LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1230, 21 January 1918, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. "Cash Wnulrd."—lmportant if true. Would like further particulars. What is your authority for the statement? "W. HteH'cnry."— Only another instance of the neglect of genius. The public would not In' interested In a controversy on the currency question. "A Wharflc."— A matter f"r the journals that made the mistake. '•Householder" < Lyttelton ).—The fart that the committee has i .igncd ;:i a b"dy has already been published. Apparent!} the board is determined xou arc to have this particular teacher. "(J.5.A.11. " —Too much dirt, too much Dave, and ton little story. The yarn reads m though it n:i,ilit have been written round the adventures of the "star" comedians of those coloured "penny dreadfuls"—the hnglish comics. MS. returned bs requested. RAILWAY CASUALS. To the Editor of THE SUN. Sir, —Appearing in your issue of Friday evening un !er the i old h< "Shortage oi Labour—Tie Po-'tb.ii at Lyttelton," you make a statement that the Railway Casual L'nion are short of 20 or 30 members— a statement which is not correct. When a reliable paper as T:in Srx makes sm-h a statement, it behovi representative of such to make sure of the facts before placing them before the public, and hail your representative : pproached n,e 1 world, as secretary of the union, have been able to give "hi < a correct statement of the position, which 1 s], n |] „ ow ( , n | ravour ( 0 ,j 0 _ It is admitted that, for several reasons, the membership of the union is at present 15 short of the members on the roll, bat this is accounted for as follows: —Five are working as casuals on the railway to allow permanent* to go to the front, two are at the barracks at Ripa Island, two are acting as military police, five are grass-seeding, and one is shearing—all essential occupations, you will no doubt admit. I will now endeavour to enlighten you an 1 your numerous readers on the manner in which the Railway Department holds out inducement for the casual wharf labourers to stand by it. In the first place, allow me to explain that all persons making application to become members of the Railway Casual l'nion niust be married nieu of good repute before they can be admitted. The members of the union are under the sole control of the department, and are required to offer themselves for employment each day at the stipulated hour for putting on Labour, and should it Le a busy day no doubt all will get a job, but should i: boa slack day theirservicea are not required, but in their stead tho permanent men are placed in the wagons to do the work that the casual men are justly entitled to. I would like to state here that there is an understanding between the executive of the Waterside Workers' Union and the Railway Casual Union that work shall cease on the wharves a* 6 p.m., except in the ease of a food ship, when a train is provided to take workers through the hill to their respective homes, and also until such time as the department runs a regular service at night. This arrangement does not meet with the approval of some of the shipping companies, with the result that they work their ships with the seamen or permanent employees from 6 p.m. till finish, and—would you credit it?—permanent men of the Railway Department, namely, the platelayers, go into the wagons after having done their eight hours' work, so that they can earn, as they say, a few shillings to spend on "luxuries." Now, what can any fair-minded person think of these particular men who will take the bread and butter out of the mouths of the casual's children, for they understand perfectly well that if they did not do the work it would mean employment for the casual men the following day. Again, does the department really believe that these men are capable of carrying out their own duties after having worked from 16 to 20 hours per day? I for one very much doubt it. ; I must admit that any complaints I brought by my union under the notice of the district traffic manager have always received his favourable consideration when reasonable, but the point is that, although he is good enough to grant them, they are at times ignored by the heads of the department here, as, for instance, the following:—Some time back my committee met the district traffic manager and asked that during slack times all overtime, where possible, should be given to the members of the union, and he was good enough to promise that it wouLL; roit is it carried out? On the contrary, you will find a permanent man working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. over and over again, whereas if he were asked to work only his eight hours it would mean that the casual man would receive two hours' overtime, which is half a day's pay. As already stated, the casual man is required to stand by the department from Monday to Saturday each week, and should it be a slack time he can wander round and watch th" permanents doing the work in wagons, but should he seek employment elsewhere during the time no work is offering without first notifying the stationmaster where he is going, on his return he will be "beached." Being beached means that he obtains no work during the pleasure of the stationmaster—an 1 this in a British country. In conclusion I must say that the foreman endeavours during the slack time to evenly distribute the work, and although you will always find a certain amount of gi imbling among any body of men. it i' recognised by the members of my union that the foreman does his best to give each individual member a fair shaie of the work offering.—l am. etc, L\ ('. SHIRLEY, Secretary, Railway Casual L'nion. Lyttelton. January 19. lln reference to our correspondent's r .r----rection of The Sun'» report, our repte< nt •- ti\e states that the information end I in the report was obtained from official sources. I\d. The Sun.| SOLDIERS AT HANMEE. To the Edi: r of THE SIN. Sir. — 1 have lead with very great interest in your s-nturdav "si-sue i: report of the members of the C.D.C. who visited llaui'ier for the purpose oi seeing that all is being done thai - be done for our returned soldiers at - '.e Ouoen Mary's Hospital, bat no m< , j- made of the motor ear loaned to the "lu lV s" by the Canterbury Automobile Associati ui. I am fully await thar this cr: is uinler the control of the Health Department, which is so different to the soldiers' cai in Christ, which i- under the control of the Auto u id.ile Association, and it would in- ;, .-: the public and a pleasure to ■ :? members if that committee could let the public know if the car at Hanmer warrants its existence and is carrying out the object it was sent up for., -. i/_. making the lot of The wounded - easier.—l ai i, etc., AUTO.