and the men just retired include members of the Railway Officers' Institute, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the Locomotive Engineers' Firemen and Cleaners' Association, and the Railway Tradesmen's Association. For this reason it is believed that if a test action is brought in the Supreme Court all four bodies will co-operate for the purpose. "What legal grounds would be taken is unknown, but presumably they would concern section 14 of the L inance Act, 1931, under which the superannuation of railway employees may be adjusted in the eve:it of their retrenchment, under certnii:. conditions, before October 1, 1931. This legislation operated as an addition to those sections of the Railways Act, 192'3, and its amendments, which deal with superannuation. None of these provisions was repealed, and it is possible that an effort would lie made to show conflict between the Finance Act section and the main legislation. As the superannuation of probably some hundreds of men has been gieatly reduced by their enforced early retirement, it is thought that the organisations will at least seriously consider legal action in the form of a test case.