BOSS BAMBURY.

NZ Truth, Issue 117, 14 September 1907, Page 6

BOSS BAMBURY.

Trouble m the Railway Sheds,

* There Has been some trouble at ; ffche Christchurch railway sheds late--1 ly, and not only. Christchurch. but other parts of the 1 colony, "Truth's" Christchurch correspondent has 1 received the following notification . from headquarters/:— "The men at the railway goodsshed have rbo thank "Truth" for i Tthe report they published about ' rtihe foreman, Bambury. It made a •great change m him for a while, put ihe has now got back into the same style of speaking to the men ; fifchey are frightened to even look •at him, and if you happen to ans- . jwer him back— if you are correct m pouv argument— he will, tell you to put your coat on. So, therefore, syou have to shut your mouth and stand all, the abuse. He ought to be a ganger, m Siberia, not here m New Zealand ; but Bambury is very careful not to speak to some of H/he big, burly blokes ; he freezes on jrfco the old or tlve younger! and weak jthen, especially the older, ones, who, £f they looked /back at him, would )get the. sack. .He is not particular at swearing 1 at the casual, but he xlarc not do it to the permanent (hands, for they would report him, .and he would, be had up before the •jejoods age&t.,y; Birfc 'the poor casual,; he iis nociefdyv^bef e '; if : he 'does' .not Jike it, lie can go.. Of course, there has been, and are, all sorts of men .there, good "arid bad. They had a "•; retired detective a -while back, s.wcrking there at a bob an hour. ■'All the men knew, who- he was. and .what the- work Bamburv gave him, and what he- had to put up with. The men knew -. he was there to see If there was; - : ANY THIEVING GOING ON.|What a chance he , bad ? Of course, lithere. is none going on, and Bambury knows it. There could not be. .where he 'is, -foe' is' too sharp. Now it is not safe # for an. honest man yfto work there, for if hfe sees this (.thieving going on, and does not re[port it, he is as bad as people that \ are taking the things. The men are iiwatched continually, and when the fruit comes m Bambuxy. stands over tthe men all the time, but as Jor fceer, whisky, gin, boots., grindstones, hats, or anything else* m a small way being moved, Bambury is not there to see. Where dtoes Bamburv ':. pet all the swanky from every i Christmas eve when lie invites all J hands (about fifty) over to his house y for a general suck of whisky, wine, or beer, and gives a speech of the way he has driven the men. Now a little about the hours worked. In busy times, work generally commences at seven o'clock*, amd continues till nine or ten that evening, at. Is an hour. At Christmas time at the IB shed it lasts till one or two m ithe morning ; you get nothing extra for overtime, only the bob an hour. 'If a theatrical/ company happend to be going away, . and they send their scenery down at midnight, men are told off to see to the loading, which lasts for two or three hours, all at a bob an hour. That is. you have to come out for three hours for three bob, and ; DARE NOT REFUSE.. k \ (Another thing worth looking...; m- ;i ,to ,is the . case of the ' 3ate guard on the 'Bankside collision. The man is a married; man /with a family, and -he has to live^ so he thought he would try for . a job m the shed. They hanwened to be busy, so he got one last Saturday. Word came to Bambury that /that man was , not to be employed, so he got the sack. More "Rot.": »It was not because he was not a, good man; he could do Ids- work with any of them, and perhaps better. There seems to - be reason.