WORK ON FARMS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 249, 17 July 1937, Page 13

WORK ON FARMS

Training Men Now On Sustenance SCHEME APPROVED To Meet Acute Shortage of Laboui Designed to meet the acute shortage of farm labour, a scheme formulated by, the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, to take men from sustenance anJ train them as farm workers, has been approved by Mr. J. £. Hunter, Under-Secretary for Labour. It is expected that it win be put into operation soon. The men will receive £1 a week as sustenance from the Government, and the farmer employers will pay them an additional £l/3/6.

The scheme was suggested to the Farmers’ Union, at its annual conference in Wellington on Thursday, by Mr. D. B. Higgins (Matamata), who said that there were on sustenance in Auckland hundreds of men suitable for farm ■work. A committee w’as appointed to place the proposal before the Government. Co-operation With Government. Yesterday Mr. Higgins reported that the plan had been approved by Mr. Hunter, and would no doubt be confirmed later by the Acting-Minister of Labour. Mr. Hunter had said that the Government had been looking to tne conference for some indication as to what it thought should be doue. “Every effort is to be made to avoid restrictions as far as possible, and not tie the farmer up w’ith too much ‘red tape,’ ” said Mr. Higgins. “However, the Government looks to us not to exploit the scheme, but to co-operate as fully as possible. They are going to get the plan going as soon as possible to relieve the shortage of labour before the season is too far advanced.” Farmers will be able to get men on subsidy for at least six months, and possibly longer if necessary. There will also lie a system whereby the employer will report whether he thinks the man can be trained successfully as a farmworker. Farmers Malte Up Wages. Mr. H. O. Mellsop (Auckland) said that it should be emphasised that the Government was subsidising not the farmers, but the men. “We are not taking up the scheme to try to get cheap labour, but to try to train men to meet the shortage,” agreed Mr. Higgins. “The Government will be paying the men their sustenance money and we will be paying the rest of their wages.” Another member of the committee said that Mr. Hunter had made it plain that the scheme was only a temporary measure, and the Government would be looking for something more permanent.