CALL THEM'BACK?

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1248, 3 October 1911, Page 5

CALL THEM'BACK?

1 THE TRAMWAY MEN. \ DISCUSSION BY CITY COUNCIL ' ■' ______' ) Respecting tho wages question ns Ixv > hvwn tho Wellington City Council aJid ' tho tramway employees, which is to go • before, tho Conciliation Council, Council- > lor Hind.mar.sh said ot yesterday's special liici.'tiiig of llio council thai lie thought ' that, even yet, honietliing could bo donu ; : if the men were approached. Speaking j of tho conditions which tin; men worked ; under, ho said that he thought fluit tho. ; wages should be increatcd. Hβ moved: i That there should Ijo three classes of ■ motonnen, tho first-class af her llirco years' \ wrvico to lewivo Is. 3d. per hour; tlio wcond class Is. 2d. per hour; and tlio • , third class Is. lid. ]ier hour. 'L'he Mayor: Do you know how much ; that runs to? t Councillor Hindraarsh: No. Tho Mayor:' Jt is .£ll)fiG, plus XGSO. Councillor Hindinar&h contended that , those figures did not apply, as they had • bwn arrived at on a wrong basis. Ho went on to state that it was absurd to Kay that men should be expected to remain in the eorvico at the samo rate of pay for ycaVs and years. He would like Irani his Worship, aome indication as to whether they could not refer this matte? to ,i committee (who would report to the j next mcetins of the council) and see if they could not have tho matter settled. The Mayor: Wo havo -tried hard. Councillor Hindniarsh : If you gave me a J free- hand I would not commit the coun- j cil to, anything, and 1 would bring back "i some proposals which I believe- tho council could accept. Tho Mayor: You havo been on com-, mittces wit'h me, and wo liavo always met these men fairly. Tho overhead wires men's dispute was mentioned, and Councillor Hindniarsh remarked: "How did wo settle that mat- -i ter? We simply threw it back \\\ their faces until you (the Mayor) canio. Tlio Mayor: Why, I am blamed for the whole thing! Councillor nindraarsh ■ repeated thai >-. Uioro was still timo to settle this matter -, j out of Court, and Jin added to his motion':'. 4 "That a committee, consisting of Councillors M'Lareu, Fletcher, and Hiudmarsh, should l)o appointed to meet Ilio men." Councillor- Barber seconded Urn motion, A and agreed with Councillor Hindmarsh. s that it was desirable to settle this matter : out of Court. He regretted that tho tram- ( ', way coininitteo of the council did not «iv« tho council an opportunity of discussing lite matter beforo it went to UlO Court. • The trouble had been before tho committee for a lonj time, and, if tho committee could not bring about ah understanding, it should havo Riven the council . an opportunity. A member of tho 0111- , ployecs were underpaid. Men who were in the service a year—married men hand- | ling money which they w-o responsible for—had boon worked -15 hours to earn £2 ) 3s. I'd. They had to work their Sarin - - 1 day afternoon for a total of .02 Cs. They : did not havo ordinary hours. They had j not all their evenings to themselves, and ' '. had to bo dragged out c!" bed at unearthly . j hours to start. Tlio best paid motor- | men earned £2 10s. 7Jd. in 45 hours, •Mid . j they had tho lives of citizens- in their j care. A statement hnd been made in i one of the papers, the other day that two i mofcormen earned £8 in two weeks. They j should not have been allowed to do so, ■ jl as thev must Titivc had to work hours so lcng that they were unfit for such duty. : Other employees in the system were underpaid, and ho did not think Hint the citizens know how poorly paid their scrranU ! were. ■ I Tho Mayor asked if Councillor Barber was aware that the committee had offered ' a higher rate of pay. to "' ! 'P° out over- j time, and to put on more men. Councillor Fletcher_ thought that Coun- . 1 cillor Barber was a little narrow, but ho also thought that an effort ehonjd 1)© < mado to settle tho trouble out of Court. Councillor M'Laren supported the motion, and gavo his views at considerable length. It was stated by Mr. Richardson that tho men had withdrawn from the negotiations, and had taken tho matter to the Court. Councillor Trevor remarked that no on» had said anything about the suits ...0f.,,.,, 1 clothes and (he various-'other concession!)- '* • j that Iramwaymcn got, and which. other j men did not get. Tho best couno was to \ J let the matter bo decided by tho Ikmlv appointed to deal with such matters, and to which the men had applied. - Councillor Smith: It seems peculiar < Hint tho men who arc wooing citizens for their votes aro those proposed to compose this conimilloe. ■ ■ ■ A voice: Set up another. i Councillor Smith: No; I don't propose . ■' to set up oup at all. Tho Mayor has doho all that ho could to conciliate the men, ; and they had gone to the Court. ... ' Tho Mayor pointed out that the council had benn cited, and the council had been , notified. Number eleven of (heir demands l)egnn: "There shall be no Epai , © list ." That was what they wore up '. against for a start. No man could say , that lie had not done his best. Ho had spent Saturday afternoons and Sundays trying to fully understand tho problem, and, when ho ' failed, he put on Iho experts who know moro than he did to talk in private- with. ' ' : HiCiUi. Tho matter was pone into very earnestly, and, on the third night, when things had gone a certain wav tho men ; threw ut) tlio thing and nvtlkml out and , cited tho council. It had not lieon stated < that Uio council paid .£IOOO a year for their elo'-hcs, their holidays should havo been mentioned, and it should havo been ■ s.iid that, whou a man was injured, ho ( was not put on half pay. Tho Wellington tramways, ho was proud to sav, paid the best wastes in New Zealand, and them were many unemployed ends; , .von ring to get into the scrvieo. Ho hoped that (lie Court would award tho wen a Urine wage, but lie had honestly dono his verv ; best. _ " ~ Councillor Hindmarsh. remarked that . he wan tod to -repudiate- what Councillor . i| Smith had said. He had expected Couu- . i cillor Smith to s?.iy something of the Irind. He had );ad no ulterior motive. Councillor Smith seemed to think tho . . effecting of Uio purpose would civo the committee soino special importance, some ' ' particular prestige. Councillor Hindmars'h's motion to sot \ < up a committee was defeated. On tho motion of tlio Mayor, it was decided that Messrs. Kichardsoa (eo'ty electrical engineer), I'aline.r (town clerk), ! and Inspector Gilivary should be tho • council's assessors in tho matter before the Conciliation Council. . ■