DAIRY WORKER’S HOMES

Opunake Times, 24 August 1948, Page 1

DAIRY WORKER’S HOMES

COMPANY EMPLOYEES MR. CORBETT’S QUESTION The Government would provide for the erection of- State rental houses for dairy factory workers where the circumstances warranted and labour and materials were available, said the Minister of Works, Mr. Semple, in the House of Repie- ; sentatives on Wednesday. He was answering l a question from Mr. E. B. Corbett (Opposition, Egmont). It was flagrantly wrong that the dairy industry shoidd be left to provide its own housing when workers in other industries were provided with houses by the State, said Mr. Corbett, com menting on the answer. A committee of the Dairy Board was set up two years ago- previously to find a solution to the vexed question of housing for dairy workers, and the Government then promised that the dairy industry could expect fair treatment on similar lines to that accorded workers in like industries.

Dairy companies had wanted 135 to 160 houses for their employees and a similar number were to be erected by private .arrangement, said Mr. Corbett. Nothing had been done by the Government in the intervening years, despite the fact that the dairy industry had done its part. The Government had a responsibility to see that workers who went to districts lacking the amenities of towns, were not penalised. particularly as the labour position in rural areas had never been more acute.