LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PASSES BILL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21886, 12 September 1936, Page 16

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PASSES BILL

* AGRICULTURAL WORKERS* CONDITIONS U’IiSSS ASSOCIATION TELEOR A.M. 1 WELLINGTON. September 11. The Legislative Council met at 2.30 p.m. Urgency was accorded the passage of the Agricultural Workers Bill. Moving the second reading the Kon. M. Fagan said the bill embodied the agreement, entered into between the Farmers’ Union and the Minister for Labour. The Hon. F. Waite emphasised that the bill was experimental and said he could largely agree with it. Farmers preferred it to working under “Rafferty rules.” The Hon. C. J. Carrington doubted whether the wages were adequate. The Hon. J. Cotter said the bill was an honest attempt to deal with the problem, but it had to be remembered that anything that hampered the farmers would hamper the development of the country. The Hon. W. Hayward said on the whole the bill was a desirable measure. Replying, Mr Fagan assured members that the Minister for Labour would not go back on the agreement and would not permit a union to be formed by any section of farm workers during the next 12 months. Female workers came under the provisions of the bill as long as they were not doing domestic work.

The bill was put through all stages and passed and the council adjourned at 3.45 p.m.