RAILWAY CONFERENCE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7056, 18 February 1910, Page 5

RAILWAY CONFERENCE

THE ARBITRATION ACT QUESTION. CONSIDERATION DEFERRED. A very important proposal regarding raUwoymen's workiug conditions came before the conference of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Sra-Yanls yesterday, when, a;; indicated n few days ago in the "New Zealand Times," ilie Minister for Railways asked for the opinion of the conference upon the question of placing the railway service under (.lie Arbitration Act. The letter from tho .Minister was as follows: —

"During the discussion upo.lv the Railway Estimates last sessioo cf I'-arli-i----memt, statements were made Hint the i-a.ilwavn.vH would prefer bring under t<he Industrial Conciliation acid Arbitration Act. I shall be obliged if you will put the matter before your conference, the understanding being that '-lie Aet should applv to the whole of the Seeoaid Division, luid that if tilie men decide to come under the Arbitration. Act, the ca.mo conditions that apply outside the service binding parlies to any given award shall apply likewise to the railivaymen, and that the railwaymen .shall be oi\. exactly the same footing ajid pay the game rates for railway traveUin'r as are paid bv ordinary members of the public. I sihal! be glad of an expiessicsn of ppinton from your coirferewee upon this question." Delegates were of the opinion that the letter oaone at a very opportune time, as in the event of the proposal being rejected it woiuld be used by the Minister wh'em conference placed their requests before him.

A resolution: "That this conference dors not feel justified in expressing, an cm' such aji importamlt mattor without first placing the prciposals clearly before the members for an expression of opinion either for or against," was ilcffatod, and an amendment "llwut conRidorat'ion of the Minister's letter be defciTed B " ivas carried, LEAVE OP ABSENCE.

Tire cocvSereroce also l-esolved to request: "That ten days' leave be granted to all members of the Second Division. and Hint an additional day be granted Car each fire years' servicie after fifteen years." The Depnrtmemt ha.ve rceog-nis.-ed this principle (although -such principle is not a regulation) by granting members whiqn retiring on superannuation acoordirug to their 1 length of service, a porioa oai full pay and a free pa.ss up 'o Uireo moaiths, and it was felt that the long seiwico shculd bo recc.jniwed before la-lying the service in the manlier indicated. This would then ensure that all members would be placed on an equal footing, as in sueli a large dejmvtmeoit thica-e are ' many mem.bers who have served a number of years and retire from th'e service before being entitled to supetramnuatiion benefits. T-lile present regula.tioav? pt'oviao 'to each member of the Second Division ontitled to overtime for each conihmuous year's ■'service seven workitng days m each calonidiar year," euclv lea.ve to moludo tho four departmental holidays. To each member not entitled to overtime ten working days, inioluduig above mentioned departmental holidays.

LODGING ALLOWANCES. A prolonged discussion ensued on. the question of lodging allowance paid to members when'away from headquarters on duty. Every mem Her of the Second DiTiedoo, with, 'the exception of guards, en'giiiomon,, amd iranra, is paid 4s ijor night ami wiiero sleeping accommodation is provided 2s per night. Guards, eugineincia and firemen, are pa.nl 5s pea" night, and where sleeping _ accanrmodatioai. is provided 2s 6d per lught. From instances quoted amd the experiences related by the various delegates, it 'was quite evident that the preselnt alllowonees are net snfficseint, and that the men aa-c mvariably out of pocket. It was decided to 'request the Miniver to increase the amount of lodging allowance to 5s per night to all members whene n» sleeping accommodation is resolved: "That when members aro incapacitated through aceadents received in uhe discharge of Iter duties fluey shall receive full pay. . At present they are omly allowed half pay under the Workers' Compensation. Act, which provides for accident pay only wlioro a. member has been, off for. a period of mot less thai! seven days." : . "That the attention of conference be j drawn, to Hue unsatisfactory method adopted by the department of booking employees off work between trains w Sundays, thereby causing men to work over a "tone • period for a days work. Instances were quoted where members of the Traffic Department have to work a period of 16 hours, to sret 4 hours pay, the periods between booking on.and off being in instances quoted as low as 2;> miniates:. Previous to this ai-i-angenronfc oiite man was brought, for four hours and received a: half day's pay, another member being then, brought on to work a, drift of eight hours. The present method of paying for Sunday duty came in f/vr-a, great deal of adverse comment, amd the opinion was freely expressed that tliis was oner grievance which would be rectified under, the Arbitration Court award. A VERY USEFUL CAH, Complaint was received from the Nelson section re the sleeping accommodation, supplied to the members of .tho Locomotive and Traffic Departments at Ta/dmor. This lrut is one of the few remaining links with the past in regard to car building. It served tho department for.ma.rsy years as a smoking car, cvemtilallv having to give way to more up-to-date vehicles and has now been turned to profitable account by tao department. The enigin'Omen, firemen Bind guard have to sleep in this structure four nights a week, resulting in a saving in the payment of lodging allowance to the department of thirtv shillings per -week. The dimensions of the hut are fourteen feet by six, and six 1 feet high. There are three bunks, two on one gide, placed above each other, separated bv a snaco of two feet ten inches. On the opposite side is the Jnrd bunk. The space between the rows of banks is twelve inches, which does not allow .of any "side-tracking when the member .is negotiating tho bunk. Tho old epitcons. are covered by a piece of board, which by removing in the summer time' afford up-to-date ventilation. The conference correspondent who furnishes this report adds: "It is earmositlv hoped that the department will now realise that sufficient revenue has been derived from this structure to warrant some improvement."