S'AFRICAN RAILWAYS.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 57, 12 April 1912, Page 2

S'AFRICAN RAILWAYS.

Starvation Wages.

Writing to ".Forward ,, from Johannesburg regarding, wages paid by the Railway Department, A. B. Duubar »»ys: In. the Transvaal, where I am residing at present, we have 2500 men On the permanent staff. They started •t 3.5. Jd. per day. This has boen altered, and Ms. is the beginner's wage. limy get advances of (id. per day twice annually, nnt'il they reach the dizzy altitude of 7s- Gd. per day. (Of; course, they die before that time.) But that is th" limit. The artisan on the railways, if he serves his time there, has to ho employed about 1G years before be gets full wages. The general run of bwttsa.iis get from 2s. to ."is. per day loss hero, on tho railways than they do id the mines, or private shops. You must know, Mr. F.dilnr, that the privilege of a cheap train journey is dearly (might at that price. Other privileges include prohibition from assorting your rights as a citizen politically. In l)urtwn ttoe railway employees who stood as, fiahor candidates were immediately eftcked. No parliamentary or municipal 'honors for these people. Neither Wun they act on any committee at election times. In conclusion, let mc say that the Board of Knquiry hold at Durban after the strike of 3f>oo extracted evidence that fitters were employed at Bs. per day, while Us. was the standard.