BANK EMPLOYEES AND THE COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 151, 21 March 1919, Page 6

BANK EMPLOYEES AND THE COST OF LIVING

Sir,—l ami glad to see that "Launcelot," m his admirable letter in to-day's Dominion" 1 ;as "set tho ball rolling" at last with n jgurd to tho above subject, and there i low seems a reasonable hope that eome interest may be awakened amongst ba'ak men in New Zealand, and a bank of icers' guild formed in this country 011 similar lines to that recently established in London.

As a rei |ult of tho formation of the guild mostof the big banks have now granted substantial increases to their staffs, anrfi I. understand that the Bank of Englan/1 and National, Provincial, and Union Biv uk of England led tho way with aSO per < jent. bonus. It would appear, moreover, that these increases are not being loq Iced lipnn merely as temporary war bonr ises, but as a permanent raising of the si hlnvy scale, as the following extract from ono of tho leading London papers t rill 6how. Tho great banks and other large financial and commercial concerns in Londoi a and tho provinces have latterly, i-jn view of tho increased cost of living,, 'ihnde an exhaustive inquiry into ti ie question of salaries, and' during thi e week I understand that several important decisions have been announe jsd. One I. of the leading • banks has, I learn. ' increased tho salaries of the married male members of its staff by 100 ijpr cent—On the pre-war scale— and the non-married male members by iS per cent. Junior male members or the staff ivho have joined sinci > the w.ar got a substantial bonus. No 1 intimation, I \lnder6tand, has beon. mado to the large numbers of girl clerks and typists who have Been ifted during tho war of any projected ; increase, and some dissatisfaction haa thereby been bjeated. 'I'ho now nalt try scale adopted by tho bank refey red to—which has in ovjiry town in England of any size— •wi 11, it is believed in banking circles, bq adopted as a general standard." It 3 3 rumoured, also, that some of thi Ausj .plasian banks havo not been behinflnand in granting substantial ineretisos to their London staffs, and if it is Recognised that such adequate adjustment in salaries must be made to meet the : increased cost of living in England, hos r' much more should it bo recognised mi);,', here, where, even in pre-war days, tHi r. cost of living was at least 25 per ceiit. higher than in the Old Country? Nl m is the time for bank men to throw ofl ! their old conservative ideas with refei) tiaco to trade unionism amongst professional men,. Why. in New Zealand we a're faced with trade unions in every ■profession. The lawyers, architects, and il octors all have their fixed scales of fees; the insurance companies havo their underwriters' association, and last, but not least, we havo the Associated Banks—all trade unipns more or less—therefore why I iliould not bank clerks combine, like any .'other body, to bring about reforms in their own profession ?—I am, etc., GALAHAD.