Cupboard bare?

Press, 24 February 1978, Page 1

Cupboard bare?

The executive director of the Employers’ Federation, Mr J. W. Rowe, yesterday off ere I sympathy for the Federation of Labour’s position but said that those on fixed incomes and salaries, and businessmen and farmers were also having to cut costs to make ends meet. “We will, of course, present our opinion at the appropriate time and at the appropriate place — at the hearing,” he said in a statement. “In the meantime, 1 can sympathise with the position of the Federation of Labour; the tandard of living of everyone has dropped, and we would all dearly like to have a few extra dollars in our pock-

ets to regain that standard to which we have been accustomed. “But it isn’t just the affiliates of the F.O.L. who are suffering. Those on fixed incomes, on salaries, the large and small businessman, and the farmer, are all finding they have to cut costs to make ends meet. •I’m not convinced that a general wage order is the best way t" go about restoring our spending power. It’s really a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul — and Peter can’t afford the loss. “He’ll have to recover it somehow,” Mr Rowe said. “So a redistribution of income won’t accomplish anything. If it does help

anyone, it will only be at the expense of others. “To be quite honest, I think the cupboard is bare at the moment. 1 can’t think where those extra dollars can come from. “The application comes at a time when there is rising unemployment, and when our overseas income is inadequate for our needs. It’s not just the individual, it’s the whole nation which is .~ bit short at the moment “In other words, the standard of living of New Zealand as a whole has slipped, and we can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps or by a general wage order,” Mr Rowe said.