POLITICS AND SALARY CUTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 805, 28 October 1929, Page 10

POLITICS AND SALARY CUTS

No Prospect of Restoration PARTIES EXPRESS THEIR VIEWPOINTS Postal Employees Entertain POLITICIANS toyed with their food on Saturday evening while waiting - for an opportunity to explain to members of the P. and T. Officers’ Association their attitude on the restoration of the Civil Service salary cuts. All parties, including' the department itself, were represented at the association’s annual dinner which was attended by about 300 guests. The Government, through the Minister of Health, said financial difficulties prevented the restoration in spite of official sympathy; the Labour Party, through its leader, said the cut should and would be restored when Labour ruled; the Reform Party, through Mr. A. Harris, said it would support proposals for the restoration, and the department, through the secretary, Mr. G. McNamara, declared the restoration an impossibility.

Although most of the speakers apologised for talking politics, it was evident that the association expected j reference to the salary cuts. Mr. S. Donaldson proposed the I toast to Parliament. He said he be- ! lieved that, from accounts in the i paper, some members of Parliament j were talking too much, and some j were sleeping too much. He was in- 1 dined to -think, however, that mem- ■ bers of Parliament were partly mis- I understood. Referring to the restoration of the salary cuts, Mr. Donaldson said if the Government had intended to restore the cuts, it would have appointed a } commission, comprising the Post-master-General, the Hon. J. B. Donald, ■who favoured restoration, Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party, and Mr. A. Harris, both of ■whom also favoured it. Mr. Donaldson further expressed the belief that Parliament was really run by •the departmental heads. “You have had a Government which will not give you back the salary cuts, he said. “Now you have a Government which has refused you; so -there is only one more party left —(applause)—-but I don’t guarantee that the Labour Par-ty would give them to you either. (Laughter.) Failing that, I suggest you go to the departmental heads!” In reply to the toast, the Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stall-wor-thy, apologised for the absence through illness of the Postmaster - General, and, turning to the proposer, said that if all parliamentary parties failed to restore the Civil Service cuts, there -was only one thing left to do refer the whole question to the Newmarket Borough Council. (Loud laughter.) He did not expect that any question of a political nature would be introduced at this social function, but he laughingly assured the members of the service that he had always patronised their institution. “For the past forty years I have always posted my letters at the post office,” he said.

A Voice: “What about paying for them? (Laughter.) Mr. Stallworthy: And I have always paid for them. WARNED OF “HOT TIME” Referring to -the salaries question, the Minister said he had been warned to expect a “hot time” at this function, but he was inclined to disregard this warning, because he believed that the members of the P. and T. Officers realised that they were not the only branch of the Civil Service to be affected. Moreover, they were sensible enough to realise that no political party possessed a monopoly of sympathy for this department, although lie understood that there was a certain feeling of resentment because the position created in 1921-22 had not been rectified. (Hear. Hear.) “But whatever injustice there might been,” Mr. Stall worthy went on, “it has remained since that time to the present day. The present Government has been in office for only months, and if there had been any injustice for six or seven years and you have waited as long as that for its rectification, I will ask whether it is a fair thing for the position to be stated as it was stated by the proposer of the toast.” The Minister reminded the assemblage of the difficulties which faced the Government, not only* in respect to salaries, but affecting the whole country, and said that, however it might have been in the heart of the Reform Government to have restored the cuts, he appreciated the real financial difficulties. The P. and T. Department last year showed a credit of £36,000, and it was hardly to be expected that the wage bill be added to by £300,000; while the P. and T accounts required £200,000 to bring them up to a safe business margin, and the superannuation funds were £2,000,000 in arrears.

ATTITUDE Or REFORM Where was the money coming from to restore the cuts? “Yet the position is not nearly so hopeless as indicated by the proposer of the toast,” Mr. Stallworthy continued. “I am not making any promises, but a reclassification is coming in the P. and T. Department, and it is the intention of the Government to do justice to every member throughout the service.” ®*. r - A - Harris. Reform member for yyaitemata, could not resist a friendly jibe at the proposer of the toast for his reference to Parliament. “I know he does not know much about Parliament,” Mr. Harris said, “but he means well.” The member for Waitemata advocated the best possible conditions for the P. and T. officers along with other members of the Civil Service. The payment of salaries rested with the Government, and when the present Government saw its way clear to bring down proposals for the restoration of the salaries, the members of the Opposition would heartily and enthusiastically support them, recognising the value to the public of the members of the Civil Service. It was the obligation of Parliament to make the men’s conditions as happy

and pleasant as possible, and he had particular sympathy with those in the clerical and general division, whom he believed should receive early attention. Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party, expressed regret at the outset because of the illness of the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, and the PostmasterGeneral, the Hon. J. B. Donald. “It does not matter what our differences are, or how keen the fight,” Mr. Holland said, “we always like to fight men who are well.”

LABOUR LEADER'S SATIRE Turning his guns upon the proposer of the toast, Mr. Holland said it would have been impossible for him not to have taken notice of what Mr. Donaldson had said about Parliament. “I am sorry his Worship did not take the toast seriously,” he began. "I can understand, however, that when a man occupies the exalted position of the Mayor of Newmarket, he will naturally look upon the lower institution of Parliament with some measure of contempt. (Laughter.) His Worship, In telling you that the Reform Party had refused to reinstate the cut salaries, might have told you that it was the Reform Party that made the cuts. He also told you that the Labour Party, If It reached power—rather, when it reaches power —might not reinstate the cuts. “But I put this to you: The Labour Party has pledged itself to a certain policy, and we take our responsibilities seriously. It is my obligation to take the same attitude when the Labour Party reaches the Government benches as X do now when we occnpy the cross-benches, and as I did when the party occupied the benches of the official Opposition. “The obligation would be on the Labour Party to see that the salary system was adjusted so that justice was done to the Public Service. No case can be made out for the delay in giving the measure of justice that is due to all the Civil servants in this country. It was promised in 1921-22 that as soon as the country turned the corner there would be a restoration of the cuts. I am satisfied that there is no shortage of money in the country today, and X believe that the demands of the public servants are not uni easonable. Nine millions in money have been driven into the banks which could not find circulation in isew Zealand. Nothing is ever gained by dragging down the standard of living of those who do the work, because better salaries are reflected in a better economic position all round You are not getting the best conditions the country can afford to give you.”

RESTORATION IMPOSSIBLE In responding to the toast of “The P. and T. Department,” Mr. G. McNamara, secretary of the department, reminded the association that Parliament called the salaries tune, and the department had to play it “We are the Cinderella of the Civil Service” he went on “but one of these days our work will be recognised in a proper manner. It has been said by some irresponsible people that the restoration of the cuts should be undertaken, but I repeat what I said two years ago, that the restoration of the cuts is a physical impossibility. If anyone were so foolish as to do it. it would cause greater anomalies than those of our old cadets anomalies. But the cuts, as cuts, are nearly dead! and your association is no longer concerned with them.” Some people wanted to know why the reclassification had been delayed, but this was done deliberately until the decision of the Government respecting the restoration of the cuts had been made known. There was no alteration in the schedule, so the list would be out in due course. Mr. McNamara reminded the association members that the law did not compel a regrading of the schedules every five years. Regrading was going on every day, but Parliament must always control expenditure. • The men had asked for the Australian system, but. he warned them that, after looking through it carefully, he had reached the conclusion that the New Zealand P. and T. officers would be well advised to look before they leaped. “I should be sorry to impose Australian postal conditions upon the men in this country,” he added. The secretary dealt with several domestic questions, and said he could not make distinction in any grade because the other immediate "division would be affected by it. It was hoped that some of the bovs who entered the department at " a later age than usual through unemployment in other spheres, would be placed iu jobs outside the P. and T service. He urged the men to puli their v* eight and help themselves toward better conditions. Mr. J. H. McKenzie, secretary of the P. and T. Officers’ Association said he wished not so much for the restoration of the cuts as for a complete regrading upon a proper, sound system. The service was readv for a complete overhaul by a specially appointed impartial tribunal.