Plight of Unemployed

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 69, 15 December 1931, Page 11

Plight of Unemployed

Sir,—ln your issue of. the 9th inst. the plight of the unemployed worker is truly and effectively put. The Government say they have no money, and the City Council say they have no work, and the unemployed worker, buffeted , between the no work and the no, money, stares at starvation. - . .. , The chairman of the unemployment committee, Mr. J. I. Goldsmith, states that there are 527 additional men who have been registered for 14 days and are eligible for work, but for whom no work can be found. The question asked by Mr. Goldsmith must be answered: “What is to be done with those men’?” Surely the answer cannot be starvation? “ must be work or maintenance. The committee levels a serious charge against the Unemployment Board, that since its reconstruction it had offered nothing helpful and that concerning its intentions thev were in the dark. If such a charge can be substantiated, then the Unemployment Board has failed in its duty to the public, and should be requested to make known its intentions in the matter of work or full maintenance, to those helpless ami unfortunate toilers who are divorced from the possibility of employment. The ..appeal of the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates to private individuals throughout the country to give at least one days work to those men is good, but when we consider the limited number possessed of ability to employ the outlook of response is fraught with disappointment. Charity and ability are twin workers. The appeal to private persons and the distribution of meat seem to indicate that the board has failed in its mission and object nationally, of finding work for the unemployed. The Rongotai dismissals are. I contend, a scandal—men on relief work compelled to give every ounce of energy on such jobs for a pittance. When the jobs are finished, there is no work, and charitable aid has to be given. On some of those jobs under the eve of the taskmaster, one may think the whole job was done at piecework rates. The City Council jobs are now drawing to a close, and what is saved in wages on jobs will have to be naid through the Charitable Aid Board. Work or maintenance must be found. — I nm etc.. J. TUCKER, Secretary. Btoremea and Backers’ Union,