TRAMWAY MEN AND THE MAYOR

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10073, 11 September 1918, Page 6

TRAMWAY MEN AND THE MAYOR

(To the Editor “N.Z. Timas.”; Sir,—in reviewing the Mayor's statement in to-day's "Timed.” it is astonisiimi! to find how little tits Worship seems to grasp tiie situation and how inconsistent he is. no states that the tramway could not even s'.urm a 10 Per cent, auvanto without alterations- in fares and sections. The abnormality or this statement is appreciated when it is recognised tlmt lit Euko practically admits that the VV.C.T. can only bo kept .trains eitner by paying •Is men low- wages dr by fleecing the public. In the report of the Mayor’s statement in vein- evening contemporary ha eulogises the staff and cointends that the latter arc competent, must be paid their full worth, and must be prevented from leaving the service. The following salient facts speak tor themselves: (1-; The men who do tho actual work are underpaid: (2) they are being compelled to work excessive overtime, run excesmvc speed to keep timetable time, and work overloaded cars. Ergo, if they receive a living wage in comparison with their work, if rolling stork is to he renewed as required, ami permanent way track renewed, enough ears put into traffic and staffed, to meet the demands <:f the. travelling public, then, according to the Mayor, the W.C.T. are an absolute failure. .Now, will His Worship tell mo how ho claims the ef- • iciency of his staff. lly purpose here is neither to attack nor defend the tram wav They are unite capable of looking after their own interests, and it will life .readily seen when it is realised that ono of them gets -11700. Anyone can iustify anything on that. Hut I would like to ask the citizens the following Questions; 1. If there is an obligation on tho part of the council to recognise the in•roased duties of the staff, how much greater is the obligation to these who do the actual work. 2. Seeing that on an average every man, woman, and child rides jn a tramcar fourteen times a day, trusting their lives and limbs to the cfSoiency of tho men controlling the cars, is it not more, incumbent on the council to attract tho K-st meiif and, having them, to induce them to remain in tho service by paying them as good wages as they can receive at other trades? X challenge the Mayor to produce figures showing the number ■f men who have left the tramway service to better ,-themselves in the last 12 months, thoroughly dissatisfied with the conditions. It would bo an eye-opener to tho public. The tramway manager says in his last annual report to the council: ‘‘The department has been fortunate in; that they have had no serious accident during the year under review,” are we to be confronted with a serious accident, before the council awake to their responsibilities? Tho, following cutting is from a book hich r commend to the Mayor’s in- • erest ‘‘Sweated Industry,” bv Miss C. black : “In these days of much journeying, there is scarcely one of ns whose hie and safety do not depend again and again upon the skill, tuo steaoiness, tins nervo and judgment of the men '.--ho steer our public conveyances.. Not on-j----in their own interest, therefore, but in the interest of tho public security it is essential that the men upon whom rest so vast a responsibility should not lo overworked, underpaid, nor harassed. The sad fact, however, is that the vast majority are both overworked and harassed, and are decidedly underpaid." •Mr Mayor attacks trades union principles again with his reiteration oi the married men. 5s honusl His Worship fjorgets that the whole working-class world are now demanding equal pay for equal service, man, woman, or child. Ho is also drawing a red herring across the track when ho affirms that it is a little assistance, to tho balance-sheet complete ansiw-r. It may hav been as quoted, but tho Mayor knows as well as 1 do, as every married woman knows, that is trying to keep a home together on tho figures quoted by Mr A. black, .fiat it is a sheer impossibility in these days, but then it is just like His Worship to take advantage of an error, made in good faith, but still an understatement of the living expenses of a family in Wellington to-day.—l am| etc., N.S.H.