BOOT REPAIRS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 927, 23 November 1933, Page 9

BOOT REPAIRS.

House Discusses Position of j Unemployed. (“Star” Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, November 22. j Various views, ranging from violent ! criticism to strong admiration, were ex- j pressed in the House this afternoon on • the subject ’.of utilising unemployed j men to repair boots for the remainder ; of the unemployed. ftven Opposition j members were divided on the issue, although the division among them was i on the question of degree. The subject arose when the Labour ! Bills Committee recommended that a | petition from Auckland boot repairers. I urging that an inquiry be held into the subject of repairing boots for the un- | employed, should be referred to the Government for consideration. Thanking the committee for its re- j commendation, Air Savage, leader of j the Opposition, said he realised that j the subject bristled with difficulties and j that no one wanted injustice to be ! done either to the boot repairers or to j the unemployed. Two Solutions. Two solutions were suggested by Mr ! Sullivan (Avon). The first was that 1 some scheme might be arranged by the I Unemployment Board so that the necessarv boot repairs from the unemployed i n each district would be divided among the boot repairers of those districts. The other was that boot repairers engaged at relief depots should be paid standard rates cf wages for the length of time necessary to work their weekly allowances. He complained that the Unemployment Board did not seem to try to solve problems such as this. The Hon A. Hamilton, Alinister of Labour, said the Government was being blamed for a number of things that it was not responsible for. The boot repairing schemes were conducted by local committees and not at Government depots under the jurisdiction of the Unemployment Board. The people who had inaugurated the schemes were endeavouring to help relief workers by making their money go as far as possible. It was generally considered by local committees that disturbance in trade had been caused not so much by the depots but by the methods adopted by some businesses of selling soles ready cut with instructions as to how they should be put on. To-day everyone was desirous of obtaining things as cheaply as possible. Air Hamilton said the scheme was all right in towns where there was only one boot repairer. The question of paying award rates was also being considered. Mr Sullivan: Will you promise to pay award rates? Mr Hamilton: No. The Alinister added that there was always a problem when relief workers were paid different rates of pay.