FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 4

FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

MR HOLLAND’S REPLY TO MINISTER ANALYSIS OF VOTING I United Press Association! Wellington, This Day. “The Minister of Industries and Commerce does not enhance his prestige j by suggesting that I am hindering the war effort when I draw public atten >n i to his grossly misleading statement con- ! eerning the voting on the footwear industrial plan,” said the Leader of .he Opposition, Mr Holland, last evening. "I strongly resent the insinuation. I in- | vited the Minister to answer four simple j questions and, in an attempt to ex- ! tricate himself from his dilemma he ha# chosen to twist the figures round. Since ! the Minister still declines to give the , public the full facts. I shall do so. “The Industrial Efficiency Act stipu- | lates that no industrial plan shall be brought into force unless the material i proposals in it ’have been approved by ! a majority of the persons engaged a# j principals in the industry’ or ‘by persons employing a majority of the workers engaged in such industry.” said Mr Holland. “There are 73 employers in the footwear trade, of whom only 29 (or 39J per cent, of the total! voted in favour of the plan, yet the Minister would have the public believe that a majority was in favour of the plan; 393 per cent, is not a majority —it never has been and never will be. On an employee basis, the 29 employers of 2269 workers (or 50J per cent of the total) voted in favour of the plan. . “In a nutshell, the position is that only 29 employers out of 73 wanted the plan, and not 50 per cent, as re- ! quired by the Act, but because they I employ 503 per cent, of the total era* ' ployees in the industry (not 53 perI* cent, as stated by the Minister), then the Minister considered it near enough for his purposes to say that the plan was wanted by a majority of the inI dustry. | “I am quite prepared to submit this statement to the Auditor-General and ! to abide by his decision as to whether i I have stated the facts fully and accurately and to leave the public to ! judge.”