LABOUR SHORTAGE

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1935, Page 9

LABOUR SHORTAGE

MEN FOR WORK ON FARMS FARMERS’ UNION CONCERN MEETING WITH MINISTER TARANAKI CASES GIVEN The difficulties experienced by farmers in securing labour for their farms during the season has resulted in the North Taranaki provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union collecting evidence from all branches on the position in the various districts. Yesterday, in a discussion taken in committee, the Minister of Employment, the Hon. S. G. Smith, who attended by invitation, was informed of the position and Mr. Smith dealt at some length with the problem. The executive decided to forward its information to the Dominion executive of the union, which has arranged to discuss the problem as it affects all parts of New Zealand with the Unemployment Board. It was gratifying to have the Minister present to hear the discussion, said Mr. H. E. Blyde, president. Many branches of the union were experiencing difficulty in securing suitable farm labour, Uncongenial conditions for labourers "were not general and he suggested that in cases where difficult conditions were general the union could take the question up.

Correspondence on the question was then read by the secretary, Mr. D. Le C. Morgan, and after one letter had been read, Mr. Blyde suggested that, to allow the fullest and frankest discussion of the problems, the meeting should go into committee., Mr. T. T. Murray seconded the motion. “INDENT COOLIES.” Stating that one or two farmers in the district were experiencing difficulty in obtaining labour, Mr. S. Budd, Uruti, in a letter, said his own man had recently left because he could make up to £l7 a month. He had paid the man £2 a week and provided a house, milk, firewood and butter, One had only to look at the newspapers to realise the shortage of labour for milking jobs and Mr. Budd suggested that it might be advisable to indent coolies or Chinese to do this work. "There is an increasing reluctance tot our own labour to take milking jobs,” declared Mr. Budd, “and actually wages are going up to a point not justified by the price of butter. The Unemployment Board can help by subsidising wages, but at present if a farmer has a relief scheme man on his farm and gets him to milk the farmer will be hanged, drawn and quartered, or very near it.” _ The Inglewood branch notified that it could place 12 on all the year round jobs on the following terms: Inexperienced boys, 15s to 20s; youths with experience, 25s to 30s; farm hands, 35s to 40s a week. There was a great shortage in the-district, Stating that there was a shortage m the district, the Stratford sub-provincial executive stated that the ruling wage for competent men was 25s to 35s weekly and Is 6d an hour for haymaking. Youths were paid 20s to 22s 6d and boys 12s 6d to 15s. Day labour was paid for at is 3d an hour. The executive objected to scurrilous letters appearing anonymously in the Press, owing to their preventing men taking on farm work. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. “The Government appreciates the difficulties and is investigating the problem,” said the Minister. “That is the reason why it has invited the co-operation of the Dominion executive of the Farmers’ Union. It is mindful of the difficulties of farmers and it Has had, during the last two winters, to pay hundreds of farmers sustenance ranging from 10s to 35s weekly to keep them on their farms.” The No. 4a scheme had been cut out owing to clear cases of exploitation by farmers of the help they received under the scheme, said Mr. Smith. There were* cases known where farmers had gone on holiday leaving men employed under the scheme to do the milking. On October 25, 316 farmers were paid sustenance purely to keep them going on their farms.

Replying to a point raised in the debate, that farm labourers should be given opportunities by subsidy to rise from their positions to property owners, the Minister said that such a scheme was already in operation in Auckland and Canterbury, whereby youths, who were given opportunities for training on Government farms had portion of their wages put aside until, at the end of five years, they had saved by subsidy and otherwise the sum of £3OO. The speaker suggested that there was an equal opportunity of having the scheme inaugurated in Taranaki provided a responsible committee could be formed to look after the trust funds. That was another scheme scheme inaugurated by the Unemployment Board. “If farmers are to be-subsidised by the Unemployment Board,” said Mr. Smith in jeply to another point, “the result is that every business will be entitled to something, creating a position where taxes will be necessary to subsidise industry. We do not want that —we want industry to stand on its own feet, just the same as we want men off relief and fighting for themselves.” The enticing of men from farm work on to standard wage jobs was definitely frowned on, said the Minister, and certifying officers throughout New Zealand had been instructed that, unless a man had an excellent reason for leaving a farm, he was not to be taken on standard time’work. Farmers could help by getting men from the unemployment bureaux, which were not simply relief institutions, but exchanges where labour could be obtained. Farmers were inclined to be apathetic, however, and the Minister mentioned a case at Auckland two months ago where the certifying officer wrote to 80 farmers seeking men and offered to find the right men for them. Not a single reply had been received from the farmers. The single men’s camps were good nurseries for farm labour, the Minister declared. Recently 18 young city men had been sent to a camp in the King Country and each had taken up farm work as soon as he had become accustomed to living in the country. It was not quite fair to condemn single men’s camps, for the workers in them had appealed against their proposed closing and

the camps had served useful purpose in taking men out of trouble.

There had been complaints against the country life of camp:?, said Mr. Smith. Recently the Government offered men who had been 12 months in camps in the Auckland district to take them back to the city and pay them sustenance for a month in order to give them opportunities for securing full time employment. No married men of a total of 420 in the camps had accepted the offer, while only 17 out of 900 single men had gone back to the cities. “I trust that you will send advice of the position here to your head office,” said Mr. Smith. “Then, when the board discusses the matter with the union, we will have concrete evidence before us. I can assure that the board is intensely anxious to deal with the problem, but it must have your co-operation.” The Minister announced that the Unemployment Board would probably meet at New Plymouth next week and it would be willing to discuss matters with representatives of the executive and with a farm labourer representative. '