RAILWAY SERVICE PAY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14038, 22 April 1920, Page 3

RAILWAY SERVICE PAY.

| DECISION" OF THE GOVERNMENT. j . (By Trlegraph.) (Special to tlie Oamaru Mail.) j WELLINGTON. April 22. The Prime Minister has intimated to the three railway societies that .Judge Stringers' recommendations will operate until .Mine Ist next, and that a new Commission will then be constituted to inquire whether any increase occurred in the cost of living between the Ist January. 1920. and the Ist .June.,and reportas to what bonus, if any. should be granted in addition to the present scale of remuneration, the report to take effect from .lune Ist and operate for six months. Thereafter the scale of remuneration will be subject to review by a new Commission at such intervals as the Government determines, unless Parliament otherwise provides. The Commission will consist of two stipendiary magistrates, who will be assisted by an advisory assessor nominated by each of ihe three railway societies, who must be members of the service, and also by an advisory assessor nominated by the Government. The Government asks for early nominations so that the Commission may sit in the first week of June. The General Secretary of tile Amalgamated Societv of Railway Servants. Mr M. J. M ack. when asked for his opinion regarding the Prime Minister's reply to the representations recently made by the societies, said: "I regret to .-ay that our President's previous statement that the conference was abortive is quite true. It is quite evident that the Government are not- taking the representations on behalf of ihe moil seriously. Our peaceful and repeated negotiations are being regarded as a sign of weakness, and 1 think a climax is at hand. I feel sure the men will never accept the Commission proposed. We will not again be placed in a false position with regard to assessors and the restricted order of reference. So far as wages are concerned the Minister has admitted that the men are entitled jo be placed in the same relative position that they were in before the war. He n<iniits that the increased cost of living is 62 Tier cent. We are prepared to accept that as a basis of settlement so far as wages are roncerned. but the working conditions must be improved. lam lodging with Ministers a legal claim under the Labor Disputes Investigation Act—the Prime Minister's own Act designed for the settlement of such disputes. In the meantime I do hope the men will not take matters into their own hands, although they now have good and sufficient reasons for doing so.''