SCHEME 13 WORKERS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 118, 12 February 1941, Page 6

SCHEME 13 WORKERS

Must Go Where They Are

Most Needed

MINISTEIt'S STATE M ENT Dominion Special Service. CHRISTCHURCH, February 11.

“The bulk of the men remaining on

scheme 13 are more than 50 years of

age, and capable of giving good ser-

vice, and the Government is calling

on I hem to go to jobs where their ser-

vices are needed most." said the Min-i islet- of Labour. Mr. Webb, when dis- j cussing the number of me" which could be safely withdrawn from Waintakariri River protection work. Since the outbreak of war. New Zealand’s manpower had . been re(luced enormously, Mr. V ebb said. This meant that ail men left must be prepared to undertake employment of a national character, and men would now lie supplied on jobs where they were needed. Two hundred vacancies existed m the linen flax industry in the South Island, and it was essential that these should be filled as early as possible. Scheme 43 had not been brought in as a permanent institution, but only as a moans of providing work when no other form of employment was available. “As a result of my experience with employment problems in New . Zealand, I am convinced that No. 13 scheme or some similar scheme, is needed to provide work for ageing and ailing men, and to act as a reservoir from which supplies of labour for urgent casual jobs can be obtained, said Mr. Webb. “This should be sufficiently mobile to satisfy all labour requirements. Hardship Question. “In reducing the present number of men employed under this scheme the Government is not unmindful of the fact that many hardships will arise, but these will be no greater than the hardships that many hundreds of men have had to face in having to travel long distances from their homes in the past. . “With the object of reducing hardship to a minimum, men under 50 vears of age in classes B and C will be the first called on to till vacancies in other forms of employment. If sufficient men are not available from these sources, the other classes will be called on till every essential job has been filled. “Every case of real hardship, will be investigated.” the Minister said, “but all men employed on scheme 13 must realize that unless they are prepared to do the work that is offering they can no longer remain employed on subsidized work. On the whole, the men have been most reasonable, appreciating the fact that the scheme has given good set-vice in the past, and will continue to do so, providing work specially for aged and sick men.”