TRAMWAY DISPUTE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10087, 28 September 1918, Page 7

TRAMWAY DISPUTE

NO CHANGK IN SITUATION. There was no change in connection ,*ith the tramway dispute yesterday. One of the, moat tellins oases ol tramway men's 'pay waa quoted by a tramwayman to a "New Zealand Times' reporter. The pay receipt waa produced, so that there is too question as to the figures quoted. The tramwayman in question is a conductor. He worked 96 hours for the fortnight (48 hours for. the week), his : pay r for - thai same being £5 Bs, plus ] 6A, sd:war :bonttß,>a total of .£5 13s 8d for the fortnight, or £2 16s B'd a week. Thia conductor stated that he was" a ' married man with four children, and that he receives the highest pay for a ; conductor, namely, Is ljd per hour. Overcrowding was again very apparent last night. The situation was Relieved slightly by the decision ol the tramway department to run limited .services to some of the outlying districts. From 7 p.m. till 11 p.m. the- Oriental Bay service was run only between Cburtenay place and the Bay. During the same time the Wallace street service wa s run only between Wallace street and the Town Hall at twenty minutes' intervals. The Island Bay and Lyall Bay services were run at fifteen minutes intervals, and the Kilbirnie cars at ten minutes' intervals. A PROTEST. (To the Editor - "N. 2. Times.") Sir. —The men of the city tramways are incensed at the remarks of tne Mayor, as reported in to-day's issue, and have asked me to forward to you the following protest. Each of them are returned soldiers, who have been on active service, and have appended their own 'signatures to the original protest. Unfortunately time has prevented me getting into touch with about 40 per cent, of the returned soldiers who are working on the tramways, but I am sure of the other signatures:—"We, members of the Wellington tramway service, who have valiantly taken part in the great struggle to destroy the upholders ol brute force, do hereby protest against the Mayor's designation that we are rebels. Having fought on the shellwrecked fields of Europe, we claim that we are hut continuing here in Wellington the righteous cause, even if it is but an adjustment of a starvation wage. We deny emphatically that our methods are not constitutional, and call on the Mayor to resign his Mayoral chair and prove, by a byeelection, whether we have the public sympathy or not." (Here follow twenty Barnes). —I am, etc., H. X>ENBY.