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-, - ,- - 'i RAILWAY STRIKEI…

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'i RAILWAY STRIKE THREATENED. f MEETINGS OF TH E MEN ON SUNDAY. NOTICE MAY BE SERVED >EXT MONDAY. CHIEF TKOUULE ON THE TUT VALE. BARKY AND GREAT WESTERN ALSO AFFECTED. For several weeks pa.-t there have been meetings amongst tlve railway employes oil lines in South Wales, pointing to troubles that lUiht be exported with regard to <!emands for better wages hy several of tile grades. The chief difficulty is 011 tbe. Taff Vale Railway as one or two questions combine to make up a rather' full programme which the men are pre- senting for adoption by the directorate. One thing that the men demand is the re- instatement of a man. who, they say, was harshly dismissed—a statement denied by the employers--whilst the onginemen and drivers are formulating a series rf reforms mthpratt'sand classification of their payment. Upon the Great Wes- tern Railway. so far as the South Wales district is concerned, the signalmen ask for better classiifcation, for time-and-a-half pay upon Sunday work, and lis. per week advance all round. The Barry Company also has a dispute with the men, who want a higher rate of wages. A mat* nitttins of Taff Vale Railway fire. ruen was held at the Cory-hail. Cardiff. on Sunday morning tn decide what .t{!p..hall be t.iken to secure bettor conditions of service. — U;e Chairtmui (Mr. Albert }brsl\J. ill oprn. in, said the mectine had been convened in accordance with a wish of a larsre number of firemen, amaHnatd and associated, in order that tiiey might take into consideration tho grievances fro-u which they had suffered tor some years. It would be within their memory that, on the occasion of the la-it joint move- ment the firemen and drivers were linked with other grades. They then did not seek an increase in pay so much as to farther the promotion question and the eight hours night work movement. That first movement col- lapsed, but if every grade had supported the movement as the firemen and young drivers had done then he had no hesitation in saying that they would have had the votes of 98 per cent. of the whole of the workmen on the TafT. (Applause.) Owing to the apathy and indifference of one or two gradeB- for reasons which he thought were sufficiently clear to them—the movement snffered. He had been asked w grive an oppor- tunity of discussing the case of Bro. Ewington, the Ahercynon signalman. a delegate in the late movement, and branch secretary of the men's Amalgamated Society. A resolntion was then moved anil seconded protesting against the action of Mr. Beasley in dismissing Ewington. and undertaking to snpport any farther action by KwingtoiTs feliow-eiiiployes. An offlciaJ outline was then given of Ewing- ton's treatment and dismissal and succeeding speakers aeroed that the case w.t.8 one of victimisation. The motion, on being put, was carried unanimously. The opinion was r-.gly etpre?ed that a determined effort :,4,? Id be .to remstate Ewington in his f, rmer position. The Chairman then described at length the tbt for eome years had been ad"pted by the company in dealing wkd drivers and firemen. He denounced the system as obnoiions and rotten A yonng man was Put on the foot-plate! and a passed fireman." They paid him 24s a <vee k. and after a period of four or five years they gave him a "letter" to say that on and aft-rr a certain date he WOT]\d be classed a'" a fireman, andtllen hu wages were reduced to Z: a week, and he was =ent to Iln "out- Manor —often from Cardiff t" ?er.nda)e or mme such locality. That went on for twelve months, and then he came buck to his old 24s a week. He continued for ifve years before '-?-e?tpR the maximum wa?e of ?7, weelt.1 They wonM 12., ? that a "p-?er! nrcman- ?'i townrktfght-or il:neyea? or more, before he r'e¡,"ed biq maximum wagt'. Superdrivc h.<d on)v lq-. a week. whereas tho men whose p, .aces they niled received from 33a. to 375. 6ci. Afl, r better conditions of service upon the following bjsn. submitted by the Aber- nnon, Merthyr. and Aberdare men:- p?' rs.-To he done away with altogether A') Taranc?s to be HUed with properlv-ap- pomted drivers, receiving 5a. lad. per dav. uremen.—when put 011 to a driver's du'v cn receive the rate of pay of the man :'e .a in place of. Firemen not to do driver.' duty nle,s in case of ikne. or accident of ^'r"nen,, "'?'? ? at pr(Lnt un ta ? t?e eighth year, the nine and tenth e.r. at the rate of 4s 9d per day. after tenth year 5. per day Passenger firemen to receive no Ie" t:ia 11 5s. per day. Promotion by seniori'v, and an vacancies to he filled with properly-ap- pointed firemen. Paad firtnn when em- ployed other than at the footplate to receive j, P"r tiiy; when on footplate to receive aP" a,w It employed as parsed fireman twe ve months, and the. made fireman, he is to revive 4i. per day ai per firemen rate: if •mploye-i as passed fireman two years, and hen marle fireman. he ma-t receive 43. per day jr the net twelve months, and the advance a per Bremen's rate; if employed three yEar <s ra*-ed ifreman, and thtn nsa.ie fireman, to fireman 4<1. (■ and advance as per Tae rec.?mend.tion re ?pers wa adoptd, A propoM! tba? super* remain at 5s 6:1 a I,y the "irtartinsr price f.?r twelve months re. ? y?'J fn?y eix Ynt" An am?.dment that ft?meosw:?.:? after the seventh vear be 5s a ''ay 3C'rccf to by n large ).")io, "y. Sub- Jt?tt.t.?? -'39?):terat)on?.t.het'rc?rmm?M?<, ad^n»«d as "?'' '??''e the meeting. Othe- «rr»evarre« were then discussed In the em, :t vas derided to mem0riali:c the mm. on behalf of the men. and "r:t" were n,,?inted to devise men f1' "Ir;iiuniratinz with the management. The company was given seven days in which to rDI\, The iien'? .btemenL the Chairman >a<d. C"nnld ("arcb' be e?t .h,r,?,i? to-mor- rn" ITI1t"(JttT'. week. Mr. James Hnlmegi. in the course of an address, said that now tliey hnd taken a relini'e line of action they should not play any looarer. but do the tbine: or drop it once frr all. 'Applause.) His reason for writing thp letter that appeared in print the clay hefore. in reply to Mr. Harland. was that lie thought it- a golden opportun'tv to show publicly to Mr. Harland that he had made a serious mistake, he had proved by hi, letter that Mr. Ewington had spoken the truth, and that he Ulr. Harland! had deviated • omewhr.t. In thr- second place, unfortunately, th" secretary t"lr Uu. rnarcls and brakesmen appointed t"; rnd in t0 demands of the renn lit -1 h;!f.1,"d nt of thr !)n3il!IIJ1 Hro Raid t\l:'1t it was a cowardly <!f,ti()n, Therefore. !h<- only course he conld reco-n- trend under the circnmstan. fB. seeing that the .i711;"dlT!n had already sent in the hulk of tb-iT rotices, was to postpone the matter for another week. It was better for all of the,. for •ectjon to take action on the 6th. That was His ;1 dvice. labour had never been so scarce "r so valuable in the market, and he allv¡":I them to .?,k,? the most of the opportunity and not "it down any longer as th.. ?..rF? .?f UtP TTafr?ate Railway Company. Thi. was n t'tgof-war lietween them and Mr. Beasley Tne lutlT had Muffed them before MKETIXO AT TREHERHKRT. ??l.,Ii,,g .f the "iJ1almn and tiv.in-men "t A !he T,,h-- ,b-It Iti?t?ilt 'extending f""1n T-e- hfrt?rt to L)wvnypi.o was held at the Victory 'I emneranco Hotel, Treher'oert, on Sund?y afternMn.-tt was r?otved that notiM-! b, handed in on Mondav by the train-men an) Mcrna?men. hut that the resolution of the nwet-I ing he snt)j -t to the decision arrived at later in the day at the Pontypridd !?eti)? A delegate was appoint? to attend the meeting There were three d:B9pntients—one trainman and two fli?naimen. RESULT OF THE VOTING After the notices had been tubulated at a de.egatea meetin g on Sunday at Pontypridd, Mr. Moses J01K8 informed our representative thM notices woatd be han(ted ? Uns M(" n' One hundred ;tnd eighty-seven signalmen7* <.<t)fc9 ?outd be handed in. and 172 for th, t?ardo. shuatera. and brakcsmen, Our re?re- «ntative w?? also informed that rrz?.- n?nM weve being made to coHe<-t further nonces this (Monday) mfnt-it?. From the deci'l .i,?n ?f thL, niectintz :t mf.n n< the meet.n-! t ?.? understood that the netic. to be banded in this morning "ou!d be .upplemenWI by those of the Cardiff me u. DIRECTORS' REPLY. Mr. J-?l, ?,ta,N, of the Ta?T Y?e Railway signalmen's movement for an advance in wages and better cnaditinns "1 ser??. :e8 tbt)Olre:g cpi71Il Mr. T.-i. ^ajUnd, Taff Vale Railway Offices, Cardiff, on Saturday moruius. It wiU be seen that the ;"ttor only refers to the s gnaluieu's df mauds "TAFK VARAILWAY. umoe 01 ^ui> £ riJitendent of the Lime, Cardiff. August 3. "Dear 8ir,-Your letter of the 2th of .Tuly was submitted 1..0 the directors at their mect. iug on Tuesday, when, seeing that it is little more than three months lnf'e the whole of. tho duties oi tbose Bipnalnien were in(!Llr('d 'I i::Io, and tilt' ebB.ifteation of the s.gmú.¡ ho's ?n-efuHy re ised. with the result that a I er.ililc? number ?f men. in addition to thwho had been previously adviunced, received increases n their wages, they could' I- t understand upon what grottntl3 the request tor a further increase is now made. t hi3 officers, iund detailed information to | prepared with reference to the effect of the i recent revision and «;ircumstanee3 applyin to ail Hienaimcn in th*» service, and the matter will conic lorward a&»in when this iuforrua* I tion has been prepared.—Yours truly, "T. E. HARLAND. <4VMJ r. Moseg Jones. 65, Treiiavod-road, Havod." u THE MANAGER'S VIEW. Bcntley. general manager of the Taff Vale Railwa.r. was aKo geeu by our representa- t?e.'il?atsenttemansaid.in' r?ply to queries, that there Was nothing whatever to talk ?b,,?t except the man Kwington. "And," ho con- tinued," th??t i? ,?.t dii from the scrvice, 011 the contrary, hü was offered promoti0n immediately after the movement of which he was one of the delegate? in March and April last was con- cluded. He was taken ill and laid up for everal months, and reported him-e:f fit f ir duty on the 25th of J.1,?-Hi. ?.ee was e?,. r;l with, but only for the time being, it being dedded tbat wheu a vacancy in the rcrvir-e (attached to which the salary would be 24s. per week) occurred he would b" takeu on again and restored to his tonuer?de. The Mhu'y mentioned was what ho had before he was takvn ill. Ho is ,a sig-naIman That promise w:u given him with another, that when the first opportunity occurred he would be allowed to ?"P." ii- *ar Pjs tion to th,t he l??id i,?".it)ttsly held, and restored to the class in which he was. The "Y i?i reg?ilate(I according to the cl??i lof the men. 'I ]he of Fwingt ()I hav:ug been dismissed from the service, either in connection with the part he took in the late inovomcrit of the men or 11 any ether way, is entirely untrue. If his having besn It delegate at the late meetiugs had been con. sidered a disqlwlification how did it happen that he was d!'ered promotion immediatcly after he attended the men's meeting a dele- !;atc?\hi)<.th"re-c:M?ihcat?a"o? ?.<; h? Was .JUn carried out a vacancy occurred, and he was aoou: the first on the Ii,t for promo- tion, and it was offered to him at 3s. a week more than he had b?nrcccivint;))MTion<!Y. Atthem?t?xatt'ontypriddonSnndayt?t he »aid he had been diswig"d from the ser- \'Üe. ?re .relation WLI to the effect that. U?l, this man were reinstated, there would bc trollblo, There s no rNSOn for reinstatement, as there was no dismissal, A copy of the resolution passed at the Ponty- pridd meeting was sent to Mr. Harland. who on.eo a^ked the iHTgon who sent it to say when and by whom the signalman in question had been dismissed, and he has actually written to-day (Friday) that he didn't now and cou.dri't say. The place which was offered the signalman li-t Wednesday week is stiti open to him. With regard to the signalmen, and the statements that the promises made some time ago have not been kept, I must say that these have been faithfully observed in letter and in spirit The men were promised that tile work done in each signal cabin should be ,,r,f. N. ascertained, and that the dasiitleation should be arranged 11\ Ruch a way as the information thus obtained ap, peared to render necessary. That has been done, and a large number of men hare received increases of pay. It may he that some of the men are not satisfied eit,her with the particular way in which their boxes have been placed, but anything they may have to say on that point wiU be carefully considered. But what the men are working for is not th{) classification of boxes-it is an all-round in- crease of 2s. a week, irrespective of clas. con- duct, or ability. Tho directors conld not understand, after having, not more than three month. ago. had all the signal-boxes re- classified and inereases of pay given, what are the grounds npon which these new demands have been made, not a word of explanation having been vouchsafed from the men-only a bold demand has been made for an all-round increase of 2s. a week, with an il1t.itnat.ion through the press t,bat if they didn't get what they wanted they will end in their notices. We are willing to treat the men honestly and fairly, according to their service, position, and abilities." I, -1 MEETING AT CARDIFF. 311S C X D E RS T A X DXYG AMOSG OFFICIALS. A crowded meeting of guards, brakesmen, and signalmen employed on the Taff Vale Rail- way was held at the Colbourne Hotel, Oathays, Cardiff, on Sunday evening. The first business witf the election of secretary, and Mr. T. J. Williams was chosen by a unanimous vote. The following revolution was put to the meet- ing and adopted unanimously"That, this meeting is unanimously of opinion that the time has arrived when we should approach tho Taff Yale Railway nlaI13gmut with a view of obtaining better conditions of service, and that we ask one half-penny per hour advaneo on the present wage rate of all grades represented here. Further, that when applying for leavo of absence we only I-, the time applied for, and that when booking a day off that we not, be called upon to work that (hy or night. That we demand a minimum rate of wages of tl 2s. 6d. for brakesmen, and a maximum of zLI 5s, 6d.; minimum for shunters, £1 7s. 6d" and maximum tl 13a. 6d.; maximum rate for guards, Ll 13s. rd." It transpired that a curious misnnderstand- ing had arisen from the Pontypridd meeting, Mr. Will,?tn? (the secretary) stating that no resolution was passed at that meeting autho- rising him to submit the demands of the men, as contained in the above resolution, to the Taff Vale Railway management on Monday of last week. Several of those present, who had attended the llon meeting, contended most em- phaticaily that a resolution was carried requesting that Mr, Williams should submit the demands of tho men to the Taff Vale Railway management on the Monday mentioned. Tills had not been done. fr, ,T. Holmes spoke strongly against the delay in submitting the men's demands to tho management, and the misunderstanding1, if th)' were not careful, would knock the bottom out of this movement. He wished his name to be dissociated from the work of drafting the programme oil behalf of the men after the conduct of Mr. Williams. If the resolution parsed at th'j Pontypridd meeting had been sent in the whole business would have been settled by this time. He was afraid that it would appear to the public that they were again playing the game of bluff. Wero the Crmliff men in a position to toe the line' (Load cries of "Yes.") They were fighting this mi1ter without the guaranteed snpport of the AmnlsMtnated Society, but there was no need to Ltlk about protection, because the Taff people would not let them go out. Now was their time if thy meant business. Mr. Williams replied to wha he described as the serious charge of Mr. Holmes," and reiterated his previous statement that there was no i-eso-ution passed at the Pontypridd D]('etul2'. Mr. Holmes followed, and Raid that his opinion was that Ir, Williams altered his mind and did not like to put the men^ demands until he submitted the matter to the meeting tlat day. Mr, Williams then said that he was prepared to acknowledge that it was his mistake, and that he would apologise if necessary. )Tr. Holmes added that that statement by Mr, Williams settled it, and there was no need for an apo.ogy The incident then ended, and a small com. mittee lindnding Mr. Williams as secretary) were appointed to draw up in proper form the demands of the men and to present the same to the Taff Vale Railway management to-day (Monday). It was decided that ittileRR those demands were conceded notices should be presented on Monday, the. 13th inst, It was also decided that a strong representation should Ill. made ou behalf of the reinstate- n-ont of Ewin¡¡ton. In the event of a refusal of the men's terms Mr. \\ill¡aru8 (the secretary) was given the power to present the men's notices on the 13th in? t. GREAT \VESTERNSIGNALMEN MKMTtXUATCABDIFF. tor some time past the signahnen engagci on the Ureat Wi-su-rn Eaihvay in South Wales •uul Monmouthshire have been di8ati.lle[1 with the wages they receive and the condition8 undrr which they work. On Sunday delegates representing- the various branches held n con- ference at the Washington Hatel, Cardiff, and formulated a programme, which was snb- mitted to a meeting of the men held at the 8:11" place in the afternoon. Mr, Handcock (Bridgend) presided, and there was a good attendance of signalmen from Cardiff and the neighbourhood. The Chairman stated that it was useless for the employes to go to the ?l*r-t. and "k for c?ce?i?3 unless the .,?. wr. rg? "di' Awa?e of 18s. to 27s. per wcek was not :?e- quate payment for physical and mental strain to which signalmen were subjected in the performance of their onerous duties, (Henr, hear.) Mr. Charles (Treharris) gaye a report of the meetioig of delegates held that mmning. held that m(irniri.. He exp.ained why the movement was confined to the South Wales distr'ct. It was intended that the movement h.uld extend to the whole of the Great Western system, but as on?- 547 men out of 4.000 belonged to the Amalgamated society of Railway Servants, the executivo council refuse thei rsupport. It oould not be expccted that the society would spend their money for the benefit of people who never paid a penny into its coffers. In South WaJcs however, the signalmen were better organised, land they had the support of the executive council in the action which they were now taking. One of the fundamental points in the programme which had been agreed npon wag that th men should receive an advance of .In, a week all round. He contended that they were that much worse off than they were two years ago in consequence of the advance in the price of provisions, coal, and other neces- sarie. The? wero also certain ano!nalie in the classification f b,)??, hi,?h 1?,??d an illi- :J\u uo;oo: iJ j"lr:i I some men were in receipt of higher wages than others, although they did precisely the name work. The delegates had decided to adopt the system in vogue on the North Eastern Railway, bv which the men knew their classi- fication by the lever movements, and knew also that they were entitled to a certain wage. If the lever movements were under 2M the wages wero 21s.. under 400 22s., under 50) 23%, under 800 24s., under 1,200 25s.. under 1.800 6s.. and onn' 1.800 a Bhil1in or more was added. Another demand which they proposed to make was that they should be paid time and a half for Sunday duty. .Ifr. Pevan (S"ea) moved the following resolution'"That this meeting calls upon all railwayman to join the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants a-3 the only moans by which we can hope to improve on conditions; it is further of opinion that it i, quite as important to remain In the society as t<1 join it, for the pUIjHJSIJ of maintaining those ron. cessions We have and hope to obtain, and we pledge our support to the delegates appointed to carry on thw movement." Mr, Krear (Monmouthshire Valley^ seconded, and gave an instance of the wav 1he mcn in that district had been treated, 110 hud written several letters putting forward their but, after promising for six months that the snb.iect •■hould have attention, the directors could not see their way to grant the demands. Mr, .1. Holme-, orgranifiing secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Uailway Servants, delivered an address in support of the motion, and stated that if the men hoped to succeed, they must join the society and present a united front to the directors. In his opinion, twelve hours boxe, should bo absolutely abolished. lie quoted an article in the Western Mail," in whioh it,w tt stated that the first principle of negotiations was the right. of the men to demand that they should lie represented by their officers in the same way as the directors were represented by their managers. (Applause.) Other speakers followed, and the resolution was passed unanimously. A large number of the men afterwards joined the Amalgamated Society, and tho delegates hold another meet- ing to forward the movement. FURTHER AGITATION OF BARKY I PLATEliAYKRS f>KMAND IMPR0V11D CONDITIONS. The platelayers and extra gangmcn in fhû pI"y.f B.?r,,y Railway Company :,r? Hitain for an advance of wageg from 21s and 22* to 24s and 25s per week, together with a reduction of hours. These demands were for- mu ated a fortnight ago. and communicated to the management of the company, who pro- mised consideration, at the same time point.. inr. out that already the men were paid wnges as l1igh as those of the neighbouring railway companies. l:p to Saturday no reply had been received: and in the afternoon a attended meeting of the men affected, to.. gether with other grades of railwaymen. was held at the Public-hall. Cndoxton-Barry. to consider what. further steps should be taken.— The Chairman announced that out of 2a3 regular hands. 188 platelayers on the Barry, and Vale of Glamorgan Railway had during! ihe past week signed in favour of pressing the demands for an advance of wages and reduc- tion of hours, and the whole of the extra | gangmen had followed their example. In view of such unanimity, it was their duty to pr. determinedly their demands for improved conditiolls of employment, which were at present, he maintained, worse than those of .t,r,,t s?vcngers. whereas. as a ,,tt,?r of fact, thpl.tcl." wcro skilled workmen, and not labourers. Mr. James Holmes, the organising Fiecretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Ser- vants, was present, and delivered an address. A resolution was unanimously adopted that a committee be appointed to l'oInmnnicat() with the I1l1tnagement. in the meantime notices to be issued and put into the hands of the committee, the sccrc;ary of the committer to communicate with the management, and. fail- ing a satisfactory reply, the committee to have power to present notices if the number in favour of 80 doing is over 8Q per cent., the notices to be signed with blank dates. PLATFLAYFRS' WACEI. A meeting of the platelayers employed nnder: the London and North Western Railway Com- pany in the Tredegar and Abergavenny dis- trict was held at Brynmawr on Saturday even- ing to consider a reply from the directorate to the demand for an immediate advance of 38. per week in wages and other improvements in the conditions of labour. It was reported that Mr. Cotton, distriet soperinteDdent for South Wales, had been informed that unless a favourable reply was received by Saturday 8lron measures woule1 be taken to ensure the dHnands being acceded to. No reply had been received to this communication. After ex- haustive consideration it WH.8 decided to call upon all platelayers in the district to at once idontify themselves with tho Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. STRIKE OF RAILWAYMAN IX I CANADA. Montreal. Friday Nizht.—A number of men en the Canadiaji Pacific Railway have struck. It is possible that the "Irko may extend throughout the entire system. The men com- plain that th> company iB trying to break, up the VniouB.—Central News.

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