WORK PROVIDED FOR ALL

Taranaki Daily News, 12 February 1931, Page 7

WORK PROVIDED FOR ALL

OPERATION OF NO. 5 SCHEME

UNEMPLOYED IN NEW PLYMOUTH.

140 MEN ASSISTED DURING WEEK.

Every unemployed man registered at the New Plymouth labour office and eligible under the Unemployment Board’s No. 5 scheme will be provided with work in New Plymouth and surrounding district this week under the terms of the regulations and conditions of the scheme, stated, Mr. P. E. Stainton, secretary Of the New Plymouth Unemployment Committee, to a News reporter yesterday. Suffcient work is offering and the allocation of all the men for this week has been made. Approximately 140 men will be provided with work. For 63 of this number employment is being found under No. 2 scheme in the construction of the Taranaki Rugby Union’s grounds at Westown.

The No. 5 scheme, which commenced to operate on Monday, will continue to the end of March. For the weeks following the present week there will be arranged a system of rotation which will mean that these men will be provided with four, three or two days a week, according to whether they are in the class of married men with two or more children, married men with one or no children, or single men. Widowers with one or more dependants are regarded as married men.

The men who have, been found employment this week are engaged on the parks within the borough, the formation in part of the new stock route, earthwork in the hospital grounds, clearing a plantation in the Kaitake Ranges, and on work for the Taranaki County Council.

Several registrations of applicants under 20 years of age have been made, but it is pointed out that only those who can prove they have reached the age of 20 and have paid their levy or arranged to do so are eligible for work under the No. 5 scheme.

A number of men are still drifting into New Plymouth from other towns, ■but under this scheme it is necessary for them to be registered at the labour bureau at least 14 days before they are eligible for work. There have been about 20 cases of men who have been unajfle through unemployment to pay the levy. Provision lias been made for such cases by the New Plymouth committee. Provided the men can satisfy the committee that their inability to pay has been caused by hardship rather than neglect the committee arranges for an order to be signed for the levy payment to be deducted from the first pay to be received by the men. The levy money is then handed to the postmaster. The Hon. S. G. Smith, Minister of Labour, and chairman of the Unemployment Board, reports that an instance of the attempted abuse of the board’s No. 2 scheme has come under official notice., His report was referred to the secretary of the New Plymouth committee, who stated that no instances of any abuse of the scheme had occurred in New Plymouth, and that the position was being well watched. The case reported by Mr. Smith was that of a farmer in Canterbury who applied to the local committee to employ a man at 7s. a day to grub gorse and broom and carry out improvements for seven to 10 days. He had a man .in view. An officer of the department found that the man was not unemployed, and was actually under engagement when the application was made. The farmer usually employed the man at 12s. a day.

The essence of the scheme is that the wage should be fixed by employer and employee, the board’s subsidy not exceeding 7s. a day and the prospective labourer to be registered as unemployed.