RAILWAY SERVANTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1203, 11 August 1911, Page 6

RAILWAY SERVANTS.

A PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. CONDITIONS AND PAY, On behalf of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Mr. D. M'Lareu, M.1 , ., yesterday presented'to Parliament the. following petition, which is intended to .'replace • a petition' presented to the Hou«o during th-o session of 1910. Tho latest petition asks that the scalo ot conditions and pay. shall be amended as follows;— ■•'.■■ ... Wages. > That a 10 pc-r cent, increase in wages ■ shall bo-'"granted to all branches ot the railway service , throughout the second o> Vl fhat men termed hour-to-hour casuals be paid not less than Is. 3d. per hour, and' riven the usual privileges. That all men engaged in shunting oper-ations-"bo paid, as shunters. . That the Classification Act bo amended KO as to maintain the full percentage m both grades. . , That when a roan is brought on duty ho bo paid not loss than half a days Pi -i'hat 6d. per day tool allowance; be granted to carpenters.

Hours.' ."• That 48 hours shall constitute a week's work for all grades of tho service, and that overtime rates bo paid'for. all time worked in excess of these hours. Gangers and'surfacemen's time to couut iroin trolly-stand to ' That not less than nine hours be allowed off.'duty.between,shifts in the. trainTunning departments. That each day's work shall, stand by itself so far as the workshops branch is ■ concerned. : . That way and works mon bB paid wet or dry and for all time travelling under the JJepnrwienfs instructions, and. when finished their week's work bo allowed to travel homo by tho first available train. That intermittent., time be abolished, i.e.: That members shall not bo booked on and off duty at short intervals, tails spreading their day's work over 12 and 11 hours, for which they ieoeive.no additional pay. : ... , .That 15 minutes' additional time.be nl';lowed for preparing and putting away en,:gines. This not to include engines en- ■ gaged in regular shunting work. That all guards be booked on duty at jleast 30 minutes before tho-departure 'timo of their trains. ; Allowances, ; That lodging allowance be paid accordZing to Regulations 41, -15, and 4G. ■ That tho words "sleeping accommodation" in Regulations d-i and 45 bo defined' iby Pariiamcmt. ''■'~.■ r . . That paragraph 6 of Regulation 5o bo struck out. That when members aro transferred at the convenience of the Department, all expenses incurred bo defrayed by the Department on production of vouchers. 'That ten days' leave be granted to all members of the second division, and that one additional day. be grin ted for each five years' service after fifteen years. That all passes and privileges given to members' bo of equal value. That the free passes formerly issued to members' wives and housekeepers be resj tored, and the words "privilege ticket in, Regulation sfl be -struck out, ; and tho words'"free passes" substituted. Appointments. That Parliament, in the interest of tho men and for the 'public safoty, lay down the principle that guards shall be appointed from shunters, signalmen, and etoremen, and that no' , one shall be appointed to the position of guard who is. not a compotent shunter. •" .-', ■ That m&n employed on dining-cars and in Government railway sawmills be placed on the permanent staff, and given the eame privileges and right to appeal as other members of tho service. That tho promiso mado by the >Hon. Hall-Jones to place casuals of over five years' service oil the permanent staff bo given effect , to. That juniors who have served their period of probation shall be: placed on the D-3 list according to length of service. , Punishments. That Parliament consider and define tho time a man shall be kept under suspension, and awaiting the decision of the Department. That the'method and severity ■of punishments meted out to railwaymea bo considered by' Parliament. 1 Superannuation.

That tho benefits of tho Workers' Compensation for Accident Act shall not in any way interfere with tho benefits derived undor the Government Railways Superannuation Fund. That Parliament give members who retire or may be dismissed the right to .continue their payments into tho. Superannuation. Fund and participate in the ■benefits, soeing that in many .instances .they are too old to join the National Provident Fund or niako other provision for old age. •"' / . That Parliament consider amending the Government Railways Superannuation Fund in the direction of providing for tho widow and family of a retired member. Departmental Inquiries and Appeal Boards. That the decision of the Appeal Board <bo final. ' ■' ■ That, the constitution of Departmental •.Braids of Inquiry be so altored as to give : members of the Second Division repre(saatation on the saino, and the'right to 'bo represented by an. independent outside advocate. . That appellants going before the Appeal Board have the right to bs represented by ; aii independent outside advocate. -...'. ' General. That all regulations embodying questions of principle be incorporated in tho Classification Act. That the division barrier in tho Railway Service be abolished, and that equal opportunity to rise bo given to all. Tim t all guards be supplied-with amileage table from any station to any station, to enable them to compute fares and charges on goods .and parcels correctly. , That the uniforms lie restored to shunters, and gcoils-shed porters. That full civil and political rights bo granted to all railway servants. - That _■ preference to unionists be given both in" the employment and reduction of-staff in riio Nett Zealand railpays. " TELEGRAM TO MR. MASSET. Tho. Minister for Railways (the Hon. J. A. Millar) stated on Wednesday, in replying to a question by Mr. Mnssey, that he would bo glad to concede to tho New Zealand railway employees tho condition? and pay enjoyed by railwaymen in New South Wales. Answering'a sseond question by Mr. Massev, the Minister stated that ho would 1* glad to make the substitution apply either to the locomotive branch or to the service as a whole. Yiesterday. .Mr. Massoy received the following telegram from tho secretary of the Locomotivo Union :—

"This union is willing to accept New South Wales and Victorian conditions and pay, provided conditions and pay in New Zealand are kept strictly in accordance with thp?o States; also, that, locomotive men in New Zealand shall bo paid tho same peropntase over a labourer os exists in those States." STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. ! NOT PREPARED TO ACCEPT. When interviewed last evcniiiß, the Minister for Rnilways said he had received a telegram from t : ho Locomotive Drivers' Union statins; that the union was prepared to accept the pay and con-'-:Mons ruling in New South Wales, on >mlition that the scale of pay was in '■o Eamo proportion to that of the lab-n-ers as in the case- of the New South '-.lies railways. That proposal was cloned. I'iiero wore several reasons which made impossible for tho Department to agreo the proposition. "It has always been the policy of tho '■epartment," said Mr. Millar, "to endeavour to raise tho more lowly paid men to better positions. The statement is freely mado thut the increased ooet of living demands increased pay. If tho cost of living makes it hard for the man who is receiving only 83. per day to secure a reasonably comfortablo livins, then that man is entitled to consideration before his fallow, .who- is receiving pay that

allows a much larger margin than is actually necessary for his maintenance." Tim Minister said that tho increase in cost involved by Uio proposition was greater than tho New- Zealand or any other service could stand without' very materially increasing both tho passenger rates and tliu charges for tho carriage of goods. Tho locomotive drivers propped that.their wages should be raised to_ the scalo of payment in New South Wales and Victoria, the basis upon which the wages were to bo calculate.! being the pay fixed for railway labourers. "Jn Victoria," said the Minister, "the railway labourer is paid 7s. 'per day in the second grade and 75.. fid. in this first grade; the drivers are paid 11s., 125., 135., and Its., nearly double the pay received by labourers. Jn New South Wales the labourer is paid 7s. and 7s. (id.; the en-gine-drivers receive 11s., 125., 135., Ms., and. 15s. In New Zealand, at the present time, the labourer receives Bs. 4d, per day, while the engine-drivers are paid in tho two grades 10s. Gd., Us., Us. Cd., 12s.;'and 12s. lid. per day. "if tho proposal of the union was accepted, tho . wages of engine-drivers on tho .basis of 7s. per day would have to bo increased to 13s. Id., Its. 3d., 155.. 5d., lGs. Bd., and 17s. > 10d. per day, an increase of ss. 4d. por day in tho first grade, as against 155., the highest wage paid in New South Wales, and 14s. tho highest, in Victoria. Computed on tho basis of 7s. Gd. per day, the highest rate paid ■to labourers in these States, the wages for engine-drivers in Now Zealand would bo 12s 2d., 13s. 4d., Us. od., 15s. 7d., and 16s. Bd. per day, , or Is. Bd. above the highest rate paid in New South Wales, and ■2s. Bd. above the highest in Victoria. "The total cost involved in t , 's increase of wages of the engine-drivers a.one would be, in Class A, on the basis of 7s. a day, ,£25,157 per annum, and in Class B on tho basis of 7s. Cd. per day .£17,189, tho -corresponding increase would have to no given to firemen and cleaners, and that would involvo an additional JEIi.GOO par annum. The total. tho expenditure upon tho wages of engine-drivers, firemen, and cleaners would, be, under Class A, i£39,757, and, under Class B, ,£32,089 per annum. "These," concluded Mr. Millar, are the demands of only α-small section:of the Tailway service. I'l'om them tho public may realise what they have to face.