MORE WORKLESS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 292, 5 September 1931, Page 6

MORE WORKLESS

Registrations Grow

PAST WEEK’S FIGURES A total of 50,033 men registered as unemployed in New Zealand during the week ended August 31, an apparent increase of 775, according to figures supplied yesterday by the Minister of Labour, Hon. S. G. Smith. The Minister said the number of men who were placed under the No. 5 scheme waa 36,097. A total of 4929 was engaged under scheme 4a, 1177 under scheme 4b, and 96 were placed in other employment Men for whom no work was provided numbered 7734, but many of these, said the Minister, would be etanding down under the requirement of scheme 5 that they should do so one week in each four, while others would be of the class that is not employable owing to inability to undertake manual work.

Particulars of the registrations in the main centres were as follow:—

The total registrations in the main centres, with the figures for the previous week in parentheses, were as follow:—Auckland, 7385 (7320); Wellington, 4854 (4762); Christchurch, 5166 (5041) ; Dunedin, 2931 (2831); Invercargill, 1328 (1287). Taking the final figures of the return on their face value, it compares as follows with the six previous returns:—

CAMP SCHEME OPPOSED Labour Secretary’s Views “Every trade union must instruct its unemployed members to refuse to accept work under the camp scheme,” said Mr. A. Cook, general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, yesterday. He described the camp scheme for unemployed single men as “the worst of all the proposals yet put forward by the Unemployment Board, bad and all as they are. Mr. Cook said that the scheme would be fought by the whole of the industrial and political Labour movement. “It is quite clear to me,” he added, “that this scheme has been thought out for some considerable time, as the Public Works Department is dismissing from Public Works Department relief works large numbers of men, and has refused to provide them with further employment. This applies to married men with large families, equally to single men. I received a letter from the Minister of Public Works, in which he definitely refused to provide further relief work for a large number of married men in the Opotiki district who are finishing up on the road relief works there. At present the men on Public Works relief works »—> receiving, when on day work. 9/- for single men, and 12/6-for married men. They are mostl yengaged, however, on cooperative contract, receiving piecework rate* that allow them to earn the abovementioned wage.”

With Without Auckland dependants. 3272 dependants. 4113 Wellington .. .... 2533 2331 Christchurch .... 3810 16156 Dunedin .... 1683 1248 Invercargill , 806 432

July 20 ... Applications. ... 47.538 Temp, workings. 35,990 Unemployed. 11,548 July 27 ... ... 47.772 41,345 6,427 August 3 . ... 48,396 42/110 6,286 August 10 . ... 48.070 41,058 6,712 August 17 . ... 40,132 30,041 10.001 August 24 . ... 40.208 40,003 7.255 August 31 . ... 50,033 42,299 7,734