RAILWAY SERVANTS' DEMAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXX, Issue 14509, 4 March 1916, Page 6

RAILWAY SERVANTS' DEMAND.

[To tho Editor.] i^ir,--The railway service, which from •-a industrial standpoint occupies a position of great importance in JSe-v Zealand, is at present in a most unhappy frame of mind. Meetings o.t the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants have lately been held in a number ot centres, at which resolutions have been pulsed that demand immediate attention. The wages hands complain that they are not sufficiently paid, and they ask -in all-round increase of ~s per day. the alternative being a general rally and drastic measures, in plain terms, they mean to so on strike if their pay is not iiuproveil. The movement is deliberate Representations have been made to the political head of the Kailway Department and the (tenoral .Manager, and what has been the result' Have they been fairly cou-idered ? _ \ serious situation having been brought about, it is desirable that tho public should be made fully aware ot the facts. What are tin: facts'? 1 hemen say they are working under conditions- that are cruel, unjust, manil'estly oppressive and unfair. They Ho not complain about their work, although main* of them are in harness for twelve to sixteen hours per day, working by night as well as by daylight without any dift'erenco in the payment. Private employers are compelled to pay overtime rates after their hands have worked eiirht hours. The railway hands do not ask this. They are ailowed time and a quarter only when their work exceeds -IS hours. This rule applied to guards, signalmen, engine-men, firemen and shunters. Porters who have occasionally to work in execs" of the 4S hours are allowed the extra time off when their superior officer finds it- convenient, but in that case, if they have a day or two to themselves, they are forbidden on pain of dismissal to earn anything by accepting other employment. Tho'elassificatioa list, which is prepared and issued annually, contains the names, length of service, and payment of the staff. Hero are a few quotations from the list for 19.15: —Guard, ?>6 years, lis (id per day; do., :■■" years, lis "(3d per day.; do., 30 yearo, 10s per day; signalman, 33 years, 10s;' storemau, '25 J years, 10s- porter, 3<> years, 9s; do., _4 years, 9s; do., -t years, Ss; crossingkeeper, 31 years, 7s: leading painter, ;-!7 years. "I '"'•» <3d: blacksmith. 37 years, 1 lsY.d; carpenter, :;3 years, Us Cd; striker, .".U years, K'o* labourer, 40 years, 9s. What is the nature of the employment for which these men. after a lifelong experience.'receive those wages? The engine drivers and firemen have work to perform requiring special qualities, physical and mental, and no ordinary human endurance. Night and day in smoke, grime and heat, iv storm and sunshine, along with the guards, they must work all hours, securing their meals and rest when they.can get them. The guard is on duty for any time up to 16 hours, and sometimes longer, and ha:* often to perform clerical work that would puzzle an expert. The enginedriver must always be on the alert, travelling night and day in all kinds of weather, looking out from the side of his engine, watching the track, weighted with the responsibility of securing life and limb and property from every possible risk. Men in such positions must have strong constitutions, firm nerves, plenty of self-reliance, and .they must be both cautious and absolutely reliable. The lives of passengers' f-nd tho property of the >State are entrusted to their care. Contrast the wages quoted with the salaries of the principal officers:—General Manager, £3000, Chief Traffic Manager £1000, Chief Engineer £1000, Chief Clerk £900, Mechanical Engineer £SHO, Chief Accountant £750, Inspecting Engineer £700, Traffic Superintendent £700, ditto £709, Comptroller of Stores £650, Signal and Electrical Euginer £625. Here are eleven officers receiving between them £10,875, an average of nearly £1000 apiece. Whether they are overpaid or underpaid is a matter of opinion, but the contrast with the wages of the locomotive branch is illuminating. When the fi'.ct is borne in mind that there r.re workers in the railway service whose efficiency is indisputable, and who for between thirty and forty years have won the esteem cf their fellows and given satisfaction to their employers, receiving 9s and 10s per day, it is easy to come to the conclusion that they are not sufficiently paid. An engine driver's wages begins at lis 6d and advances to 13s 6d per day. Considering the responsibility of the position, and the arduous work performed, can it be said that such a maximum wage is sufficient for a driver who has* spent 39 years and 10 months in the service? The men, it seems, complain bitterly that their wages are made immovable whilo the cost cf living has largely increased. The war has raised the value of produce, and the producer and merchant aro enjoying unprecedented prosperity. Private employers havo found it necessary to increase the wages of their hr.nds, yet the men employed in the railway service must toil for a lifetime before their pay is" advanced one shilling or two shillings per day. Markets improve, the price of wool goes up, property of every kind advances in value, flour, bread and butter, cheese, bacon, all the necessaries of life, boots and shoes, blankets and clothing, all go up, the revenue improves, imports increase, seamen and wharf labourers demand a rise of ten or twenty per cent, and they get it, but the unfortunate railway servant who carries the people and their goods is hermetically sealed as far as wages are concerned. The cruelty of the position is obvious. The cost of Govern-

meat Departments increases every year, I and on election year there is a big jump upwards, because salaries aro reviewed, but the railway servant, no matter what his merits or performances are, lias not a hope of the least recognition of a practical kind. Such a thing as a bonus or prize ho dare not suggest. .It should hardly be necessary, to point out that every rise in tho cost of living ,is- a fall in-wages. When the sovereign loses its purchasing power who suffers? The worker, unless his wages aro correspondingly increased. It is the fact that food and clothing havo risen in value owing to the war and exploitation, to an extent never reached before, that has made tho railway service, which is the largest and most important under Government control; demand that its' wages shall be advanced and made commensurate with the increased cost of necessary commodities. — I am, etc., FACTS. Masterton, March o, 191 C.