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21.
CEYLON
SESSIONAL PAPERS, 1926.
20. Petition from the Telephone Attendants at the Running Shed, Dematagoda.
Petition from Engine Turners, Firemen, Fitters, Shunting Drivers, Kunganies, Carriage Examiners, and Greasers, Pumpers, Engine Cleaners, Labourers, and Watchers in the Ceylon Government Railway at Kadugannawa and Rambuk- kana Running Shed.
22.
Two petitions from the daily paid workmen, Lower District, Way and Works
Department.
23. Memorial dated January 27, 1926, from the daily paid workmen, Lower District.
Way and Works Department.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
སྨྲ ཀླུ ཐཱ དྷུ བྷུ རྐུར རྨ སྐྱེ ཚ ཻ ཚེ རི $
Memorial dated January 26, 1926, from the Apothecary attached to the
Dematagoda Running Shed.
Memorial dated January 18, 1926, from the daily paid workmen, Running Shed,
Anuradhapura.
Petition from daily paid workmen, Northern District (Anuradhapura), Way and
Works Department.
Petition from Loading Gang Workinen. Way and Works Department.
Petition dated January 11, 1926, from the workmen in the Chief Construction
Engineer's Department.
29. Petition from daily paid clerks attached to the Divisional Transportation
Superintendent's Office, Nawalapitiya.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
Four petitions from the daily paid workmen in the Lower District (Avissawella),
(Galle), (Watapota), and (Pannipitiya).
Two petitions from the daily paid workmen in the Lower District, Avissawella. Petition from the Building Gang. Way and Works Department, attached to the
Northern District.
Three petitions from the daily paid workmen in the Northern District. Way and
Works Department.
Memorial dated January 5, 1926, from the boatmen in the Master Attendant's
Department.
35. Further petition dated January 21. 1926. from the boatmen in the Master
Attendant's Department.
36. Letter No. 76:72 of January 7, 1926, from the Postmaster-General requesting that authority be obtained to pay workmen in the Telegraph Workshops the recent 20 per cent, increase of pay.
Harbour Engineer's Department:—
37.
Petition from Train Staff.
38. Petition from the Platelaying Gang.
39.
40.
Petition from the Canal Lock Overseer and 4 Coolies.
Petition from the women gang employed under the General Foreman.
41. Petition from the Apothecary and Orderly.
42. Petition from Mr. E. S. Peries, Daily Paid Clerk.
43. Petition from Yard Patrols, Gatekeepers, and Watchmen.
44,
Petition from Latrine Coolies.
45.
Petition from Watchers employed under the General Foreman.
46. Petition from workmen, Mahara Quarry.
Public Works Department:-
47. Petition dated February 3, 1926, from workmen employed in the Government
Factory.
48. Petition dated February 5. 1926, from the employees in the Electrical Branch of
the Government Factory.
49.
50.
Memorial dated January 11. 1926, from daily paid clerks, peons, messengers, &c..
in the Public Works Department Head Office.
Petition dated January 19, 1926, from the watchers employed in the Government
Factory.
Survey Department :—
51.
52.
Petition dated January 19. 1926. from the daily paid workmen in the Lithograph
Department. Survey Department.
Memorial from Lake Scheme Masons, Fitters, and Drivers.
3. The memorialists comprise workmen from the following departments:—
Ceylon Government Railway-All classes of daily paid labour who did not receive the 20 per cent. increase.
Chief Construction Engineer's Department.-Workmen employed in Station Extensions Workshops, Colombo.
Harbour Engineer's Department.--All daily paid employees who have not received the 20 per cent. increase.
Master Attendant's Department.-Daily paid boatmen.
Government Factory-All daily paid employees who have not received the 20 per cent.
increase.
Other Public Works Department Employees.-Daily paid clerks, peons, and messengers in the Public Works Department Head Office.
Lake Development Scheme.-Daily paid employees.
Postmaster-General's Department.-Daily paid workmen in the Telegraph Workshops. Survey Department.-Daily paid workmen in the Lithograph Department, Head Office.
REPORT OF LABOUR ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
5
4. The memorials received and the grievances stated cover very much the same ground as those dealt with in the former report of the Labour Advisory Committee, Sessional Paper KXXV.—1925, on which a 20 per cent, increase was granted to workmen in the Railway Work- shops, Government Factory, and the Harbour Engineer's Department classified as working under Factory Conditions. The grounds on which the increase was given, however, were based on the maximum rise in the cost of living. This was stated by the Director of Statistics to be about 70 per cent., and this figure was accepted by the Railway workmen (vide paragraph 3 of Sessional Paper XXXV.-1925).
There was no special reference to any increase due to Factory Conditions, and the distinction as regards Factory Conditions in this case appears to be entirely artificial. The cost of living has risen as much for the ordinary worker as for the Factory worker. It seems therefore impossible to ignore the demands for a reasonable increase in pay on behalf of the memorialists whose claims we have now investigated.
There is this distinction, however, to be drawn. The 70 per cent. increase in the cost of living since 1914 included the rise in house rent. This rise in rent accounts for about 15 per cent. in the total cost of living, and without including house rent the maximum rise in the cost of living would be about 55 per cent.
None of the employees who were granted the 20 per cent. increase at the end of last year were provided with quarters, so that there was no occasion to separate the factor for rent from the general rise in the cost of living.
In 1920 an all round increase of wages by 40 per cent. was made by Government, and the addition of a further 20 per cent. to the rates obtaining after 1920 raised the wages to, roughly, 70 per cent. above the 1914 average.
In the present inquiry, however, we are confronted by the fact that a certain proportion of the employees with whom we are now dealing, especially in the Way and Works Department of the Ceylon Government Railway, are provided with free quarters. The daily paid employees who are not provided with quarters receive no house allowance. It is therefore clear that those who receive free quarters have not had to face any increase in rent, and that the rise in their cost of living is only about 55 per cent, as compared with 70 per cent. for those who provide their own quarters. It would therefore seem only fair that a distinction should be made between these two classes. We have borne this distinction in mind in making our recommendation as regards increases to the daily paid workmen in the various Departments.
5. To deal with our recommendations departmentally :-
Harbour Engineer's Department.
None of the employees of the Harbour Engineer's Department appear to receive free quarters. Most of the employees of the Department were given 20 per cent. increases in their wages under the recommendation of Sessional Paper XXXV.-1925. We recommend that all daily paid employees in the Department be put on a similar footing and that all the recommenda- tions approved by Government in Sessional Paper XXXV.-1925 be extended to them.
6. Special representations were made during the course of the inquiry by the daily paid clerks, telephone clerks, and apothecary with reference to their status as daily paid labourers.
7. Apothecary.We consider that an apothecary can scarcely be classed as a daily paid labourer, and would recommend that he be placed on approximately the same footing as apothecaries of similar service and qualifications in the Government Medical Department. In the meantime he should be given the 20 per cent. increase.
8. Daily Paid Clerical Staff. It was brought to our notice during the inquiry that all the Departments employing daily paid labour include under this head a considerable number of daily paid clerical hands, &c. The hands usually start on routine work, such as store checkers, telephone operators, &c., but many of them rise in course of time to more responsible posts and perform full clerical duties. We consider that some departmental scheme should be framed by which daily paid clerks after a few years' service should have the opportunity of being taken on, on the fixed clerical establishment of the Department. In the meantime they should receive the 20 per cent. increase.
Master Attendant's Boatmen.
9. The daily paid boatmen petition for the 20 per cent. increase as given to the Harbour Engineer's employees. The Master Attendant points out that the hours these men work are very different from those in the Harbour Engineer's Department. They go on duty at the Pilot Station on 24 hours shifts, viz., 24 hours on and 24 hours off, and there is always one shift on duty on Sundays and Government holidays. It is not possible therefore to give them all leave with pay on the five Government holidays in the year.
Previously their pay was slightly better than that of boatmen in the Harbour Engineer's Department. Their conditions of work, however, are more onerous, and now that the boatmen in the Harbour Engineer's Department have received the 20 per cent. increase they are at a disadvantage.
We recommend that they be given 20 per cent. increase, that the Sunday shifts should be paid at the overtime rate of 11 and that these men who have to work on the five Government holidays mentioned in Section 12 of Sessional Paper XXXV.-1925 should receive either a day's leave with pay in lieu thereof or, if this is not possible, they should be paid double pay for these five days.
10. The Master Attendant pointed out that there are a considerable number of Serangs and Lascars in his Department who are on the fixed establishment, and if a 20 per cent. increase is given to the daily paid boatmen the boatmen on the fixed establishment may in some cases receive less than the daily paid boatmen. If this is so, we recommend that the conditions of pay for the boatmen on the Master Attendant's fixed establishment should be re-adjusted.
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