RELIEF WORKERS DIFFICULTIES

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

RELIEF WORKERS DIFFICULTIES

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —I notice that the Wellington City Council is complaining of the slackness on' the part of the unemployed. The same applies to our district. How on earth can any man put his best into a job wln-rc the.overseers are continually pin-pricking? Fur example, a group of men were sent on to a job; three were ex-service men. The man in charge had them shifted. Of the threo sent to replace them two were ex-service men; they were shifted. All are fit men and good woiiorK, so there could have been no fault found with their work. Next, the cuts, in wages or time are not an inducement for men to work their best. The continual worry and lack of food must, militate against them. Take the last six weeks and the case of a threeday (so called) man. One week he was cut-four hours, next three hours, next ten hours, then six, again four, and three. This works out at an average of less than £1 2a 4Yzd per week, or £8 10s Id for eight weeks. How on earth, he can be expected to put his mind to his job is past all understanding. He is expected to feed and clothe and pay rent, keep a wife and, in some casns, two children; also be honest. Out hero we have no Mayor's Fund or other sources to draw from, so you will readily see that it is not always the man's' fault, even if he is a professional navvy, that he gets disheartened.—l am, etc., S/14RS