“UNJUST REFLECTIONS.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 46

“UNJUST REFLECTIONS.”

RAILWAY COMMISSION’S REPORT

PROTEST BY WORKSHOPS TRADESMEN.

WELLINGTON, October 8. ■Holding that some of the findings of the Royal Commission which invest!gated the working of the railways were an unjust reflection on the skilled workmen employed in the workshops, the . e y Zealand Railway Tradesmen’s Asso? (nation has issued a statement. The association is at present holding its biennial conference in Wellington. The conference views with extreme surprise,” says the statement, “the report of the Royal Commission relating to the benefit being obtained from the new workshops, in which it is stated that in some instances there is an indisposition, to. make the most effective use of the facilities now available, with the result that the full benefit of efficient service is not being obtained.’ This" is a grave reflection on the skilled workmen employed in the workshops, and it is the intention of the conference to request the Minister of Railways to set up a board of inquiry to investigate the charges implied. “ When giving evidence before the commission in July last we submitted substantial evidence to the effect that the present systems introduced under the reorganisation of the workshops had been responsible in several instances for a greatly increased cost of production as compared with the cost under the old system and for which no responsibility can be attached to the staff. For instance, the plant used for the manufacture of wagon wheels was shifted at considerable cp&t under the reorganisation from. Hillside to the Hutt shops. The raw material used in the manufacture of these wheels is obtained from Burnside, which is in close proximity to the Hillside workshops. Now that these wheels are made at the Hutt, the South Island requirements have to be transported back to the south, thereby necessitating double sea transport. The result is that these wheels are costing substantially more than formerly. “The commission’s attention was also drawn to the installation of some machinery at considerable cost which has never been used, and some of it is never likely to be used. The skilled men welcome the introduction of modern machinery and modern methods of accomplishing their work,” the statement concludes, “ and the suggestions contained in the commission’s report are not justified and not fair to the staff, who have always been loyal and a credit to the department in which they are employed.” The delegates to the conference are as follow: —Messrs E. J. Mulligan (president, Christchurch), W. J. Leitch (vice-president, Auckland), W. Paul (Dunedin), W. Hamilton (Addington), T. E. Oliver (Hutt), R. G. Thompson (Wanganui), W. J. Thomas (Invercargill), H. A. P. Casey (Westport), J. Maxwell (Wellington), W. R. Selwyn (Invercargill), and L. F. Thompson (Wellington).