RAILWAY GRIEVANCES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1126, 13 May 1911, Page 3

RAILWAY GRIEVANCES.

Sir,—Noting in your paper, of last Monday week a report or uu interview wall a retired' ranvay hrcuian, 1 was very lorciWy reminded o: my own experience as a uremaii on tiie viovcrmnciu Kailways, more especially on" the Wellington section. Owing to tiie utter indittcreiico snowu as- to huurs, continual night-shut, bud condition oi engines,, ami lust, but not least, tiie poor quality of coal supplied, i was* not sorry tome -mourns ago io resign "iy. position of nearly six years' service to lake a regular hour job outside, and which a lew more 'men will be doing shortly, if things do nor nitwit great deal nioro ou'tlus section. Being in' constant touch with my old companions, Wellington firemen, 1 leel it my duty to lot the outside public know some ot their grievances, as they are lorIjidden to give any.news or to write Io any of tho paper.-, on railway matters, while they are in the service. Cleaners now start at- the increased wage of live and sixpence per night, which is not a' fair wage' for a youlii starting. He must face with a big heart two years' night-shift, and-sometimes more. Two years of darkness, and what an existence, with a kerosene torch of about two caudle-power luiug on the front of his cap, to worm his way around the'intricate parts of a locomotive, with its dirt and grease and ashes. Ono could spend many hours of regret for having endured those nights of darkness. Writing of the experiences and sufferings ,of two years of imnaturalness, I write these few iincs warning young men who are thinking of joining the. railway service to ask any of those wlfo have been through the mill themselves. Most, people arc. aware of the erratic hours of railway men, but few outsiders'-realise'the hardships of hours, when aggravated by a bad system of working the men. Men are booked on -it different times, to do a certain job involving eight or .nine hours, bringing iood accordingly. They are then told when they get-back thai ' they are not linHicd yet, and they then have to ;;o and work"another five aml'-sis hours without any extra food at nil. Men fruqiientJv w.ork dangerously long, hours—fourteenj and"fifteen hours a day—at no regular job Men are .frequently booked on again with a bare eight hours off, mid I know of men who have .slept in tho shed instead of going -home, because they have been booked on too early in the morning to allow them to go home and have a good sleep and-get on duty at tlip limo they are booked on again. Assuming a young, active, man can walk,home, have some refreshments, and hate a wash and got to bed in ono hour, and again on arising, we allow another hour to drc=s refreshments, iirj. walk to-work; with n bore eight hours on" we find Ihc maximum amount of sleep possible aix hour.-. Is thai man receiving justice, or able to take .the great responsibility ,of his calling on his shoulders for a ,ten, fourteen, or fifteen-hour day? I say-from my own experience decidedly not. It is a constant menace to public safety.

The notorious mcchanicnl failure, classified as Ihe K Compound, and commonly known to railway men as Pearsons dream, or Hie white elephant, is locallybuilt iind designed, costing an enormous amount of money to build mid ti> maintain. She is now degraded lo the. undignified position of "emergency," and lias heeu standing in (ho siied for (ho last six month'-, doing practically nothing to the great joy of Die locomotive boys, who dreiid the sight of her, being inlensc!}' hot to work on, Some few months ago a trial trip was held with (his engine, from Thorndon lo Jnhnrnnville, and the Locomotive Inspector and Running Shed foreman were on the footplate at this time, and when I hey hud got started and got the tunnels, it was that hot. on this engine that the Locomotive Inspector had lo get oil' and go hack in (he van, because of the heat. He could sland it no longer, and yet, when uthpr men are put on to work this engine they have to stand it, and get to their deputation Iho best way they can, or if they don't the. Department will want lo know the reason why. It was the practice of the iireman ot' this engine lo wear a leather or asbestos apron down the. side of his clothes, to prevent them being scorched, and then ho had lo go five trips up the bank a day assisting trains a distance of about eight miles, and go through seven tunnels in this .short journey, which is a disgrace to tho Hailway Department. Now comes (ho great and ever-prevail-ing grievance of bad coals. As the other ex-lireman so truly remarked, slippery rails, etc., recede the hlamc for (lie delays which occur through the. fireman being unable to keep the engine up to its working pressure. Trim the loco, foreman cannot be blamed for this, but if they had the courage ,of their convictions nml staled that soft cer-s are not suited for the heavy work of the Thorndon-Palmerston section, some good might, be done, inslead, it is bad rails, etc., just to blind the public. It was a towering grievance among the 'i'horndon men (li.it the very poor quality of cool is unsuitable, and 1 know of men who have been overcome by the fumes from the soft coals in the tunnels, and they have been off sick on account of these, coals. Another great grievance is the big amount of night-shift?, and the unequal distribution of day-work between tho men. Some men work three and four weeks continuously on night-shift, while other men ut the same lime nro working continual weeks on day-shift, instead of the night and day work being cut , up in common fairness to all parties. Nightshift and bad coal and bad management are big factors in making the Wellington socfion the most discontented section in the North Island, and inslead of making matters a little easier by judicious manat'ement they are aggravated and magnified by 'n lack of , system. Thanking you for.this valuable snacc in presenting the words,—l am, etc..

ANOTHER EX-I'IHEMAN, X.Z.R,

Sir,—Tour article on t Jis subject of espionage of railway guards has a greater interest to the travelling public than most people imagine. It is not merely a matter betwec-n th-e Department and its servants; the broader question of public convenience is involved, for the natural outcome of the controversy must be the inauguration of th; barrier system of ticket taking. Under this system, all tickets are collected at the station-entrance bel'ora the train starts—as is done at the ICelburne Tramway. From personal experience of the. barrier system in Australia. I may say that the present system is much the "best from the passengers' point ot vMir, both in comfjit and time-saving, and it is to be hoped no alteration vrill be made.-I am, etc.. CONDEXgEn _

Sir—ln pur issue of April 29 your correspondent "Iconoclast," after a tirade, of ridicule and cxaigerated mis-s-tuloinrnts concerning railway employee generally, says: ''Compare his, "'he delated inilwaynianY, J , '' s, ''' ,ll ""'*'' men '' v ' n ? ! n oufgreat cities." There are thousands (?) in Wellington who wonlrt jump at his chance. This appears different to the jjeneral impre"ion conceniins the iinijoiity of the people in the cities. 1 think it is generally acknowledged that the trouble is to prevail on the people to leave Ihe cities to go into the country. No doubt there are some who would jump at those chaneas of "kunoclnst's," but when thousands are mentioned it looks rather, farfetched.—l »ii', etc.,

COMMON SENSE.