UNDER WHOSE CONTROL?

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 139, 9 December 1931, Page 11

UNDER WHOSE CONTROL?

QUESTION OF DISMISSALS

The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, and Mr. J. I. Goldsmith, chairman of tho Wellington Citizens' Unemployment Committee, apparently do not see eye to eyo on tho subject of tho riglvi of dismissal or. reinstatement of relief workers. At yesterday afternoon's meeting of the Unemployment Committee, Mr. Goldsmith referred to the trouble that there had been over tho dismissal of six relief workers at Rongotui. He had road, ho said, what tho Mayor had had to say on the subject, but the Mayor's statement was unfair and incorroct, his facts being astray. "As soon as I know that the Mayor had decided to reinstate these men I took exception to their reinstatement. I rang Mr. Hislop and notified him of my disagreement, wheu he said ho would again ring me, but he has never troubled to communicate with mo since." Denying that he had been rcsponsiblo for sending the men straight back to work, Mr. Goldsmith went on to say: "I recogniso my responsibility in endeavouring to maintain discipline, and in knowing that a fair day's work is being carried out according to each man's capabilities. Tho question I wanted settled was, was tho misdemeanour; if any, sufficient to justify the harsh treatment meted out to men in theso circumstances? If not, tho men should havo been reinstated forthwith, and, if so, the rules of the board i should havo been applied, nai-ely, tho I minimum stand-down of fourteen days. "The Mayor, or the head of any local body employing men under the No. 5 Scheme, has no jurisdiction in deciding whether a workman shall be fined onu or two days as in this case. It must bo either reinstatement or standing down for fourteen days, in accordance with the rules. "It will be seen," coutinued Mr. Goldsmith, "that I had nothing to do with the reinstatement of the men. In view of the worrying work' this committee has done, wholly in an honorary capacity, one would think that tho Mayor and council would do all they can to help us. Occasionally someone says something .about what these works are costing the ratepayers, but as a matter of fact tho city is getting an '< enormous aggregation of assets out of the work. Take, for instance, the roading of the Wilton Block, which is going to make between 1000 and 1700 bnildinj; sections available to the public. I tee the Mayor threatens to stop the job. All I can say is that if tho council stops tho work so much tho I heller for the committee, as the Goy- ! eminent would then havo to tako it iv j hand, and, if they sent all single men j into the: country, they would be doing ins we would like them to do." Mr. Goldsmith added that theirs wiia an honorary committee, doing their best possible to help the men. They would expect the City Council to help and not hinder. The committee approved of the chairman sending a reply to the Mayor, worded on the lines of the statement nbovt1.