Cabinet Negotiations Fail GENERAL RAIL STRIKE IS TIMED TO BEGIN AT MIDNIGHT ON SATURDAY

Wanganui Chronicle, 22 December 1950, Page 6

Cabinet Negotiations Fail GENERAL RAIL STRIKE IS TIMED TO BEGIN AT MIDNIGHT ON SATURDAY

WELLINGTON, Last Night (PA).—A general railway strike will begin at midnight on Saturday.

This announcement was made by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and the Railway Tradesmen’s Association after negotiations with Cabinet Ministers broke down at 11 o’clock tonight. The national secretary of the A.S.R.S. (Mr. J. S. Berry) and the national secretary of the R.T.A., Mr. T. F. Gebbie) in a joint statement said that to cause the minimum inconvenience to the travelling public, and in appreciation of the support the public had given the railwaymen, the strike would be delayed until tomorrow night to enable everyone to be home for Christmas.

All stock and perishable goods ?n the rail would be carried to their destinations. The national officers of the Engine Drivers’, Firemen, and Cleaners’ association were associated with the A.S.R.S. and the R.T.A. in the talks with the Ministers, but made no statement tonight on their policy.

After the talks tonight the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) said the Government had had several discussions with the official representatives of the workers, but nothing had persuaded the men against putting into effect their strike threats. The Government, said Mr Holland, did not seek to deny the workers their legitimate rights to have their disputes or points of view carefully examined. It had undertaken to facilitate the case of the workers being considered by the Railways Tribunal at the earliest possible moment, and to abide loyally by the result, but this offer had been rejected by the strike leaders in Auckland, who had put a pistol at the head of the Government with the threat which, in effect, said: “You pay what we demand or we strike.’’ Mr Holland said the Government could not, and would not, accept such dictation and intimidation and had communicated that decision to the men’s representatives. If the railwaymen could succeed by applying such methods other sections of the people would be encouraged to do the same. That would mean dishonourable capitulation and surrender to the forces of direct action.

If any employer tried to use the self same tactics with any section of workers there would be widespread public indignation and protest, and rightly so, too. It would mean the end to all peaceful processes in the settlement of industrial disputes. The timing of the Auckland strike had been planned so as to make the threat and intimidation as severe as possible. "There are three fundamental issues involved in the present decision of the Government,’ 4 said Mr Holland. They were as follows:

(1) We will not submit to threats or intimidation from any source whatsoever. (2) We stand for the present system of conciliation and arbi- i tration, whereby the appointed ' tribunal specially set up /it the re- ' nuest of the railwaymen themselves should be final and binding. (3) We are quite willing to ensure that the railwaymen have every opportunity, r%d that their cases for special licences are considered as soon as the Court of Arbitration has announced its decision. DISASTROUS EFFECTS “Cabinet has given the closest con-| sideration to the unauthorised strike of railwaymen in the Auckland area, and is fully conscious of the disastrous effects of any hold-up in the railway system, and is equally seized of the implications and likely consequences if the long - established methods for the settlement of industrial disputes are undermined,” said Mr. Holland. “It may well be that the railwaymen of New Zealand have a case for investigation and adjudication. In the Auckland atea, the railwaymen have put into effect their threat to call e railway and road services strike, which began at midinght yesterday. “The issues are simple and clear. At the request of the railwaymen themselves, a special Railway Services Tribunal was established by the former Labour Government to fix wages and conditions of employment. The reason behind the Labour Government’s decision was that it would be more satisfactory' for all concerned if the Government, being the employer of the railwaymen, was relieved of the responsibility of fixing the wages of their own employees. The workers agreed to accept and to abide by the decisions of the tribunal, and, for its part, the Government agreed to abide by the decisions reached by the tribunal and to pay the wages prescribed in its judgments.” HISTORY OF DISPUTE "In the present issue the workers refuse to accept as a settlement of their claims the judgment of the tribunal, and in Auckland have actually gone on strike because their wage demands were not complied with. The railwaymen have already been awarded the 7s a week interim wage increase awarded to all workers. In addition, only last month they took a case to the Railways Tribunal, which, after hearing the evidence submitted, made an award for certain increases and for the adjustment of certain anomalies. These increases are, in fact, already being paid by the Government and date back to April 1, 1950. Thirdly, the Court of Arbitration is at the present time hearing applications for a general order increasing wages. Any increase awarded by the Court of Arbitration will also be paid to the railwaymen automatically end promptly.” TIMING OF STRIKE. “The timing of the Auckland strike has been planned so as to make the threat and intimidation as severe as possible. Before negotiations were concluded tonight. I made the following statement to the conference to set out the difference between the representatives of the railwaymen and the Ministers who represented the Government. , “Th« men’? ’•epresentatives wanted

the Government to give an undertaking that through conciliation and through the General Manager an increase in pay as a special allowance of 6d an hour would be granted in addition to the 7s increase already granted and in additon to the special award for skill and to the recent award of the Railways Tribunal and also in addition to any increase that may be awarded by the Court of Arbitration. “The Government is perfectly willing to refer the whole matter to the Railwaymen’s Tribunal and to abide loyally by the result. This, the men’s representatives were unable to accept. We also undertook to facilitate a hearing of any fresh application that may be lodged as soon as the Arbß/ation Court’s decisis i s published, but even this did not appeal to the workers’ representatives.” “I would conclude that with my colleagues I regret exceedingly the decision of the men to ruin the Christmas for many thousands of Auckland people, but I also wish to say that no Government with an ounce of self-respect could submit to the threats and intimidation which have been employed in this case. “I wish to emphasise that the discussions my colleagues and I have had with the representatives of the railwaymen have been conducted on amicable and courteous lines, and at the conclusion both sides expressed their regrets that agreement had not been reached.”