UNEMPLOYMENT

Southland Times, Issue 22218, 10 January 1934, Page 7

UNEMPLOYMENT

GORE COMMITTEE. A meeting of the Gore Unemployment Committee was held on Monday evening, those present being Messrs W. D. Shelton (chairman), A. T. Newman, R. W. Noake, S. Newell, J. Sleeman, O. Duggan and E. Melvin (secretary). The Southland committee advised that it had now approved of the employment of two men for three days to carry out work on the Pukerau School playing area. The Commissioner for Unemployment advised that the allocations for the weeks ending January 13 and January 20 had been reduced owing to insufficiency of funds The secretary submitted a balance sheet in connection with the distribution of toys at Christmas to children of relief workers. The sum of £9 1/- had been received in cash in response to an appeal through the Press by the chairman, while donations of toys had been received from Mac Gibbon and Co., H. and J. Smith Ltd., A. V. Latty, Mrs Pigeon, J. Ritchie the Rotary Club and the United Trading Co. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the secretary and Messrs Cleine and Matheson for the very able manner in which they supervised the distribution of toys at short notice. Mr Nevzell criticized the action of the Gore Borough Council in deciding to offer 10/- a day as the standard rate of pay in connection with subsidized borough work. He said that standard rates of pay were 14/10 in Wellington, 15/4 in Christchurch and 13/10 in Dunedin. He considered that the relief workers were entitled to standard rates of pay for the three days for which the council paid them. By paying 10/- a day, the present relief rate, the council was perpetuating unemployment and not assisting to relieve it.

Mr Newman explained that it must first be clearly understood that the work mentioned would not under ordinary circumstances have been carried out owing to the reduced income of the council. It was then decided that provided the work could be subsidized it could be carried out, this being much more useful work than digging up weeds. The Minister of Employment had certainly stated that the men were to be paid at the standard rate of pay. In order to be clear on this point, the council had communicated with the Invercargill City Council which had advised that the standard rate was 10/-. So far as he understood the Southland labourers’ award had lapsed and therefore there was no standard rate of pay. The council was in no way desirous of cutting the men down. The position in a nutshell was that it could do the work at 10/- a day. If it were asked to pay 14/- a day the estimates would not stand this, and the work would have to be abandoned. Was it not better that the men should get these three extra days a week than none at all?

Mr Newell contended that the council’s action would eventually lead to the standard rate all round becoming 10/-. When this rate for relief workers had been announced in the House there had been a storm of protest. It was considered that this would eventually break down awards and become the standard rate of pay. Assurances had been given that awards would not be interfered with, but here was concrete evidence of such a state of affairs coming into existence. The Borough Council was laying itself open to strong criticism.

Mr Newman said it was probably being overlooked by Mr Newell that the council had reduced its rates to assist ratepayers generally, and the unemployed particularly. As a consequence the income had been reduced and it was not possible to carry out certain productive works which would benefit the ratepayers. Would Mr Newell prefer that the men just stay on the present unproductive work? He ventured to say that if the council were to advertise for men to do the work, the wages tc be 10/- a day, it would be flooded with replies. Mr Newell said there was a principle involved. Unemployment had reached a stage in New Zealand when there were no jobs for general labourers, and the action of the Borough Council would perpetuate this. As soon as work for a labourer cropped up, he was to be paid relief rates of pay. This was not fair.