RELIEF GRIEVANCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 158, 6 July 1935, Page 20

RELIEF GRIEVANCES.

COMPLAINTS TO MINISTER.

•PROMISE OF AN INQUIRY. i (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Friday. Various grievances of relief workers and recipients of sustenance in Wellington were ventilated by a representative , deputation to the Minister of Employment, the Hon. S. G. Smith, and members of the Unemployment Board. Although hundreds of relief workers had inarched to Parliament grounds, only ten delegates, including two women, were admitted. They were introduced to the Minister by Mr. R. J. Frame, president of the Relief Workers' Union. The subsequent conference was marked by earnest talk and the willingness of the Minister to clear up difficulties. Criticism of the recent increases in ~ pay with additional work and penalties for refusal to work extra hours was expressed by Mr. H. E. Barnsley, a job delegate. It was suggested by Mr. Barnsley that relief workers should be paid on the job. In some instances men had to walk three miles away from tllfeir homes. . Mr. G. M. Brookes, secretary of the Wellington Kelief Workers' Union urged the Unemployment Board to revert to the old rule as regards hours. The Minister, in his reply to the deputation, said the board was doing everything it could to meet, the difficulties of the situation. It would be admitted, he said, that this year the board had done more than ever to help. All the points raised by the deputation would be investigated without delay. As regards the complaint about additional hours of work, he wouW make inquiries, but he had no authority over local bodies or other employers of relief workers. There had been no instruction about it—that could b$ taken as authoritative. The deputation expressed satisfaction with the cordial manner in which it had been received. STATEMENT BY MAYOR. (By Tclegrnpli-V-Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, said to-day that he wished it to be made quite clear that the instruction that extra hours should be worked on relief jobs had not come from the City Council. The instruction had come from the office of the Unemployment Board in a circular, which appeared to state clearly that extra hours were required of men on No. 5 works in return for the increased rates of pay.