Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1920. SMALL CONTRACTS v. DAY WAGES

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 138, 11 June 1920, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1920. SMALL CONTRACTS v. DAY WAGES

As might have been inferred from what was published in these columns on 29th May, under the heading of "The Worker's Comfort," and from articles in earlier issues, the Public Works Department, under the Ministry of Mr. Coates, is bettering the housing and conditions of its labour corps. Public Works employees, says the Minister, are going to be "very much more contented men than for, some years past." Where possible, he intends to abolish day wages and to encourage contracts, including co-opera-tive contracts that may be tiken up by the workers. These co-operative contracts, he states, may be either large or small. A group of men may elect one of themselves as their business manager, and may tender in the usual contracting ■ manner, the Government assisting them by supplying material, and perhaps machinery, at an agreed rate. •'This- principle is quite distinct from that of the co-operative system. Under the latter, as we understand it, the engineer values the work ; if it is earth-shifting, he values the job either in toto or per yard, having regard to the nature of the earth and attendant difficulties; and if his judgment of those difficulties, and of an average worker's capacity, is correct, and if the workers work their best, the- net result should be good pay for them, and a good job, at reasonable cost, for the State. But it is an obvious fa-ct that the engineer's judgment may be fallible, and the workers' industry not above reproach. There have been instances in which the workers have complained of under-valuation; and we have been credibly informed of pre-war cases in which the over-valuation was so great that the workers had to take holidays in order to mitigate the exploitation aspect of the transaction. A system' that compels fast workers to go slow —even if their purpose is to save the face of the man who priced the job—does not mako for production. Its results are uncertain. Under the co-operative control system the job is not priced by the engineer alone. His private estimate serves as a chock, but tho tendering groups of worker-contractors fix their own prices, which are checked by competition or (in the event of collusion) by the engineer's estimate. Among Socialists of a certain class there is a tooted objection to competition, but the fact, is that fair competition is necessary to the world's work; and where competitive contracts are let on conditions that permit groups o£ workers to take them up, where is the unfairness? What we are discussing now is not a case of contracting on conditions that only large capital can fulfil. . The big-scale contractor is a person who, .in tho past, has exhibited both sins and virtues ; but, as Mr. Coates stated at Wairoa, he is not in evidence at present, and the Department's works are "too small" to attract big contractors from abroad. Whether public works will continue to be built by small co-operative contracts, instead of by big individual contracts, will depend in purt on how well tho workers utilise their contract possibilities. They have now a chance, by their own initiative, and by true economic solidarity; to keep the contractor's profit in their own hands. If they are greedy enough to attempt, by collective exploitation, to make the profit disproportionate to the service rendered, such a system will break down of its own weight, and the big contractor may have to be called in to clear up the mess. If, on the other hand, they work hard at fair rates of pay, and make specially good money, it will not be begrudged them. Tho Minister stated at Napier that what he wanted was .expedition, for which ho was prepared to pay : If they rthe workers! cum £2 a. dny, Knnci link 1b them. And 1 behevo tliJ I mou realm; that theruioive:. AuytliittS at

all within renson would be given the men to encourage thorn to do- the woi-k, and get it done. ! But high earnings, without high output, will not and cannot endure. Some work, of course, cannot be done I by contract or af piece-rates, and must bo carried out on the wage plan. Wages Men, and the country generally,, will ,be interested in. the Minister's statement l-liafc "the whole rat-e of wages paid would be brought into line with the decision in connection with the railwaymen's dispute. When that decision was arrived at rises would follow automatically in the other branches of the public service, and the Public Works Department would benefit with the others."