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11 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

----A.S.R.S.

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A.S.R.S. ALL GRADES MOVEMENT SUPPORTED AT ABERDARE. On Sunday afternoon, at the New Theatre, Aberdare, a meeting was held by the A.S.E.S. in support of the All Grades Movement of the Society. Mr B. Knight was chairman. 11 311 The Chairman said that hitherto they as members of the A.S.R.S. had not re- ceived satisfactory replies from the companies. Mr T. Warren remarked that the pros- pects of an agreement with the employ- ers were as remote as they were when they met last. The employers exhibited a spirit of defiance, or to use an ex- pression of their own, "a little bit of bluff." They had repeatedly remarked that the: majority of the men were satis- fied with the present state of affairs, and that only the leaders: were agitating. They as railwaymen had as much right to elect leaders as the country had to ap- point generals. They were a. force of over 90,000 men, and yet the Companies were trying to say that only a few lead- ers were agitating. Mr. Warren then moved the following resolution: "That this meeting of all grades of railwaymen emphatically protest against the attitude of the railway companies in ignoring the. just de- mands of the railway servants in the national programme formulated in Birmingham in November last, and we trust that our Executive Committee will at once test the members of the society as to withholding our labour to enforce our demands." Mr. A. J. Thatcher ceiconded the reso- lution. He said that the movement em- bodied the demands of the men. and not the leaders only. They must show a united front and determined attitude to- wards their employers. Those railway- men who were in a higher social position should co-perate with those of a lower grade. Mr. W. W. Craik, Barry, remarked that the object of the movement was to make the life of a railwayman worth the living. Their battle cry was "Organ- ise, organise, organise'" and soon he hoped the membership of the A.S.R.S. would be augmented from 93,000 to 100,000. The railway magnates had said they would not recognise the Society, they would not allow a iiiii-cl party to come between them and their men. But he would venture to say that the time would come when the railway employers would fall in line with other great em- ployers of labour who had deemed it dis- cieet to join in counsel with the leaders of the men in discussing labour disputes. Lord Claud Hamilton had said that the railway industry was a peculiar species of industry. If so, the sooner the better it became extinct. (.Laughter.) This Lord was anxious about the interests of the British public. The" public al- ways covered a multitude of sins. The speaker then dwelt upon long hours and their injurious effect on the workers, and involving a risk to the travelling public. Then again the wages were ridiculously lew. Some of the Companies said that the sudden fluctuations of trade did not justify them in giving the men better wages. Yet they were able <o vote huge sums in directors' fees. If the railway directcrs persisted in this attitude of iiii. bending aloofness, then they—the men- would meet them by means of collective and consolidated effort There must be no turning back in this fight. Let: then- cry be "No surrender.Let them con- tinue- to organise. It was expected that e\ery railway man would do his duty. (Applause.) Ir. E. Charles, Quakers' Yard, 01.. served that he was pleased to see so many ladies present. He would have been glad to see each man bringing there his wife or his mothef. (Voice: U Or his sweetheart.") Ten years: ago they made an application to the employ- ers similar to the one they made now, and they received exactly the same re- ply, namely, that the Companies would not recognise the leaders of the men. The Companies had played off railway against railway and grade against grade, and thus they had defeated the men. The methods the Companies adopted to deal with the representatives of the men were most arbitrary and unfair. Lord Hamil- ten had said that he spoke as the repre- sentative of the shareholders. They as workmen-were seeking a similar privi- lege. (Hear, hear.) They were asking for a right that was granted to the big- gest malefactor in the country, namely the right to a skilled advocate to plead their case. He would -ay that ten years hence the railway companies would bless them for compelling them to adopt- cer- tain modern apparatus and improve- ments. Some of the railway magnates had said that the railwaymen were a very fine body of men. They as railway- men admitted the truth of that state- ment, and they wanted to be treated as a fine body of men If the Companies wanted good discipline and efficiency among their servants, let them g:ve their men good wages and reasonable hours end then all unrest and dissatisfaction would vanish. It was a disgrace to the humanity and Christianity of the rail- way companies that the men were com- pelled to make -a demand for a six days week and that Sundays be paid lor as extra time. Owing to the increase in the wages of colliery workers the rents were raised in colliery districts. Railway workers had their rents advanced al- though they did not reap the benefit of the prosperity in the coal trade. The railway service at the present time was- scandalously overworked and underpaid, and their plea for a betterment of condi- tions was justified by Christian princi- ple. (Applause Mr. T. Williams, Swansea, having spoken, the resolution wa= put to the meeting, and unanimously carried.

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