TRAMWAY TROUBLES.

NZ Truth, Issue 326, 23 September 1911, Page 7

TRAMWAY TROUBLES.

HOW MEN ARE MISREPRESENIE!). ; Monster Meeting at Christchurch, r SPOILED BY THE SOCIALIST "SPOKE." Galling Grievances and a Sfiamefnl System. ■ '. '■:'..-■'-:..:'-■'■•'■■ -'.■'."'■•'■,■.'.''■'./ ; Inspectors' Side of the Story. -

Having exhausted all constitutional methods m their efforts to obtain redress under : the irritating, insulting, and unjust system of merit and demerit marks, Christchurch tram,way employees appealed to the owners of the , trams, the people themselves, by. means of a public meeting m the King's Theatre on the 12th Inst., under the ' auspices of the. Trades and Labor Council, and chairAd by CounciUor Hunter, one of the new Labor members of the Municipal Council. The proceedings were characterised) by a quiet, earnestness, .while the.secretary to the Tramway Union employees made a clear statement of the men's grievances, and the meeting was heartily m sympathy with other speakers, but it was not until an extremely prominent gumi'ligger astonished those present by. mounting the platform and hurling electrically- charged verbal bombs at the Tramway Board's management that the audience . ..''•■'■■'■„ BECAME . THOROUGHLY ROUSED, and greeted the uncompromising remarks of the tooth-titivator, with the wildest enthusiasm./ Then came; the debacle — the. tactless introduction of highly controversial matter which divided a unanimous • meeting, .and ttonverted it into an ■ abortive assembly composed of a howling mob. The {■Socialists are, well-meaning ; their /treed is magnificent if its consummation is distant; but it is regrettable Ihat they should have chosen this inopportune moment to air it to the detriment of the tramway employees. There were repeated references by [fl-'aiious speakers to the inspectors m ihe service as "sneaks"; and "spies," ■fine statements being spiritedly denied by interjecting inspectors, till finally iHnspe'ctor W . Dick ascended the platform, but was prevented from putting the views of his fellows before the by the Socialistic invasion, which practically broke up the meetSecretary Young stated the men's srrievances m extremely moderate terms, compared 1 with which ;the •remarks of the molar manipulator . who later spouted, were «is" the denunciations of : a Russian anarchist. The remarkable fact that a man may earn demerits m 93 different ways, most of which are piffling and childish, whilst there are only ten narrow paths to the heaven of merit marks was mentioned by him, 1 .. r*.mid cries of. "Shame"! He assured .y.-.it: ■ me'^titir ibat. there was ■' -' .;.,,,; ; ;.- .': :iSTO QUESTION OF A STRIKE' ;V on the part of the men,, who. merely desired the abolition , '. of ' a , '. system ' which provided punishment for .."of■j.'ences" which m other walks of ' life were ' thought very little of. It-was . «nly within "the past twelve months that men had ; been stood down ir ahd lost time through the demerit system, iind-such a misuse of the system was ' not contemplated five ' years previous-"-iy, when' it was introduced anti when Mr Wood had charge. Mr, WOiwas :not merely a traffic manager m name; he went everywhere, arid saw that the inspectors carried out their instruc-. tions as well as the men. (Loud, applause.) The present: traffic manager, 'on the other hand, depended upon the .reports of his inspectors., i;■ A number of authentic trivial cases, where demerit marks had beem i awarded, were quoted, mention again being made v of the services of a con-; ductor on the Sumner line, who saved many lives and considerable property by his prompt action when Motorman M usgrave was swept from .- the car. After a considerable lapse of time and considering, the -memorial from the grateful passengers, - this conductor was awarded twenty merit, marks. A week later/however,, he received . a communication from the Board reproving him for his bad record. After deducting the. twenty merit marks for heroism, there wer c forty odd demerit marks to his discredit ifor sleeping m a few,, minutes longer than usual, or 'Silowihg his nose m. the presence of passengers, or' something, equally heinous. ; Amongst the small-souled, sparrow-brained pin-pricks administered, were three demerit marks for' delay m being fitted for a uniform, CAUSING INCONVENIENCE TO THE CONTRACTORS, although, when interviewed on , the (subject, neither the ,: Kaiapoi "Woollen Co. nor the Farmers' Co-op. had made any complaint m this connection. Two demerit 'marks were piled on a . conductor, for running \ ahead of time, although the conductor had nothing to do with the driving of ' the par. Three demerit marks climbed •Nip opposite a conductor's : . name for deficiency m a way; bill. A man was ulemerited for failing to put m his report after knocking off at a quarter To one m the morning. Ten demerits followed the leaving of a rear fender down;, but one conductor was actualJy given two demerits , for putting the rear fender pp. This was probably a clerical error, but it was evidence of ■ | •what the men had to put up with. If a. conductor punched a ticket m a wrong hole he was given one demerit. (Loud laughter.); When a conductor conversed unnecessarily with passengers, he found himself debited with two demerits long after; the alleged circumstance, and when he had ffor'r r ' gotten it, if it had taken place, and couldn't bring witneses to disprove it. Many of the offences could not be denied for the same reason. . One motorman was given two demerits for leaving the depot late, when the delay was due to the cai; being mended.' (Laughter and cries : expressing -disgust.) The man couldn't "leave -'.tillV ; / ; tne job was ■finished, demeritc "' were thrust upon a conductor for riding on the platform with the conductor . AND DRINKING TEA WITH HIM. Poor ' devils; they have to snatch their meals when they can. One demerit •Was given :f or not removing the motorman' s seat upon arrival, at the Square. The chances were this man ,was otherwise engaged m preventing accident at this crowded spot. One

J nian was fined for being, away froni I toil, when, at : the time, he" was m the office giving; an explanation to the management ;" ■' The demented cliaracter, ;of the time-tables sometimes issued by the Board was mentioned, -that of 41 Linwood being-, selected as an illustration. This car was to leave the railway station , at 9.51 am., ah,d arrive at the Square at 9.5 v a;m. , (Loud -laughter.) It 'passed a car at Stanmoreroad at 10.36," and at St. Alwyns-road at 10.7. This car :per.:formed the rapid feat of: getting to its destination v before '.: it left ; 'the : starting ."'"■ point. It was probably ii: a printer's .or, a clerical 'errors h^t J 'the j other car ; might have been riiet v m; . foggy weather somewhere on the single line, with disastrous results owing,- to.;.- ■/--.:"' .■.;}■. .:' THE SQUIFFY ''NATURE OF. THE ' TIME-TABLE. . In the case ol another time-table, the conductor lost; his : car' altogether.; at Swans-r oad.; " It didn't; , exist uthere.^ Three; demerits were handed out v for failing' to report for wet' weather dutyj. although a man might cease toil, be-.' tweeri midnight and 1 a.m.' and had: to ai'ise at 5 a.m. ." to see -if it* wei'e 'raining. V-fie ;. might even ;haye satisfied himself that - a drought lay on city ; atf the hour mentioned, but it may have rained before seven o'clock while he slept, tlie sleep of ' the weary . and ; the worried, and, he has found himself ; ,demerited. Men have' , been '.': demerited for the reason that it has rained m j some parts of Christchurch and not' m others." The best thing f or . empldyees is to cultivate a particularly painful corn, which will act as , a barometer. The men ; are hot allowed to hang their overcoats inside the cars, and as there are no lockers m the new, cars the only recourse seems to be to have pegs placed m the atmosphere. .They may.'gp under the seats, but here they . get covered with oil; and the unhappy employee is demerited for wearing a dirty uniform.. One of the objects pt the blind m the vicinity of the mptorrnan is to enable him to have some degree of privacy when bolting his lunch, but demerits follow the , pulling down of that' screen, and he now. scoffs his tucker m full view of the grinning multitude. ; . ■'■''_. In connection with; the case where 1 the motorman- took his' hat off '■' TO; SCRATCH HIS HEAD,; or sometliing, and : got two demerits for it, the publicity given to the case induced" the Board to rescind the der .merits/Mention was made of the people sit tight when the conductor comes^ round and -f ail -to -part, up their copper. If ah • ihspector follows/the conductor has ; fiv^ demerits; hurled at him for every rmean person who dodges his fare. In > the opinion . of th e secretary ,^ the ..-'"• public who owned the ; trams, - should , see ■• that, every man and woman paid up. It might be thought mean to expose the dodger, but , it - was infinitely more mean to allow a ■conductor to sirffer for 'the stinginess. It was said that men dismissed after 100 demerits' had accumulated had the right of appeal, but. they were not dispensed with un-'-. I til twelve -months had elapsed; when any evidence they might call was scattered ;!"to'- the" four winds : of; the heavens. They wanted the merit and demerit system abolished . ( Loud applause.) .; The , secretary said ;-- : . that these grievances were- not the fault of the officials, but whoever was • responsible for 'selecting those officials had; not exercised wisdom m doing so.' Men signed ori by a clock at the .'...nower,house, and if they were three minutes late; 3d was deducted from their wages. This, it was claimed, .was 1 X BREACH OF THE AW AB.B. \ The clock was 1 unreliable m any case, like most ; Christchurch clocks. The irritating '.'please explains" were objected to. Instance : , "Please explain why ; you were talking to yourl motorman from the front -door cabin coming through ' ■ from Addihgton." ' ("Laughter.;) The conductor might have a reasonable explanation, but these little annoyances were con- | tinuous. . D: G. Sullivan, Pi'esident pf the Trades and Labor Council, moved,^ "Tha ( t' this meeting is of opinion that the merit and demerit system on the Christchurch tramways should be abolished." Mr Sullivan supported the motion with eloquence and admirable diction. A. Patterson, Secretary to the General, Laborers' Union, sieconded. J. H. Fountain, manufacturer of masticators, expressed his wholesouled sympathy with the tramway men. He hadn't always been m the dental line, he said, but had toiled m coach traffic and other arduous occupations m Auckland ; when he found that his blue blood was of little use to him.. In fact, he found that he had ordinary blood like anybody else. The audience, regarded Fountain with bewildered curiosity. The ivory artist, however, warmed to, his subject and ■ HUB.LED REPROACHES AT THE TRAMWAY BOARD. "They are not men," he said, "who would send but Inspectors l to spy and sneak on the employees." Ins'pectbr Dick : ; They don't dp it. Fountain: They do do it. The raouth- furnisher stated thatthe Board encouraged crawling. "I'm a Methodist local preacher," he said, with emphasis, "and there are on that Board some members who profess to be Christian men ; but I cannot see how Christian men can act like that." (Loud and continued cheering.) Some were more sneaky than others, he said, and an inspectox' had power', to get a man the sack if he had a grudge against him. Inspector Dick : No, ,No. ; A voice ; Get up on the platform, Dick. ';'•'■ .. "; - Dick : You are only making asser- , tions, Mr, Fountains

Mr Fountain said he had been: informed of specific cases by a motorman, and conductor.; Dick : They'd tell you anything., Ton can't prove it. Fountain stuck to his assertionsand ffa^e an instance of inspectorial detection which had come uncier his : owe -observation. The applause- was prolonged, with cheers, for soma time after he left the platform. Comrade E. Howard said that tho 'real solution Was t 0 SO CIALISE THE TRAMWAY SERVICE. He furnished the information that there wero 1559 owners of motor cars iii Christchurch who paid nothing towards the tramway service, and mentioned that .the-, men were more afraid of the two hundred men on the books waiting for their jobs, ; than of the inspectors. The motion was carried unanimously. G-. R. .Whiting movec^ "That m the event of the Tramway Board declining to remedy the men's grievances.by abolishing the merit and demerit system, the Tramway Employees Union take steps to move organised labor to ask Parliament to amend the Tramways Act to render, it impossible for such a system to continue." The mover pointed out : that;' no . , private employer' used merit and. demerit S3>stem, and he also spoke of certain abuses such as three br four inspectors dogging up a, certain car. ; Inspector/ Minchall : That is false. repeated his statement 'and elaborated it, and Inspector ';Dick was constrained to speak out loudly.: Finally; : v ' AMIDST APPLAUSE AND GROANS, Dick went on to the platform. .At this -stage Comrade F. Cooke, came' forward with an amendment, "That if the Tramway Board refuses to abolish the merit and : demerit : -the : tramway employ-, lees; should follow' the example of the .Auckland .tramway employees, and, join the\N.Z. Federation of Labor.'' The. chairman said this was hot a meeting; . of the tramway employees,, and the ' . amendment was not m order 7., \; v v;, ! .■.:■'■'■• : ; '*'" ' , -,' : ' . '■ > '-.- -' ■$• Cooked altered' the amendment to read .'-'That the tramway ."., employees be advised^"; etc. y Sullivan said that .- if the.; amendment , were, accepted, he and others would ' claim ; the right to reply. The chairman refused 'to take an amendment that would lead to pro • ■ 1 bhged '-;; - ' d iscu s'si on at :th at ti me .of night, ' /• : ' ; ': Mr Petherick moved that Cooke be heard, but ' the motion wasn't aci cepted by the. chairman, who said \ that the meeting was m sympathy •i with ■• the • !tramway employees, who had approved, of the resomtion already; before the meeting. He proceeded to put the motion. There, were loud cries' of " Amendment \ ! ' and "Cooke !■" from Socialists m the hall, as the chairman essayed- to put the motion thrice, and heaven only knows whether it was put or not. Whiting was Inaudible above/ the din m MOVING A VOTE OF THANKS to the chair ; - the promoters left the platform and trie meeting broke up. ;- ■.:'. INSR&CTORS;JN DEFENCE." . '-" , This paper's-, representative was interviewed by . three or. four inspectors,' - who, said that never at amy time- had they; been instructed by the [boss t 0 watch any particular man. They had never hidden' behind telegraph" find telephone poles, as had been alleged by one of. the speakers, m order to catch the- men. They did not^ award demerit marks ; they- , didn't even recommend that they should; Tbe given; they merely re-, ported offences and m that they did their. duty. With- reg-ard. to the late traffic manager; it was a well-know - nfact that "Wood didn't always enforce the penalties, and it would appear that the men liked and respected a man who - roared ;at them. With regard; to the apparent inequalty of the. demerit mai'ks given: to different men ;Ibr the same offence it all depended ■.'.-'■'. upon, the number of' times each had been reported; ' The men could appeal against demerits, and if the. man demerited for taking his hat off had explained the circumstances .instead of \ MAKING THE MATTER PUBLIC, ; it :. was probable that the :hiarks would/have been taken off. It was -the hew and inexperienced men who felt - the demerit system most . • and thereVwere men. m the service who had! worked for months without getting a : single demerit mark. No ; it was ■ not .true -that favoritism ruled m the service. One inspector said he had' no objection to taking, his old job iwith' the bag, m spite, of the demerit system. The inspectors were naturally sore' at the insinuations that had been hurled m .their direction; .arid didn't speak m: complimentary terms of 'the capabilities, of some/of. the. men. ', Allthe same, there is a .real grievance. ■'•■-. The only thing is thai; the men". . should blame the management and not the officials, who do their duty. Management responsible for a \system' which Rets .two sections of a public service at thY Throats of each other is a'bacl management, and the Board which is responsible for it is a disastrous, blot on the landscape which ought to be swept away.