New Scale To Be Used In Regrading

Chronicle (Levin), 22 March 1946, Page 8

New Scale To Be Used In Regrading

- Press Association

SETTLEMENT ACCEPTABLE

By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Mareh 21, The Prime Minister ('Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) announeed today tluit the basie salary scale for use in the regrading or the Publie Service and the Post and Telegraph Service as at April 1, 1946, had been approved by the Government. "The new scale," said the Prime Minister, "is the outcome of the re commeiulations of the Public Ser'vice Consnltative Committee, which has given considerable study to the pro'oleins m volved siliee it was set up last yehr. Flie Post and Telegraph Advisorv (Jommittee dealt with the matter as it at fected the Post and Telegraph service. Bota the Public Service Association and the Post and Telegraph Association have since the conipletion of the Oon sultative Committee's report, negotiateci with the Minister of Finance (Hon Walter Nash) and an agreement ha.been reaclntd on the scale now lixed.

"Two iinportant principles refiocted in the new s-ale are tliat auoiualies have' iieen adjusted and the cust of living iionuses are now ineorpurated 111 the salary, The most signiiicant chunge is tiie fact tliat the top of Ulass VI is tum reai'h.ed in the. 11th year of service, wkeii the salary is £400. Tliis com pares with tlie fornier totai reiuunera iioif of £393 111 the 13th year. "An oxtension lias been inade to tlu Publie Service Comiuissioner 's autlio'r | Uy in lixing liigher saiurie.s. Fornie ly !ie was authorised to lix salaries up tiie top of Class Special £840. This authority is now nicreased to perinii liitn to lix saiaries for positions up t. £1000. Sitnilarly in the Post and I'ele graph service •Jie Directui General authority hua so been extended. Last Regrading Postponed. "It shouid be explained, ' said the j Piinie Minister, tliat Ihe new scale j- } tlie basis on whicli the reg'-idiug is to rnf undertakeii as at \prii 1, i P 4 (5. i hco is slatutory provision for five-yearly re grading of the Public Service and the Post and Telegraph service. The last regrading undertakeii was in 19>i. Owing to war eoiiditions it was necessarv to postpone ihe regrading due in 19-12. A-l'ter representations from employce organisations, the Government agreed thac Ihe postponed regrading .-hutia! now take. place, tlie new grading to optrule from April 1 next. ' ' Dtii i ng the war tlie Government agi eeu i.i tne -etting-up of the (Joverii liient Railways Industrial Tribunal, with povver to fix salary rates for raiiway servauts, having regard to the wages paid in other industries. New scales were agreed to by this tribunal to i>e effective from Jnne 3(1, 1944 and the (tovernuieiit agreed' tliat any inereases arising from the application of tlie.se scales wouid apply to other branches ot tlie Public Service. It was appreciated at tlie timo tliat it was difticult to transi:;te to tiie Puiilie Service generally and the Post nd Telegraph service the de cisions tliat were rnade with particular appiication to the railway service, and thnt through tnaking adjustnients fol lowing the Railway Tribunal 's lindings certain anonmlies were sure to ariso. The einployees' organisations of the general Public -Service and the Post and . Telegraph service niade representationi to the Government tliat tliese anomalies ! shouid be adjusted as early as possible. j To this end, coinmittees were set up 111 I each of tliese two services, comprising ' nieiubers of tln official side and emj ployees, who were jointly to consider anomalies tliat then existed. Subse | quently recominendations were inade to the Government by tliese coinmittees. "Tlie basic scale now approved by the Government largely removes these J anonmlies, but does not grant anv subi stantial overall increase in pay to public servauts. Some small •inc-i"eases, hosyever, will be in volved in the course oi

making adjnstments. The new scale does not contravene the Government 's stabilisation policy. Removal of Anomalies, "The major effeet of the revised scale is to enabie anomalies to be reriio ved that existed prior to. stabilisation and in following the application of the Railway . Tribunal 's lindings to other branches of the Public Service. At the same time it has been decided to mcorporate into the salary the cost-of-iiving bonus at present paid separateiy. The revised scale, which will be used as the basis in the » orthcornmg ^regrading, will enabie satisfaction to be given to the claims of putilic. servitnts. ,s Mr. Fraser tlianked the Publie Service Association and the Post and Telegraph Association .for the reasonable and responsible nianner in which ^heir respective representations" were brought before the Government and for their full appreciation of the imperati've necessity bf maintaining the stabilisation poliey m the interests of the coulitry as a whnle. •

"The settlement is an aceeptable one, and the national executive i'eels it will give general satisfaction throughout the service," said Mr. J. K. Hunn, president of the Public Service- Associ ation, when asked to coiiimeut 011 the Government 's decision. "The law roquires a general regrading of the Public Service every live ycars, but the one due m 1942 was postponed 011 accouni of the war; conseque.nl ly the introduc lion of stabilisation in 1942 had the cll'ect of pegging Public Service rates of pay at levels lixed in the last regrading — in 1937. It is now nine vears since tliat regrading. Many anomalies tiave arisen in the meantime. The adjustinents made by tlie Government in tlie salary scale will enabie those anoni alics to be corrected in the regrading which is to be made as at April 1 next.

' 1 Considerable Advance. ' ' ' ' Except for variations dietated by the stabilisation policy, the recomiuen dations of the ConsultaLive Committee were adopted Ry the Government When the regrading is completed on the basis taid down, a very considerable }*idvance J will have bee.11 made." Mr. Hunn added that the Public Ser- j vice Consultative (jonimittee had been I a unique cxperiihent in conciliation 1 procedure, and the results justified the hope that it would beeome the conven tional method of ad.-jiisting major claims. It had been fully recognised by the association 's executive that the Govei'iiment was faced with a diffieult task in endea vouring to do justiee to its employbes without departing from a policy which it considered fundamental to the welfare of the community. The

Minister of Finance thronghout the negotiations had been vrery frank in stating his point of view and had afforded the association representati ves every opportunity of discussing difficul 1 ties, not only with him, but also with [ his responsible advisers. He had .also given meticulous attention to the assoc lation's submission. - It had alwcys I been very evident that the Govfcrnmeat ; was prepared to do wliatever it was i convinced was right; indeed, it would | r.ot otherwise have authorised the seti ting up of the Consultative Committee. 1 Mr. Hunn hoped that the solid sat- | isl'action which public servauts would feel in the settlement would be shared j by the Government.

P. and T. Appreciation. "The announcement you have made tonight cuncerfnng the salary i-clieduJes 1 vvliich will opeiate in the Post and Tele-J graph service will be reeeived with sin- j eere appreciation by our large member-J j -hip, " states the retiring president of ! j tlie Post and Telegraph Employees' As- ! sociation and Officers' Guild (Mr. J. G. Churchill) and the president -eleet (Mr. A. A. Willtes) in a letter reeeived tonight by the Prime Minister. "These sciiedules are tlie culinination of some 1 months of discussion and investigatioir within our own depiartment and in the coin-luding stagesAvith your Minister of- | r'HLanee. tI)urin^ these in-v^tigatibns , it ■: bb.eb3n© ipiateii^ that the ;Post Oilice ! of to'day is not the Post Orfice of a i teu years ago, but is noW quite a util- | lty (leparlinent, handling a volume and j variety of new and unusual work. It ' will be realised thaL the reelassilication of our service was considerably overdue ! owing to circumstances- arising from ihe ! war. From the outset it was appareut that. tlie Government 's stabilisation | ,.iqjicy had to be rospccted and any deI cisions made had to be within the | Ifaineworu of tliat policy. The earnest study by a departiuentai joint advisorv cuuncil, followed by straightforward > 1 iscussi 011s witli your Minister and his | udvisers, made possible a solution satI i.i'actoi-y botli to the poliey of your Goveniiueiit and the reasonable expectations of our members. This desirable result is the natural outcome gof the friendly collaboration which has existed between the Government and our organisation over a period of years and L one further example of the results made possible by tlie mutual confidence existing between our association and the administration of the departmeiit — a conlidence which has been fostered by the Postmaster-General, your Ministers and yourself as Prime Minister."