RAILWAY SERVICE

Hokitika Guardian, 10 February 1920, Page 1

RAILWAY SERVICE

CLAIMS OF FTRST DIVISION

DEPARTMENT’S REPLY,

WELLINGTON, Fobruiuy 6. The reply o the Railway Department to the claims of the First Division of the Railway service was made - at today’s sitting of the Railway Service Board.

Mr MacDonald, assistant general manager, said he was disappointed at the manner in which the Institute had presented its case. There had been a regrettable absence on the part of some of the sepakers of fairness and moderation, which was conspicuously, a characteristic of the previous executives of the Institute in their relations with the ma.nagejnont. The change made by a member of the Officers Institute, that the Department sweated clerks at stations for the purpose of augmenting its revenue was as baseless a.s It was mischievous. Mr MacDonald 'read a statement made by an expresident of the Officers Institute at a conference with the General Manager, to the effect that the Institute had a great deal to thank the Department for in adjusting matters of excessive hours, and that in nearly every case improvement had been effected. Mr MacDonald went on to say that where the Department’s schedule differed from the Institute’s original demands was in the maxima attached to the higher grades. The reason was ! that the originating course for the revision of wages and conditions at that time was the rise in the cost of living. The Department practically met the Institute on their own terms for those grades, which were mainly affected by the cost of living and while granting material increases to the higher grades did not go the whole length of the Institute’s demands. He denied that the administration of the scale by the Department compared unfavourably with that of other Departments. It must be obvious to the Board that an assessment of the value of the service rendered by men in various positions

in the Departments of the State was a matter for the administrative officers to settle. In regard to facilities for promotion both the Department and the Institute were anxious to give efficient men opportunities to get to the top. • There was no lack of sympathy on the part of the management, and every trouble was taken to understand the aims and aspirations of the staff.

The management recognised that a high standard of service, such as was required of a staff carrying special responsibilities, could not he obtained if the men were discontented. -Mr MacDonald said the explanation of the apparently uncompromising attitude of the Department in respect to* the claims placed before the Board lay in the fact that the Department had in the Government Railways Act, passed recently, made substantial improvements in the pay and conditions ol the | staff respecting overturns, and night

rates. The added sum of over £250,000 to the Department’s expenditure, in addition to the war bonus to the staff, made a lixed addition to tile pay. With full consideration of the circumstances, not only of the Department but of the country, it was "decided that the improvements made wcrc as far as the management could go. There was, however, no desire on the part of the

management to adhere rigidly to that decision in the event of the cost of H' - },ug still advancing. If the 'Circumstance's should materially alter the whole question would be reopened, and further improvements would ho made to. meet the change of conditions. The present claims must, therefore, be viewed in the light of improvements already granted, and it was submitted that there had been no such material change in the conditions of life as would justify a revision ol the provisions already made. The management fully recognised its obligations to pay a Ihing wage, but submitted that it was at present discharging that obligation. It was estimated that the amount lequired to meet the claims of the First Division would exceed £300,000 a year, j and the aggregate sum to meet tile claims of the three societies was £l,630,000. This did not include the cost of granting the extended leave sought by the Second Division societies, which would be in the vicinity of £3SO,Cc for the first year, and a. recurring annual liability of nearly £IOO,OOO- It

would- be seen that the sum mentioned would more than absorb the whole of t], e net revenue of the Department, which last year amounted to £1,630,000. This did not include the cost of granting the extended leave sought by the Second Division Societies, which I would be in the vicinity of £350,000 for the first year, aiul a recurring annual liability of nearly £IOO,OOO. It would be seen that the sum mentioned would more than absorb the whole ot the net revenue of the Department which last year amounted to £l,bbU,000. Tn concluding liis adddress, Mr MacDonald said that nothing was more

certain to stimulate the development ot motor traffic competition than high railway freights, which the Department was trying to avoid. He condemned I as absolutely unjust the proposal to run the railways at a loss, to be

borne by the general taxpayer m order that the railwayman might gc higher pay. This closed the case for the Fns - [vision, and the Commission adjourned till to-morrow.