UNEMPLOYMENT

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 9 May 1921, Page 8

UNEMPLOYMENT

CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH ISLAND.

The Christehureh correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes' that unemployment is steadily increasing, and, according to labour agents, .us likely to develop to a stage where reher works will t>e an absolute necessity if extreme hardship and suffering are to be. avoided Various industries an the city are putting off men, but so far the trouble is greatest in the ranks of unskilled labourers. A labour agent told a Sun representative that unemployment, as far as farm and station labour is concerned, is now very great. So far the freezing industry is busy, and is keeping large numbers of men off the, market. Indications are that many buiiders' and contractors' labourers will soon be released when present contracts have expired. The position is accentuated by the fact that' -threshing has finished much earlier than usual, a small proportion only of/the oat crop appears to have been put through the machines. Married couples are the only class of farm labour in demand. Wages for all classes of farm labour are now down about 10s per week, and men are accepting the lower wages. He produced a letter from a station owner, stating that he would not require the agent's services to enl'st new labour, as all the employees on the pi-Qperty had accepted' reductions in wage's.-* Certainly, some farmers are doing more work themselves on the farm, said the agent. There is not much ! inducement just now for them to leave I the farm and attend stock sales. The j officer in charge of the Government .Labour Department (Mr Fielder) said ''unemployment is isteadily increasing, I and applications for situations are much ! more numerous this week than usual. , Unfortunately, there are few avenues ' open to absorb the men, most of whom were labourers,. a good proportion be,:ns: builders' and contractors' laboureres. It had been possible-to. send away a number of men to the West Coast ,to act as truckers for the mine-, but he had no authority to send any men to public works. A certain amount of unemployment was usual •at this period of the year, but the present position was worse j than it has been for years. Other inI queries went to show that there were numbers of foundrymen and boot tives out of employment. Most industries were affected in ?. ffreater! or Jess degree., The1 footwear industry ha® absorbed numbers of men from other industries in recent years, but owing' to the depress:on many of these men, yrbo were lea- efficient,, in'many cases have I been paid qff.