NOT POPULAR WORK

Southland Times, Issue 25641, 7 April 1945, Page 6

NOT POPULAR WORK

LONELY JOB OF FLAX CUTTING

The difficulty of getting men for flax cutting was emphasized at the sitting of the Southland Armed Forces Appeal Board in Invercargill yesterday. The case before the court was one in which Johnston Bros., flaxmillers of Redan appealed on behalf of a flax cutter, E. Thompson. Christopher Johnston, manager of the appellant firm, said that flax cutting was not a skilled job but it was nevertheless difficult to get men to do the work. He thought this was due to the fact that a man on flax cutting often had to live by himself in a tent in an isolated part of the country, and that did not appeal to many men. It was far less difficult to get men to work at a flaxmill, where good accommodation was provided for the men. His firm, was at present employing fewer men than ever and the production of the mill was lower than ever. The present staff consisted of eight full time adult workers, one youth and two pensioners. In normal circumstances the staff would number about 25. He had endeavoured to find a man to replace the reservist by advertising and by making application to the National Service Department, but without sucecss.

“The position is well known to the department,” said Mr R. B. Smyth, on behalf of the National Service Department. “Flax cutting is not a skilled job, but it is very difficult to obtain men to do it Some give up after trying the job for a few weeks. The experience of the department is that if a flax cutter is lost to a mill it is almost impossible to replace him. The mill of the appellant firm is regarded as one of the most important in the Otago-Southland district because of the volume of flax it is turning out.” The chairman, Mr D. H. Cockbum: Flax is still looked upon as a vital necessity? Mr Smyth: Yes. The appeal was adjourned sine die.