The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1900. RAILWAY OFFICERS' GRIEVANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 102, 13 June 1900, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1900. RAILWAY OFFICERS' GRIEVANCES.

The Now Zealand Railway Officers Institute is circulating in all influential j quarters copies of a petition presented to Parliament towards the end of last s session, setting forth the claims of the . officers of the railway stafi to a higher scale of remuneration than at present obtains. On account of this petition being presented at such a late stage of the session, the Railway Committee ( decided to hold it over until this year, ( and it is in view of it being dealt with f early in the approaching session that steps are being taken to secure for it, as far as possible, a favourable hear- f ing. The statement of the case for the petitioners is an able one, and on ■ the face of it appears likely to meet - with the approval of the House. Its { clauses point out amongst other } things:—(l) That the provision at present ma Jo for the remuneration of r the officers of the New Zealand Go- j vernment Railway Department by "The Government Railway Department Classification Act 1896," and the amendments thereof, is, in the opinion of the members of the said Institute, i inadequate for the services required ( from those officers. "(2) That if the . salaries as set out in Parliamentary . Paper D 3,1899, paid to those officers, , from the General Manager downwards, |. holding the higher positions in the ; service, and calling for special knowledge of a highly technical and professional nature, be compared with the salaries paid to officers holding similar responsible positions in the Railway Services of the various Australian Colonies, or in the service of Railway Companies in Great Britain, it will be found that the remuneration paid in these services far exceeds that paid in the New Zealand Government Railways. (4) That if the remuneration of the officers of the Railway Department be compared with that paid to the officers of the Post and Telegraph Department, the only other Department of the Government having a classification, it will be found that in all classes the salaries of officers in similar grades are on a higher scale in the case of the Post and Telegraph than in the case of the Railways. (5) That in consequence of the low rate of salary offered under the present Act it is well l.nown that au inferior class of boys is offering for cadetships, the result of which will in vitably be deterioration in the calibre of the stall in future years. (6) That while each of the above Departments deals directly with the public, the duties of the Railway officers entail a larger responsibility, not only by reason of the fact that the hours of duty are longer, but also that the safety of human lives is dependent upon the efficient performance of those duties. (7) That as from time to time considerable concessions have been demanded by and granted to the public by way of reduced freights, &c., and as it is proposed to make further concessions in the direction of reduced fares and freights, it is ' feared that these concessions are being made at the expense of the salaries paid to the officers of the Department. On the foregoing grounds the petitioners ask that steps shall be taken to amend the said Act so that the salaries of the > chief rail wa-.* officer shall be more on an equal footing with the salaries paid to managing officers holding similarpositions in the railway services of the Australian Colonies; and that the .stationmasters and clerical staff of the Railway Department shall not be less ) efliciently remunerated than are the postmasters and clerical staff of the Post and Telegraph. Then follows a schedule in which the salaries of the highest class of railway officers are compared with those of the relative grade in the Post and Telegraph Department, the comparison given in which shown that in each large district con-i 1 trolled by a District Manager of Railway there are two Chief Postmasters conducting similar duties for the Postal and Telegraph Department, and in the majority of cases, each of the latter receives a higher salary than that paid to the District Manager of Railways. An instance cited is that of the Wanganui district. The Chief Postmaster. ' \Vanganui, receives £125, and the .(fluef Postmaster, New Plymouth, I'iih, making total of £B4O, whilst the .district Railway Manager controlling the whole ilistvi'i, receives only .£4OO. Agaiu, take Wellington-Napier District, the District Manager Railway receives only X.185 for controlling the whole district, whilst the Chief Pus*- , master. Napier, receives .£425 to (outrol the smaller half of tke same dis- , trict. The traffic clerks (chief clerks to District Managers), on whose care ].,• r. 'y depends the tafely /-f the lives '•1 travelling public, also receive aim-in.: ranging h-om to £IOO less than oh ft nliief -iJm-ks in the Vestal and - j poa-jibilioies of the postal '.-ierk t can in no way be compu««.i '.vith:|j that of .tho traffic clerk. A.ji second schedule shows a somewhat j similar difference exists between the • uv.'t relative (Trades of railway offiws I

postmasters at small*,towns, such as Peilding, Xviartoii, and Hawera,, are paid salaries (£' ; 11 ) per annum) equal to those paid to sta.i ■ii masters at the cities of Christchurch ami Duuedin, and xOO more than those pai.i to stationm»sters at Wellington and i. Hum return also shows that atStiuuoiu J Dannevirke, where both poßtal andl

railway duties were performed by •tationmasters a few years ago for £l6O to £IBO, the postmasters for the postal duties alone are now receiving each £250. At the moment the duties at these stations were separated and 'postmasters appointed, the postmasters were paid SJfi to £6O more for the one duty than the statiowmaster received for the combined duties. Further tables are given instituting comparisons between the average salaries per annum paid to stationmasters (£l6B 2s 6d) land postmasters (£213 14s 3d), and I a'so those paid to cadets and'

junior clerks and the higher clerical grades in b#th services. The schedule shows that each cadet entering the post and telegraph service] may receive £325 more in salary dur-

ing the first fourteen yean than the railway cadet for the same period, and that by the " Classification Act, 1898," the salaries of railway cadets and junior clerks were reduced by £l9O on iirst nine years' service. It will also be seen from this return that the postal and telegraph clerk may receive £IBO for his twelfth year's service, while the railway clerk can onlj»receive £l5O for his fourteenth year's servioe, and cannot receive £IBO until after seventeen years' service, and then only providing there is a vacancy in the higher grade. The whole, table shows that railway clerks are paid £3O to £IOO per annum less than postal and telegraph clerks. A further schedule shows that 69-3 per cent, of railway clerks are paid at £l5O and less per annum, and that only 17*2 per cent, of post and telegraph clerks are paid at these low rates, and that at the higher salaries 67'5 per cent, of post and telegraph clerks are paid at salaries ranging from £lsl to £2OO per annum, and 15-3 per cent, at salaries over £2OO per annum, whilst only 21*3 per cent, of railway clerks receive from £lsl to £2OO and only 9'4 per cent, over £2OO. The average salary paid to post and telegraph clerks is £IBB 0s 6d, as to railway clerks £152 6s 9d. The general public using both departments will readily agree that the case for the railway officers is a strong one, though whether the fact that the average earnings of the people who support these departments is very much below that of the officials concerned warrants most an increase of the railway or a I reduction of the postal officers' salaries jis quite an open question.