10

[W MCAELEY

I.—6a.

purpose effectively Another matter which I wish briefly to refer to is that one of the parties opposing our petitions is a financially interested party, and the larger the Amalgamated the larger will be his salary and perquisites. Therefore you must look upon that evidence as being biassed, and not of any value. Another point is that he is not a railwayman. Mr Russell referred to the question of the no-strike provision in our constitution, but I wish to say that so far as the Amalgamated 'Society is concerned there is not a rule of any kind saying that there shall be no strike. There is one important point I should like to mention in regard to all the railwaymen being in the one society There are times when locomotive-men have to report members of other sections for not carrying out their duties, and it is not right that we should be coerced into belonging to the Amalgamated Society, when this engenders an ill feeling and operates against us when we ask for anything that will benefit ourselves. In conclusion, I appeal to you to recommend the official recognition of the New Zealand Locomotive-engine Drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association. I appeal to you for your indorsal of the well-founded principle of trades or crafts unions. It is a matter which must receive your approval if you have at heart the welfare of this young and, I may say, progressive country With regard to federation, we have made a proposal to the society, and if we carried out that idea it would give us the right to make our own representations and still go hand in hand with the society when they wanted to make any representations to the management in regard to the Appeal Board or the Classification Board. Before concluding, sir, I wish to read to you a memorandum of reasons why the New Zealand Locomotive-engine Drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association should be officially recognized. They are as follows " 1 The New Zealand Locomotive-engine Drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association has been established since the Ist June, 1908, and embraces over 80 per cent, of the engine-drivers, firemen, and cleaners employed on the New Zealand Government Railways. 2. The N.Z.L.E.D.F &C. Association is a registered union under the Trades-union Act, 1908, and duly recognized as a trades-union, under the laws enacted by New Zealand. Parliaments. 3 The members of the N.Z.L.E.D.F & C. Association occupy very responsible positions, being in charge of valuable machinery, and having under their care many human lives, and their work is of a highly technical nature. 4. The main objects of the N.Z.L.E.D F & C Association are, —(1) to act for the mutual assistance and protection of its members; (2) to prevent strikes in the Railway service, this association having a ' no-strike clause ' in its constitution; (3) to educate its members in the work and technicalities of their callings, classes being regularly held at all leading centres for this purpose. Therefore, in the interests of the public, the Railway Department, and the locomotive-men themselves, it is highly essential that official recognition should be extended to the petitioners' union. 5 It is in the interests of industrial peace that each trade or calling should be allowed to form a union, and receive recognition from the employers. 6 The N.Z.L.E D.F &C. Association has branches throughout New Zealand, and each branch is composed wholly of locomotive-men who can discuss freely (without the interference of other departments' employees) the various matters which affect their callings. 7 The branch secretaries are also locomotive-men, and fully understand any matter emanating from the branch meetings, which has to be transmitted clearly to the executive body 8. The executive council of the N.Z.L.E.D.F & C. Association is also composed wholly of locomotive-men, who can discuss the matters placed in their hands without the interference of other departments' employees, who are in no way conversant with the technical work appertaining to the petitioners' callings. 9 The general secretary of the N.Z.L.E.D.F &C. Association is also a locomotive-man, who thoroughly understands the various matters placed in his hands to be discussed with the head of his departments, and it is also in the interests of industrial peace that the general secretary of a union should be engaged in the callings he represents. 10. Therefore, under clauses 6, 7, 8, and 9, it must be admitted that a society composed of and worked by locomotive-men can more adequately represent any matter affecting their calling, and also deal with the matters in a more explicit manner than a conglomerate society, however it may be organized. 11 Under the abovementioned circumstances a large amount of time will be saved to the departments' officers and the Minister, also, it would be the means of fostering a better feeling between the departments' officers and the men, which largely conduces to an efficient service. 12 It was stated by the Minister of Railways, on the 14th December, 1909 (Hansard, p 1047), 'So far as the Railway Department was concerned it did not object to the proposal ' [for the official recognition of this association] ' in the slightest.' In Australia the Railway Commissioners admit the locomotive unions render valuable assistance in working the railways, which fact was admitted by the Minister as the result of his recent visit. 13. It is also admitted that neither industrial nor political force is required to induce the Government, the Minister, or the Department's officers to redress any matter affecting the employees; therefore there is no necessity for all grades of the service to be in one union which cannot adequately represent all matters affecting the Railway employees. 14. The locomo-tive-engine drivers, firemen, and cleaners' associations are officially recognized in England, Scotland, Ireland, America, Argentine, Sweden, Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, West Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, and in almost every civilized country in the world, and it is considered necessary in the interests of public safety to allow these men official recognition and to associate for their own improvement. 15. As the locomotive-men have to come in contact with almost every person engaged in. train-running, and it is very necessary for the locomotive-men to report other callings or persons for neglect of duty, &c, it is very desirable in the interests of the travelling public that they should not have to belong to a society of all grades, which, through above-mentioned causes, engenders an ill feeling towards the locomotive-men 16 It is urged as an argument against our recognition that we should not be able as a union to accumulate sufficient money to defend an action such as the Rotorua or Bankside accidents, apart from the fact that we now have sufficient funds for such purposes. One of the objects of our union is to endeavour to prevent such accidents by impressing upon and