THE LABOUR PARTY BLAMED

Southland Times, Issue 23180, 22 April 1937, Page 4

THE LABOUR PARTY BLAMED

ADDRESS BY MR HARGEST (Special to The Times) AUCKLAND, April 21. Comparing dairy farmers’ hourly earnings with the high wages paid to waterside workers Mr J. Hargest, M.P., for Awarua, in an address at Te Awamutu, blamed the Labour Party for the slackness which he said existed at ports in the Dominion. Before the last election, said Mr Hargest, Labour had promised to guarantee the dairy farmer a price that would ensure him a standard of living equal to that enjoyed by the people of New Zealand generally. Had that promise been redeemed? Certainly not. The Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin) had stated that the price would be such that competent labour could be employed, and women and children kept out of the cow sheds., That promise had not been kept either. Those present knew the returns they were receiving were not more than 6d or 8d an hour, with no allowance for long hours or Sundays. The speaker said he would compare this with the reward paid to men. handling butter, on the wharves at Wellington and Auckland, handling clear, boxes and under shelter. / He had recently seen a list of the ’ wages for the loading of a ship at Wellington. No one employed on that particular day had received less than 33/4. , ’ Some had received over 55/- but, in one case quoted as an average, a , watersider had been paid 50/2. He had worked for seven hours at 3/4, three , hours at 4/6, and for two meal hours he had been paid 6/8 an hour. Could any farmer pay such rates or compete , with them in the market for employees? j It might be argued that the work was hard, but that was not so. In a ship's refrigerated space only 30 minutes were worked in each hour by each man : and the rate of work done could be judged by the fact that, under observation recently in Auckland, a party . of 30 men loaded 100 quarters of beef in three hours at a cost of 3/- a quarter. The total freezing charges, namely ' killing, treating and freezing, were 2/a quarter, but it took 3/- merely to. load it on to the ship. “Can any industry in New Zealand stand that?” asked Mr Hargest. “It is no wonder the chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board felt compelled to make a strong protest and a threat to appoint the staff to load the produce, and it is common knowledge that the heads of shipping companies are objecting strongly to the slackness on the wharves.”