RAILWAYMEN CELEBRATE GOLDEN JUBILEE

Southland Times, Issue 23947, 13 October 1939, Page 3

RAILWAYMEN CELEBRATE GOLDEN JUBILEE

Fiftieth Anniversary Of Invercargill Branch ONE OF STRONGEST UNIONS IN DOMINION Fifty years ago the Invercargill branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants was formed, and today, tomorrow and on Sunday the golden jubilee of the branch will be celebrated. In those 50 years the society has done much to improve the wages, hours and working conditions of its members, and its value to the employees of the Railway Department is proved by the fact that today the society is one of the strongest and wealthiest trade unions in New Zealand. Its assets, indeed, are valued at about £40,000.

The Invercargill branch is one of the oldest branches of the society. Its present membership is about 600, and there are 25 retired members still paying their special death benefit fund subscriptions. The branch holds a record for New Zealand in that for the last two years there has not been an unfinancial member.

The Invercargill branch’s area is the largest in New Zealand, extending from Queenstown to Kamahi, and including other branches in Southland, such as Wairio, Tuatapere, Bluff and Tokanui. Invercargill also has the largest number of collectors in New Zealand, the total being 24.

The celebrations will begin today with a banquet in Smith’s tearooms. Tomorrow there will be a smoke concert in Smith s Hall, and on Sunday afternoon there will be a general meeting in the Railway Social Hall. Among the guests for the jubilee celebrations will be the national president, Mr S. W. Gaspar, from the Hillside workshops, Dunedin, the general secretary, Mr L Mcllvride, of Wellington, and two of the oldest members of the branch, Messrs F. Hutchins, of Invercargill, and J A. B. Walker, of Riverton. The president of the branch, Mr J. A. Brandford, will be in the chair.