AID IN BUILDING

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 230, 24 June 1932, Page 12

AID IN BUILDING

Relief Subsidies Plan

G ANOMALIES REMOVED 1 Revised Rules Issued l- The opinion that the amended schema •t for subsidising the wages of unemploye ed workers placed in the building ini' dustry gave promise of being a great u success was expressed by the Minister e of Employment, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, g yesterday. He said anomalies in the I- first draft of the scheme had been removed. a “One or two important alterations . have been made in the original scheme,” Mr. Coates said. “The first is that the subsidy will be payable to the owner who is responsible for putting the work in hand, and not to the builder, although the certificate of the building g contractor as to the.amount expended e in wages will still be a necessary feae ture. “One of the grave objections to the ” scheme when it was first mooted was s the possibility of e.mployers dismissing e workers already in their service in s order that they should register and , qualify for the subsidy. That has been 7 overcome by amending the rules to r provide that on the larger jobs where r building contractors will undoubtedly r be engaged the subsidy will only be payable on 80 per cent, of the men enf gaged on the job; it will be paid at the t rate ot 8/4 in the £l, with a maximum . of 25/- per man per week. On the . smaller jobs the subsidy will remain t at the originally-arranged rate of 6/8 . in the £1 of wages paid, with a maxi- . mum of 22/6 for any one man in any one week.” Workers Not Penalised. t Mr. Coates made it clear that it was s not intended by the Unemployment , Board to penalise workers who were un- . employed, but who had hitherto been . debarred from taking on relief works . on account of property qualifications, . from working on subsidised building ' jobs. “In fact,” he said, “the building , work should not be considered in any [ sense of the word as a ‘relief’ job. The . Unemployment Board has just come > into it with a subsidy to give the neces- • sary incentive for the work to be gone ’ed nol,v ' ns * :ea d of being postponThe classes of work which mav bgi ■ undertaken under the scheme have ; been slightly amended, and they now ■ stand as follow:— ' !•—Painting,, paperhanging, rere P?irmg, modernising, or , t 1D j alterations or additions to pri- ; yate dwellings where the occupier i« the owner or where the occupier is purchasing the dwelling. P Class 2. Painting, renovating or • thn'n te " ance . rep ? irs of dwellings other than those in class 1. fhPh™ 3 iJ The buiWin ” of dwellings for the bona-fide owner-occupier. ■ Class 4.—Painting or maintenance repairs or alterations or building of business premises or commercial buildings. Class s.—Building, rebuilding, paintbu’ild°ingl enoVatlllg public Or sema ' p ublie nr C n^KHl'~' B ? lUdin ?’ “ akin & alteration* or additions to, and the painting, renoor.rep?ir “Z <>f dairy, or cthS factories, freezing works, storehouses for primary produce. * Payment of Subsidy. tnP 6 governing the payment of Thev dy h ? ve also he™ amended. Th ey will apply as follow:— he building must be in one of the classes listed, and, except in the first bn th< n e “ cIRSMS 1 hhd 2, must fter of r m b ni en app ? oved b y the Minister of Employment, acting on the reDd T° n tbe Unemployment nfr/rk The work will include the preparation >y the.builder concerned of fittin s such as joinery, which is a part of the job although not actually prepared on the work. M mol ‘ nt of snbsid * may be paid to the owner will be determin-d 2 S nn f rt l .? WS On all work in classes 1 « and 3. and on work in classes 4, 5 and b in cases where the total estimated labour cost does not exceed £5O. a subsidy may be paid m respect of all labour engaged in accordance with rule 4 at the rate of 6/8 for each £1 of wage* paid, provided that the maximum subSld y on the wages of any man shall be tbe , rate 22/6 in any one week. On all other approved work a subsidy may be paid in respect of all labour engaged in accordance with rule 4, provided that such labour- does not exceed 80 per cent, of the total labour engaged on the work at the rate of 8/4 for-each £1 of wages paid, provided that the maximum sub«dy on the wages of any one man shall roVn r ‘\ fe of . 2 °/* in any one week. W Construction work must commence b £ t „V M ™l , . ,ly 1!)32 , and December 31, IMJ. This will not prevent the subsidy being paid after the latter date on labour which was engaged and actually started between the dates mentioned, but commencing o.n July 1, 1933, the maximum subsidy will be reduced to one-half of the rates provided in rule 2. (4) The labour on which a subsidy is to be claimed must be engaged through a Government labour bureau. Working Week’s Hours. (5) The normal working week on work* engaging subsidised labour shall be the same as laid down in the current agreement or award covering this industry. I The board does not feel called upon to I stipulate a shortening of hours as a general practice, but suggests ■ that in view of the unlikelihood of the fulrcomplement. of builders being re-engaged in industry, that just so long, and whenever the number of registered unemployed building tradesmen exceeds 20 per cent, of the total, the. weekly hours be reduced to 40, with the same rate of pay per hour applying. (6) Nothing in these rules shall be taken to interfere with or alter in any way the wages and conditions provided for in the award for the class of worker concerned. (7) Builders operating under this scheme are required to cover their workers under the provisions of the Workers Compensation Act against accident. The Unemployment Board will not accept any resnonsibility in this connection. (8) New Zealand materials and products must be used wherever possible. COUNTRY RELIEF Extra Financial Needs £16,000 A WEEK In order to extend unemployment relief operations to the country districts, on substantially the same basis as in the cities, it has been decided to make an additional £16.000 a week available for the purpose during the winter months. A statement to this effect was made on behalf of tbe Unemployment Board yesterday. In the original statement setting out the decision to extend relief on the revised scale to the country districts, it was stated that £16,000 wa* being set aside, but this is the amount that will be needed each week. At the end of the winter the situation will be reviewed.