POSTAL STAFF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25660, 7 October 1944, Page 6

POSTAL STAFF

“ WORST PAID IN COUNTRY ” PI F A for IMPROVEMENT (F.0.P.R.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 6. A plea for an improvement in the scale of salaries for postal officials was made by’ Mr W. A. Bodkin (Oppn., Central Otago) during consideration of the estimates for the Post Office Account in the House of Representatives to-day. He said that these officials were the most under-paid workers in this country. Mr Bodkin said there was no finer body, of men and ■women .than. those in the Post and Telegraph .Department, which was the handmaiden of every other department of State, The department was making enormous profits, and he supposed it had more secret reserves than any other organisation. The.' sum written off by the department by way of depreciation would not be permitted by the Land and Income Tax Department other than in the case of a State department. He did not disapprove of the building up of reserves; but it should not be done at the expense of the staff. He knew that increases had been granted, but they were so meagre that they did not compensate for the increased cost of living. Mr Bodkin also asked if the Minister was quite satisfied that the post and telegraph officers who had gone overseas had their rights fully preserved. Postmaster-general’s Tribute The Postmaster-general, Mr P. C. Webb, said the efficiency and courtesy of the whole staff of the department was an example to the country. In spite of the difficulties of war conditions, the post and telegraph employees were doing a splendid job. A total of 6250 men had been released from the department for military service, and 5000 were still absent. To meet the man-power shortage 4000 “temporary women ” were, carrying ourt a great variety of duties.

Mr W; J. Poison (Oppn., Stratford): What is a temporary woman?— (Laughter.) • '

The Postmaster-general: One who takes the place of a man overseas. Many < women were doing technical work with high skill though they had no knowledge of it before, and many had learned to drive, the Postmastergeneral added. Mr R. M. Algie (Oppn., Remuera): Don’t women learn to drive very readily?—(Renewed laughter.) Mr Webb said the lower-paid workers should always be the community's first thought. The department was once the Cinderella of the. State departments, but that could not be said now. He quoted figures to show that since 1935 the wages and salaries for various classes of employees of the department had been- increased by from 28 to 52 per cent.. In addition, they were given a 40-hour week and double time on Sundays. The Government was not.sleeping on the job.

The Minister of Defence, Mr F. Jones, also paid a tribute to the department. and eulogised the efficiency and courtesy of its employees. It had made many highly-qualified technicians available to the armed forces, and they were doing excellent work. •He was pleased that the director-general of the department, Mr J. G. Young, had recently attended the conference in London on Empire communications. The result would*be greatly improved communications between the Dominion and the United Kingdom, and also throughout the Empire. “Honeyed Words Cheap”

Mr Algie said that, while not deprecating the tributes to the department, he noted that this was the twenty-, seventh time that the Government had claimed for a group of men that they were the finest in the world. “The men on low wages will be saying that honeyed words are. cheap,” said Mr Algie, who added that the. retired men on superannuation who had rejoined the service for war work should also be given the’ same’treatment as those returning to other departments. A lot was heard about putting anomalies .right; but actions 'and deeds were more\ .valued 'than 'honeyed ,; wdrds. J .y.;., The Minister- of Rehabilitation, Mr C F. Skinner, said that former employees of the department had rendered splendid service'with the forces in the Middle East, working -finder trying, conditions. He said - that 225 of them had’ made the supreme sacrifice, 192 were wounded, 31 were missing, and 150 were prisoners of ; war. The signallers with the N.Z.E.F.* were mostly Post arid Telegraph men, and he recalled how they had maintained, the telephone communication-between the Fifth i Brigade headquarters and the front line in - one particular action. In spite of casualties, they had patrolled the wire and kept the communications open during a vital night. The postmaster-general said there were fully 8000 applications fqr telephone services awaiting attention, but the materials were not available. He denied that there were., any,-secret reserves created in the departments accounts, - which he said were open to State audit. There was, however, £3,500,000 earmarked , for post-war work held up during the war.