TERRITORIALS ON FARMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 December 1943, Page 2

TERRITORIALS ON FARMS

MR W. G. K. WIGGINS CHALLENGES REPORT. STATEMENT AT FARMERS’ UNION EXPLAINED. A correction of statements attributed to him at a meeting of the Wairarapa Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union on December 13 is made by Mr W. G'. K. Wiggins, of Greytown. In a discussion on the employment of Territorial labour for harvesting, MrWiggins states that he was reported as saying, under the sub-heading of “Hay Burned in I 'Greytown”: “Farmers at Greytown were burning hay because they could not get it pressed. Under the award, Is 3d an hour was the rate for unskilled men, yet the Government compelled farmers to pay 2s 6d per hour.” Mr Wiggins states that what he actually said was that if fit men could not be released by the Army authorities, the hay would have to be burnt. He pointed out that contractors required the services of fit, seasoned men, and he states that he was emphasising that point in making the statement he did. As to the rates of nay for harvesting, Mr Wiggins states that he- had referred to a previous stabilisation order fixing a payment of Is 3d an hour for casual farm labour, and yet, when casual labour was made available from the camps, the Government compelled the farmers to pay 2s 6d an hour for such labour. If fit and seasoned men had been released for this work, they could earn up to 3s 6d or 4s an hour, to which they were fully entitled. He was not suggesting that the Territorial labour was not entitled to 2s 6d an hour, but he was protesting against the action of the Government in overriding its own stabilisation order. He pointed out to the meeting the difficult position in which the farmer was placed by reason of the uncertainty of probable harvesting dates owing to contractors not being able to estimate the date, due to the great variation in the amount of work performed by emergency labour.