TE ANAU CAMP

Southland Times, Issue 22732, 7 November 1935, Page 7

TE ANAU CAMP

RELIEF WORKER’S COMPLAINT . COST OF LIVING Complaints regarding the cost of living to relief workers employed at the Te Anau camp in the construction of the Milford Sound road were voiced by a man. who recently returned from the camp when he called at the Times Office on Saturday morning. He also alleged that during the rigorous conditions of the winter season, no comforts were provided for the occupants of the camp. “I want to stress the high cost of living first of all,” he said. “As far as meat is concerned we can’t get a price list from the butcher and the storekeeper, who retails the meat, charges his own prices. Bread costs 1/2 a loaf up there, while in town it is lOd over the counter, and in some cases 9d. Butter is 1/7 a lb when it is lid and 1/- in Invercargill. We are paying 1/4 a tin for condensed milk, and the town price is 9d. A 251 b bag of flour is about 3/6 in town, there it is 5/-. The cost of steak at the camp works out at about 9d a lb. These foods mentioned are only the bare necessities.

“During the months of June, July and August the men in the Homer Hut, Upper Forks and Lower Forks camps were melting snow for water for washing and consumption,” he continued. “Since the formation of the New Zealand Workers’ Union the authorities have been getting pipes laid on to the three camps. When the tents were first pitched at the Homer Saddle they were put on 18in. of snow, roughly speaking. If a man took off his boots inside the tent at night and left them on the ground he had to dig them out within five or ten minutes. The warmth of the boots melted the snow, causing them to sink. Now, however, conditions are improving, thanks to the organizer of the New Zealand Workers’ Union (Mr Eddy). “The average wage for a married man is from 12/- to 13/2 a day, but two gangs are getting 16/4, 16/3 and 15/8. Time lost through wet weather is deducted. Up till last Tuesday night the men at Homer working on the tunnel had put in nine days since the beginning of the month. The authorities are now getting coal, which, it is rumoured will be supplied by the department to the camps at from 3/6 to 4/- a bag. This, I understand, is the price charged to the men at the Josephville camp. No bath-houses are provided for the- men. In fact, there are no home-comforts at all.

“The wages of the single men are based on 9/- a day and they are working under- the same conditions as the married men and doing as much work. Out of his wages a worker has to pay to have his drills, which are used for explosive purposes, sharpened. The men are not allowed to cut any trees for firewood. Notices threatening dismissal for such actions have been erected. The engineer saw one young man cutting down a tree and stood him down for three working days, excluding wet days. The engineer told him he had power to stand him down fox- 50 working days. “To finish the story I might mention that the men at the Homer Saddle get their food packed up to them, but the men at the Upper Forks and Lower Forks have to pack their own. They are only 15 minutes’ walk from the Homer.” ENGINEER’S REPLY. “Prices for all materials, including foodstuffs, are necessarily higher than Invercargill prices, due to railage charges to Mossburn followed by 98 miles of road carriage, the latter costing 52/3 a ton,” stated Mi- W. J. Pearce, assistant-engineex- of the Public Works Department, when commenting on the statement. “The prices quoted for some Invercargill goods are understated. No men were located in the Homer hut in June, nor until the latter end of July, and no camps have been erected on snow. Any snow on camp sites was removed before camps were erected. So far as the water supply is concerned, in the vicinity of the tunnel the melting of snow was the only available source at the time. The streams at this place run deep underground, and the source from which it will soon be piped was frozen up for most of the time and covered deep under avalanche snow. “The earnings quoted are in respect of periods, when the basic rate was 8/4 for single men and 10/6 for married men, and all the rates mentioned are well in excess of the latter figure. The men are on co-operative contract and all expenses in connection with the contract are deducted from the gross earnings. The rates quoted are the net earnings after these deductions are made.”