POSTAL DEPARTMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 9 April 1920, Page 1

POSTAL DEPARTMENT

alleged discontent.

WELLINGTON, April 7

A statement made by the secretary of the Post and Telegraph Officers’ Association, alleging grave dissatisfaction in the postal section, was brought before the Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department. He drew attention to a statement that some 1300 appeals against the reclassification of 1919 had been lodged, and remarked it was strange that the Association had made no reference to the fact that it had issued a misleading circular to all the members of the Officers’ Association, advising them to appeal, and giving a sample form of appeal. In that circular reference was made to an alleged promise of the Postal Department, which was shown afterwards before the Appeal Board, and to the admitted satisfaction of file Association’s representative, to have been overstated. That circular stated definitely that a promise of £IBO after a certain period of service had been made, whereas the actual promise was £156, which was afterwards increased to £165. Many of the appeals lodged obviously originated from the misleading information supplied to its officers by the Association. The Association also omitted to mention that of the 1300 appeals lodged only fourteen were allowed by the Board, while 499 were conceded by the Department on the amended scale following the Government’s decision to grant a uniform increase of approximately £45 in lieu of the war bonus. The statement that the Department took into account Sir Joseph Ward’s alleged promise to pay a war bonus was entirely foundationless. With reference to the cost of living, it was a fact that the payments to officers showed an increase of 45.8 per cent over 1914, which was an actual increase per officer of £55 3s 4d. The small average amount of the increase was accounted for by the fact that of 7360 permanent officers 1000 were messenger hoys, receiving £1 weekly, while a large proportion of the balance were cadets, etc. At no time had the service lost 100 men monthly, nor ICO boys per month, but resignations were common and always would be common in the service, where 7l seventh of the total staff was composed of message boys. Last year the number of officers who left the service totalled 657;, made up as follows:—Resignations 506, resignations enforced 26, dismissals 125. Of these, 264 were messenger boys, and 158 juniors receiving less than £2 per week. For the year just ended the figures were 671, >26, 77, composed of 288 messengers and 140 juniors.