PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES

Otago Witness, Issue 3511, 28 June 1921, Page 22

PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES

DEPUTATION TO MINISTER. WELLINGTON, June 22. A deputation from the Workers’ Union v. auu. joh the iD:.J. G. C s to-day. 1 lie deputation was introduced by Mr H. G.0..1S (secretary), who suggested that the Minister should allow one of his officials 1? through New Zealand and see tho taller -nt works, in company with one °* the representatives of the union, so that agreements could be gone into and interpreted clause by clause. R- Bevan, i .presenting Otira, brought under the notice of the Minister a compensation claim by Georg, Robinson, who had a poisoned knee owing to water ;i;pm the tunnel having got on to a scratch. Ilie Department refused to pay, because i(' alleged the accident had not been notified. Jhe next point he mentioned was the payment of motormen and guards. Firstclass niotoruien should received 19-* a day and guards 18s a day. At present, the rates were uneven. Ten men were concerned, and they were on different rates. They wore all first-class men. All the others wetv happy and contented under the cooperative system. There was a man named A. Ferguson who had not received a holiday pay because he had nut been three months in the sort ice when he went out to get timber for the tunnel. Mr J. E. MacManus (Dunedin), who had travelled in (southland as an organiser of the union, complained that the Government had placed men on relief works at a less rate than agreed upon. They had been put on at Beaumont. Mr Coates: Why, bless my soul, all your Dunedin members asked for this. Mr MacManus said they had also been put on at Tawanui (Catling district) Tho next complaint was regarding the. wet place al Dip Creek weir (Galloway), regarding which there was a dispute. Another complaint was that men had been dispensed with on public works in Central Otago, and others put in ir places as relief w orkers. Mr Coates said his recollection was that the men in this rase had gone on to irrigation works before the department curtailed on ordinary public works. Mr MacManus urged next that huts should be provided at Chatto Creek and in the C'atlins district, where men were living in tents. There was also a grievance in that district about wet work at a tidal river. Other members of tho deputation brought under the notice of the Minister complaints connected with North Island works. One member of the deputation said the tents at Mangahao hydro-electric head works were made of cheese cloth. Some of the matters complained of seemed of rather a trivial nature to occupy the time of a busy Ministtr. but the Minister listened patiently, and was evidently anxious to smooth away all trouble wherever it was possible. One demand was for a free railway pass for the dominion organiser of tho union. The Minister said he was unable to agree to the suggestion to allow an officer of the department to accompany the union organiser over ell the construction works to discuss with the engineers in charge the clauses in the agreement of which an interpretation is in dispute, in order to secure uniformity of action. The Minister said ho would consider with tiie engineer in charge allowing the organiser to discuss such clauses with ihe engineers in charge to secure, if possible, a uniform interpretation. One difficulty was the scarcity of labour and timber, but the department had done, and was doing, what it, could. Ii would cost £20,000 to £25,000 to house the men at Mangahao alone. He claimed that the public works employees were now in a better position than ever before. At one time tiie public works employees were the first to have their pay reduced, hut he held that they should be among the last to suffer a reduction. At one time all the public works employees, at a period of financial stringency like this, would have had their wages reduced, and all public works would have lieeii turned into relief wo'-'ks. but now the wages of the men on the schedul" items of the public works—railways, road-', hydro-electric schemes, irri-o-'jion. bridges, and suchlike, had not been reduced. The Government recognised that these men were it,- construction workers, and not until other men in outside walks of life who were subject to similar inconveniences, were compelled to accept a reduction, could he see any reason why the men in ihese work's, which the Government wanted proceeded with at, top -need, should have their wages reduced. Cabinet had fix-d the rate of Aav on relief works. The department simply allotted the work as near as possible to the men’s homes, lie look d upon these as nurcly relief works, where men ■who were absolutely stuck could go and earn something to go on with. He would inquire into their earnings, etc., with the Minister of Labour. He was only too glad to go into the various complaints menfjonod to see whethpr ilioy could be adjusted.