WORK REFUSED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20479, 4 December 1934, Page 12

WORK REFUSED.

Problem of Unemployed Relief. SINGLE MEN'S CAMPS. (SDecia! (o (he "Star." ) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Unemployment Board is facing up to one of its most serious problems, due to the fact that a proportion of registered unemployed. particularly single men who have work in the camps, prefer the board’s limited provision to much of that offered in the wav of employment by private individuals. The problem is to make the contrast greater, without imposing undue hardship on the individual, and it can be mentioned that it is being dealt with in a not-too-aggressive manner by gradually restricting the camps for single men. Reports from Otago showed that the Public Works Department was experiencing difficulty in filling all the fulltime jobs at its disposal, but this, it has been found on inquiry, is not a general difficulty. The problem centres mainly around the single men who get 15s per week in the camps, ample food, healthy living conditions and the society of congenial companions. This they frequently prefer to an isolated farm job at £1 per week and “ found.” Some offers of private employment are at lower rates, and it is doubtful if there will be official backing for some of these proposals, as 25s per week and “ found ” is regarded as the reasonable figure for useful men. Statutory Power. If a fair wage is refused by a single man in a camp, he will be denied further assistance from the Unemployment Board. The statutory power to refuse relief is contained in Section 20 of the Unemployment Act, which states: “No sustenance allowance shall be paid to any person in respect of his unemployment if such unemployment is due to his refusal or failure to accept employment offered him by or through the board, or to accept any other employment offered to him which, in the opinion of the board would be suitable in its nature, conditions, rates of remuneration, and location.” Refusal of reasonable employment, therefore, cuts the individual out from further occupation under arfy of the board’s schemes, and he cannot get sustenance. Camps for single men have been reduced in extent of recent months, and there is likely to be an acceleration of this process so long as openings in private employment develop, though the board is likely to pay careful attention to the aspect of what can be regarded as a reasonable wage, in respect to which, judging by some recent advertisements for farm help in Wellington district, the farming community require some education in living standards.