SUBSIDISED WORK

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 61, 5 December 1930, Page 12

SUBSIDISED WORK

Seven Shillings a Day SCHEME NUMBER 2 Unemployment Relief ANOTHER £25,000 GRANT With the approval of the Minister of Finance, the Unemployment Board decided last night to make a further £25,000 available by way of subsidy on wages only as a special measure for the relief of distress during the Christmas period. This will living the total amount to be expended by the board for this purpose'up to £50,000. Scheme No 2 provides for subsidising of wages paid by private employers for special relief work—farmland improvement, and certain specified works in towns. A week ago the board decided to make un to £25,000 available to local bodies bv way of subsidies and the amount voted last night will be allocated to local committees whose formation was urged by the board several days ago in announcing that the present proposal was under consideration. . . , , As with the decision to make the tn st £25,000 available for immediate rC“® £ > special conditions are attached to the granting of subsidies in the present instance which the board has caUed scheme No. 2. Subsidies will be granted on wages only in this instance, the rate being pound for pound and the work undertaken for which the subsidy is given must be finished by the end- of January. The rate of pay will be mutually arranged between employer and employee, and the subsidy will not exceed 7/- a day for the following classes of work :-t— . x . Country work—(l) Improvements to and maintenance of land by way of stoneclearing, stumping, draining, fenclUe., rush-grubbing and burning of gorse and noxious weeds, grubbing or cutting or spraying, scrub-cutting, and work of a similar nature, (2) Harvesting. , (3) Ploughing and harrowing after and borough w o rk ’T ing, wood-chopping, section clearing, subsoil drainage, trenching, and clerical work. Conditions of Subsidies. Several points are enumerated by the board in the resolution agreeing to the granting of this £25,000 in subsidies on wages only. In accordance with the powers contained in the Act relating t the subsidiary functions of the board, special local committees will be appointed wherever possible. The Act states that the board shall define the powers of these committees and that the members of them shall not receive any remuneration from the board’s funds. The second point made is that these local committees shall notify citizens in their districts of every work of the class approved and the terms of the subsidy. Where they exist the labour exchanges ar" to act in conjunction with the local committees, the members of which will satisfy themselves that the proposed employee is registered under the Act. The labour exchanges and/or the local committee must issue a card to the employer stating the maximum subsidy authorised and advising him of the names and particulars of the men sent to him for work offering. The employer wul also sign a card for identification purposes. The employer will sign a card after the work is finished signifying that he has paid the employee a certain sum. The employee will then, in accordance with the stipulation of the board, take the card to the executive of the local committee one of whom shall be a Government officer approved by the Uneinployment Commissioner. This officer will make out a voucher for the subsidy due and certify it correct for payment by the local post office as well as attaching the original card. The amounts to he allocated to each local committee are to be approved by the Minister of Finance. Special Work Only.The board urges that local committees for the carrying out of this second scheme should be formed at once so that work may be scheduled and men out of work found jobs over the holiday period. It is emphasised that the wages subsidy will be granted only for work that would not otherwise be undertaken and not for that which would be. carried out in the ordinary course of industry. .j. or stance the board will not subsidise an employer to keep one of his clerks in a job he already holds. However, it will consider a wages subsidy if an employer is prepared to take on a clerk for a limited period and so create a position that would otherwise not be filled.. Subsidies will be allocated in districts where unemployment is acute and each case will be considered on its merits. Naturally the board will not grant subsidies in districts where there are no men registered as unemployed. This raises the further point that those men who desire to find work under this senerae must be registered at a Government labour bureau. The board states that it must have some check on the men whom it proposes to assist and this check can only be had by seeing that the men who apply for assistance are duly registered at a recognised bureau. Special emphasis is laid upon these points bv the board which is anxious that misunderstandings shall not arise as far as they are concerned. ■ Record Registrations. There was an increase of 636 over the previous week in • the number of unemployed registered in New Zealand for the week ended December 1. according to a statement issued yesterday by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. S. G. Smith. Last week’s total was 8038, and of these 4688 had dependants. Details of the registrations at labour bureaux and post

The totals for the five centres, with the figures for the previous week in parentheses are:—

Auckland, 2329 (2258) ; Wellington, 1200 (1194) ; Christchurch, 1389 (1089) ; Dunedin, 547 (582) : Invercargill, 184 (189). Record Registrations.

Evidence is again provided by these figures of the fact that hundreds of men are registering now that the Unemployment Board has started its operations in the hope of receiving direct assistance. The increase in registrations in the fortnight has been 1270. a figure unprecedented since records of registration were first kept. The board has been working long hours all this week, and it sat day and night yesterday. As its activities, extend it promises to be faced with an increasingly difficult task, and the co-operation of local bodies and committees will be urgently required. Over 50 applications have already been made by local bodies for subsidies under the board’s scheme No. 1. by which up to £25.000 is to be made available for Christmas relief purposes. It seems obvious that many will not be able to secure subsidies, although each, application will receive earnest attention.

offices are: — With dependants. Without dependants. ... 1343 986 Wellington .... ... 657 943 Christchurch ... 515 313 234 Invercargill ... 102 82