SCHEME 13 WORKERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 231, 1 October 1941, Page 7

SCHEME 13 WORKERS

PRODUCTIVE WORK ON FARMS PLAN GI\EN A TRIAL As an outcome oi a conference beiWvtn ihe \\ anganui Placement Ollicvr, Mr. E. J. Appleton, and Brunswick farm* it wno agreed to lake a number 01 Scheme 13 wur ker* on trial at ruling rales ot pay io. casual labour, a plan being tried whereby Scheme 13 men w ill be absorbed in productive larni work. Because the nun haw homes in Wanganu; and there is a 01 accommodation on the fainr . t! • are being taken to their jobs m the Brunswick district each da?, leav.n, Wanganui at 7.30 a.m., dialling work at b and leas ng the joos at 4.3 u p.m. working an eight-hour day. In general the hoik is scrubcutting, hedge trimming, goise grulining. fence repairing, and general maintenance and improvement work. No restriction is placed on the type of work, which depends on the experience and adaptaoility of the worker, i “The fact that the labour is being transferred from unproductive to proj iuctivc work makes the plan well .worth while.' said Mr. Appleton. A 'good type of Scheme 13 worker was available now, but later the demand for farm labour would increase while I the quality of labour would dejteriorate because the able men would 'be absorbed in more highly-paid seasonal work, he said. Woik which |could be done later in the season by ,the les* tit sustenance men would be Weeding and thinning of root crops. Evety endeavour would be made to allocate the men io the type of work (they were best in ted tor. “The demand for permanent farmhands remains very heavy,' Mi. Appleton added, * and the prospect of pilling all vacancies is remote." 1 The Bi unsw ick m‘eting had been largely attended. and Mr. Appleton expressed appreciation of the assistance of Mr. Claud Smith, s ecietary of the Brunswick bram h of the New (Zealand Farmers Union, in organising it and arranging for the scheme to he (given a trial. Questioned abou< labour for cheese ■factories, Mr. Appleton said that several married and single men haa been sent to the Waikato and TaraInaki districts, where the shortage of such labour was more acute than in phe W anganui and Manawalu disitricts. because of the greater number lof factories there.