RAILWAY INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 105, 28 January 1920, Page 8

RAILWAY INQUIRY

DEMANDS OF SECOND DIVISION

HEARING BEFORE INQUIRY BOARD

SHARE IN CONTROL OF SYSTEM DESIRED Tho New Zealand Railway Servants' Inquiry Heard, which is investigating tho conditions at present obtaining, in the railway service continued its deliberations yesterday. . Both tho morning and afternoon sittings were taken up with tho hearing of tho claims of the' Second Division. His Honour .Mr. Justice Stringer presided over !ho inquiry, and associated with him as assessors were Mr. 11. W, Mouatt, representing Die Railway Department, nnd Mr. M. J, Mack, representing the A.S.It.S. Mr. J. Mac Donald up. peared as advocate for tho Department in place of Mr. 11. Williams, and the advocate for the Second .'Division wi.s Mr. R. Hampton.

Continuing his outline of the case for the Second Division Mr. Hampton paid that although a great Slate Department should ho run <m business lines the Department's methods were not efficient. The host way to secure efficiency was by specialisation, in emphasising this point he mentioned that a porter who had already worked as a shunter had to go back to shunting for a time before receiving promotion. Another ease cited was that of a slorcman who had been for many ye.irs at that branch and lie was told to got promotion he must "have a shot" at the traffic branch, which was absolutely foreign to l.im. That was not, making for efficiency. There were signalmen who -were expert in their work and the Department told, them in effect that if they wanted any more money they had got to step out and earn, it as a guard. It was proposed that the pay of gangers should be increased to the extent- of Ss. Gd. per day. The Department said 12s. a day for unskilled labour wns sufficient, but the keeping of the tracks demanded skill on the part of tho surfacemen, who were therefore- wrongly classed.

_ Inferring to gasmen who were engaged in the manufacture of Pintsch gas for the railway cars, the A.S.R.S. asked (hat thoy should rank on the samo level as train examiners, increasing their pay by 3s. per day. "Somewhat Revolutionary." Dealing with tradesmen Mr. Hampton drew attention to an anomaly in that leading fitters received a higher wago than leading boilcrmakers and carriage builders, who often had far more responsibility. Leading fitters for some unknown reason had a distinct advantage in tho matter of promotion over any other arm of tho service. Before a man could risotto certain positions ho had to graduate as a fitter, so that filters had six times more chances of promotion thnn other tradesmen. They asked that tho pay of all lending tradesmen (fitters excepted) bo increased to the extent of 3s. per day, They were looking forward to tho grading system being dropped. Ho knew this would be regarded by the Department as ■ somewhat revolutionary, but by adopting it they would simply be following in tho footsteps of the English railway, system. Second grade men had equal responsibility with the first grade men, nnd no distinction should bo made. As a matter of fact tho second grade men frequently changed shifts and constantly relieved first grade men. This anomaly had given rise to considerable discontent in tho traffic branch. When men wore fully qualified railwayman nnd were competent to Inks np responsible positions they should draw tho money for tho job and not have to wait till other men died or retired before they could gel promoted to tho First Division. Mr. Hampton next urged that married men should be paid not less than the adult minimum wage. Dealing with casual hands Mr. Hampton said that the Second Division asked that the pay of hour-to-hour casuals bo at the rate of 2s. per hour between tho hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.. 2s. lid. per hour from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., nnd 3s. 2d. from 10 p.m. to 8 As regards female attendants in waiting rooms whose wages had actually been reduced a minimum of £2 10s. per week was asked. '

A 44-Hour Week. For reasons which must be obvious, remarked Mr. Hampton, tho division asked that all Sunday work be paid at double rates. They asked that all time outside tho ordinary 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. stretch bo paid 50 per cent, advance on (lay rates. Work mi slips and breakdowns should bo paid for at the rate of time and a half. Tradesmen working about running sheds should be paid Cd. per day extra as diet money. ■ Tho recognised eight-hour day should be from 8' n.m. to 5 p.m. with a knock-off at noon on Saturdays. They asked for ii hours a week, after which overtime should bo granted. They did not ask for trains to stop on Saturday afternoons, but they did urge that if men were deprived of the advantages enjoyed by (ho rest of the community they should bo compensated. Men who were on duty for ten hours at a. stretch should be given a meal at a railway dining-room or given tho amount charged, for a meal at such a place. The Department had recently raised tho price of meals to the public, but the guards and their men had not had. their allowance for meals increased. This was obviously unfair.

At tliis stage, in reply to His Honour, Mr. MacDonnld said that he had no option but, to take up tho same stand as Mr. Williams and delay his reply to Mr. Hampton's arguments. He was instructed by tho Department that the statements which were being made by tho representatives of the various arms of the service would be replied to seriatim as soon a 9 tho statements were completed. Mr. Hampton accordingly asked for an immediato adjournment till 2 p.m. in order to allow him a rest before continuing, but at' the suggestion of His Honour he agreed to continue till noon.

Mr. Hamilton went on to say that they desired that all men working away ft-mii their home stations be paid travelling time both way.?, this to include way and permanent way men. These men were engaged on country work. A longstanding grievance was the. question of pay for both wet and dry time. In wet time tho men were camping in huts and keeping their, homes going at the other end. It was therefore asked that way and works men be paid wet and dry. At present the permanent hands got halftime in wet .spells, whereas the casual men who were working alongside of (hem got no time. Full time was being asked for both permanent and casual hands. Differential Treatment Discounted. Coming to the question of leave, Mr. ITamptoiv said that (heir demand was tantamount to a request that all leave lie placed on practically the same basis. Their request was that Regulation S3, clause "A," relating to leave apply to till members of the Second Division. Another request, was (hat all man who had given ten years' service to the Department and were still remaining _on should as a mark of appreciation be given tho snmo leave (one month) at present accorded men leaving tho service after having served this period. This would revorso the present position, which placed a premium on a man leaving the service. Dealing with passes the men demanded that there be no differential treatment as between the First ami Second Division in the matter of passes, all memhors to receive first-class passes, the samo to be granted nitlimit restriction. At present the workshops men got passes, out on account.of the restrictions as to their utilising llie'o on certain days the passe.-; were practically valueless. The restriction 'was limited to three or four rush days exrenl. in the case of the Auckland express, to which n longer restriction attached. As reg.i.'ds sick and accident pay it was requested that all members of the Second Division receive sick ami accident pay in all respects similar to members of the First Division. At present they received no allowance for culinary sickness, while even in the caso of accident they received only half-time. If the Department made this concession the A.5.11.5. would co-operate with it to the utmost to see that the practice was not abused.

His Honour: You havo a Railway Sick Benofit Society ?-"WoJifivo several."

And aro these subsidised ?—"No, sir, wo are asking that this concession bo grant-

cd." Mr- Hampton pointed out that they asked that tho Department subsidise X for S: all,moneys collected by way of vcliintry subscriptions or paid by railway sick benefit societies to those members off duly and unable to follow their usual occupation as a result of sickness or accident. Touching lodging allowance tho society failed to see why the Department should discriminate between the two divisions, so that a clerk received 10s. and a mechanic Cs. Very often the two men stayoil at Ihe samo'boarding-house. It was therefore desired that when members ot the Second Division were absent from their headquarters on duty, tho lodging allowance be not less than the minimum paid to members of the First Division. At this stage the adjournment was taken. Share in Management Desired. On resuming Mr. Hampton addressed himself to tho request: That the board recommend to the Government the desir.«b"'eiiP=s of the men, through their cr"aiiisition, having representation on ilio management and control of the railway 3 His Honour stated that, as he had briefly indicated the previous day, the subject scarcely came within the scope ot the inquiry. However, lie had no objection to being addressed on the subJ0 Mr Hampton pointed out that the men desired a Board of Control set up op tho lines of that being established in pot»•£tion with the management of the Emrlhh railways. It would make for efhcicncy nnd greater interest on the part o. the men in the service. In England a measure of control had been introduced which gave the railwaymen an appreciable voice in the management. Hie. M>w Zealand railways were under I'o'itiMl control, and lliq men had come to 11 o conclusion that it was not a satisfactory position from the point of yew of the public or the staff. addition to tlie staff it was suggested that the public should also have representation, with a view to removing the railways entirely from political control. At present the General Manager's hands were tied in every respect, so far as the management was concerned. The late General Manager had found on coming to Isew Zealand that his hands were largely tied. It wa iHmi men's desire that tl.o host men should como to the top and have the oppoHunity of getting there If the board was prepared to recommend that the en have the desired representation I hen there would not bo the Fame objection, to tho merit scheme proposed by the General Monger coming into force. Despite tho fa-t that P-.r'inment had refused to sane tion the merit clause the General Manager had taken it unto himself to virtually, put it into operation. The result was great dissatisfaction, and there had never before hcen so many appeals in connection with classification.

Men's Lack of Interest, The deep-rooted objection to t'h'o merit scheme was that it invested in one man (the General Manager) the solo power.of promotion. Mr. Hampton frankly admitted that right throughout ti/o service there was. a lack of interest on the part of the rank and file on account of tho whole of tho responsibility being thrown on the Departmental heads. This naturally did not make for efficiency. Tho men's proposals would remove these feelings and would put renewed vitality into the staff. He believed that if the board would recommend the proposal to the Government it would be sympathetically received. The present system was unsatisfactory from every point of v view, and Mr. Hilcy had said that no regard was paid at all as to whether tho railways paid or not, nnd he had also severely criticised the method of piecemeal construction of new lines. Mr. Hampton, continuing, said that tlie demands also included a proposal that the Second Division of the service have, as in the case of the First Division, representation on all boards of .inquiry sot up bv the Department for tho purpose of collecting evidence in the case of accident or misconduct on the part of the men. It was also desired that■promotion boards be established, and that tho Second Division have representation thereon. This would make for greater confidence among the men. Tho Second Divis : on also sought representation on the Punishment Board. Another clause in the demands was that tho board recommend to the Government the desirability of publishing the D-3 list on the first day of April each year, in order that members might know their actual position in the service.

"A Close Corporation." Speaking; .to tho clause that tho division barrier bo abolished, Mr. Hampton remarked that he recently saw in an English publication a picture of a general managor of one of the railway systems, headed "Prom Porter to General Manager." In Now Zealand, however, under the existing conditions, such a happening was an absolute impossibility. It would bo easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle. There- was an absolutely closo corporation so far as the First Division WW concerned. Theoretically, tin's was not so, but in actual practice, on account of the involved barriers, it worked out on tho lines of a closo corporation. A great deal of tho trouble in tho service was that clerically-trained men were frequently put in charge of outdoor work in which they had not had a single day's training. Mr. Hiley had made a scries of recommendations which provided many opportunities for rising high in tho service which were at present denied to the Second Division. Jn effect, if a man started in the Second Division ho was going to bo kept there. The risks involved in shunting work wero stressed by Mr. Hampton villi regard to Hie clause which urged that all men engaged in 'shunting operations for two hours or more daily be classified and paid as shunters. It was also desired that any member already qualified as a shunter and promoted to guard be not required to again take up shunting duties in order to qualify for First Grado.

Another point emphasised by Mr. Hampton was that apprentices in (ho workshops be Riven an opportunity to attend technical schools 'and colleges in the Department's time, those gaining diplomas and certificates of efficiency, in their own time to be given extra remuneration at Gd. per day.

Various Demands, "Other clauses to which Mr. Hampton drew attention included tho following:— # That members acting temporarily. in a higher grade receive the increment attached to such grado after having worked 313 days therein; that wnen an acting guard is required tho position be filled by the senior shunter.; that a portion of the .Of privilege tickets allowed a member be available for his children when travelling with a parent; that all stationmasters he nutlwised to issue privilege ticket orders; that hour-lo-hour casuals be given the samo privileges as, permanent hands, after' two yeans' service, conditional on their working an average of. 24 hours per week; that the age limit (50 years) for promotion be abolished; that when employees aio stationed at isolated places there be no differential treatment as regards isolated pay; that opportunities be provided for members injured in the ■ -i:v.if. iiii'i lor returned injured soldiers, to fill positions in the First Division without being required to pass an examination in telegraphy; that where three or more men are employed in any trade working under ii i-ivhmii ol another calling, a loading tradesman lie appointed. " This concluded Mr. Hampton's statement of the case for the Second Division, and (lie board then adjourned until 10 o'clock tins morning for the purpose of enabling Mr. Macl.lotiold sufficient time to prepare, tho Departmental reply. Mr. MacDnuald intimated that he would be quite ready to go on in the morning.