RESTORATION OF SALARY CUTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22268, 22 May 1934, Page 4

RESTORATION OF SALARY CUTS

THE PUBLIC SERVICE CLAIMS The deputation from all the public service organisations which waited on the Prime Minister on May 16 to ask for the restoration of salary reductions was representative of every section of the public service. The statement of their case was a lengthy one, for, as was explained by Mr F. W. Millar, general secretary of the New Zealand Public Service Association, no means other than a direct appeal to the Prime Minister' to survey the position and make equituble provision was open to public servants; and to enable the Government to obtain a clear understanding of the level to which salaries had sunk it was essential that the position be recorded in detail. The organisations were in full unanimity that the position demanded adjustment to lighten the financial loads laid on the shoulders of the service, particularly of the lower paid groups. The following is a summary of the case that was: presented on behalf of the public servants: — The effect of the reductions has been to reduce the level of the majority of public servants, especially the married men, to* financial breaking point. Officers with comparatively heavy responsibility receive salaries little better than the wage rates of routine workers, and there is grave danger of the efficiency and morale of the service being assailed. The administrative, .professional and expert groups', are placed in. an unfavourable position in relation to similar groups outside the service.

ADMINISTRATIVE, PROFESSIONAL AND EXPERT OFFICERS.

Any business man of any standing has a fair knowledge of the salaries attached to executive positions in private businesses. He should have, also, some conception of the magnitude of the responsibilities attached to soriie of the Government departments. The biggest State institutions, our postal .system &nd our railways, employ 20,000 people. The general manager of railways is paid £1212 per 'annum, while the directorgeneral of the Post Office receives £1023 per annum. In his la'st'annual report the Public Service Commissioner, who himself draws £llßl pet annum, or £ll9 less than was paid in 1913, discloses that in the whole'bf- the public services (excluding judges) in New Zealand there excess;,of: fiooo per,annum, while the number, in receipt of salariesin excess Officers re,'ferred to, three are irr the New' Zealand Division,<>f the RoyaT.Navy,,one is a Juhiversity professor, and eight are perin; -all "services* in receipt of over! £620 absorb' £197,570, or 2.18 per cent, of the total salary bill* -;>in. the r expert and professional., sections immediately below the upper almihistrative .strata lire such •officers ns the medical: officers ot health,. school medicfti; "officers, the Dominion Analyst, the director .of the geological survey, engineers: -jdf . the Public Works and.' Railways Departments, inspectors of schools, station masters, chemists, veterinarians, Crown solicitors, medical superintendents of mental hospitals, district land ;registrars, inspectors of machinery and marine surveyors,: nnd■'.commissioners of•! Crown lands. ; niabifesto Jjears" put the statement of the Public Service Commissioner that the salaries paid 'are woefully inadequate.: '-„■ .; ' ' , ,•:' '' { ■ Official judgment; initiative, discretion and personal:. knowledge s on the part of fhe State's employees are State assets. These assetshaye a monetary value, for capable men :;may :meart to the State and its public the ' difference between losses or, savihgsvpfVmsny: ..The ad-, ministration; of State affairs is the biggest and perhaps most complicated business in vNeW 'Zealand, the* State should* value -. its';.;servants at least ss much and aa highly asi a',• pubjic company. '.-■:■''•':■::■ : r y'-: '

SALARIES OF TEACHERS. Primary' seh6oi';teachers;(are'paid on' the basis of.<■the "average attendance of pupils, the rliigiiest and loVest. actual salaries paid Feing: ',>' Head teachers, 'largest primary schools (about 100),'.£432 to £474. ; Highest paid-, bale assistants (about 100), £32o:<tb;£3s2. Highest paid female assistants (applicable to, present holders of positions, their successors to." receive £3O per annum less), £231 ■to':£26s. Lowest paid male assistants, £129 to £147.-' .-''■■■■ ,'"l.,:'

Lowest paid female assistants, £ll3 to £142.. '•'.:. ,'.•■'

Teachers have suffered special reductions in salaries. Children were excluded from the: schools, causing salaries to be reduced and teachers to be dismissed or transferred; no. junior assistants (probationers) were Appointed; organising teachers were dispensed with; the inspectorate was reduced; remote allowances were, withdrawn, and other such retrenchments caused further salary reductions and curtailment of promotions.

i The reduced, salaries of assistant teachers' in secondary schools now range from/£421, the maximum salary for men in Grade A, to £162, the commencing salary for men in Grade D, and from £320, the maximum salary for women in Grade A, to £136, the lowest salary of Grade D for women.

Owing to recent abnormal conditions, there has been considerable congestion in the various grades. Teachers have been denied promotion and the great majority are on a maximum salary where they may remain indefinitely. The position is having a most detrimental effect upon the work, of teachers. Many cannot find the means to continue their studies at the universities or. purchase books and apparatus to keep themselves abreast of the times as efficient teachers. THE CLERICAL OFFICERS' POSITION.

A salaries' scale applies alike for the general Government departments as well as the Pos-t and Telegraph and Railways Departments. A comparison of the salaries' scales operative in 1914, 1920 and 1934 discloses that, with the exception of. the intermediate division, the present maximum salaries are far below those paid in 1914, though the cost of living to-day (February figures) is 28 per cent, above the 1914 level. In 1914 the maximum salaries ranged from £245 to £6OO. To-day they range from £238 19s" (the maximum for Class VII) to £498 3s (the maximunr for Class I). These figures display the~salary-cramp-ing of the higher grades, the officers of which carry the main responsibilities.^ Recently published tables of salaries show that clerical salary scales have sunk so far that they no longer bear some relationship to scales in existence in banks and other institutions outside the service. In the general public service (apart from Railways and Post and Telegraph Departments) there are approximately 3600 purely clerical officers, including chief clerks and accountants. Under 250 of this number are receiving over £3BO per annum, whilst about 2260—the majority of whom are married—are paid £239 per annum or under. Nearly one-half of the 2260 are on their maximum (£239) with 11 to 20 years' service, and many have professional and university credentials. GENERAL DIVISION EMPLOYEES. These groups are the most hard hit, as is shown by the maximum salaries r >t representative classes. The railway groups include engine drivers," firemen, cleaners, carpenters, blacksmiths, mechanics, electricians and railway tradesmen of all kinds. Many of these men have over 25 years' service plus outside experience. The standard

of skill rightly demanded by the Railways Department is very high, but firstclass tradesmen command better wages in private workshops. The figures quoted to the Prime Minister disclosed that the maximum wage for first-class railway artisans is less than the minimum wage paid to outside employees, being bjt slightly better than the wage paid to semi-skilled . employees, including labourers. Allowance is not made, as in outside workshops, by extra rates of pay for odd hours or abnormal shifts (particularly night work). . Six groups of railway employees, including guards, shunters, signalmen and gangers, who had their hours increased from 44 to 48 in 1924, are paid practically the same wages as labourers.

In the Post and Telegraph groups we find overseers, line foremen and mechanicians, over 80 per cent, of whom are receiving between £214 and £239. Of the linesmen, postmen, storemen, exchange clerks, etc., approximately 2000 are on their maximum of £205 per annum. Out of 575 message boys ranging from 17 to 22 years, with £55 per annum, 70 have the matriculation ' examination and some, after five years' service, are receiving less than their commencing salary. In the general Government departments many responsible employees, such as lighthouse keepers, mental hospital attendants, warders, messengers and Customs searchers, receive salaries that render it impossible for the lower grade married men to carry indefinitely those financial responsibilities imposed upon a self-respecting citizen. Of all the. general employees referred to, the highest paid is the first-class engine driver, who may be driving the " Limited " or other important express trains, and who receives £4 18s a week, only attained after 20 years' service. Despite his responsibility, his wage compares unfavourably in many cases with that of a horse driver or a motor driver. POSITION OF PUBLIC SERVICE TO-DAY

In March, 1931, prior to the imposition of the first salaries' reduction, the Prime Minister definitely stated that the effect of salary cuts would certainly bo lower wages, but that the actual purchase power would not be less than now. Though rent has decreased 20 per cent, it is clear from the Government Statistician's figures that the cost of living for all groups has 'decreased but 12 per cent, since May, 1931, as result of alterations, . .natural and artificial, in all the price factors, including wages, interest, and rent. If the present steadily rising tendency of prices continues, a >good porHibn.of that 12 per cent, will disappear. The influence of the fixed exchange ratt? has not been fully felt by consumers, but traders' new stocks will carry the exchange loading, and possibly there will be- a. hardening, in the prices of New Zealand manufactured goods as the result of the pegged exchange providing a wider margin between the prices of imported and Jocal manufactures. Approximately 45,000 public servants are paid £239 15s per annum or under, about 80 per cent, of this number receiving £213 15s or less. From this weekly wage of £4 Is lid, 8s 2d is deducted for superannuation and unemployment tax, leaving the employee £3 1.3 s 9d for household maintenance, rent, or interest, insurance, and other expenses. 'Actually the majority, of general division employees are in a relatively worse position, being on a maximum salary of £205. For the very reason that he is a public servant, an officer has to pay his way if humanly possible. Small wonder that insurances are forfeited, educational plans for . children are abandoned, homes are lost and some officers resign to secure the temporary relief of a refund of superannuation contributions.

Public servants are barred from earning by added industry in their spare time, though the State has placed the majority of them on a basis that makes it impossible ioi them t~ clothe' and feed thpir families adequately, let alone cd rry-existing fixed charges. The Government is failing in its duty by permitting its employees, who are working as long hours (or longer) and as efficiently as ever, to be financially submerged. The Hardship Commission and the Public -Service Adjustment Committee were unable to do anything towards removing any individual hardship./ In addition to the severe salary en-' c'roachments, many groups have suffered modifications in conditions of* employment. Many hundreds, at the very Tj'ime of life, ( have been discarded on au actuarially reduced pension (largely provided by personal contributions) at an age when outside employment is almost an impossibility. The effect of the legislative power created last session to postpone the five-yearly regrading of the service due on April 1, 1934, if availed of, will be tantamount to a further wage reduction for many officers. The manifesto traversed the history of the service salaries and referred to the reductions in 1921 and 1922 which modified the benefits received in' 1920 by approximately £25 per annum. To allay the frenzy for reduction in administrative costs and to meet its threatened deficit, the Government instituted a cut of 10 per cent, from all salaries ""from April 1, 1931, followed by the second (graduated) cut of 5 per cent, up to £225, 10 per cent, over £225 to £720 and 12J,.per cent, over £720 per annum. Immediately afterwards police officers were granted a salary allowance to the extent of that reduction. Alternative proposals to w r age reductions suggested by the service, based on "equality of sacrifice," were not acceptable to the Government. The contentions of the service organisations that the Government's proposals would intensify internal depression, reduce the volume of business, increase the rate of overhead expenses and not relieve the, unemployment situation have been justified. Since March, 1931, the unemployment figures have increased over 100 per cent., and the overwhelming majority of traders in this country are in favour of the restoration of the salary reductions. Many important bodies and private concerns have already restored salaries, and local authorities and traders alike would welcome State encouragement of improvement in wage levels. The Canadian, Australian and British Governments have provided for restorations. Our own public servants are united in submitting that the Government should give a definite lead by increasing the wages of public servants to balance the present • cost of living and stabilise wages and trade.