Undergraduate Page
INSIDE CANNON STREET
By SHALOM NEWMAN (London School of Economics)
BRITISH railway stations are monuments to Ugliness. An omnipotent deity has supervised every detail. Station exteriors are unsightly and grotesque ; the interiors are cold, dirty and draughty. To the millions of railway passengers aesthetic considerations may count as nothing when compared with the advantages of speedy transport. The worst that can happen to the unfortunate traveller who has missed his train is a night on a railway bench. For the half million railway employees, who have to spend their working days and nights in these objectionable surroundings, the story is tragic. The dirty railway is their everyday companion and there is little hope of immediate improvement in their working conditions.
At Cannon Street Station, where I worked with fellow students during the Christmas vacation, the conditions under which the rail- way staff work appear to have changed little since the last century. The station's imposing facade is known to the thousands who use the station daily. But an inspection of the interior shows us what a sham the outside is. The porters' room is approached by an unlighted, narrow iron spiral staircase. To enter the room, which has no door, you have to duck down and crawl under the two girders that stretch across the entrance. The room itself has the appearance of a dungeon. It is long and narrow, at the far end the window is cut out of the three foot thick wall. Nearby a dilapidated coal range is set into the wall. The fire throws out a terrific heat and one is constantly moving about the room trying alternately to cool down from the heat of the fire and to thaw out from the chilling draught that streams from the doorless entrance. For furniture the room has a plain table, two long forms, two rickety chairs and a set of lockers for the eighteen men, who, in three shifts, use the room twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In the passage, which funnels the station air and dirt into the room, there is a cold water tap and a sink, which was invariably filthy during the two weeks I was at the station. Next to the sink is a massive, rusting gas-stove, on which stand two black kettles constantly on the boil.
Unwholesome surroundings encourage untidy minds. When men work under these objectionable conditions they cannot be expected to take any pride in their job. And where pride is lacking so is responsibility. I saw only one case of blatant irresponsibility, but there was much of the niggling kind that is so detrimental to efficiency. This irresponsibility, and the cynicism that goes with it, stems from the scurvy treatment the men have received in the past. The cure lies in the hands of the railway executives and the trade unions. At present neither seem to be aware of their responsibility. The recently formed nationalised administration is regarded by all the men I spoke to as merely the old railway com- pany under a different name. Such an attitude is understandable, but it is disturbing to find that they consider the new administration as even more impersonal and more wasteful than its predecessor. On man complained that in slack hours the board continues to run eight-coach trains when four coaches would do. When men think they sec wastage, they have an excuse to make their own waste. Doubtless there are adequate technical reasons for the board's decisions, but it is extremely unfortunate that the men should be under the impression that economy has been ignored. It is the rail- way executives' responsibility to ensure that the men are sensibly informed about the administration of their industry, and the execu- tive in turn needs to know what the employees are thinking. At present there is no machinery within the industry that can satisfy this urgent need.
The railway unions are worse than useless in this connection. The men have little confidence in them, but regard them as the shield behind which the railway executives can hide from the men's criticisms. The men belong to their unions, not because they are convinced that they will protect their interests at all times, but because the unions' sick funds will add twenty-four shillings to their sick pay and, should a man become involved in a dispute with the railway, the union lawyer will be there to defend him against the monolithic employer. The men are not self-centred ; they have a ready hand for a mate in trouble, but they find themselves lost in a huge impersonal machine. When they see the union siding with their employers they feel resentful in their helplessness. The union officials mean well by the men, but their behaviour is bound to arouse suspicion. When the men agitate for improvements in their working conditions, the union officials have the thankless task of pointing out the difficulties of the times, and in doing so they give the men the feeling that they are being impertinent in making even a modest request. To give one example ; the staff at Cannon Street asked for a gas stove for cooking meals. Eventually a massive stove arrived. It was the type of stove usually found in the kitchen of a large hotel and far too big for the modest needs of the men. It would be difficult to think of a more unimaginative act.
The vital importance of the railways to our economic life is apparent to all and does not have to be proved. It behoves us there- fore to ensure that both the men and the machines are at their maximum efficiency. We know of the legacy the British Railways have inherited from the past—rolling-stock years out of date and antiquated equipment. Strenuous efforts are being made to catch up on lost time ; new coaches and engines are being designed in the light of the latest knowledge. But the men are just as important as the machines. At Cannon Street Station I could discover no aware- ness of this obvious fact. On the station, which employs sixty men and women, there is no staff canteen. Some of the facilities that are available have been described, and the sooner they are improved the better. If it is impossible to build a canteen, surely it should be possible to serve the station with either a canteen-train or a canteen- car of the type that was familiar during the war.
We want a happy Britain. To achieve that end it is essential that workers do their jobs with a sense of communal responsibility, and the community in its turn must act with an awareness of its duty to its workers. The men are understandably reluctant to take the first step. They have been " had " before, and they now demand that their employers show signs of good faith. So far the signs have been lacking and the men are naturally discontented with their lot. It is, therefore, up to the railway executives to give the lead. Firstly, the more glaring deficiencies in the employees' welfare facilities must be remedied. Then an equivalent to the industrial joint production committees should be established. Recently a consultative com- mittee was formed at Cannon Street, on which representatives of the men and the management sit. The men's representatives are at liberty to lodge complaints. This is a beginning, but it is insufficient because it merely acts as a time-absorber. If the management cannot, or will not, remedy a complaint it has to go through the customary channels for attention. Consequently it is likely that this new institution will degenerate into a complaints committee, and this is not what is needed. The committee, if it is to be worth-while, should contribute to greater efficiency by giving a lead to increased, con- structive effort. It should be a through road, not a cul-de-sac.
As part of the long-term plans, two needs of vital importance stand out. One is a long-range education programme aiming at instructing the staffs in the implications of social responsibility. The instruc- tion, to be fruitful, must naturally be coupled with practice. The second need that has to be met is a detailed investigation of the social problems that are implicit in the present structure of the industry. The question of promotion, for example, would repay investigation. Immense difficulties are in the way of married men seeking to improve their position. Promotion, it seems, necessitates moving about from one district to another. The increased initial financial burden is an obstacle in the path of married men that might, after investigation, be removable. It may be that Cannon Street Railway Station is exceptional. It may be the only blot on the copy-book. It may be ; but what I saw gives reason to believe that the general standard of welfare on the railways of this country is sufficiently low to give real cause for alarm and concern. What I have described warrants immediate investigation and remedy. For far too long the men have been treated to the donkey's whip ; they now deserve the carrot.
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