THE FIRE BRIGADE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1258, 13 October 1911, Page 2

THE FIRE BRIGADE.

REPLY TO THE MEN. TEE MAYOR PUTS ANOTHER VIEW. In yesterday's Dominion thoro appeared the - Of' a statement made br the flro brigade men regarding the recent trouble between them and the City Council. ' The Mayor eays that the. position- ia not altogether as stated by the men. "The men," he says, "give as tan instance one case of the 6onior station officer, to whom a slight increaso has been granted, making his remuneration J63 2s. 6d. per week, but no mention is made of the allowances which this officor also receives. They arc as follow. Ho is provided with uniform and boots; Being a married man, he is furnishod with a. suite of rooms, or quarters, for himself and family. He also pets free lighting, and gas for a heater for his bathroom. In addition, ho also has 11 hours off duty every sixth day, and an annual holiday of 11 dajs on full pay. "The station officer mentioned in tha men's statement, in addition to tho wages given W2 17s. per week) is granted exactly the same allowances as tho senior station officer. "With respect to the statement that nine mon have left tho brigado within the last six weeks, and have thus loft tho brigado not fully tho changes which have occurred have in no sense interfered with tho efficiency of the brigade, in faot, the superintendent considers that tho changes havo been beneficial, and that tho brigade is consequently more efficient." REASONS FOR THE DEMANDS. As reasons for tho demands made, tho men refer to their long hours and th* arduous nature of their duties. They eay that they arc practically "on duty ' for 133 hours out of every 144 hours. That is to say, they get 11 hours off every six days, aid receivo an annual holiday of 14 days. Tho daily routine of station* duty '(cleaning appliances, etc.) commences with the iirst bell at C.30 a.m., and all iuvo to be on parade at 6.45 p.m., and work till 8 a.m., when thero is an hour for breakfast. Afterwards work continues until the dinner hour at noon, and again from 1 p.m. until about 2.30 p.m. In addition to a regular turn at lour-hour watches on tho felt-phono, each man has to take the night watch every eight or nine days. This goes on. from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m., though tho wwtehmaa is allowed a strctoher ou which to sleep after midnight. Coming off wflteh in tho morning, ho takes up ordinal? duty, and in tho afternoon takes another watch from 4 o'clock until 8 o'clock. Visitors are only allowed to go and «o firemen, at the station on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, on the afternoons and in tho evenings.