RAILWAY STRIKE ON EYESIGHT TEST
IMPORTANT LINES STOPPED
Important developments are expected to-day in the strike on the North-eastern Railway. Representatives of the men’s unions met at Newcastle, and will inquire into the details of the dispute which has arisen over the question of the eyesight tests. In the meanwhile considerable dislocation has occurred, including the stoppage of the services of the electric trains to the coast – a matter concerning not only a large number of workers, but holiday-makers as well. A serious feature is that the milk supply of Newcastle is threatened, only a small proportion of the average allowance being available yesterday.
The company’s view has been expressed by Sir Alexander K. Butterworth, the general manager, who states that the company are willing to refer the question of eyesight tests to the Board of Trade for immediate decision, and to abide by that decision, provided the men return to work forthwith.
From Our Own Correspondent NEWCASTLE, Wednesday Night. – Considerable public inconvenience was caused yesterday by the strike which is in operation on the North-eastern Railway, where sections of the men have ceased work because of a dispute on the question of the eyesight test. Main-line trains were running, but local services were dislocated. To a small degree the strike had made itself felt in Newcastle and district on Tuesday night, but by this morning the position had become serious and the outlook was graver still. The motormen on the electric trains withdrew their services, which completely stopped the immense amount of passenger traffic between Newcastle and the coast on the northern side of the Tyne. The train service on this branch is run every quarter of an hour each way, and large numbers of workmen in the Mid-tyne industrial concerns resident in Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields, and Newcastle depend upon it for conveyance to and from work.
There was therefore much inconvenience and loss of time occasioned, which the augmented service of the Tyneside Tramway Company was by no means able to prevent. Owing to the Tyne Dock men not having joined the strike, an hourly service was maintained from Newcastle with South Shields and Sunderland, but uncertainty regarding the return journey restricted the number of passengers to the fewest possible. The west line to Carlisle was absolutely at a standstill, but a few trains of the North British Company ran as far as Hexham. The most serious feature of this particular branch is that a large proportion of the milk supply of Newcastle comes from the west. No milk has arrived in the city from beyond Hexham since noon on Tuesday. The only arrivals of any importance, indeed, were six vans from the south early this morning. Trainloads of empty cans are awaiting removal in the milk bays of Newcastle Central Station. The Newcastle Co-operative Society this morning received only fifty gallons of milk, compared with their usual daily supply of 2,000 gallons. Motor transport wagons were sent into the country by the society to secure further supplies. There are stocks of margarine, condensed milk, and other foodstuffs to last well over the weekend. The mail services to and from Newcastle have so far been fairly well maintained.
At Gateshead 556 engine-drivers and firemen are out, and a delegate who arrived at Gateshead from Tweedmouth stated that all the employees there were out. So unanimous are the locomotive men at Gateshead that it is unnecessary to place pickets at the Works entrances. All work is practically at a stand-in at the New Bridge-street and Forth goods stations, and the company is refusing to accept goods tor transit, but the trolleymen and others are working off the goods on hand.
In an interview this morning, Mr. A. Wilson, assistant to the general manager, stated that no negotiations with the strikers had then been opened up. Asked if a definite statement could be given outlining the exact difference between the Pilmoor tests and the tests asked for by the men, Mr. Wilson said such a statement would only broaden the issues. The main point was the distances, and those laid down in the Pilmoor tests were the minimum which could be laid down consistent with the safety of the travelling public.
An appeal was made to the men by Sir Alexander K. Butterworth, who said: “The present tests are the result of a series of discussions with the head officials of the National Union of Railwaymen, and the elected representatives of the North-eastern railwaymen, extending over some five or six years. In this respect I believe our action has been exceptional, for I have found on all other railways the question of eyesight has been dealt with exclusively by the company’s officials as one of management without consultation with the men.
“On the North-eastern Railway we were able to come to an agreement as to the tests in 1915, and the tests previously enforced were relaxed, and it was represented to me last autumn by a deputation from Newcastle that the tests were still unnecessarily severe, and at my request the technical officers of the company looked into the whole question afresh and discussed it with your representatives on the Conciliation Conference. The result was an agreement providing for a further relaxation of the tests.”