THE SALARIED MAN'S POSITION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 203, 22 May 1920, Page 8

THE SALARIED MAN'S POSITION

■Sir,—Your correspondents have touched on the. subject of tho salaried man in so far as it relates to the officials of locai bodies. There is Another class to which 6ympatlhy and assistance might bo extended with great benefit. 1 refer to that large class 01 clerks and accountants (not professional accountants) who earnings range from £2 10s; to £i 10s. in prewar days, but whose increases or bonuses to meet the extra cost of living are nil. The honest, careful, responsible cierk.is a long-suffering individual. , His work, chiefly oil •. figures, accounts, and correspondence, loads him to be studious, nonaggressive, and not a little pioud that although his salary is small lie carries in his keeping the vital financial! records of his employer. He does not "down tools" w.hen the hour strikes, but finishes his immediate job, and often takes home with ihim :i parcel of work over which ho burns the midnight oil. His employer winks at this overtime, but is glad to havo the work done up to time all tho same. • His salary may have risen by increases at long intervals and by minuto degrees—increases extorted in desperation—at the point of the bayonet as it were, and chancing summary dismiss.!.!. When ho pays out the factory men, many of them earning ,£5, £6, nnd .£7 per week, can he be blamed for wishing he had been a storeman. or artisan, instead of a "responsible officer."

The class is numerous, hut owing to varieties of status and earnings it'might be difficult to organise nn association whose business it would be to protect tihe members in matters of remuneration, conditions, of work, superannuation, and generally by discussion and agitation to obtain a fair and reasonable sula'.y. Whether an association of this class might comprehend or bo. comprehended by a local bodies' association I cannot just now express an opinion.—l am, etc..