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RAILWAY BOARD

CLAIMS OF FIRST DIVISION

DEPARTMENT'S REPLY

NO CONCESSIONS OFFERED

The I?ailway Board, which is inquiring into conditions in tho various grades of the railway service, continued its sitting yesterday under the presidency of His Honour Mr. Justice Stringer. Associated with His Honour as assessors were Messrs. A. W. Mouatt (representing tho Hailwnv Department), Mr. S. Matthewson (representing the Railway Officers' Institute). Sir. J. MaoDonnld (AssistantGeneral Manager) appeared as advocate for the Department, and Mr. H. C. Morgan as advocate for the First Division.

In tabling the Departmental reply to the demands of the First Division, Mr.' MaeDonald said that ho was disappointed at the manner in which the Officers' Institute had presented its case. There was a regrettable absence from some of the speeches of the fairness and moderation which was conspicuously a characteristic of tho previous executives of thn institute in with tho management. A marked disposition had been shown to quote instances as typical which it. had subsequently been admitted vrv.ro exceptional, and, he had no hesitation in saying, extreme. Nothing was to be gained by such tactics, which tended to obscuro the real issues. "Wild Charges,". The past and present management of the Department, continued. Mr. Mac Donald. had given too many evidences of practical interest in tho welfare of tho staff and too many instances of a desire to deal fairly with all members, to fear any wild charges such as two or three members did not scruple to make. To refer to only one' of these, ho would point nut that it had been reserved for a member of the Officers' Institute, to which he once considered it an honour to belong, to como before the board and charge the Department, in effect, with sweating clerks at stations for the purpose of augmenting its revenue. A charge of this kind, which was as baseless as it was mischievous, carried its reputation on its face, and it would be sufficient to meet it with a mere denial. Ho submitted, in reply, however, a statement made bv a gentleman who until a few weeks ago had held for seven or eight years the honoured position of president of tho institute. This officer had stated to the General Manager at a conference that the institute had a great deal to thank the Department for in adiusting "these matters of excessive hours." and that in nearly every case the, institute had represented, improvement had been effected.

The "Cost of Living" Argument. Traversing tho demands of the institute Mr. Mac Donald paid it would be observed tli.it where the Department's Koliptlulo differed from the original demands of the institute was in the maxima attached to higher grades, and i the reason for this was that tho origmatinsr cause for a revision'of wages conditions at this time was tho rise in the cost of living. The Department, it would bo seen, practically met the institute on their,, own term's for those grades mawlv affected by the cost of living, and while "ranting material increases <lid not so to tho whole length of the institute's demands. The arguments which had a compelling force in the lower grades lost their urgency as tho salary rose, and as the manrin available between tho actual cost of living and the total salary received increases. "Unfair Comparisons." A suggestion had been made that, the administration of the scale by the Bailwav Department compared unfavourably with other Departments; but tho speaker had found himself, remarked Mr. MacDonald, unable to quote any clear instances in support except the oase. of audit inspectors. Jt must be obvious to Hm -board Hint an assessment of the value of the services rendered by men in various positions in Departments of the State was a matter for the administrative officers to settle. No parallel could be drawn between officers ■ performing widclv varying duties, and even in the ease mtote'd the parallel was anything but exact. . , The president of the institute had made representations on behalf of o clerk getting ,£270, who, he bad stated, was "right un against it." The Department's scale of pay, remarked Mr. MacDounld, did not profess to provide a margin for all domestic emergencies. Tho enrgin between £3.10 and tho basic -a age was suffic'entlv great to render any further notice of'his remarks on this point uunecos'nrv It had also been vr-marked on behalf of the. institute that the Department and tho institute vere both anxious to givo the efficient men opportunities to get to the top, and the Department was asked to consider tho reward in such eases. Tho Department did (■•<> in the 1919 1U an exaumiat.on of which would disclose that a number of officers were promoted and had their salaries increased to i considerable extent. Tie. would put in an analysis from D-3 showing the. actual increases granted to members of the First Division. Great stress had been.laid on tho importance of the duties performed,by the clerical branch of the Department, in respect to deelirig with, the movement of trains and to other matters coming within the functions of the station staffs. It. was unnecessary to point out that only a section 'of 'the clerical staff came under this head. A very large section performed merely clerical duties of a routine nature, and certainly of :o greater iinportanco than clerical work in any other business. Certain important duties, of course, had to be performed by those members dealing with the movement of trains, but this was not peculiar, to the clerical staff. It was shared by nil men who had to deal with the movement of traffic, and wai an ine'deufc of railway emnlovment. Precisely tho same responsibilities in varying degrees fell upon the- rranger, the guard, tho signalman, tho shunter, and tho driver..

"The Departmental 'No.'" Two speakers, continued Mr. MacDonald, had emphasised I ho fact that the improvement in the'position of the staff must be dependent upon the administration of the scale rather than upon the scale itself. This v.as obviously quite true, and to a very 'arge extent destroyed the force of the Mgumont for making any alteration in the present scale. Further, it only remained for Ihe Department to be satisfied of the higher value of a position to ens.uro a higher salary be : ng attached to it. This, therefore, reduced the force of the institutes demand for a liiffher rate for the lowest grade on the ground of the increased cost of living. In explaining the attitude of the .- cwrtmcnl regarding the claims *iado by the societies beforo Ihe hoard, Mr. MacDonald «nid that owing to the 'fact that the replies made by the department to tho reveral requests had been in tho negative there wns a rule of that being misconstrued bv the public, end of the Department beins charged with l.'.r.k oj svmpathv. The Departmental "Xo" had nlreadv been mentioned, and might Iw i taken 'to mean that the Deiwrtm»nt took no trouble to understand the aims anil aspirations of tho staff. Nothing could be further from th" truth. The management recognised that tho bnrli stnlidnrd of service required could rot be, obtained if the men were discontented. I For n number of years past, regular conferences at frcouent intervals had tnlten place between the renresmitatives of th" various socictim and the Department, and the discussions had been carried en in a perfectly amicable manner. Tho lunnI accment had given evidence of practical sympathy towards the men, and th* reImwitfiiivps of the men had shown an | intelligent appreciation of (ho difficu'- ' t r es of the management. On the • hole, the records of these- "onferencs showed (hat the relations existing between the men and the management were <vf an amicable and even a cordial rehire, and there bad been evidence throughout the present proceedings on the part of I'" representatives of the societies of a continuance of these relations. Concessions Already Made, Mr. Mac Donald went on lo point out that tho Department had in tho C'ovornment Railways Act, which was passed

not two months ago, made -cry sulistanlin! improvements in ihe kiy and in tho conditions of the stall' in icspect to overtime and bight rales. 11. *. .•;•-■ t.ot necessary to le-euuiiieiate these. It \,ould bo sufficient lo say that the added sum of over J.-'-'SO.OCO to the expenditure of the Department, in addition to tho war bonuses' paid to the. staff, made a fui-d addition to the pay. These _ concessions were made after conferences hot ween Hie employees' societies and the management, and they went as far as the management decided they could go. It; was pointed out, however, to (ill the societies i-ri-Knt that there was no desire on tho part of the management to .adhere rigidly 10 this decision in the event of the tost of living still advancing. Sin:o then there had been no such material change in the conditions of life as would justify :i revision of the provisions already made. Vhe Deoartment had at. that time gone as far as it reasonably could, and granted as much as possible without adding to the rates and fares, and no change had taken place which would justify it in receding from that position. The management fully recognised its obligations to pay a living wage, but by the rates it paid for unskilled labour if. was at the nresont tiruo discharging that obligation. In this connection Mr. MacDonnld asked tlio board to take into consideration tho special privileges enjoyed by railwaymen on tho normnnent staff, already enumerated, and including security-of tenure, nil of which were factors when comparing the wages paid by tho Department for unskilled labour with those ruling outside. In emphasising the security of tenuro enioved bv railwaymen, Mr. MncDoncld reminded tho board that during the recent coal "cut" when the, services were cut down bv 50 per cent, not a single railwav employee was called upon to suffer in anv way in respect, to pay that he would have earned under ordinary conr ditions. Claims Equal the Revenue, If. was estimated that the amount rcouired to meet the claims of the First Division would exceed i!3f/0,000 per annum, and that tho nggrcgatc sum required to meet the claims of the three societies was J21.630.000. This must be regarded as an approximate estimate, because some of the claims mado were of such a nature as to make it impossible to ascertain the exact cost without making very extensive investigations. The amount he had given did not include the cost of granting the extended leave asked for bv tho Second Division societies, which would be in the vicinity of ,£350.000 for the first year, and a recurring annual liability of close on .£IOO,OOO. From this it would be seen that tho sum mentioned would more than absorb the whole of tho net revenue of the Department, which last year amounted to .£1.680.000. Mr. Mac Donald next referred to the financial consequences of meeting tho demands put before the board. It had been argued that tho management or the Government had no right to keep down the rates of pay merely to enablethe public to obtain a cheap service. This, of course, was-undeniable, lint on tho other hand the employees of the State had no Tight lo expect to be paid a rate of pav largely in advance of tho ruling rates of pav outside of: the Department for similar classes of labour. In no circumstances - would the management be justified in accepting tlio responsibility for what could only be considered as extravagant rates of pay to the stall. There was a limit to tho extent to which rates could be raised, even where the State had., as in New Zealand, a monopoly of rail transport. There was a limit also to tho extent to winch high rates of uav could bo passed on to the public. Tho railway rates were practically all the world over based upon the principle of "charging what the traffic would bear." The cost of cr.riags upon goods of high value added a very small fraction to tho selling prico of tlio article, but tho freight upon goods of low value, ouasi-raw materials, and agricultural manures -added a very considerable part to the. price of the article at its destination. So much was this the case that there was more or less a defined radius bevond which it was unproiita))ie to rail goods of low value. To add materially to the rates for such goods would, apart from the serious effect that it would have upon the industries and productivity of the country, in the long run result in the Railway Department losing tho traffic, unite apart from the element of competition. In this connection he directed tho attention of the board to tho effect of tho recent increase ot the railwav rates in New South AW.es upon tho iron-working industry at Litligov, which announced its intention of closing down if these rates were maintained. Pressure of Competition. The ciucstion of competition was also to be considered. The geographical position of the principal towns throughout New Zealand offered special facilities for sea. competition. Tho influence of road motor vehicles had also lo bo considered. In America, where roads were good, successful competition with tho railway for distances up to three hundred miles was carried dn bv these vehicles. Vehicles mado use of roads at no expense to themselves. The possibilities of road motor competition against railways was shown bv the recent strike in England, where bv road conveyance, the inconvenience of tho strike was reduced to a minimum. With the improvement in tlio construction and upkeep of roads in New Zealand it. was inevitable that motor traffic would play a large part in competing with the State railways, and nothing was moro certain to stimulate the development of such competition than high freights. This would bo neither in the interests of the country nor in the interests of the railways staff. The people would be called upon to pay a higher cast for the upkeep of roads subjected to heavy traffic, which could ba better carried upon the State railways. Tho staff, too, would ultimately ]» the losers. ' They would bo giving their assistance to a competition which would inevitably curtail their opportunities of earning a livelihood.

It had been suggested that the increased charges involved in tho societies' claims could be passed on to the taxpayers, but that, he stressed, would be verv unfair. Railway services could not bo regarded as services rendered to the taxpayer as such. In tho ordinary course the users of tho railways should par. The economic conditions of tho countrv was such that additional expenditure for salaries and improved conditions could only bo justified on the plea of urgent necessity, and all cases of such necessity had been met by the Railway Act of 1919. Mr. MacDonakl then traversed the claims of the division in detail on tho lines of the Departmental reply previously submitted to the institute. "Prejudices Dio Hard," Arthur Herbert Laughlan (district traffic manager at Ohakune) gave ovideuco rein tine to the conditions obtaining in his district. Witness, in referring to applications by stationmasters for an increase in station stall's, said that the Department invariably acceded to tlieso reo nests. Outsido of several instances which ho had investigated and attended to. he knew of no complaints on tlin score of excessive hours, it was absolutely absurd to say that any reflection would bo cast on a stationniaster for mnkinc reasonable complaints regarding stnuW.

To Jlr. Jforgati; Ho would be. very much surprised to hour that the 'men made no complaint for fear of prejudicins their cbiinces of promotion. Mr. Morgan: Tlid railway service is better run now than twenty years ago, but some of these prejudices (lie bard. His Honour: I would have a very low ODinion of a stntioninaster's intelligence if ho reasoned in that way. In answer to Jlr. Jhittliewsnn, witness said that as a general rule he could se3 no necessity for Sunday work. Sweatinn Charges Withdrawn. Permission was Riven to Jlr. Donnelly (■president ».-f the. bstilnle) to mako a personal explanation, withdrawing unreservedly, on behalf of tlio institute, the statement made by a witness to the effect that the Depart'.'.enf. was sweating its men. His Honour: Well. J. am very glad to bear It. Brief mention v;:,.-, made on behalf of the institute of the question of the age limit, and the principle was advanced tlta' the limit should b» lowered to sixty in t.ho caso of a servant wlio had served fortv -years.. During the war many servants in tho First Division were retained after forty years' service, unci this

Id lo a srnocl deal of heartburning on the part of llio younger men. Mr. Morgan then replied, lo Mr. Mac.Doimld. emphasising Ilia! lliey did not see wliv tlio rorvants in Ihe, senior Department of llio Slalo- service should be treated worse tliaii Hip servants in tlio re.;l of llio Public Service. This concluded Iho hearing the case for Hie First. Division, and Hie board adjourned (ill 1" o'clock this morning, when the finest ion of superannuation will be. argued.

INSTITUTE OFFICIALS AGGRIEVED

REPLY TO CHARGES OF UNFAIRNESS.

The representatives of the Railway Officers' Institute last night handed to a reporter an official reply to certain observations made by the Assistant Ceneral Manager of Railways (Mr. J. Macdoiiiild) in proßpnting the ease for the Department. The institute officials took exception to charges of unfairness and lack of moderation, and to a comparison made between the ways of Ihe present executive in negotiating with the Department and the wavs, of former executives in the same matter. Tlio .rejoinder to Mr. Macdonald is as follows :- "A number of the members of tlio present cxecnlive wore members of *he -previous executives referred to. by Mr. Mac\ donald. Tho members of (he present executive deeply resent the unjust aspersions cast upon them by Hie Departmental representatives. Tiiey realise, that abuse is not argument, but is used rather to obscure the fads of Ihe real question nt issue. They do not wish (o enter upon a campaign of undignified recrimination, hut pivfer to rely upon (ho justice of their claims as set out before the board, and therefore dn not nroposo to compare tho merits and ability of Mr. Macdonald with that of the ijentieman who previously represented the Department when denline with the claims of the Railwav Officers' Institute. The executive further consider that the remarks of the Assistnnf General Manager tend to suppress freedom of expression of genuine p:i'ipvf"ces of the institute now'nnd in the future, and consider tlct th«ir members ivho have come forward to'represent tho very t/.il grievances of the institute membership should, not under anv circumstances be subjected to public castration by a. Departmental advocate so highly placed as is Sir. Macdonald.

"With reference to the Mig'eslion made that the present conditions of employment amount in effect to 'sweating' conditions, tho.executive yxnressly disclaims any intention of imputing a. constructive policy of 'swMitine' the management, but thev agree with tlio representative who made the shipment that )"hile the conditions of employment allow officers to Jio compelled to work without redress such hours as have been disclosed in the inquiry, the conditions of employment in the' First Division are not altogether free from tho term cf reproach which has caused such apparent resentment."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200207.2.80

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 114, 7 February 1920, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
3,226

RAILWAY BOARD Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 114, 7 February 1920, Page 8

RAILWAY BOARD Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 114, 7 February 1920, Page 8

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