THE STRIKE SETTLED

Southland Times, Issue 18811, 3 May 1920, Page 5

THE STRIKE SETTLED

Loco. Men Give Way

Resumption of Work

the railway services in the North Island will be restored to-day.

(Per United Press Association.)

THE SETTLEMENT. LOCO. MEN’S DEMAND WAIVED. DISPUTE REFERRED TO A COMMISSION. j STATEMENT BY MR MASSEY. } WELLINGTON, May 2. The railway strike was settled late on Saturday night, when Mr Massey had an interview with the locomotive men. Th:. executive of the Union agreed to waivtheir claim for retrospective payment of in creases, and to submit the reference ot the dispute to the tribunal. Everything is in train for a resumption of the various services to-morrow. In commenting on the settlement obtained, Mr Massey made the following brief statement; “In each case the principle of conciliation is being observed. For the points in dispute as between the EJ'.C.A. and the Government a special conciliation committee is being set up, and I hope to have it appointed at or before the end of the week, and to get it to work as soon ;is possible thereafter. In the other two cases, of the First Division and the A.S.R.S., the provisions of the Labour Disputes Investigation Act are being taken advantage of so far as far as they apply. They do not quite fit a dispute as between the Crown and its employees, but the principle is being observed. I have no doubt that it will work out satisfactorily. “I am naturally very glad that the strike has come to an end, especially as it enables the original programme of our Royal visitor to he proceeded with. I am glad to say that so far as I am able to judge, and I think I am right in this, the dispute has left no bitterness behind. The negotiations were conducted in the most friendly (spirit, although they were on Friday and Saturday somewhat protracted, but the result of it all is that we understand one another better than we did before, and as a consequence I believe that any dispute that may occur in the future will be very much more easily settled, and that the Minister of Railways and the Railway Department on the one hand, and the railway men on the other, will be better able to work loyally together for our experience during the last few weeks.” BEFORE THE SETTLEMENT. PREMIER ON THE NEGOTIATIONS. MEN’S ATTITUDE UNREASONABLE. A FATAL STIPULATION.

s j WELLINGTON, May 1. i This morning Mr Massey endeavoured to | got into communication with the secretary *" iof the Engine Drivers’, Firemen’s, and ’ j Cleaners’ Union to inform him of his pro- ! posed course of action, but neither by ; telephone nor messenger could he succeed. : ; After less than half an hour for lunch 2 i the Prime Minister returned to his office. ' j Shortly after Mr Massey issued the followr ! ing statement; — 1 I “I think it is generally understood now 5 I that I had no difficulty whatever with r cither the Railway Officers’ Institute or ' the A-S.R.S. Both were willing that the matters in dispute should be dealt with under the provisions of the Labour Disputes’ Investigation Act, 1913, with any ' necessary modifications that might be re- • quired. The position was, however, very different with those who claim to represent the loco. men. They also were in favour ! of a Conciliation Commission or commit- ’ tee, but their ideas as to details were ac- ! cording to my experience unworkable. 1 After a long discussion they, however, 1 agreed to a form of tribunal which I could accept, but one point about which we ’ could not agree was their proposal to 1 make the operations resulting from any recommendation of the tribunal retrospective. “ I met the loco, men first on April 29, but on April 30 the executive of the E.F. & C. Association made a new demand which had not been mentioned by them at the interview in the evening of April 29, namely, that whatever increases of wages or alterations of conditions were recommended by the Conciliation Committee must be retrospective from April 1, 1919. I pointed out that the date for the commencement retrospectively of the new rates and conditions was one of the essential matters to be considered by any tribunal which might be established, since so far as the claims of the EJLCLA. related to the increase in the cost of living, that cost was a varying quantity. I said the Government would not think of itself naming as a condition of the agreement a certain time from which the increases should

(Special to the Times)

commence, and it could not consent to that condition of agreement being imposed by the executive of the ET.C-A-, but at once offered to leave it to the Conciliation Committee without limitation of power to recommend the date from which the increase in wages and improvement in conditions should retrospectively commence. I emphasised that the Conciliation Committee would be representative of both parties, and the EJF.C.A. would have the i (fullest opportunity of contending that April 1, 1919, was the date which should bo recommended, and if their contention was fair and just in that respect, there was no doubt it would be considered as such and recommended by the tribunal. “I said I could not agree on behalf of the Government to withdraw from any tribunal which might be established power to consider and determine the date from which any increases recommended by it should commence. It is manifest that while the Government can trust Parliament to affirm an action of the Government founded upon the advice of an independent commission approved by both parties, it could not justify to Parliament an arrangement by which one of the parties should alone decide and dictate the decision upon one of the most important matters which the Commissioner ought; properly to consider and decide.” Mr Massey asserted that he was not opposed to an increase of wages if it was decided upon by the tribunal on or about April 1, 1919. Mr Massey continued:— “ There was an agreement arrived at as between representatives of the Government and the Department and representatives of the railway service, the result of which was embodied in the Railways Act passed last session, which is now the law of the land. I could not possibly go behind an Act of Parliament, and also put Judge Stringer’s report and recommendation on one side, though the enginemen, with the other branches of the services, have accepted payment in accordance with that report. The other two branches of the railway service were quite satisfied to

DISPUTE REFERRED TO COMMISSION

The Prime Minister met the executive of the Engine-drivers’, Firemen’s, and Cleaners’ Association in conference on Saturday evening, when

an agreement ending the strike was arrived at. All members of the As-

sociation are advised by their officials to return to work immediately, and

leave this matter to the tribunal to make a recommendation, but the representatives ol the engincnitn were obdurate, and insisted on retrospective action from the date mentioned, thus taking the decision witii regard to this important point out of the hands of the Commission or tribunal to be appointed. To this 1 could not agree as being wrong in principle and unfair to the other men who had waived this point. “To get over this difficulty I proposed j accept the following; "The Conciliation . omniission, in reporting the result of its I deliberations, is to also report at what 'date in its opinion any increase in wages and any conditions should retrospectively commence.’ I think any intelligent unbiassed men will agree 'that was a fair proposal to make, but the men who profess to apeak for the engine-drivers refused to consider it m any way whatever. At this stage deliberations came to an end, and it became my duty to ask the people of the- country to support the Government in getting (he railways to work. I have always been of opinion, both as a Minister and a private member, that people in the employ of the State should have fair ploy and justice done tbc-m, and I think so still, but we cannot allow any small section to stick up the whole business of the Dominion. The railway system is a complicated one, and it is difficult for outsiders to understand, but I have before me at this moment an official statement from the assistant manager of railways with regard to the average weekly earnings of enginedrivers in the North Island for the first three months of this year. It shows that first grade engine-drivers (of whom there arc 110 who worked full time) earned on a weekly average £6 8/9; and second grade engine-drivers (120 working full time) earned £5 18/11. It may be said tliat this includes overtime. It certainly does, but then overtime in the case of an engine-driver means any work after 10 o’clock at night, even when he did no work at all previous to that That is to say that very often, and especially in the ciise of main trunk engine-drivers, the whole time they are at work is paid for as overtime. j I might say that I have no fault to j find with the men of the Hallway Officers’ Institute or the A.S.E,S., but I must express the opinion that the loco, men have been very badly advised in forcing this strike upon the country, and afterwards, when a settlement was being considered, taking tip an utterly unrcttsouable attitude on a vitally important question of prin- j ■ lam afraid that there is some i influence at work which has not vet appeared upon the surface." ’ /

THE LOCO. MEN’S LEADERSHIP.

CRITICISM OF MR McARLEY.

CHRISTCHURCH, May I. j The Wellington correspondent of the Star throws a new light on the railway crisis ■so far as the loco, men are concerned. He telegraphed this afternoon : | The fact is that the EJ-’.C.A. is badly led, | and Mr McArley was a poor representative when it came to the meeting with the Prime Minister. It is stated that Mr Massey simply “turned him inside out" when it came to discussing the technical side of the dispute, and that the railwayman, who were | present are highly dissatisfied with his performance. Mr Massey’s statement that “I straightened up their language and ideas and put them in a workable form,” probably represents the situation very accurate- ! ly. The “manifestos” issued by the E.F.C.A, have been remarkable documents from every point of vierw. A popular view among the railwayman is that Mr McArley has landed them in a j mess, and that unless he comes out of the I strike with something substantial to his credit his mana among the loco, men will decline to vanishing point. His trouble is that he docs not know the business, and when it comes to meeting men who do be is completely overwhelmed. He cannot back up his demands with logical arguments. All he can do is to “stand firm,” even if he is standing on nothing. There is growing resentment at the attitude of the E.F.C.A. Many members of the A.S.R.S. feel that the strike was too precipitate, and that the E.F.CA. had no right to spring such a dramatic surprise on the public and the service. The action was. taken inde- i pendently of the A.S.R.S., whose officers j from the president downwards have been - completely hoodwinked. There are many j loco, men who knew nothing of the coup | until they were called out. Mr McArley | is blamed for forcing the situation, and he is now being blamed for refusing to come to a settlement on terms which were good ' enough for the AJ3.R.S,

ATTITUDE OF THE A.S.R.S. THE PRESIDENT INTERVIEWED. CHRISTCHURCH, May 1. “Perhaps some of our members are of opinion that the Loco. Association will get an advantage which our executive has not secured. That position was anticipated by my executive, and I can assure members of the A.S.R.S. that there is no possibility of anything like that happening. The Government is already wise to the fact that to bring about such an arrangement would only mean falling out of the frying pan into the fire.” This statement was made this afternoon by Mr R. Hampton, president of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, in an interview covering the most important phases of the railway dispute. Mr Hampton was asked whether the Prime Minister was right in his statement that the agreement ended the strike but not the grievances. “Oh, yes,” said Mr Hampton. “That is quite true, although at the same time, of course, we hope that the agreement made for the resumption of work will ultimately end the grievances of the railwaymen, but if it does not the position is safeguarded to this extent, that the men have the right to declare war again. The trouble was brought about in our case by the position which the Prime Minister took up in hig reply to the executive council, in which he practically said that the General Manager should have the last word on what he termed technical matters affecting the conditions in the service. We have always been prepared to negotiate with the General Manager and try to come to terms, and if we could come to terms that I think would be the ideal way of settling our disputes, but we can never accept the position that the General Manager's word must in each and every instance be accepted, as final without

the right of appeal to anyone else. The agreement which we have made gets over that position and gives us the right to have the General Manager’s decisions reviewed by an independent tribunal. The arbitrator will not be solely selected by the Prime Minister, as he originally proposed in his last communication to us, but it will be a matter for negotiation between Mr Massey and the executive. We will start the hearing of the case when we both agree that we have confidence in the arbitrator, which will, we hope, be in a few days. It may be suggested that it will be a difficult matter to arrange, but personally I do not expect any great difficulty in coming to an agreement regarding the chairmanship. “Judging by reports in the press and by telegrams which we have received from some of our branch secretaries, some of our members were of opinion that a complete agreement regarding wages and conditions would be secured before work would be resumed. Mr McArley, in a statement published to-day, said that if the delegates were to go through the wages and conditions item by item it would take a considerable time and prolong the dispute. If that is so in the case of one small section of the service it would be more pronounced in the case of the A.S.R.S., which represents the majority of the men in the service. To keep thousands of our men out of employment, involving the enforced idleness of thousands of other workers, together with the general inconvenience of the public, would not in my judgment be justified. Consequently my executive have centred their attention in the meantime on negotiations which would bring about an early resumption of the normal railway services and a reasonable prospect of better wages and conditions being arranged in the immediate future. The members of the A.S.R.S. can accept my assurance that the basis of agreement for resumption is a good one. It allows full, free, and unrestricted discussion of any matter whatsoever that we wish to discus's concerning railway affairs before the tribunal to be set up.” “Was there anything in the terms of the settlement to indicate the date from which any new wages and conditions that may be agreed on by the hoard would operate?"’ Mr Hampton was asked. “Such a matter is not specifically mentioned, ami there is no need for it to be mentioned,” replied Mr Hampton. "After we have come to an agreement before the suggested tribunal, the matter of when the improved wages will operate from will then be discussed, and the Board’s recommendation will be given effect to.

■‘Regarding the telegrams from Napier and Auckland, where the members of the A.S.R.S. have refused to carry out their executive’s instructions to resume work, it it quite clear that the men there do not understand the position. My executive endeavoured to get the E.F. and C.A. executive to agree to combined representations on the matter. The executive of the E.F. and C.A. turned down absolutely this proposal and consequently the A.S.R.S. had no option but to make an agreement meeting their own point of view. If the executive of the E.F. and C.A. can show where the executive of the A.SR.S. has agreed to anything which is detrimental even to the interests of the A.5.R..5., or which is any violation of any important labour principle, we are quite prepared to join with them and make joint representations to have the eims of omission or commission, whichever it may be, remedied. Then, if the Prime Minister will not remedy them I will give an undertaking that the order directing our men to resume work will, be cancelled. In the absence, however, of any undertaking of this kind, I hope the members of the A.S. R.B. will obey the instructions of their own executive council.”