RAILWAY SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1919, Page 5

RAILWAY SERVICE.

NEW BILL BEFORE PARLIAMENT. THE QUESTION OF SALARIES. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington. Last Night. \ Mr. Massey moved the second reading of the Government Railway Amendment Bill. He said the clauses of tha Bill were mostly of a machinery nature. An important part of the measure was the schedules, and a feature of, these schedules was that the war bonuses previously paid were now becoming a permanent part of the salaries- The total bonuses paid up to date amounted to £404,410. and the Bill would increase the annual expenditure by, as nearly a-s possible. £50,000. Hn referred to a note in the Bill providing for promotion on the basis of merit, which, as the Bill came from the Railway Committee, had been struck out. He had considerable sympathy with promotion by merit and he thought the House would come Iback to that, but for the present that part of the Bill had been eliminated- It was proposed to set up a Iboard to go into the questions of salaries and working conditions in the railway service, but ho desired to make it clear that the board was not for the present to be permanent. It might become so later on if the experiment was successful.

He paid a tribute to the loyalty of the railway servants during the difficirtt war period, and then passed on to discuss the question of their salaries, contending that if we were going to keep the best brains in the country we must pay men as well as did neighbouring States, but he wished to make it clear that the increases proposed were not to be confined to tho railway alone. They would be reflected right through all branches of the public service, because they were based on the recommendations of a board which had been set up to consider salaries throughout the public service as a whole. He trusted the Bill would result in promoting better feeling between the railway employers and the State which employed them. "A MONSTROUS PROPOSAL." Sir Joseph Ward criticised the proposals in the Bill, because the increases, given to the higher paid officers would unduly burden the superannuation fund. Many of these men had a right to retire at once and it was certain some would retire. In the interests of the railway sen-ice they must retire, yet on the very eve of their retirement their salaries were being jumped up, the only effect of which would be to enable them'to retire on greatly increased superannuation. There never had been such a monstrous proposal in the history of the Dominion, Mr. Massey: Will you move to strike these salaries out?

•Sir Joseph Ward: I will move for a reduction in every one of these higher salaries, and I will give every member of tho House an opportunity of expressing an opinion on them. Proceeding, Sir Joseph Ward declared these proposals were intended to influence members of the railway service in view of th? coming electionThis statement was warmly repudiated by Mr. Massey, as the Bill was prepared long before he became Minister of Railways. Sir Joseph Ward said that was not the point. The Premier knew as well as anyone what would influence men. IT. 1 complained that not a word had be?n said about the men of the second division. It was true the war bonuses hail been added to their pay, hut still thev wcro not able to pay their way. Yet, | in the face of that, proposals were made 1 to give the higher paid men enormous increases. fie declared the Premier --■'. i have the support of all sides or the llouse if lie brought down a proposal to pay the second division men another bonus. ' Mr. Massey: And then you would cliargo me with electioneering. MORE CONSIDERATION WANTED. Sir Joseph Ward replied that if the Premier brought down such a proposal lie would receive his (Sir Joseph Ward's) I hearty support. Ho nevt referred to the wholesale retirements from the railway service. These Were not all due to the war, but unless more consideration was shown to the men we were going to have a disorganised railway service. Mr. Yeitch: We have that now. •Sir Joseph Ward regretted this Bill Inul not, been brought down earlier, as' the Premier would then have got a lead from tho House in directions which he thought would have improved the Bill. In committee, he would move as suggested. During the course bf his remarks, Mr. Wilford declared the railways were the "ugly duckling" of the public service. He proceeded to 'detail cases of want of appreciation and consideration shown to men in the service by the head office and to enumerate pin pricks the men of second divison had to submit to at the hands- of officialdom. Mr. Sidey said the schedule certainly complied with the agreement made witii the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants in March last, lint, things hail moved a long way since March. Then it was hoped tho cost of living would fall, but instead it increased, (ind lie thought it would he a fair compromise if the rates of pay wore fixed the same I as in New South Wales. The discussion was interrupted by the 5.30 adjournment. GOOD SALARIES ESSENTIAL. When the House resumed at 7.30 p.m. Mr. Veitch continued the debate on tho Bill. He urged better allowance* and chances of promotion for men in the service. Some readjustment of the duties of the head office were required so that the General Manager would ba able to' got into closer personal toilet, with the stall' and the public, who were the Department's clients. The division barrier should be removed, and pensions in the lower grades improved. Efforts were urgently needed to stem the present tide of resignations of trained men from the railway service.

The Hon. W. 11. Herries, as an oxMinister of Knihvays, thought he was competent to say something on tlie Bill. He had assisted in formulating the schedules of pay, and he asked if anyone really considered any of the high officers in the public services were too highly paid. If ability was wanted it must be paid for. A goal must be set for younger men entering the servico to strive for. If a monetary consideration was not provided men would not be attracted. He agreed that the system of classification had not produced the best results. It must be radically improved or go. Classification had « tend-

ency to produce undemocratic results, in that administrative officials hesitated to make promotions not in accordance with strict classification for fear of inviting suggestions that political pull had been operating. COST OF THE INCREASE. Herries explained at length the negotiations with the second division wen which preceded the compilation of the schedule in the Bill. The increase of wages provided for totalled half a million yearly. Better conditions and an eight-hour day had been given to the men. Touching on the policy of the Railway Department during the war, Mr. Herries said, it had, with other sections of the community, to release every man it could for war service. He claimed * tail ? e ew Zealand railways had fulfilled their duties during the war and showed a better financial result than the I railways of any other country. Mr. Hornsby supported the claims of the second division men for better treatment, with special reference to housing at Cross Creek.

Mr. McCallum condemned the Governments railway policy, so far as administration was concerned, as insincere. He the increases given tr the already highly paid officials were not justified,

Mr. Holland contrasted the differences m pay as between the men at the ton and those at the bottom. Those higher up should be given no increases until those below had enough to enable them to live decently. • Mr Sykea suggested that the clause providing that a man may be promoted by reason of special merit or ability which was struck out as the result of representations of "the second division, should be reinserted, but should apply only to the first division till the effect ox its operation was discovered. Mr. Vigor Brown declared the Ministers statement that the railways were paying so well was an argument ; n favor of increasing the second division's wages.

After the supper adjournment the discuss.oni was carried on by Messrs Nash, Uitt, Smith (Taranaki), Kll, Lee and blover, all of whom urged that more generous consideration should be shown to men of the second division. Up to one o'clock the speakers were Messrs Poole Field (Otaki), Smith (Waimarino), Semplo and Wittv, who appealed to the Premier to amend the schedules in a more generous direction, the discussion is continuing. (Left sitting.) •SPEECH BY MR. S. G. SMITH. PLEA FOR THE SECOND DIVISION. (By Wire.—Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Last Night. , Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki), speaking on the Railways Bill to-night, said that as an ex-railwayman as well as a member of the Hoiise, he would support the payment of ttie present salary to the General Manager. The ex-Minister for Railways had said that the schedules had been approved by the executive of the A.S.R.S. Was that the case? Had the executive seen the whole of the schedule at the time?

Mr Herries: Not the portion dealing with the first division.

Mr Smith: Exactly. The railwaymen had not been told of the very large increases that were going to be paid to the high salaried men. They would never have accepted the statement that not another penny could be provided for the second division if they had known what was proposed to be done for the first division. He did not object to the payment of high salaries to senior officers, but fair salaries must he paid to the rank and file. It was idle to pretend that, the railway service was contented, or that the conditions were imtisfactory. The department was losing one hundred men per month and that drain ought to be stopped. Mr. Smith pointed out that tho present railway regulations provided nde Oliatelv for recognition of merit in promotion. He hoped the new manager was going to make better use of the classification. The first thing, however was to do the right thiner by the men of the second The railway officer!! were satisfied, the request of the loco men for a Ward of enquiry had been'met. and the second division asked with good renson that the Government should either "rant them a straight-out Increase or a bonus until the board of enmiipv had reported. The A,S.R.f3. had accepted tire schedule in March last in the expectation of a fall in the cost of living. The railway men had always adopted constitutional methods of agitating for improved conditions, and thcV found themselves to-dnv in n worse position than wrtrkers Who had thrown law and order to the winds.