PACIFIED.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1257, 12 October 1911, Page 5

PACIFIED.

THE CITY FIRE BRIGADE, NATURE OF THE TEEMS, Yesterday- afternoon tho Wellington City Council held'a special meeting to deal with tho position that had arisen bis tvvecn tho council and tho City Firo Bnt P>de. j Tho Mayor stated that, m accordance f with instructions given him, a number of ; councillors had mot representatives of the * firo brigade during the morning, and had y entered into negotiations for a settlement of their complaints. They had ' spent from 10 a.m. till 12.30 in discussing the matter, and ho was pleased to be ' able to announce that, if tho council 1 could see its way to ratify arrangements i made by tho committee, the matter was s at an end. Tho men had been given till 2.30 p.m. to consider tho proposals, and s he had now a letter from them conyey- ? ing tho fact of their acceptance. They l had also asked for bed linen. Tho conn--0 cil provide bed and blankets, but not sheets. Tho men also desired to bo grant- " cd tho cost of the washing, and this had 1 already been acceded. They further ask- ] ed that, at tho end of the financial year, e they should bo allowed to apply for a I review of their position. He moved that j the sub-committee's action should be approved. J Tho Offer Made to Brigado. b Tho Special Committee reported that it t had made tho following offer to tho t brigade :— i- (Tho figures in tho tablo represont pre- .. sent wages, increaso passed at last meete ing, and amount now offered.) s. (L 6. d. s. d. ." Probationers 38 5 40 0 40 0 " Third-class Firemen 41 5 43 0 43 0 „ Second ditto 43 9 46 0 43 0 „ First ditto 4<i 1 48 0 4 3 0 ° Motormen .. 47 G 50 0 50 0 i- (Motormen.—Yearly increaso of 2s. Gd. op.iv. to maximum of 61s. p.w.) II Sen. Firemen 48 0 50 0 52 6 11 Station Officer (1) „ 54 5 5G 0 57 0 Station Officer (2) ... 52 5 54 0 55 0 £ Sen. Station Officer GO 7 61 0 62 ti n Tho following additional allowances to t tho men aro recommended:— ? t All cleaning rags to be provided. 2. Boots injured by firo to bo repaired by council. 3. Allowance in lieu of quarters to bo 12s. Gd. per week, instead of as formerly 12s. and 7s. Gd. per week. i. All coal to bo supplied for men's mess till end of financial year (report to bo obtained at end of financial year of quantity used). 5. Ono washing per week for bed linen for single men. "An Honourable Compromise." Councillor FlotoheT seconded tho proo po=ml. Ho complimented tho Mayor on his handling of the meeting that mornd ing. Ho also thought that tho request i- for sheets should be granted, o Councillor Trevor thought that the council had como off socoud best. The t. outcome of this affair would bo that other n corporation employees would apt just as n tho brigade had done. There was a co- « vert threat about another riso at the end of the financial year. If tho council eupd plied tho bedding it wwld merely be c thrown about and destroyed. J- Councillor Shirtclitto regretted that tiho >. men had acted so precipitately, but ho >t was satisfied with the terms made, and d thought that there was no cause for supe posiug that tho council had como off bcco ond best. f Councillor Godber thought that the o terms proposed were iair and equitable, n Councillor Frost said that if the Fire it Brigade Committeo had had the iuformay tion before them earlier they would havo n como to tho same conclusion as that o which had been arrived at by the special .V committee. F- Councillor Fitzgerald looked upon the 1- result as an honourable oompromiso. is Councillor Smith said that it was a :o foregone conclusion that tho men would ;0 havo to accept tho oiler or go out. He i- thought that the council had showed l- weakness in giving the extra, amount, lie S did not begrudge it to them, however, >- becauso firemen doing their duty honcstd ly wcro worth it. But tho brigado had d not acted fairly in asking the council so io roughly to consider its decision without 0- special reason for doing so. The men ie could havo got what they had obtained Is by writing in a proper manner. They had ic now received nil they could reasonably d expect, and were not likely to get any is more at tho end of tho financial year. d Councillor Mackenzio oongratulat1. Ed tho ooußcil on tho provisions io made by tho council in case tho brigade is had gono out. Tho council had not' been worried in tho . least as to whether the ■o men retired or not. Thoy (tho council) d had not altogether backed down, as they '• had not accepted tho terms which tlie.v o had been threatened with. They should 5- thank Captain Wright, tho members of d the firo police, and. tho outlying bric gades. y Inside Story of it all, 'J When replying, tho Mayor thought it jj necessary to refer to the history of tho e caso. On Saturday morning he had rcceived an ultimatum from tho Firo Brigado men. Ho had called a meeting of j* the council for 10 o'clock. Tho brigado c had threatened to go out' at 10, but ho v had arranged that the hour fixed should be altered to 11 o'clock. Tho council then met tho men, and told them e that they refused to accept any such ulti--0 malum, and that, if the men insisted on 1V their demands without having a conforence, they could go out at 11 o'clock, and the council .would , have ..to . man the o place. Tho men retired and conferred (j among themselves, and agreed to a conference with tho council. The council then set up a committeo to meet the men, but, in tho meantime, the council had been offered nssistanco by the fire police and volunteer fire brigade men. When tho committee and the men had met yesterday morning, tho men hud been told that tho council wero unable to grant their demands, that the offer was final, and that tho council would meet at 2.30 to icceivo the men's reply to tho committee's proposal at 2 7 o'clock the answer came, accepting the is telins offered. Tho council had not suf- -- fercd any loss of dignitv. There was no question of winning ot losing. Tho committeo had offered what if. thought was 1) fair, and that the men had accepted, n Tho motion to ratify tho agreement ar■V rived at was carried unanimously. > On tho motion of Councillor Fuller, S it was decided to provide bed linen. Ten o favoured the motion, and four opposed it. n Tho following composed the sub-com-:o mitteo which met tho men: The Mayor, Councillors Fletcher, Trevor, Shirtchffe, >t Godber, Hindmarsh, and Frost, is 0 WHAT THE MEN SAY. d STRIKE WAS CONTEMPLATED. « Members of the Firo Brigade, speaking ) of tho position last evening, stated that, j' prior to tho meetiug with tho City Coun- ' eil Committee yesterday morning, they had determined to go on strike if their demands had not been acceded to and would havo done so but for the fact that ' one or two dropped out' of tho movement 1' at tho last moment. It was then deemed tho wiser plan to accept the offer made by tho committee. The men do not, however, consider that the council has como off socond best in the matter as suggested by ono councillor. £ 'Thev also object to the statement that f they have "acted precipitately" as their f first letter, asking lor an increaso of pay, was forwarded to the City Council on I" September 12 last. They st'nto that, on [' Saturday last-, the council did not then decline'to accept the ultimatum, but " slated that they could not accept it that ■ morning as it was necessary t» givo 48 ' hours' notice to call a meeting. Hence the men agreed Io wait until 10 a.m. on ® Monday. :: The men, while recognising that their J conditions aro now improved, do not con- ' sider that their demands were _un.re.isonf able. As an instance, tile iwsit.ion of the . Senior Station Officer, whose wages havo " been increased by Is. 7d. per week, is cited. llo_ has had somo twelve yours,' service and is in 1 charge of the Wellington South station, while on occasions ho has to relievo t3io dcpuly-s-uprrintondciit at tho Central Elation. Tho first station officer, who is now to receivo .£2 17s. per week, has had about s ton years' service. r Until the pressnt arriiigcniont wns ar--1 rived at, tho men dc:;laro that t'lie coal :• allowance \ras quite inadeqmilo at tho ) Central station. Their Ixwt lepairingwas ) iui expenisive item, and likewi«> tho mess . bill, on account of the uumliar of mem. • leaving. Nine men, it is mid, have loft ) in tho past six weeks, and this, it is oonj tended, auans a brigade not fully effi--1 croat. ,