THE STRIKE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160641, 3 May 1920, Page 8

THE STRIKE.

THE NEGOTIATIONS

STATEMENT BY ME MASSEY,

(Per United Press Association.) .WELLINGTON, May 1. This morning Mr Massey endeavoured to get into communication with the secretary of the Engine Drivers’, Firemen’s, and Cleaners’ Union to inform him of his proposed course of action, but neither by telephone or messenger could be succeed. After less than half an hour for lunch, the Prime Minister returned to his office. Shortly after Mr Massey issued the following statement ;

“I think it is generally understood now that I had no difficulty whatever with either the R. 0.1. or the A.S.R.S., both being willing that the matters in dispute should be dealt with under the provisions of the Labour Disputes Investigation Act 1913, with any necessary modifications that may be required. The position was, however, very different with those who claim to represent the loco’ men. They also were in favour Conciliation Commission or Committee, but their ideas as to details were, according to my experience, unworkable. After a long discussion they, however, agreed to a form of tribunal which I could accept, but one point about which we could not agree was their proposal to make the operations resulting from any recommendation of the tribunal retrospective. I met the loco, men first on April 29th, but on the 30th the Executive of the E.F.O.A. made a new demand, which had not been mentioned by them at the interview on the evening of the 29th, namely, that whatever iuci’eases in wages or conditions were recommended by the Conciliation Committee must be retrospective from Ist April, 1919. I pointed out that the date for the commencement retrospectively of the new rates and conditions was one of the essential matters to be considered by any tribunal which might be established, since so far all the claims of the E.F.C.A. related to increase in the cost o) living, that cost was a varying quantity. I said that the Government would not think of itself naming, as a condition of the agreement, a certain time from which increases should commence, and could not consent to that condition of agreement being imposed by the executive of the E.F.C.A., bub I at once offered to leave to the Conciliation Committee, without limitation of power, to recommend the date from which the increases of' wages and improvement in conditions should retrospectively commence.. I emphasised that the Conciliation Committee would he representative of both parties, and thaii the E.F.C.A. would have the fullest opportunity of contending that April Ist, 1919, was the date _ which should be recommended, and if their contention was fair and just, in that respect there was no doubt it would be considered as such and recommenuca by the tribunal. I said I could not agree, on behalf of the Government, to withdraw from any tribunal which might be established with power to consider and determine the date from which any increases recommended by it should commence. It is manifest that while the Government can trust Parliament to affirm an action of the Government founded upon the advice of an independent commission approved of by both parties, it should alone decide and dictate the decision upon one of the most important matters which the Comission ought properly to consider and decide. Mr Massey asserted that he was not opposed to the increase of wages as it was decided upon by the tribunal “on or about Ist April, 1919.” Mr Massey continued; There was as agreement arrived at as between representatives of the Government and the Department and representatives of the railway service, the result of which was embodied in the Railways Act, passed last session, which is now the law of the land. I could not possibly go behind an Act of Parliament. It also puts Judge Stringer’s report r ■;] recommendation on one side, ’'..ugh the engine men, with other branches -of the railway service, were quite satisfied to leave this matter to a tribunal to make a recommendation, hut the representatives of the engine men, were obdurate, and insisted upon retrospective action from the date mentioned, thus taking the decision with regard to this important point out of the hands of the commission or tribunal to be appointed. To this I could not agree, as being wrong in principle and unfair to the other men, who had waived this point. To get over this difficulty I proposed to accept the following: “The Conciliation Commission, in reporting the result of its deliberations, to also report at what date, in its opinion, any increases in wag«s and any conditions should retrospectively commence.” I think that any intelligent and unbiassed man will agree that that was a fair proposal to make, hut the men who profess to speak for the engine drivers refused to consider it in any way whatever. At this stage deliberations came to an end, and it became my duty to ask the people of the country to support the Government in getting the railways to work. I have always been of opinion, both as a Minister and a private member, that people in the employ of the State should have fair play and justice done them, and I think so still, but we cannot allow any small section to _ stick up the whole business of the Dominion.

ENGINE DRIVERS’ WAGES,

The railway system is a complicated one, and difficult for outsiders to understand, but I have before me at the moment an official statement from the Assistant Manager of Rail-* ways with regard to the average weekly earnings of engine drivers in the North Island for the first three months of the year. It shows that first grade engine drivers (of whom there are 110) who worked full time earned on a weekly average £6 8s 9d, and second grade engine drivers (120) working full time earned £5 18s lid. It may be said that this includes overtime in the case of an engine driver doing any work after ten o’clock at night, even when he has done no work at all previous to, that. That is to say that very often, and especially in the case of the Main Trunk engine drivers, the whole time 'tihey are at work is paid for as overtime.

I might say I have no fault to find with the men of the Railway Officers’ Institute or the A.S.R.S., but I must express the opinion that the locomotive men had been very badly advised

in forcing a strike upon the country, and afterwards, when a settlement was being considered, taking up an utterly unreasonable attitude on a- fatally important question of principle. I am afraid there is some influence at work which has not yet appeared on the surface. •

ATTITUDE OF Ai&ELS.

EXPLANATION BY PRESIDENT,

WELLINGTON, May 1. “Perhaps same of our mem!vers are of the opinion that the Loco. Association will get an advantage over our executive, but I can assure members of the A.S.R.S. that there is no possibility of anything like that happening. The Government is already wise to the fact that to bring about such an arrangement would only mean falling ouS of the frying pan into the fire.” This signiticart Statement was wade this afternoon by Mr Hampton, president of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, in an interview covering the modt important phases of the railwaV dispute. Mr Hampton was asked whether the Prime Minister was right in his statement that the agreement ended the strike but not the grievances, “Oh, yes,” said Mr Hampton, “that is quite true, although at the sam 4 time, of course, we hope that the agreement made for the resumption of work will ultimately end the grievances of (the railwayman, but if it Toes not tha position is safe-guarded to this extent, that the men have a right to declare war again. The trouble was brought about in our case by‘ the position which he practically said the General Manager should have the last word on what he termed technical matters affecting conditions in the service. We always have been prepared to negotiate with the General Manager and try to come to terms, and if we could come_ to terms that, I think, would be the ideal way of settling our disputes, but we can never accept the position that the General Manager’s word must in each laid every case be accepted as final without the right of appeal to anyone else. The agreement which we have made gets over that position, *-nd gives ua the right to have the General Manager’s decisions reviewed by an independent tribunal. The arbitrator will not be solely selected by the Prime Minister, as he originally proposed in Ids last communication, but will be a matter for negotiation between Mi Massey and the executive. We will start the hearing of the case when wo both agree that we have confidence in the arbitrator, which will, we hope, bo in a few days. It may be suggested that it will be a difficult matter to arrange, but personally I do not expect any great difficulty in coming to an gjgreement regarding the chairmanship. To keep thousands of our men out of employment, involving enforced idleness of thousands of other workers, together with the general inconvenience of the public, would not, in my judgment, be justified. Consequently my executive have centred their attention in the meantime on negotiations which would bring about an early resumption of normal railway services and a reasonable prospect of better wages and conditions being arranged in the immediate future. Members of the A.S.R.S._ can accept my assurance that the aasis of the agreement for resumption is a> good one. It allows full, free and unrestricted discussion of any matter whatsoever that we wish to discuss concerning railway affairs before the tribunal to be set up. Regarding the telegrams from Napier and Auckland, whtre members of the A.S.U.S. have refused to carry out their executive’s instructions to resume work, it is quite clear that the men there do not understand the position. My executive endeavoured to get the E.F.C.A. executive to agree to combined representations on the matter. The executive of the E.F.C.A,. turned down absolutely the proposal, and consequently the A.S.E.S. had no option Tout to make an agreement meeting tneir own point of view.”

details of the feud,

The feud which has existed between the A.S.R.S. and the locomotive mens Society since this Society was formed many years ago by the secession of a number of locomotive men from the big Society. Since then the locomotive men have nearly all joined up with the new body, but for many years a considerable number of tiiem remained in tne A.S.RS. At the time that the locomotive men seceded the reason given for the action taken was that the engine men were not getting justice from the big Society when negotiations with the management were conducted for increases of pay and betterment of conditions. There has been jealousy between the two bodies ever since, and each has striven to ensure that its members do not suffer by comparison with members of the opposition Society. In this strike the locomotive men would not hear of joint action with the A.S.R., although the A.S.E.S. asked for it, for the first time probably since there have been two Societies. The locomotive men regarded the strike as their affair, and insisted on dealing with it in their own way. .Notf the A.S.R.S belong to the Transport Workers’ Federation and the Federation took some interest in the strike. When an official of this big body waited on the locomotive men’s executive he was told with but little ceremony to mind his own business. The result is that the locomotive men have cut themselves off and stand alone.

The meaning of the action of the A.S.R.S. executive in declaring the strike off is that the executive instructs its members to return to duty. If they refused- to do so that was their own affair to be settled by themselves with the Department. They were no longer, to look for support from the executive in staying ont in sympathy with the locomotive men. This did not mean that they were commanded to do locomotive men s work, but, they must remain on duty to do their own work in connection with any trains that may be run. At the meeting of the Thorndon branch m Wellington on Saturday stateW€re freely made by members that they would work trains, whoever they were manned by, and statements ot this sort must mean that the locomotive men have completely alienated the support of their fellow-workers in o her branches of the service. At few days ago they had the most enthusiastic support of these same workers.