The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1920. RAILWAYMEN'S DEMANDS
The railwaymen of the Dominion are hardly to bo congratulated upon the nature of tho reception given by some of their organisations to the report of the Stringer Commission, which lias recommenclcd a bonus to members of the First and 1 Second Divisions in consideration of the increase in the cost'of living since March last year. The aggressive tone of tho, resolutions passed at certain workshop meetings in any case invites eonaeihnation. With their talk of "extreme action" and in one case a stand-and-deliver demand for five times the concession recommended by' the Commission, these resolutions suggest very plainly that those who framed them have more faith in violent threats than in a reasonable presentation of their case. The attitude disclosed is still more indefensible when the facts of the existing position and the circumstances which led up to it are ■considered without prejudice. It will be remembered that Parliament last'year passed thp Government Railways Amendment Bill, a measure which made the bonuses granted, to railwaymen during the war period a permanent addition to wages. The Minister of Railways (Mr.. Massey) pointed out in Parliament that so far as the Second Division was concerned the effect of the Bill was to increase schedule wages by 3s. per day, the increase being applicable to all payments for overtime and superannuation irrespective of whether the men concerned were married or single. The Minister stated on the same occasion I (in the House of Representatives on October 31, 1919) that 'the Bill was based upon an agreement entered into in the previous March between the Government and the men of the Railway Service. The locomotive men, he added, "stuck out" for the Board (i.e., the Commission which has now reported), but "tho men of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants agreed to the proposals in the Bill." In a nutshell, therefore, the facts, are that wngcsl in the Railways Department were last session on the basis of an amicable understanding between the Government and its employees in that Department, and that provision was made- at the same time for setting up an independent tribunal to bring wages up to date with reference to tho cost of living. What better or fairer treatment tho railwaymen could have expected, it is difficult to imagine. Now that the tribunal has . made its report, however, the more militant sections of the railwaymen 'are up'in arms and breathing threats of '.'extreme action." It is to be hoped that a considerable majority amongst the raihvayrticn themselves will refuse to endorse such tactics.
Whether or not it is to be approved in all its details the report presented by Mr. Justice Stringer certainly does not in the slightest degree. warrnnt such resolutions as have been passed at Addington and Hillside. The report is based upon an exhaustive inquiry in which caeh section of the railway employees was represented on the Commission as the claims of that section came under review. The inquiry tool: accountof increases in the cost of living since March 1919, the date of the agreement between the Government and its railway employees to which effect was given in the Bill of last session. The report states that in order to maintain the same purchasing power of the basic wage as it possessed in March last year it should now be increased by 3s. sd. per week. A bonus of 6s. Pc week (with a corresponding concession to the First Division) is recommended, however, on the ground that the increase in the pre-war basic wage of £2 14s. to £3 12s. in March, 1919, did not fully compensate the members of the service for the increases in the cost of living during the period covered. The position now is that railwa.vmen are offered an increase of £l 4s. on the basic watte of £2 14s. per week paid before the war—an increase of 44 per cent. The only reservations to be noted are that the latest bonus is not to bp considered in the computation of overtime and that single men without denendanfs are to receive only one-half of this bonus. It is a material point that with the incense of 44 per cent, on the nvo-war basin ra'lwavmen am offered periodical readjustment of their wastes in accordance wjfh the rise o'r fall of tb" cost of-living.
The ronort. admif* that, the rate.* suggested for skilled tradesmen to comnare unfavourably with th« ''ft.ns that/ are, at present b«injr rtaid bv nvivat.o employers, but'+hero is in the oiunW-ponsi'lora-t'ons to wh'nh it also difnets atten-t-nn—f) lf > to which times are <jHl] alirlnrrrfl and out. of joi"t. and fcho substantial ndvnnt»«?Pß Mint, attach to emnlovment in the RnOwnvs ns with outside employment. These advantages, as the report enumerates them, are: (1). Permanency of employment. No lost time through wet weather, wailing for material, or between jobs. (2). Annual leave on full pay. (.11. Superannuation allowances. (4). Cheap railway, travelling. (5). Annual passes. All wage-earners will realise that these advantages are equivalent to a substantial amount in wages, and that railwaymen in their settled employment, with holidays on full pay and free travelling, and superannuation to look forward to, may bo quite as well off as workers in private employ who, under present conditions, receive more by the day or week. The statement of the Hillside employees that they "cannot agree that railway workers should be content to work for less than the ruling wages of outside employment" means simply that they are demanding what the outside workers receive in actual pay as well as the many concessions which the outsido workers do not receive. No one doubts that railwaymen are feeling the pinch of the cost of living, but that is the fate at present of practically all sections of the community and the femedy is certainly not to be found in extravagant concessions to any ono section, liven the reasonable concession recommended by the Commission will havean effect, probably not slight, in increasing the general cost of living. 'Such concessions as some,of the railwaymen arc now demanding would send the cost of living bounding skyward. What the mib'ic has to consider is the total burden involved and the effect of a big increase in railway transport charges on prices of all kinds. A statement made by the
Minister of Railways last session is of interest in this connection : —
In order lo pay n bonus of Is. per dny to every man who would be entitled to it we would require .£230,000 per 111111.1111; Accepting the Minister's figures it follows that a sum of £1,<100,000 per annum would be required to meet the demand raised at Addington for a bonus of "at least ss. a day." This compares strikingly with a total working expenditure on the railways last year (irrespective of capital charges) of £3,303.575, and indicates the lengths to which the demands of some, of the men go. It is to be hoped that the great body of railway employees recognise the folly and the I*ll justice of such demands.
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Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 139, 8 March 1920, Page 6
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1,178The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1920. RAILWAYMEN'S DEMANDS Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 139, 8 March 1920, Page 6
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