WORKING HALF-TIME.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 185, 7 August 1930, Page 8

WORKING HALF-TIME.

engineering shops.

COMPLAINT AGAINST government.

MACHINERY ORDERED FROM U.S.A

With depression in the engineering trad©'such that'some shops are working half-time, it -is complained that the Public Works- Department recently secured machinery from an American firm at a greater price .than it, would have had to pay for machinery made in New Zealand. At the invitation of the [secretary of the Auckland branch of the Amalgamated Engineers' Union, Mr. R. FBarter, inquiries into the position are to be made in Parliament by Mr. W. J. Jordan; M.P. ' '•'There is no improvement in the engineering trade, and some of the shops aro working half-time — hands working week about," said , Mr. Barter this morn-' ing. "Over 100 men are affected, and the scheme is bringing th 6i r wages down to an average of £2 9/0 a week. On top of that there are 180 members of the union out of work, although some of them have been given clearances in order that, they might go to relief works in the country. "Things have never been so bad in the industry,'' added Mr. Barter. ''It is possible that the recent tariff revision

will tend to* improve conditions. Some of the employers in the industry believe that the new tariff will give them an opportunity of going in for more lines than they have been able to do in the past. A thing that would assist the industry greatly would be for the Government to allow raw material—iron and steel —into New Zealand free of duty. Three Machines from Abroad. "When depression is so acute in the trade, however, it is remarkable to note that I have received complaints that the Public Works Department has obtained from an American firm topdressing machinery, required, I understand, for breaking in new ground for the Agricultural Department, when the same machinery, of better quality, is manufactured in the Dominion. According to information in my possession the machines, three of which were ordered, are manufactured in Sweden, and the wheels are made in Germany. The complete topdresser would cost the Department £28, and yet it could be supplied locally for £2G, or by a Dunedin firm that has specialised in farm implements for 40 years. "The contention of my organisation," said Mr. Barter, "is that even if the machinery made in New Zealand is higher in price than the foreign article, there is quality in it, and the purchasing of it means that money remains in the

!country. : \A- ; "Dumping" of Farm Machinery. "Articles, such as topdressers and farm implements, supplied by American firms, should have a prohibitive tariff placed on them. That would mean an expansion of the engineering trade in the Dominion, and employment for men in all trades, for carpenters, painters, fitters and blacksmiths jare all required for the manufacture of-farm- implements." Mr. Barter declared that during the past few months there had been considerable dumping of machinery for farms in New Zealand. Wheels, in particular had been imported in great numbers, and one Auckland firm alone had hundreds of them stacked, away. Mr. Barter has just returned from a visit to the Waikato, where he found condition*, in the Engineering trade very similar to tho66 in Auckland. . There were prospects of a brighter tone in the trade in Hamilton, however, as a local firm had. contracted to supply a large number of new trucks for a Waikato coal mining company.