HIGHER WAGES EXPECTED

Southland Times, Issue 22969, 15 August 1936, Page 8

HIGHER WAGES EXPECTED

DAIRYMEN ACCEPT BILL PHILOSOPHICALLY HOLIDAY PROVISIONS CRITICIZED From the opinions expressed by a number of dairymen interviewed by The Southland Times last evening on the subject of the Agricultural Workers Bill, Southland farmers, at any rate, will accept its provisions philosophically. It was expected that farm workers would have to be paid higher wages. That was only consistent with the legislation already in force, it was agreed, and no employer would object to paying more —if he were able to. The only provision of which there was hostile criticism was that specifying four weeks’ holiday a year on full pay plus half the allowance for board and accommodation.

“Those holiday allowances are not justified, and they will be a very serious thing for the farmer,” said one well-known dairyman. “At first sight it is going to be extremely difficult, if it is possible at all, for dairy farmers to pay these wages and all the extras. The details of the Bill are not surprising as far as wages are concerned. It was realized that they would have to go up, and they are not too higii in comparison with the Government’s ruling in other- occupations. But I can’t see how all these extra costs are going to be met. Certainly the guaranteed price is better, but production costs are ballooning so thoroughly that any advantages from that source will be absolutely smothered.” An Inevitable Result. The obvious and probably immediate outcome of this last piece of legislation, this man continued, would be that the farmer would cut down his labour to the lowest possible point and just do without extra labour. The inevitable result would be that a great deal of work would be left undone. “One does not need to have an exceptional mind to realize that many farm properties will deteriorate considerably,” he wadded. “We have been expecting wages to go up,” another man said. “But this on top of all the other costs of production is making it pretty solid. Farm workers had to be considered when the Government was raising everyone’s wages, but how the dairyman is going to stand it all is more than 1 can see.” He agreed that one result would certainly be that many farmers would have to do without some of their labour. He had been paying a good man 35/- a week and his keep, he continued, but that was not sufficient to hold him. “I don’t blame him for leaving when he could get more money at some other work,” he said. “Everybody is entitled to better himself, and farm workers have had a hard time for a few years. Their fortunes slumped with those of their employers, and plenty of them have had public works jobs in view for some time.” Dairymen would not be able to afford to do anything more than was absolutely necessary, and the effects would soon be seen on their farms.

These opinions were shared generally. Other men said that the minimum wages were much what were expected. Boys and men were already being paid

anything from 15/- to 30/- a week with their keep, and it had been very difficult indeed for months past to get labour at all. There was no sign of an improvement in ihe supply, and it was thought that a change for the betterin this respect was not likely even after October 1. Gradual Increase Preferred, “The position is to be righted another way,” one man remarked, “and the demand adjusted to the supply by making it impossible for farmers to employ even what labour there is available. The Bill is in keeping with those that have preceded it. Most farmers will admit that their workers have earned probably more than they have been able to pay them. That applies to other industries, but the dairyman, like other employers, cannot pay out until he has made some recovery himself. All this increasing of the standard of living should have been brought about gradually. It has come in one solid mass, and dairy farmers have every reason to suppose that they are going to be at least in just as bad a position in the next 12 months as they were before. They will get their fixed price, which in itself is quite a fair one, but they will be buried under increased costs.”