MEN ON RELIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22463, 6 July 1936, Page 11

MEN ON RELIEF

SUSTENANCE ABUSE INVESTIGATION INTENDED PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS MINISTER REPLIES TO CRITICS "It cannot too often be emphasised that the Government has no intention of paying sustenance to men who have left jobs in order to receive relief," said the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. H. Semple. yesterday. "When the Government increased sustenance it did so in order to lift the standard of living of the bona fide unemployed until they could find work. It never thought there would be men who would descend to such depths as to 'scrounge' on the nation."

Mr. Seinplo said the Government would find an antidote to meet the situation. The Minister of Employment, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, was to make investigations to ascertain to what extent the sustenance system was being abused. If a man were offered a job that provided decent conditions, and would not take it. he would yet nothing from the Government. Such a man was an impostor who deserved 110 sympathy.

Stop-Work Meetings Dealing with labour on public works, the Minister said thero were now no signs of trouble since the affair at Motueka had been settled. On the average, men were earning over 18s a day, some being single men who had been employed at under 9s. In return the Government expected them to give good service. "There has been a good deal of anonymous correspondence in Wellington and elsewhere criticising me for interfering with the freedom of speech at Motueka," said Mr. Somple. "That is as ridiculous as the allegations of victimisation, or of allowing my engineers to victimise the employees of the department. Such statements are deliberate falsehoods. What I did take exception to was the men 011 the Motueka aerodrome holding stop-work meeting 011 the job for no cause whatever.

"For instance, two days before 1 arrived at Motueka the men held two stop-work meetings —one lasting two hours and the other. I understand, lasting longer—for no cause at all, as their pay tickets indicated that they had no grievance.

Libraries lor Workmen "The 40-hour week gives the men the whole of Saturday to hold meetings and talk the whole day long if they want to, and so far as I am concerned they can do so and discuss any subject tliev like. They can occupy their time on Sunday doing the same, and every night in the week after work. As a matter of fact, 1 am establishing libraries on the big public works and have given healthy literature to these libraries so that the men can furnish their minds with something worth while to talk about.

"1 have also created an organisation through which they can ventilate their grievances without disrupting the work. They are allowed to select their own mates on the job—provision is made for this in their agreement —and they are also allowed to select their own head men. If they have a grievance of any sort, then their representative has the right to discuss the merits of the grievance with the overseer or engineer. If they fail to settle the issue, then it goes to the district engineer. Failing a settlement there, it goes on to the head office of the department in Wellington; and failing settlement there, representations can be made to mo as Minister.

"I have created this machinery in order to give the men every facility to ventilate their grievances in a proper, constitutional fashion. There is no excuse whatever for stoppages of any sort. "A Wilful Falsehood" "So far as victimisation is concerned, this is also a wilful falsehood. Tlioro has been no victimisation. Thcro is a typa of man who goes on to public works who refuses to play the game. He refuses to pull his weight, refuses to acknowledge any form of discipline, ignores his own agreement, treats the engineer on the job with contempt, and then, if he is discharged, ho yells victimisation. I am not losing any sleep over that type of man. I would not bo fit to occupy the position of Minister of Public Works if 1 allowed that typo of man to dissipate the public works camps and cause needless trouble on the jobs without the .slightest reason. "The conditions operating on public works to-day compared with when I took control are an answer to the anonymous correspondence which has appeared in the newspapers. I have said repeatedly, and it is worth repeating again, that the average wage on the public works is not to be compared with the average when T took control, and the great majority, over 00 per cent, of the public works workmen recognise that, and are demonstrating their appreciation of what has been done for them by working hard. They are giving good service to the department and obtaining a fairly high reward for it: and that is all I ask. Good Service Demanded

"I would not bo fit to represent the public of this country and to act as one of the custodians of their money," said the Minister, "if I did not demand a decent return for the money cx [tended on the public works of the country. I am determined to get that; and the individual referred to above, whether he veils victimisation or not, is not going to stay in the public works of this country. It is known from the North Cape to the Bluff that 1 have always fought against persecution of any sort or" kind, and I am not going to practise it in my official capacity as Minister of Public Works. I have nev# clone it and never will. All 1 ask for and demand is service, and when I get that 1 will see that the reward will measure up with the service."