Unemployed hold sit-in

Press, 25 October 1980, Page 1

Unemployed hold sit-in

Temporary workers and unemployed persons held a brief sit-in in the foyer, of the Christchurch' office of the Labour Department at 2 p.m. yesterday, after ' a march led by tradeunion officials and ' the president of the Federation 6f Labour (Mr W.Jr Knox). ■ 1 Mr Knox asked the. dis-, trict superintendent of - the Labour Department (Mr W. T. Holland) to tell the head office and the Minister of. Labour. (Mr Bolger): that similar demonstrations -would:; . continue unless the Government re-' placed the temporary employment scheme with permanent employment. The president of the Canterbury Trades Council (Mr W. R. Cameron), who chaired at the Repertory Theatre a meeting of 400 unemployed people and temporary workers, before . the march to the Labour Dep artmen t offices, presented Mr Holland With a-■resolution .from the meeting.' ; - Tt demanded the nght to work for all; insisted that the Government provide full-time permanent work for all; and demanded that

the temporary employment programme and project employment programme be changed.to provide permanent employment. The meeting; at the Repertory Theatre began at 12.30 p.m. with short speeches by several tradeunion- officials .and the . main address by Mr Knox, in which he berated the Government for "ignoring the fact that-, there are 60,000 unemployed or on temporary work." Tire decision to march to the Labour Department' ■ came: after comments by ' Mr. Knox that there had been instances of temporary -workers occupying Labour Department offices an other centres. .. ‘After his address a girl said’she' was a temporary worker iat the 'Bbttle Lake ' plantation and/had been told that the work would finish in < She said she was earn-A ing $125 a week and had:: to pay $6O a week just for; food. If she had to go on the dole she could hot. manage, she said. “So we are going to fight for it,” she said, to the cheers of the audience.