EMPLOYMENT ON FARMS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26121, 25 May 1950, Page 8

EMPLOYMENT ON FARMS

MORE VACANCIES SOUGHT

WORKERS FROM BRITAIN AND EUROPE

“It does not appear that North Canterbury is coming out o£ this very well; it is an opportunity that all farmers should take advantage of,” said the president of North Canterbury Federated Farmers (Mr L. C. Gardiner) at a meeting of the executive yesterday when advice was received from the Department of Labour and Employment that insufficient vacancies were being offered for farm labourers arriving from Britain and Europe. “The Immigration Division of this office finds it increasingly difficult to find suitable, vacancies lor experienced and inexperienced farm labourers from the British Isles and Europe.” said a letter from the district superintendent of the department (Mr S. E. McGregor). “The numbers coming to the North Canterbury district during the last 12 months are lower than to any other farming province in New Zealand. For instance, from the last group of Dutch farm labourers available, there were eight applications from North Canterbury and more than 70 from the Waikato district.”

Mr McGregor said it was not possible to fill farm vacancies from a pool of labour already in New Zealand, but it was necessary to make arrangements some two to three months before the drafts arrived in New Zealand. Mr Gardiner said he knew of two farms in Canterbury on which Dutch farm workers had been employed and he knew they were doing very satisfactory work.