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SACK FOR CARDWELL
SiilRE HAWS.
CHAIRMAN'S CHARGES.
PKOGKESS ON WATER
WORKS.
, TULLY, Feb. 22.-At the "
general meeting of the Card-
well Shire Connell on Febru-
ary 21- a motion was carried
that the whole of the council
staff, from the engineer dawn,
be given notice of dismissal
fr om. Mondar morning except
1 lng the offlce staff, mechanic, -
grader drivers, gardener, street
cleaner, and Cardwell gang,
I and all requiring re-employ-
ment must apply. ~ .
CT. Dickinson presided over
Crs. Jj Eales, A. Ronan, R. Hort,
D. A. Sullivan, the shire cngin
eer (Mr. N. Kick), the health in-
spector (Mr. J. Sparrow), the
shire clerk (Mr. 6. Stephenson,
and the shire foreman (Mr..
Penny).
Cr. Dickinson moved "That the
whole of the council staff 'from
the engineer down be given not-
ice of dismissal from Monday, ex-
cepting the offlce staff, mechanic,
grader drivers, gardener, street
cleaner, and Cardwell gang;, and
all requiring re-employment must
re-apply."
Cr. Dickinson asked for a sec-
onder, and after some delay Cr.
Hort stated he would like to hear
some of the facts of the case be-
fore it went any further.
Cr. Dickinson ruled that the
motion must be seconded before
any discussion took place.
Cr. Hort: In that case, Mr.
Chairman, I will second the
motion so that the matter may be
discussed and cleared up one -ray
or another.
Cr. Dickinson : I have been per-
turbed by the progress of the
£10,500 water works job, as this
work has not been progressing
financially correct' and for the
work enacted not financially sound
for the shire and the ratepayers
in general During the week Cr.
Eales and myself visited the job
in question and at three minutes
past four the gang under ganger
Mathews was . sitting on and
around the truck ready to come
back to the yard. This time was
correct, as it was taken by Cr.
Eales' witch, and he blows the
whistle to which they start in the
morning. This is not the flrst
time, gentlemen, this has hap-
pened. I saw council employees
walking in from a job with their
shovel« on their backs at twenty
minutes to four. I consider that
we are not getting 30 hours* a
week from these men. I consider
it is not only the men to blame,
but the engineer, overseer and
gangers. The supervision is rot-
ten and cannot continue. I con-
sider it a farce when a ganger
and his men can walk past me in
the main street at ten to five
when they should not have left
the council yards before five. To
me this seems the only, solution.
"STILL MANY GOOD
WORKERS."
Cr. Ronan: I think there Is a
lot in what you say, Mr. Chair-
man, but there are still a lot ol
good workers on the council. Th«
engineer has been on holidays
and the overseer could not bc
expected, tb be everywhere. There
was more money being spenl
previously on this job than now.
Cr. Dickinson (in answer to Cr.
Ronan). Work on this job last
year was ahead of schedule costs
and even at that time I visited
the work with the then Shirt
Clerk (Mr. Angove) and the met
were ready to come back at-foin
o'clock, andr the-shire enginèei
was there on the job. "
Mr. Kiek: You are mistaken
Mr. Chairman. I was not
Cr.'Dickinson: You were then
taking levels.
Cr. Hort : I seconded the motioi
SO that this matter could be dis
cussed, and this has come as i
surprise to me. It certainly seem:
as though things are not wha
they should be. I do not blami
the men so much as the men ii
'higher authorities, the engineer
overseer and gangers. We a
councillors depend on these mei
to ? see that our expenditure is co
overspent, and it seems as thougi
it is not being spent in the corree
manner now.
. "WORKING »| HOURS
WEEKLY."
Cr. Dickinson : I stated previ
ously that I did not consider th
men were working 30 hours
week,. but now, after furthe
thought, I consider that the mei
are not working for 12J hours
week when they should be. Thi
gives them 271 hours a wee]
work; This is not the first occas
Ion, but on this occasion Cr. Eale
was with me, and those are th
facts. I will not have men work
lng for the shire drawing rate
payers' money for pay and-gan
and their ganger walk past me i
the main street when they shoul
still be working. The facts ar
astounding, gentlemen, and it cac
not and must not continue, if w
have to start out again with
new set of officers. The financ
in this shire is worse in the la:
two years than it has ever beei
and we as councillors must d
something1 about it. We mn
have 40 hours' work for 40 hour
pay. I conduct a business mysel
but my men do not leave thei
job before time, and I am sui
no other establishment, allows i
Cr. Eales: Gentlemen; I set m
watch by the radio every monde
as'I use it in the power house ;
work. What the chairman h;
said is quite true. It is general
rcognised that the council me
have an easy time, and I am ni
aware of anywhere else whei
.employées leave their jobs befo;
tune. . This coming from the jot
after.a 'decision for a 40-hoi
..weeJt.is an imposition. Witb^ti
rbcgi ri fling of the 40-hour wee
naturally the men* and authority
?Ire expected to give their best fi
40. hours. We borrow money ai
try and have work done with
limits, but this sort of thing cai
not be tolerated. It is no «CK
blaming the men. We must ha'
discipline by the officers, and a
parently this is lacking. This w
my first visit on the job at th
time of day, and I really thit
we cannot go on as we are goii
on. During the crushing mi
were short, and we got a lot
.men that no one else wanted, ai
apparently they are still here. \
see these things-happen, and i
must make an effort to rem»
them. Those in authority nu
know what is going on, and th
are to blame.
ENGINEER'S COMMENT.
Mr. Kiek: Gentlemen, as t
engineer-1 accept foll respon
bility for this state of affairs,
I am responsible to you as 'r
employers for this work. T
position is not as black as it r
been made seem, and there a
sometimes reasons for the
things. Sometimes we have or
one truck available toa pick
several gangs and naturally soi
would be picked up earlier tb
others. I regard this as a vote
censure and no confidence. ï
j garding Mathews' gang, the ti
lance has never been affected
this gang, but it has been affected
by excavating and carting. Math-
ews" gang has always been under
estímate. One of the main rea-
sons for this trouble' is our laws
of employment, where, all men
are called for a pick-up at the
employment bureau. On the last
occasion 14 men . were to be
picked-up, and although; there
I were a greater number on the
books only 14 turned up, and were
put on. This was a particularly
poor gang on this occasion-many
of the men are well-known to you
alL Regarding the inspection by
Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Angove,
who was then shire clerk, I again
wish to state that. I was not on
the job at the time mentioned. L
resent the intrusion of clerical
officers in my activities.
Cr. Hort: Theishire clerk is the
custodian of our resources.
Mr. Kiek: I am paid to do my
job, and if - there is any interfer-
ence it should come from my
employers.
Cr. Dickinson: The shire derk,
as manager of the council affairs/
is your employer.
Mr. Kiek: Regarding ganger
Mathews himself, the council has
never had a more faithful ser-
vant. He shows great enthusiasm
and is a tremendous :',worker.
Cr. Dickinson : Under the cir-
cumstances I cannot believe it
Mr. Kiek: The estimates and
costs of the. water works job until
December are as follow: Estimate,
£3737/10/1, cost £4630.
A vote was then taken on the
motion, and it was carried, with
Cr. Sullivan dissenting.
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