RAILWAY SERVANTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1756, 1 November 1905, Page 21

RAILWAY SERVANTS.

IMPORTANT PROPOSALS. INCREASE IN WAGES. FORTNIGHTLY PAY INSTEADOF MONTHLY. AN EIGHT HOURS DAY. An important announcement was made by Sir Joseph Ward, Minister for Railways. in the House of Representatives last- Friday afternoon.

Sir Joseph Ward said:—l promised hon members that before the session closed I would state to the House what is proposed to he done in connection with the alterations in the pay and other matters connected with the Railway Department. I propose to make that statement now, and I feel that it will be of material interest both to the members of the House and the colony as a whole, as well as the employees. I would also like to say that the matter is necessarily a very difficult one. The Railway Department has a very large number of employees. There are various divisions in the service, and it is, as I say, a very complex department, in the matter of the regulation of pay and hours and the general position of the employees. They have varied duties to perform under varying conditions, and for that reason the administration of the railways requires, before a move is made in the direction of material alterations, that it should be dorm with care and judgment. They must, at the same time, necessarily be comprehensive, and I think I can, without egotism, say that every effort has keen made to ensure these qualifications being exercised. THE PROPOSED INCREASES.

It is proposed to make provision on the Supplementary Estimates for what I am now indicating, except those portions which come into operation in the next financial year. It is proposed to grant an increase of 6d a day to all shunters, storemen, horse-drivers, porters, labourers, juniors, watchmen, crossing and bridge-keepers, machinists, strikers, holders-up, fettlers, furnacemen, and helpers, leading labourers, skilled labourers, train examiners, lifters, coalmen in charge of steam pumps, coalmen, shop enginemen, cleaners, donkey - engine drivers, bridgemen, gang el's, surfacemen, miners, platelayers, junior platelayers, fencers, signal erecters, and linemen. It is proposed also to make an increase of Is per day to surfacemen. The total number of men whom this provision of 6d per day which I have just indicated will apply to is 3349, and the additional Is per day for surfacemen applies to 1050 men. The total number, therefore, affected fcy the increase of wages proposed is 4399. REDUCTION OF HOURS. In addition to this, I have given the necessary authority for granting to enginemen, firemen, and guards, signal men and gasmen an eight hours day instead of a nine hours. That, I may say, comes into operation on April Ist next, and I shall indicate why that is necessary. The concessions now indicated by me will have the effect of increasing the minimum wage of railway men to 8a per day to men who are capable of doing a full day’s work. Bridgekeepers and crossingkeepers and watchmen will receive an increase of 3s per week on their present rate of wages. LODGING ALLOWANCE. In addition to tbe increase of 6d and Is per day and 3s per week, as well as the fixing of an eight hours day, there will also be provision on the Supple-

mentary Estimates for the payment of an extra shilling per night lodging allowance to engineers, firemen, maintenance, and bridge men. This, I may 6ay, dates from April Ist last. The reason for that is because, while I felt it necessary to hold over the payment of anything I promised on behalf of the Government, with the consent, of course, _of my colleagues, I made this promise of Is per night to the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, and I intended it to come into operation at once, but I had, however, to wait for pro vision being made on the Estimates and lam now keeping faith in the matter./ No doubt the men have been waiting to see my promise fulfilled before now, but they will, I am sure, as sensible -ien, recognise that one has to wait for the proper time to have the necessary financial authority. I may also say that the Government decided, a short time ago to fix the rate for the men receiving 7s per day, that is, ballast men and others in that category, at Is per hour, which, under an eighthours day, gives them 8s per day instead of 7s, which they formerly received. Under the regulations at present existing, they would by this arrangement lose certain privileges which they enjoy. This, to a certain extent, would minimise the benefit of the concession, but I intend to orovide that they should again come within the regulations entitling them to participate in the privileges granted to or enjoyed by the permanent staff. SYSTEM OF PAYMENT. In addition to this, I may say that from the next railway period (that is, November) the men in the railway workshops throughout the colony will be paid fortnightly instead of monthly. I do not think that it was ever contemplated or desired that this arrangement of fortnightly pay would apply to the first division or to others outside the workshops. The men in the workshops are in a different category to the men employed in the first and second divisions, and this alteration is intended to apply to them only. Members would, realise what a change of this sort means when put into operation for the first time when dealing with so large a body cf men, when I tell them to ensure the payment of wages fortnightly in the workshops alone, involves an extra vote this year of £9500; in other words, it means that one extra pay day is forced into this year’s .operations, which, under the old conditions, would have come into next year’s. Members will see that on the face of it it is a very right and proper thing to change the pay day to fortnightly instead of monthly in view of the fact that houserent and cost of living have so largely increased, and it is a benefit which will be much appreciated by these men. DATE OF THE CHANGES. Regarding the date of the coming into operation of these different rates, it is proposed-to bring the increase of sixpence per day to the various men of the secosad division that £ have mentioned and to the surfacemen from November Ist next. The fixing of the eight-hours day for the engineraen, firemen. guards, gasmen, and signalmen will come into operation April Ist next. The amount that is involved in these increases in wages which I have indicated, which come into operation on November Ist next, will involve an annual expenditure of £42,973, and., with the additional amount required to make provision for the eight-hours day for enginemen, firemen, guards, signalmen, and gasmen, which will involve an additional expenditure of £21,000 per annum, members will see that the total sum involved in the increases I am. sketching will amount to £63,973 per annum to the members of the second division of railway employees. JUSTIFICATION FOR THE INCREASES.

Members may ask whether, as Minister in charge of the department, I feel I am justified in making this recommendation to the House, hut I have no hesitation in saying that I am justified in doing so. I say so for this reason, that members must recognise that though this represents large figures, when it is considered that it is spread over a tremendous service numbering now over 9000 employees, and when you oommnece to adjust rates of pay so as to bring them fairly into line with what they are entitled to, the reason for the justice of the increase will be apparent. Then it must be remembered that the revenue of our railways is very large, and is increasing enormously. I am not going into the question of railway revenue at present, but I am right in saying that it is a largely increasing revenue. I shall not take up the time of the House further than to say that this matter has naturally required a great deal of investigation and a considerable amount of anxiety before arriving at a decision as to what I was justified in recommending to my colleagues. My recommendations have received the unanimous consent and approval of my colleagues, and unless we had been unanimous after tbe full information was placed before them, I would have had some hesitation in placing these proposals, comprehensive and justifiable as they are, before tbe House. My belief is that in giving effect to this proposal we are putting the second division of the railway men

in a position thi»t they will; I am sure, realise is for the/r general benefit. I hope, and I say so with all sincerity, that in the recognition of what Parliament proposes to do in this matter, they in turn will realise that it must cover a very considerable period. It is done with the idea of enabling our railways to be b: f.lt up under satisfactory conditions, so far as concerns the railway men; and I am sure the users of the railway throughout the colony who have been given largely increased facilities in recent years will not grudge tbe railway employees the benefits of the propolis I have sketched to the House.