UNEMPLOYMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21300, 2 April 1931, Page 11

UNEMPLOYMENT

RELIEF RATES OF WAGES STATEMENT BY MR S. G. SMITH (Pee United Peess Association.); WELLINGTON, April 1. Referring to protests against the new relief rates of wages, the chairman of the Unemployment Board (Mr S. G. Smith) stated that the rate of wages is a matter for local bodies to determine. The Unemployment Board simply deals with the subsidies, or refunds of wages which it will and the board has decided that these will in no case exceed the standard relief rates of wages on Government relief works, which, from today, will be 9s per day for single and 12s 6d per day for married men. If a local body decides to pay more, it may do so, but the Unemployment Board will not refund to local bodies more than these rates. REDUCED PAY RESENTED MEN REFUSE TO WORK. (Peb United Peess Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, April 1. As a protest against the reduced pay 100 relief workers employed under the Lyttelton Borough Council refused work to-day after a lively deputation to the Mayor, when the men carried a resolution of protest, refusing to accept work and calling on the workers not to pay the unemployment levy. DEVELOPMENTS IN AUCKLAND MANY MEN CEASE WORK. (Pee United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, April 1. Following a crowded meeting last night, when a resolution was passed by relief workers to down tools immediately as a protest against the reduction in the rates of relief pay, attempts were made to-day to induce all to stop. The principal developments occurred in the Mount Eden district, where 100 men „were working. A stopwork meeting was held, and in response to an appeal all but about 20 men responded. Eventually the number of workers was reduced to five married men, 15 others stopping work, it is alleged, in consequence of threats. Other gangs of men were then visited, and 100 out of 340 men at the Training College stopped work. The next place visited was Mount Roekill, where about 700 were working, but here there were no stoppages, the agitators being greatly outnumbered, and about 15 policemen being handy. v AGITATOR TACTICS ONLY MINOR SUCCESSES ACHIEVED. (Pee United Peess Association.) AUCKLAND, April 1. The attempt of the leaders of the unemployed workers’ movement to precipitate a strike among the men engaged on relief works in Auckland city and suburbs resulted in something of a fiasco. Numbers of men certainly left their jobs, but they represented a very small proportion of those engaged on the many undertakings inaugurated under the Unemployment Board’s No. 5 scheme. The' men who either failed to arrive at work or attended and then downed tools belonged to the element which had been instrumental in organising the strike. On each of the jobs there was an attempt to persuade the men unwilling to sacrifice their employment to leave their work, but the result of these agitator tactics was not notably successful. THE COMMUNIST ELEMENT STRIKE EFFORTS UNSUCCESSFUL. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, April 1. Agitators induced 25 men to cease work on the relief work in Brooklyn as a protest against the reduction in the rates of pay. They were less successful on the men working on the excavation works in New Kilbirnie Park. About 140 men employed listened good-naturedly to the speakers, and when at length the orators imagined they had worked the men up to the point of revolt they took a vote as to whether the men should strike. Only one hand went up as favouring a strike, and all resumed after , the lunch hour. As soon as it became known that the Communists were operating a message was forwarded to the police and soon two or three uniformed men put in an appearance to watch the proceedings.