STATE SAWMILL

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 July 1942, Page 2

STATE SAWMILL

MINISTER’S LETTER

Because of the broadcast from the State Sawmill and figures taken down by an anonymous correspondent indicating timber from State sawmills was costing 30/- per hundred board feet to produce, Mr J. O’Brien, M.P., wrote to the Commissioner of State Forests (Mi- Barclay), asking for the actual cost of cutting timber. He nas received the following letter from the Minister setting out the position:— Dear Mr O’Brien, —I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter. As you may w?ll’ have guessed, the anonymous writer of the letter referred to has assumed that only sawn timber was being produced at the Waipa operations. Of the 60 to 70 men who are mentioned as employed in the bush only 22 are loggers engaged on the clear cutting of insignis pine, the remainder being forest employees engaged on the thinning of Corsican pine and larch for the improvement of these stands as well as for the production of poles, piles, props, posts, stakes, pickets, and tent pegs, and fuel wood for charcoal, although a small proportion of saw logs equivalent to the work of seven loggers, is also secured. This makes a bush total of 29 men for sawlog production. As regards the statement that from 180 to 200 men were employed in the mill, the broadcast actually stated that these numbers were “in and about the sawmill and creosote plant.” Actually the number of men engaged in the conversion of the logs into sawn timber and its delivery and loading into railway trucks, including workers at the log skids, log pond, the sawmill and the green soTting chain and related employees in the power house, garage and repair shop, etc., is only 57. The remainder of the personnel at Waipa includes 99 workers engaged in the production of box shocks and planing mill products, 26 in the production of creosote products and eight on charcoal manufacture. Of the grand total of 190 employees 55 are youths and female labourers, these latter mostly girls. The total number of men, therefore, engaged on sawlog production and green sawn timber manufacture and delivery is only 86. With an eight-hour production of over 25,000 board feet, this means that the daily average output of a worker at the Waipa mill is about 290 board feet. Whilst one or two of your local mills may equal this output, it is better ol course than the West Coast average on a strictly comparable basis, that is inclusive of logging, milling and loading on to railway trucks, the most recent figure used bv the Price Investigation Tribunal being 250 feet per man per day. Naturally, in the North Island mills a very much lower average is obtained—only 180 board feet per man per day—owing to rougher logging conditions and more difficult milling problems.

As regards wages, the Department has to pay ruling rates which at the present time are invariably in excess of award rates and the average earnings in the logging and milling operations are almost 24/- per day which is approximately the same as is being paid in both North and South Island mills. At this figure the total wage cost at Waipa for logging, milling and delivery to railway, is 8/3 per 100 bd. ft. as compared with an average oi 9/9 per 100 bd. ft. in West Coast mills and 13/3 in North Island mills. The total production costs of green sawn timber, including royalty at 2/6 per 100 bd. ft. and every other item mentioned in the correspondence, have amounted to 15/6 per 100 bd. ft., and the selling price to 17/- per 100 bd. ft. You may perhaps have been surprised that no official recognition has been taken of the correspondence under review, but the explanation is simply that whilst the writer remains anonymous, I do not believe any official reply is called for. If it is possible for you, however, to ascertain the authorship of the letter, then some appropriate action could be taken. As it is, I understand that a reply has already been made by the Union delegate at Waipa in a statement to the Christchurch Press under date of 24th ultimo. Whilst this doet not entirely agree with the figures given you, it is sufficiently close 101 all practical purposes.-