John R. Raynes

“ Since the eight hour day was introduced the Midland Railway Company have promoted 1,065 firemen to be drivers.
Witness: There are many working 12 and 13 hours at a stretch at Leicester. That is not an eight hour day. No inducement is offered for old drivers to retire. Sufficient steps have not, in my opinion, been taken to introduce the eight hour day generally. I know a driver who is seventy-three years of age.
Charles Jarman, a driver on the London & South Western Railway at Exeter, said he had been 36 years in the Company's service and 22 years as a driver. ”

“ May his verdict at least be that the work done now laid the foundations of the brighter history he shall write, in a day when all the officers and shareholders and directors of 52 separate companies have been merged by time into one cohesive service, when no man has the power to sack and suppress his fellow, and when all men feel free indeed, and enjoy their work and their play. ”

“ The Conference of 1920 had decided that men of the supervisory grades should be admitted to membership of the Society, and might, if they chose, have their separate district branches and do their own business. These grades included locomotive foremen of all ranks, locomotive inspectors, relief supervisors, and officers of control. Many of them took the opportunity to join, and supervisors' branches became a new feature of the year, destined no doubt to increase and multiply in future years. ”

“ The report of the award of the National Wages Board was sent out to members, and a ballot taken upon its acceptance,
It should be added that the Central Wages Board had also ordered a 2s. per week increase because of a ten points rise in the cost of living, which in June stood at 150 per cent, increase, and in September was 161 per cent, above the normal, warranting a further 2s. from October 1st. In securing these advances from the companies the Executive did not forget its obligations to its own Office Staff of some twenty loyal workers. ”

“ The result of the deliberations of the National Railway Wages Board on the application of the railway employees for an advance of £1 per week was made known on June 4th. Advances, ranging according to grade and district from 2s. to 7s. 6d. per week proportionately to their pre-war rates, were granted to men other than those in the locomotive and signalmen's grades, and, in addition to the 3s. per week already granted to the locomotive grades, drivers were to receive 7s., firemen 4s., and cleaners (over 18 years of age) 2s. per week. ”

“ Advances were very properly conceded to them to meet the ever-increasing cost of living, and in 1918 there was instituted a superannuation scheme on a joint contributory basis, to make provision for old age retirement of each member of the staff. ”

“ It was held by the Society that as its members were in regular employment on the railways, they could secure exemption under the clause accepted by the Committee on the Bill on April 22nd, providing that employment under a local or public authority, where a person was not subject to dismissal except for misconduct or neglect, need not be brought under the Act. ”

“ The men had voluntarily taken upon themselves this responsibility, and the classes and lectures were regularly attended by the men, with benefit to the Company and themselves, which was doubly essential these days, when the strain on the engines was increased, and they had to deal with an inferior quality of coal. ”

“ In both these industries the workers demanded an adequate voice in the control of their own destiny, and in both it was opposed. The builders were leading the way by forming Building Guilds which accepted housing contracts running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. ”

“ Irish Questions—Fraternal Visitors—Eyesight Test—75,000 Members—Further Advances—Supervisory Members—The Miners' Strike—Marching Forward—The Best is Yet to Be.
The year 1920 was probably quite as heavy for the Executive Committee as the year 1919. They had long and tiring sittings, sometimes of eight weeks continuously, and the subjects which occupied their attention were of a wonderfully varied character. Early in the year they visited Ireland, to act in respect to Irish railway conditions, and the attempt to exclude the narrow gauge line locomen from the full wage rates. Mr. ”