PLAN CARRIED OUT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 122, 25 May 1932, Page 10

PLAN CARRIED OUT.

u BELIEF AND SHELTER." i ALTERNATIVE TO DISMISSALS. ; The administrative siclc of the Public I Works Department is not affected by tlie ■ wage reductions announced above; ■ officers in this division came under the two wages and salaries " cuts " as applied • by Parliament to the Public Service - generally. . * , ° When the Minister of Public Works - two months ago announced the drastic i curtailment of all activities of the I Public Works Department involving a i■> i per cent reduction in the expenditure of capital moneys, he foreshadowed also a decree of retrenchment and the conversion of the whole of the public works t undertakings to a purely relief basis to I enable the services of as many men as 3 possible to bo retained. In effect, the " proposed lower rates of pay which would > become operative under relief conditions " were to bo regarded as an alternative to " wholesale dismissals. The Minister explained his proposals 5 in this way:—Much of the roading wotk 1 put in hand had been for the purpose of 1 providing employment for those in B search of work, and frequently the undei- ? takings had not been considered from the 1 point of view of necessity, but from the c employment angle and that of futiuc i. requirements. Since the beginning of the t y C ar there had been a steady reduction y of the number employed on public works undertakings, but the rate was not considered to be commensurate with the , incapacity of the Government to find the ' cash to maintain the personnel existing ® on March 1 last.

Purely Relief Basis.

• Bearing in mind that there would be_a reduction in capital expenditure of 75 per cent, and that, prior to that contemplated reduction 12,000 men had been employed,' it was. clear that, with the consequent reduction in man power toat would follow, the total, number of men to be provided for would be only 3000. However, rather than adopt the method of wholesale reduction by _ dispensing with so many, men, the Minister considered the better course would be to employ as many men as possible, and, to enable that aim to be earned out he announced that the whole of the public works undertakings would be turned on to a purely relief basis until conditions im « UntU the financial storm is over," Mr Coates explained, "the work provided on these undertakings can only be looked upon as relief and sheltei, and jj this means it will be possible to provide many more men with help than eomd be done by maintaining the present wage standard. It can at least be said that men employed on public works have the advantage of being'provided with .lousing and accommodation at a minimum j charge for rent."

Further Savings,

Progress made with reducing administrative costs was also referred to by the Minister, who stated that for the first three months of this year, as the result of staff reductions, as distinct ironi ordinary workmen, a saving in the cost of supervision of £81,000 had lcsultad. A broad hint was given that as the activities of the Department declined there would be further savings, presumably the outcome of future retrenchments in the permanent staff of the Department.