Restoration of Cuts

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 111, 23 April 1936, Page 6

Restoration of Cuts

BACK TO 1931 LEVEL Inside and Outside the Public Service PREMIER’S ASSURANCE (By Telegraph—Special to "Tribune.”) WELLINGTON, April 22. Probably by a clause in a Finance Bill to be brought down shortly, the Government will restore tbe salaries of public servants to the 1931 level and place all workers on the wage basis they enjoyed prior to the Arbitration Court’s 10 per cent, cut order. “You can take my positive assurance,” said Mr Savage, “that there will be restoration of all cuts, both inside the Public Service and outside it, to the 1931 level. This was one of our election pledges, and it will be kept. “The whole of our case is based on the idea that round about 1931 substantial reductions were made in wages, and therefore in buying power. Now we are setting out to restore the position, but we cannot eveu stop there. Our objective is to keep lifting the buying power as production increases. Anybody who does any thinking must know that unless the buying power of the rank and file increases in line with increased production then it is useless to talk about producing more goods. There is not a man living who can knock that simple statement over.

“What is the use of increasing production unless your income is increased at the same time!” asked Mr Savage. “If you produce more of an article which people require surely it is a fair thing to expect that you will get from them a return for additional service which you give. This is one of the things that will be done fairly soon, and it will probably take the form of a clause in a Finance Bill.” Mr Savage added that the Public Service was not pushing the Government, but was relying on Cabinet’s promise to “produce the goods.”