BILL OPPOSED.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 January 1922, Page 5

BILL OPPOSED.

“SERVICE DEEPLY STIRRED.” RAILWAYMEN RESENT PROPOSAL. HINT OF TROUBLE. By Telegraph—-Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. All sections of the Government setvice have been deeply stirred by the proposals for a “cut” in salaries. »So far as the railwaymen are concerned the retrenchment Bill has been received with strong disapproval and an emphatic protest is likely to be made against it by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants’ executive, which is summoned to meet at Wellington to-morrow. “Our members strongly oppose any attempt to reduce wages at the present time,” declared Mr. W. Sullivan, president of the A.S.R.S. “It appears to me that the policy of the Government in this question is that the last shall be the first. When wages were on the upward tendency the railwaymen dragged along behind 1 other workers outside the Government service. It was generally recognised that an increase in pay was due to the railwaymen when war broke out, but to avoid embarrassing the Government then they waived their claims, and only when the cost of living rose were they forced to ask for bonuses from time to time. When these bonuses were granted they were long overdue and were insufficient to meet the increased cost of living.

“It was only in April, 1920, when in desperation our members were forced to resort to a strike, that the railwaymen got anything like a fair deal. Now we find, notwithstanding the Arbitration Court stabilised wages until April this year, the agreements entered into by my society with the Railway Department through the wages board have not been embodied in an Act or regulations, and the Government proposes to treat the agreement merely as scraps of paper. I have been travelling with the railway appeal board from Invercargill to Auckland and am in a position to gunge the feeling of members, and I feel certain that if the Government attempts fb force this Bill through in its ■present form it will precipitate trouble so far as the railway service is concerned.” When the need for effecting economy in the running of the railway service of thg Dominion was recently placed before the Railway Officers’ Institute by the genera] manager members of the took a ballot and agreed to meet the department by relinquishing for a term some of the improve! conditions which have been granted to them. The majority of the members of the institute favored thia course in preference to having their salaries reduced. Now it would appear that, the Government has decided to reduce salaries instead of falling in with Ihe proposal adopted by the institute, which waA really a. suggestion on the part of the railway authorities themselves, and no'.- that the Government ha« apparently decided to reduce the salaries of railway officers it may bo taken for granted that the negotiations already commenced will be discontinued.

SALARIES OF TEACHERS.

PROTEST AT REDUCTION. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. Wellington, Last Night. The following letter has been sent by the secretary of the New Zealand Edutional Institute to the Minister of Finance: “I have the Honor to refer to the remarks made by you in the House of Representatives w*hen introducing the retrenchment proposals, particularly those in connection with the £300,000 added to the salaries of teachers last, year. I desire to place on record that that increase was not given to the teachers as a cost of living bonus, but as a means of reducing the inequality between the emoluments of teachers and those of other services. No mention of the cost of living bonus or a conditional reduction was made by either side in the discussion of that subject, which accounts for the acceptance by teachers of the £35 increase when other services received £5O.

“With regard to the necessities of the times, the teachers are as willing as others to accept a fair share of the common burden, but it seems clear from a preliminary examination of the proposals that the reduction indicated will, except in some cases, increase the difference in remuneration of the services to the further detriment of the already unattractive teaching profession. It will be more difficult than ever to replace the battalions of uncertificated teachers with those who are trained for their work, with the result that the standard of national education, which is the standard of national efficiency, will be lowered. It may be, taken for granted that those who offer themselves for service in future will be those only who are actuated more by the missionary spirit of desire to serve the community than by a desire to benefit themselves.”

It was learned to-day that no decision had yet been come to regarding how the retrenchment proposals f are to affect teachers. ‘Tt will be a matter of very careful and anxious consideration for myself and the Director of ’Education,” .said the Ministei’ of Education.

“tt cannot _ possibly be achieved by a flat rate as in the ease of the salaries under £5OO in the general public service as so many different factors in the teaching profession have to be taken-in-to account. I shall endeavor, if the Bill goes through, to see that the bulk of the decrease is placed on ihe shoulders able to bear it best, and I may consult with the institute upon certain phases. It is a great disappointment to me that the salaries have to be reduced, but the stern necessity of the position has been forced on me. and I cannot well do otherwise. The distribution of the first £90,000 will not. mean a very large individual reduction.”

THE P. AND T. SERVICE. NEW PLYMOUTH PROTESTS. At a large and representative meeting of the New Plymouth P. and T. Officers’ Association the following resolutions were carried: “That this branch is strongly opposed to the proposed reduction in salaries as being wholly inequitable and unjusti-

fiable. We are not prepared to accept any reduction until auch time as the cost of living has fallen to such a point as to warrant same, and then only such reduction commensurate with true fall in cost of living.” “Further, we consider that the suggested reductions are a distinct breach of agreement between the P. and T. Association and Government.” “That being citizens subject to all ordinary taxes we bitterly resent being singled «out for special taxation to provide a rebate for the wealthier classes.” “That in the opinion of this section the time has arrived when the Dominion executive should put into operaton the powers invested in them in connection with the secret? ballot of members.” OTHER. PROTESTS. Auckland, Last Night. A meeting of the Auckland section of the Post and Telegraph Officers’ Association, 300 attending, voiced strong protests against the reduction of salaries and carried resolutions protesting againthe drastic character of the cut, which “involves a. flagrant breach of faith by the Government”; also against the unjust rate of the reductions. Another resolution claimed special consideration because retrenchment economy has imposed special hardships upon P. and T. officers to date. It was further resolvedj to strongly support any action, the Dominion executive may take. Wanganui, Last Night.

At a P. and T. officers general meeting to-night the following motions were carried unanimously:— This meeting of the Wanganui section is astounded at the proposed reductions in salaries in the public service and emphatically protests against such injustice until the cost of living figures prove that such are warranted. According to our agreement with the Prime Minister we remember that when a ten per cent, increase was due after the cost of living had risen from 62 to 72 per cent, or 75 per cent above the figures of 1914. an increase was not granted, but when the figures dropped ]0 per cent, we were immediately relueed. \ve remember also that the Government recently granted a rebate of 10 per cent, to payers of land tax and 5 per cent, to payers of income tax, evidently at the expense of public servants, as the Government is now virtually compelling its employees to pay this rebate. We would point out that according to the figures published locally the Government can on the one hand afford to make the land owner who pays approximately £4OOO land tax a present of £4OO and on the other hand proposes to reduce the salaries of employees in the civil service, many of whose incomes do not warrant the payment of income tax.”

“(2) This meeting is of opinion that if the Government is compelled to raise money to alleviate the financial stringency this should be done by universal taxation on all incomes over a certain amount. Assuming a citizen is receiving over, say £3OO, the said citizen be taxed so much per cent, on his income above a certain amount. Wte contend this would be a much fairer means of assisting the finances of the country. We do emphatically protest against | civil servants being singled out as the [ only ones asked to fill the national I coffers. The meeting, with subI sections, pledges itself to fully support [the executive in any action deemed i necessary.”

Similar resolutions of protest were carried at Dunedin, Gisborne and Greymouth.