BRANCH FORMED IN THE SOUTH

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

BRANCH FORMED IN THE SOUTH

FIRST MEETING IN INVERCARGILL

STEADY PROGRESS MADE

The genesis of the Invercargill branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants was a meeting of railwaymen held in the City Hotel, Invercargill, on December 7, 1889, when it was proposed by Mr T. Ritchie and seconded by Mr W. Hartle “that a union be formed in Southland in conjunction with an amalgamated union in Auckland.” The first meeting of the branch was held in the Club Hotel on December 21. 1889, to meet Mr W. J. Edwards, general secretary, who explained the purposes of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. At this meeting Mr G. Bowles was elected chairman, and Mr G. B. Patterson defeated Mr Harkness in a ballot for the position of branch secretary by 21 votes to 13. Mr J. Farlane was elected treasurer and Messrs Gough. M. Thomas and T. Ferguson were appointed trustees. The management committee was: C. Davies, Kavanagh, P. Dunn, C. Foster, J. Sammonds, W. Hartle and M. Thomas. It was resolved to hold monthly meetings on the first Wednesday after the four weekly pay, and an additional resolution was carried allowing for the admission of rail-

way employees who were members of the Trades and Labour Union on payment of an entrance fee of 2/6. Other members not entering were to be fined 21/10. It was resolved that the station masters be asked to collect the subscriptions and hand them to the guards to bring into the secretary, and the following collectors were appointed in Invercargill:—W. Robb (Invercargill), R. Ferguson (Ways and Works), Gough (Permanent Way) and M. Thomas (Locomotive). At a special meeting on February 1, 1890. between 40 and 50 members met to consider the Government Railways Employees’ Insurance Bill, and after a good deal of discussion it was resolved:

(1) “That this meeting desires most respectfully to convey to the commissioners of the New Zealand Railways the expression of its unanimous opinion that the proposed Insurance Bill is opposed to the best interests and liberties of the railway employees, and hopes that no further attempt will be made to force the Bill upon them after its universal and marked rejection from one end of the colony to the other.” (2) “That this meeting pledges itself to give a unanimous vote against the proposed bill and that each member send his voting paper in to the secretary on or before February 12 to be scrutinized by a committee to be appointed for that purnose.” (3) “That the commissioners be requested to publish the rc ult of the voting for and against the proposal.”

On February 12, 1890, it was decided that the meetings be held on the first Thursday after pay, and the following week the secretary was elected to represent the branch at the society conference to be held in Christchurch. The first bank account was opened in the name of Messrs Gough and Thomas, and t! e death benefit was inaugurated at a cost of 1/- a member. Cn April 10 the same year dues to the amount of £5/17/6 were passed for payment to the head office, Auckland, on the casting vote of the chairman. At a meeting on May 8 it was urged that action be taken to have the rules registered, that steps be taken to secure assistance from the Seamen’s Union and the Federated Wharf Labourers in the event of trouble arising, and that the branch interview every Southland member of Parliament. Sever.tv members attended a meeting on May 31 the same year when after several amendments the secretary’s salary was fixed at £25 a year. This meeting dealt chiefly with grievances and congratulated the ex-cutive on the brave stand taken to obtain redress for grievances. The branch also pledged itself “to stand by the executive and support it in its noble efforts.” On August 14, 1890, a special meeting was called to protest against platelayers being compelled to carry grain at Bluff. On April 13, 1891, Mr M. Thomas, the appointed delegate to the conference, reported that he would be unable to attend as he had been refused leave of absence. Information was received that other provincial delegates had also been refused leave. However, the leave was ultimately granted. A motion “that the branch regrets and strongly deprecates the action of branches in officially entering the political arena, believing that such course of action is productive of much greater harm than good” was carried at a meeting on March 16, 1893. At the annual meeting on November 18, 1893, it was decided to represent the case of a guard having to work 12 hours on Sundays for one day’s pay. The branch secretary, Mr G. B. Patterson, resigned on September 1, 1894, and the ballot for the new secretary resulted: M. Thomas 119; J. Barnett 12. The past president and the secretary were presented with illuminated addresses. In 1894 an effort to change the name of the branch to “Southland” failed.

Except for a decision to hold “a strictly temperance banquet” in the Temperance Hotel on November 17,

1894, the life of the branch appears to have been fairly uneventful for the next few years. It is recorded that in 1898 the branch requested the executive to publish a review free of charge to all members, half the cost to be paid from the management fund and half to be paid by the branch. An indication of the progress made is to be found in the growing membership at the beginning of the century and in the fact that on September 13, 1900, it was decided to thank Mr J. A. Hanan, M.H.R., for securing a building in Clyde street for recreation purposes. Towards the end of the following year the branch decided to urge the department to light the Invercargill yard for shunting purposes. It also decided to urg<® the department that when platelayers were transferred the inspector of permanent way be asked to value gardens and improvements, the new member to pay costs.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE In 1902 an important stage in the history of the branch was reached when a national conference was held in Invercargill. At a meeting held on July 13, 1902, the following motion was carried: “That this branch regrets the very autocratic manner in which the general secretary has replied to correspondence from the branch, as his attitude is calculated to be detrimental to the society as a whole.” It was also decided that the executive of the branch be instructed to take at once the necessary steps to hold a ballot on the question of the removal of the general secretary. • The ballot resulted in a vote in favour of the removal of the secretary by 164 votes to 40, and it was decided to ask the executive to call for nominations for the position of general secretary. The branch membership at that time was 280. It is interesting to note that this ballot was instrumental in securing a change in the general secretaryship. The following year the branch carried a recommendation that the pay of second-grade guards be not less than that of casual workers, namely, 1/- an hour. The rate that then existed was 8/6 for nine hours.

At a meeting of the committee on February 9, 1906, Mr W. G. Hartle gave notice of the following resolution:— “That the sum of £lOOO be paid from the funds of the A.S.R.S. general management fund to the superannuation fund if the Government will grant back time to those who went out on strike.” On July 2, 1906, reference was made

to the death of the Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon, whose death, it v«.. .. ..... loss not only to the country as a whole, but to the railwaymen in particular. About this time there was a certain amount of controversy about the tone of some of the articles appearing in the Review, and after this matter had been discussed at several meetings it was decided that “in the opinion of this branch it is unwise in any way to gag or bind the editor of the Review inasmuch as we think that the present conduct of the Review is in the best interests of the railway servants.” This, however, was not quite the end of the matter as at a subsequent meeting an effort was made to have the motion deleted. This effort was not successful. Dissatisfaction with the leave rota system was expressed at a meeting of the committee on January 4, and the following resolution was carried:— “That the present method of leave rota be condemned as it is not found practicable to work to, and that all grades of departments be again brought under the old system of members taking holidays when it is found suitable.” There was also some criticism by members of the branch of the promotion system, and it was suggested that a promotion board be inaugurated for the railway service as the present sys- j

tern of promotion under classification was not a success. This proposal was embodied in the form of a recommendation to the conference, but was not adopted. In 1910 the engine drivers, firemen and cleaners broke away to form an association of their own. From that time on the affairs of the branch were mainly the affairs of the association. Other matters that were discussed were mostly of a domestic nature. Many committee meetings were held, the average being more than once a month. In 1913 the branch made a grant of £4O towards the head office building, and after the declaration of war £5O and £3O war loan grants were made to the head office. The total amount granted to the head office was £250.