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Rhondda Tramway Trouble

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Rhannu

Rhondda Tramway Trouble Men Threaten to Strike. Small Pay and Long Hours. For some time past, considerable dis- satisfaction has existed among the. motor. men and conductors employed by the Kliondda Tramway Company, and matters reached a head on Friday last. The grievances complained of are; --(1) In- efficiency of wages (2) length of working hours; (3) no extras for holidays; while other grievances include the system of suflpejusion," the spare- list," and th II mèrÜ badge," the latter of which the men declare is bestowed more as a mark of favouritism than a reward for good conduct. On Thursday night, repre- sentation was made to Mr. Nisbett, the general manager, by the representatives of the men, with the result that Mr. Nisbett ordered the men to bring in their clothes if they were dissatisfied with the terms of their engagement. A meeting of all the men off duty was held on Friday, and one of their number was appointed chairman, and the proceed- ings included speeches by Mr. Attwell, secretary of the Cardiff Branch of the Trainwaymen's Union; and Mr. Palser, another official of the same branch. The meeting was on the whole characterised by a. good deal of enthusiasm and absolute unanimity of purpose in the determination to become Trades Unionists, with the view of fighting for what was regarded as fair conditions of service. The Chairman having briefly opened by an expression of hope that all the Rhondda men would become members of the Tram- waymen's Union, so as to obtain redress of their grievances. Mr. Attwell explained the aims and objects of the Union, and gave a cordial invitation to the Rhondda men to join, for in so doing they would not only be strengthening their own position, but the organisation as a whole. Dealing with the progress of the Union, Mr. Attwell said that during the past twelve months the membership in Cardiff alone had in- crea.sed from 244 to 380--(applause)-aild while fo-ur months ago there was no f+?U I^ntypridd, to-day 95 per cent, or the men there were enrolled (applause). At Swansea, Newport and Merthyr also w men fere org«ni^d and tlie Rhondda as, so far, the only place in South Wales where the men remained unorgan- ised. It had been stated that the traffic manager of the Rhondda Company had challenged the rights of the men to become Unionists, but that gentleman dared not do that. If the men joined the Union in the near future, they would find their conditions of service improved and they would he treated as men should be treated. If the men only conducted their fight in a, proper way, they could rely upon the support of not only their reuow-workmen in the other branches of the Union, but also that of the general public (applause). He, as an official of the Union, extended to the Rhondda, men tho right of fellowship, and added that their joining the Union would mark the beginning of a, new life amongst them and their social welfare would be effec- tively promoted (applause). Mr PVd t wami tribute to Mi Attwell and also Mr. Palser for the ready way in which these two gentlemen had come to their at Forth. several of the men then spoke in turns, givng free expressions to the grievances which they stated they were now labour- ,9^ conductors, speaking on w«m others, said that when they enSaged as conductors they were x-n slx time their wages would be increased from 4.Vd. to 5d ner pX'd had notwiths.fc;»i<liug that 'this K „a4*now expired, the promised rj'.i had not yet been forthcoming, lliey were at the start given many pro- 5» l»d «ot yrt becX pw. been' at, tlle'se promises had be<n broken by the management, it behoved the men to stand up and fight fm their rights. The Rhondda was abso- lutely the only place where the holidays were not recognised, and the demands which they now put forward, were only what was fair, and, indeed, what had been promised them; and they were ask- ing further that they should be paid time- and-a-half for holidays and Sundays. If they would only stick together as one man they wore bound to win the day (applause). A motorman said that when the motor- men were put on at 5td. per hour, they were promised an advance to 6d. per hour in. a. very short time. This promise to the motormen had also been broken, though here and there had been an advance of a farthing per hour made. A merit stripe was being granted some, but it was granted in a purely haphazarded fashion and without any reference at all as to the deserts of the men, and there were some who had had no merit stripe, notwithstanding the fact that they had an absolutely clean record as far as any mishap of any kind was concenf d. The men worked all day long, and the only opportunity granted them for food was on the car at the termini, and if they dared to give expression to their dissatis- faction to the management, they were told, "If you don't like it, you can go." Another matter which was regarded as very unfair was the way the spare list was kept. If they were one minute late for a car, they were put on the spare." list, and if they were on this list they had to present themselves the first thing in the morning and periodically afterwards during the day, and it might be in the afternoon before they would be given work, and they were onlv paid for the time that they wore actually engaged at work, so that there were some men two or three months at a time on the spare list, and their earnings during this period might not average more than 10s. a. week. The speaker maintained that the men on the spare" list should be compensated if they presented themselves for work. He also, maintained that it was distinctly unfair that the workmen should not be granted extra pay in respect of overtime and also for working on Christ- mas Day and other holidays and on the Sunday (hear, hear). Reference was made co the .suggestion that the management intended introducing the "split" system, and it was urged u that the. employees, when engaged, were given distinctly to understand that they were to have straight duty, and they should now therefore strenuously oppose iin*i .*nnovation of the kind indicated. It had been stated that by the straight duty system the trams did not pay but he ridiculed this suggestion, inasmuch as it was only the other dav the management pasted that the receipts came to I 2¡:¡, bd. per umle. 11 ie^ml?'111 f* remarked that one of sent moveTrf + t.in the pre- muc}vapp]auln5 discharged, a won't raWrr- "I* they An opportunity ofX°+a Wl" n°t have back." it wLoutdinfharttedyelse one or two others who h-i.l tre 1v?-re charged, and a firm resolve wa^ Jt86n 1i that these particular men should b^^ tected by their fellow-workmen. If men here will join the Union they will not work under me," was a rema.rk which was credited to have been uttered by the traffic manager. The Chairman: He is rather bold to chance it (hear, hear). Another employee complained that the men were debited with shortages occasion- ally which they had not occasioned but whatever might be the matter, they as employees were given no satisfaction, and had oppi-obious epithets hurled at them. -id Exception was taken to the system adopted in regard to signing off for work, and it was maintained that the men should be allowed to sign off duty upon leaving the sheds and not upon leaving the cars, as was said to be the case at present, as it took half-an-hour as a, rule to check everything before they could go home after leaving the cars. The Chairman commented upon the conduct of the management, from the manager down to the inspectors." The next grievance ventilated was in connection with the suspension of the men, it being stated that the men were given no opportunity to defend them- selves, and oftentimes could only guess at the cause of their suspensions, which varied from a day to a week in length. The Chairman remarked that ° they would get what they wanted by unity, jr peaceful methods proved abortive, then they must fight (applause). Mr. R. Palser then addressed the meet- ing at some length, remarking that although he did not know whether the Union would bear the expense of his attending there that day, lie. felt con- strained to do so, as he had been a. mem- her of the Union for ten years and an official for nine years. In Cardiff, they had always progressed, but had never gone backward as, a Union (applause). If lie had one fault to find with the Rhondda men, it was that they had not before now joined the Union; it was not until they were trodden down under foot that they had felt the necessity of it. He, however, advised them to proceed with circum- spection. They should, first of all, get themselves into the Union and be thoroughly organised; they would then be in a position to fight the Company (hear, hear). In the meantime, he would ask them for a short while to bear their burdens, for they might upon remedial measures being taken once the" were well banded together audi had all the force of the Union behind them. To make the men to work for 19 liour.s a day was not human (hear, hear). In Car- diff, before the existence of the Union, there the men were paid from 23-s. to 24s. 6d. per week of 82 hours, but now they were paid from 24s. to 29s. Gel. for a week of 54 hours (applause). He ex- plained that indirectly, too, the credit belonged to their Union of having for the men double pay in respect of work done on holidays and Sundays. He desired to encourage them in their efforts by a refer- ence to the history of the Union itself. When the organisation was started at Manchester, only ten men mustered together at the initial meeting; to-day there was a membership of 30,000 and a capital of R,25,000 (applause). Drivers and conductors of cars had terrible responsi- bilities devolving upon them, and in view of the onerous duties which they had to perform they should receive better remuneration than an ordinary scavenger did. It was not right either that the men should be subjected to obnoxious treat- ment and reflections made upon their characters (applause) It was then unanimously agreed to join the Union and to do all that was possible in the interests of the Society, and all those present then and there enrolled their names as members. At, the suggestion of Mr. Attwell, it was then agreed to ask the management to discuss the points at issue with the men or their representatives. Midnight Meeting. Following the above meeting, another was held on Friday midnight, at which all the employees were present. Mr. Attwell, secretary of the Cardiff Branch of the Tramway men's Union, presided. Reports having been made with regard to the grievances and complaints made dealing with the conditions of service by a. number of men, Mr. D. Watts Morgan addressed the meeting at some length, and said he had had an interview with Mr. Nisbett, the general manager, who had promised to carefully consider the matter in dispute, and, 'in fact, stated that the question had already been taken up. He had authority for saying that Mr. Nisbett would not be averse to the men at any time formulating their demands and bringing them by their representatives before the management, with a view to getting them redressed. The men accented the report of the negotiations, and withdrew the threat to stop work. A hope was expressed that everything would gp on in an amicable manner in the future upon recognised Trade Union lines. Another meeting was held on Sunday morning.

Story of the Trouble.I

FAMOUS DOCTORS(

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