THE RAILWAY CRISIS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 April 1924, Page 2

THE RAILWAY CRISIS

WILL STRIKE RESULT? [BY TELEGRAPH —PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, April 13 A meeting was held of representatives of the A.S.R.S., the P. and T. Officers’ Association, and the Railway Officers’ institute, at which the ease of the A.S.ILS. was presented. The 13. F. and C.A. was not represented. Tt was staled subsequently that the three organisations " are working harmoniously, and in unanimity. M 1 NISTER’S STATEMENT. WELLINGTON, April 12 Hon J. G. Coates, Minister of Rail ways, after perusing reports of the members of the Wages Board, made r> statement this afternoon, during the course of which lie reviews the ■ >reumstanccs which led to the setting ii]) of the Wages Board, outlining the scope of its inquiry. He says:—Obviously the proceedings of such a Board was to find the lines of probable differences betwei u the two sections represented on the Board, which differences were intended to he, and indeed would have to be, settled by the chairman. This appears to he the view adopted by the chairman, and his attitude seems to be that they should have all the information which he desired to enabL him to discharge the responsible ,- m this connection that lias been east upon him. The A.S.R.S., however, adopted the attitude that the subject cf wages should he dealt with in complete isolation, and without reference to any other of the 71 items which were placed by the society bciore the Board. The Department’s view was that the fullest information that any member of the Hoard considered that he should have, should he made available to that member, and that the Board’s discussions should be practically mi restricted on any matter brought before it, in pursuance of the order of reference. This attitude is Miipjiorted by the procedure that was adopted by previous Boards of a similar nature, when various subjects Were discussed and deferred from time to time, am! later brought under discussion, so that, gradually, the members of the Board, obtained a comprehensive view of the whole matters brought before them. In the nature of tilings, it is clearly impossible that any Board of Inquiry could effectively carry out its functions as such il its deliberations were to be confined, at will, to any particular aspect of the matters brought before the Board, to the entire exclusion ol all other considerations that might, in the opinion of members of the hoard, warrant attention. The attitude of the A.S.ILS. is justified neither by precedent nor by reason.

It finds no support whatever in tho order of reference, and it is, indeed, altogether inconsistent with their action in submitting some 72 items to the Board for consideration.

"The decision ol the society, as already reported in the newspapers, to issue strike ballot papers, even before the reports of the various sections of the Board were in tho hands of the .Minister, makes the position ol thcsocictv entirely untenable. It is obvious that the Minisler could do nothing in tie: direction of dealing with the situation until he had received the reports, and the, society’s decision amounts to nothing less than taking the law into their own hands, regardless of whether anything might be done to meet the position and entirely ignoring the fundamental principle involved in the reference of dilleronees htween the Department and the .Society to the Board. Obviously the Minister could have no option hut to await the reports that were required to he made to him under the order of reference and as obviously it was the duty of the A.S.ILS. to wait until the .Minister had had the opportunity of considering these reports, so that he might make any suggestion that he might think advisable. The responsibility Hint has now arisen rests entirely with the Society.”

After reviewing other aspects of the dispute, including (lie basic wage, the* Minister endeavours to show that the railway servants are not underpaid by comparison with other workers. He then deals with the suggestion made by the Department that hours shall be increased. ■•The experience of railway systems elsewhere,” he says, "as well as in New /calami, has manly demonstrated that the railways cannot- profitably be worked on the basis of the fortyfour hour week in New Zealand. Wages costs have risen to such ail oxlent that the Department is now being seriously hampered in affording Hie public the services they require. The cost of working has advanced to the stage where the Department cannot afford to extend services and make ends meet as it has become a matter .of prime importance that something should he done to keep the expenditure within the limits as will enable the Department to provide services that will afford a reasonable degree of satisfaction to the users of the radway. The Department cannot do ibis on the 4-1 hour week, and it believes that the railwaymen would he better off in every way by reverting to a 48 hour week, while a better service could lie afforded to the public, which could have a stimulating effect in the railway industry, and place it oil that healthy basis which is so essential for the welfare, not only of the country in general, but also for the employees themselves. “It may he mentioned that the advisability, or otherwise, of referring the dispute to another tribunal or Wages Board has been raised and has been put before the A.S.K.S., and it is understood that this proposal is under eonsidn-al ion hv the Society.

MR COATES'S STATEMENT.

WELLINGTON, April 1.1

In a statement made last evening reviewing the whole position of the railway crisis, the Minister of Railways clams that notling more than the setting up of the Wages Board, the order of reference to which was agreed to by the A.S.R.S., could have been done by the Government to secure a fair and exhaustive discussion and decision on the railwaymen’s claims. “The negotiations,” states the Hon. Mr Coates, “broke down purely because the railwaymeit refused to submit their 72 claims for consideration as a. whole, hut insisted on the first item being isolated and dealt with by itself.” The Minister maintains that the hourly rate of pay of the railwaymen compares more than favourably with the wages paid by private employers, and is better than in any State in Australia except Queensland.

Tiie Minister contends also that the •vise in railway wages since 1915 practically equals the rise in the cost of living, and that if the men's claims are granted, fares and freights must he increased. In conclusion, the Minister says:—“l can (1) give the public better railway service; (2) reduce fares and freights; (3) pay 3$ per cent on capital; and (4) above all increase the weekly wages of the railwaymen on the single condition that the hours of labour on the New Zeaalnd railways are put on the basis prevailing generally ill tlif transport industries through.

out the Australian States, namely 48 hours per week. REPLY TO MINISTER. BY MR CONNELLY, PRESIDENT A.S.R.S. WELLINGTON, April 13. The following statement was made by Mr M. Connelly, the President of the A.S.R.S. on behalf of the Society in reply to the Minister of Railways’ statement on the railway dispute.— “The Minister does not rightly state the position, and the public should know that the Society lies been negotiating with the Minister and the Department for about fitteen months on the wage question, and has been patient all this time, agreeing to the suggestions of the Minister to allow himself time to investigate all of the matters connected with the railway working and administration, after which he promised to state definitely how far he was prepared to meet ns on wages. This statement has never yet been made. I wish to sav that the Society recognises its responsibility to the public, the railways being a public . service. It is only under the extreme pressure of our members brought about by their needs, that we would take any steps that would interfere with the ordinary services of the community but we are satisfied that, when the people of the Dominion are made fully aware of the facts, they will accord the railwaymen their support in the present dispute.” “This brings me to the point wherein an attempt is made to show that wo have received the full percentage increase in wages on a 02 per cent rise in the cost of living above 1914. The Minister has, obviously made an error in saving we are entitled to Is 8.89ci per hour to-day. A short mental calculation will show that this should read 9.89 per hour. The Minister also misstates the position when lie says that the builders’ labourers’ basic pay is Is 9.89 d per hour. The Minister also mishour; and it must be remembered that Is 8;!d is the minimum, and many labourers are getting a much higher rate of pay. which advantage does not operate in the railway service. It would appear in view of the misleading figures that have been presented to the public, tlmt the Minister is either careless in handling figures, or his case is somewhat weak.”

■‘Apart from the inaccuracies mentioned. the Minister, has. in effect, .stated that the railwaymen are 7s 7Jd per week under a sum that would give the equivalent of £2 14s in 1914. ns the following table will show: Basic M age, 1914: £2 Lis per week Increase in cost of living over 1914—■ 02 per cent. Required G2 per cent increase in wages—equal to £1 13s ojd per week. Total: —£4 7s 5Jd per week-. Present znsic wage per week £3 19s lOd.

Amount required to tiring wage up to the 02 per cent increase in cost of living:-—7s 7j}d. “The society does not think the 1924 .standard a. fair one, as no increase in the basic rate of pay were received by the railwaymen between February 1912. and April 1910; and on this, wo have maintained our claim lor a 2s Gd per day increase.” “The Minister suggests that wo should go hack to a 48-liour week, in order to get a living wage on the 1914 standard. This lias already been urged b v the Department’s representatives before the Wages Board. Me regret to see that the Minister, "ho has frequently stated that he is vitally concerned to see that the members of the Service should have good wages and conditions, taking up the attitude. The figures disclosed by the Government Statistician show that to-day, out oi 41 trades selected (only 1.4) are wording 48 hours per week, or over, and that whereas, out of the -Jl trades selected in 191.4, only 7 were then working 44 hours per week. To-day, out of the same number of trades, 17 are on a 44-hour week basis, the tendency being to reduce hours, not extend them, which is the logical outcome of the present advance in civilisation. The wages paid and the hours worked in other countries by railway transport workers are beside the point. The question is:—M’hat is a fair week’s work, and what is a fair week's pay? Countries could he quoted where the standard working week is over 50 hours. It would he just as reasonable for the [society to go to the Minister and dema'iul, because certain groups of workers in New Zealand are winking only 3S hours per week (this opeiates among a section of the New Zealand Railways to-day), that the Rad"aymen’s working neck should he one of 38 hours, as it is for the Minister to insist that, because in other countries railwaymen work 48 hours, we should agree to an increase to that point. The whole ]>dint of our case is this:—M’hat is a fair week’s pay for ourselves as New Zealanders, by comparison vith other New Zealanders: and are not the railwaymen entitled to a fair standard of living for tho efficient railway.service they maintain?

■‘The Society accepts the responsibility for the breaking oil' of negotiations! When it could he seen that no null progress could he made, am! our attitude will be readily understood by a reference to pages ISO, 217. 221. 222, 227. and 241 of the Official Report. The Chairman declined to act the part of mediati.r. and said so definitely Isolore breaking off, and. to demonstrate to the Board our desire to reach an amicable settlement, we offered to recede from tiie 2s (id, demand, which was originally made. Unfortunately, the Departmental side of thn Board did not approach, the matter in the same spirit. It would now appear that the Department on its own evidence, showed that the- railwaymen have got to remain 7s 7(d under a 1914 living wage unless they are prepared to go hack to the IS hour week.” MR AC’I.AND'S REVIEW. WELLINGTON, April 14. Tee text of the reports by the three parties on the Railway Wages Board, are published this morning and run to many columns in length. The major part, however, was antieiapted by the statements already published by the Minister and A.S.R.S." reply to him. The principal is the Chairman’s report. Tn this Mr Acland says Mr Connelly said he was not prepared to go on with the 72 remits unless the wages question was first dealt with. As this would merely have postponed them and he felt lie could not properly arrive at a decision without hearing all the evidence, more or less of a deadlock arose. After stating it is clear that the railwaymen cannot he profitably employed tor lull time in any one day or week, j Mr Acland says it was repeatedly stated that wages were the paramount quos- i tion, and what they were after was the J money, hut no suggestion was made whereby the Department would receive additional value for the increase. The men flatly refused to go hackWo 48 hours. ' I

“It is clear.” says the chairman, “there is a continuous conflict between the management on the one hand trying to make a system, constructed regardless of business methods, pay a reasonable return, and a large number of men on the other desepratoly anxious to improve their standard of living.