WORK ON FARMS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3928, 19 July 1937, Page 4

WORK ON FARMS

TRAINING MEN NOW ON SUSTENANCE. SCHEME TO MEET ACUTE SHORTAGE OF LABOUR Designed to meet the acute shortage of farm labour, a scheme formulated by the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, to take men from sustenance and train them as farm workers, has been approved by Mr J. S. Hunter, Under Secretary for Labour. It is expected that it will be put into operation soon. The men will receive £1 a week as sustenance from the Government and the farmer employers will pay them an additional 22s 6d. The scheme was suggested to the Farmers’ Union, at its annual conference in Wellington on Thursday, by Mr D. B. Higgins (Matamata), who said that there were on sustenance in Auckland hundreds of men suitable for farm work. A committee was appointed to place the proposal before the Government. CO-OPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT. On Friday Mr Higgins reported that the plan had been approved by Mr Hunter, and would no doubt be confirmed later by the acting Minister of Labour. Mr Hunter had said that the Government had been looking to the conference for some indication as to what it thought should be done. "Every effort is to be made to avoid restrictions as far as possible, and not tie up the farmer with too much ‘red tape,’ ” said Mr Higgins. "However, the Government looks to us not to exploit the scheme, but to co-oper ate as fully as possible. They are going to get the plan going as soon as possible to relieve the shortage of labour before the season is too far advanced. Farmers will be able to get men on subsidy for at least six months, and possibly longer if necessary. There will also be a system whereby the employer will report whether he thinks the man can be trained successfully as a farm worker. FARMERS MAKE U.P WAGES. Mr H. O. Mellsop (Auckland) said that it should be emphasised that the Government was subsidising not the farmers, but the men. “We are not taking up the scheme to try to get cheap labour, but to try to train men to meet the shortage,’ agreed Mr Higgins. “The Government will be paying the men their susten ance money and we will be paying the rest of their wages.” Another member of the committtee said that Mr Hunter had made it plain that the scheme was only a temporary measure, and the Government would be looking for something more per manent.