BELIEF WORKERS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19804, 17 December 1929, Page 19

BELIEF WORKERS.

ALLEGED HARDSHIP AND LOW PAY. COMPLAINT BY UNION SECRETARY. [THE FBESS Special Serrlcr] WELLINGTON, December 16. "On several occasions previously I have drawn attention to the wretched conditions under which men on public works are suffering, but little or no notice has been taken by the head of the Public Works Department, viz., the Minister, and conditions are speedily getting worse instead of improving, said Mr A. Cook, general secretary of the New Zealand Workers' Union, in a statement to the Press to-day. "Lack of organisation is responsible, and the blaine cannot be placed with the Public Works district officers and works engineers, as these gentlemen receive their instructions from Wellington, and have to carry them out. Hundreds of relief workers are dumped into their respective districts, and there is no accommodation and no tools for them." Mr Cook proceeded to give further specific instances of mismanagement, muddle, and semi-starvation, which the men are compelled to suffer. Road Formation Work at Te Anau. On road formation work at Te Anau, Southland, over 100 men are employed, and one small gang averaged only 14s per day. All the rest made under 14s. He said the price fixed for the class of work these men are performing is ridiculous in the extreme, and worst of all, a young, inexperienced cadet from the Dunedin office is in charge of the work. The price paid is Is 6d per yard, independent of the class of material that is to be shifted. The depth of spoil to be shifted ranges from six inches to two feet, with a chain lead and over. Wheelbarrows only are being used. Nothing under 4s 6d per yard would be a payable price working under such conditions. At Ohakune. On November 7th, thirteen men left Wellington for Ohakune road deviation. They arrived at their destination at night in teeming rain. They were dumped on the job, and found three tents for the thirteen men. Three bags each were issued for bunks, but no tools of any description to make them with. These men were kept waiting from Thursday until the following Monday morning before the Department's official approached them to start work. Some of the men got tired of waiting, and carried their swags off the job. Thesis men are being paid Is per yard. Most of the material to be shifted ranges from eight inches to a foot in depth, only barrows being used. The men were compelled to take turn about in using tools, there being insufficient to go round. One man, after working 16 days, had 2s to draw in wages. Some of the men walked back to Wellington, and others, who were eengaged in Wanganui, left and walked back to Wanganui. Some of the men who left nearly a fortnight ago have not yet received their wages, and their wives' share, which is stopped by the Department, has not yet been paid. "I have before me a letter from the Whangarei Public Works district office," he continued, "a paragraph of which reads:—• Accommodation on relief jobs,—l have to advise that one tent and fly is supplied to two men with one board round the bottom of the tent, and two boards between the bunks. Also two sheets of iron are provided to enable the meb to make a chimney. Nothing further is provided. "The above will give the general public some idea how men working under Sir Joseph Ward's great scheme for placing all men at work are forced to live and cook their food. Fancy trying to make a chimney with two sheets of galvanised iron! It is simply ridiculous. Why, the convicts in olden days got far better treatment. "In the Hutt by-election campaign both Mr Coates and Mr Nash have pointed out the shoddy treatment which the old Public Works Department employees are receiving form the present Government, which is a great scandal," said Mr Cook. He had a letter before him from a man in Christchurch who had 20 years' service with the Department to his credit, the last five years being unbroken. Owing to his wife's health he was forced to obtain a transfer from the North to the South Island. On tendering his transfer to the Christchurch District Office, he was placed on relief work, and was informed that he would forgo all agreement privileges and his annual holidays. Such treatment was inhuman and could not be tolerated. Some months ago when a deputation waited on the Prime Minister," Mr Cook proceeded, "I made a special request, viz., to supply to relief workers a few galvanised iron tubs and coppers in order that they may at least try to live with a little decency. The Prime Minister's reply is before me, and he states that it would be impossible to do so on account of the large number of men employed. Indications point to hundreds of men not returning to relief works after Christmas, and none can blame them. I strongly advise all men to refuse work on Government relief works until such time as they shall be guaranteed a fair wage and decent conditions."