H.B. RELIEF CAMP

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVIII, Issue 123, 19 May 1932, Page 8

H.B. RELIEF CAMP

A TOUR BY COMMITTEEMEN FULL INVESTIGATION MADE The single men in the unemployed camps at Tangoio have unanimously carried resolutions protesting against the single men in Napier declaring the camps “black” without first consulting those occupying them. This information was conveyed yesterday to Air. AV. E. Barnard, M.P., Mr. G. Latham, and Air. E. A. Wood, of the Napier Unemployment Committee, when they paid a visit to the two Public AVorks Department camps and the Hawke’s Bay County Council

camp at Arapawanui. The feeling which the men in the camps expressed yesterday to the visitors was that they looked upon the food and accommodation as being acceptable, but the rates of pay and some of the conditions under which they worked were objected to. The three camps that were visited yesterday were the No. 1 Public Works Department Camp at Tangoio, where there are 27 men; the No. 3 Public Works Department Camp at the foot of the Devil's Elbow, where there are 28 men; and the Hawke’s Bay County Council camp at Arapawanui, where there are 2 0 men. From their observation and in conversation with the men, the visitors learnt that at the Public Work camps tents were provided with adequate flies, partly boarded sides, boarded floors and tin 'chimneys. In each camp there is a cook house in which the men have their meals, which are prepared by an expert cook. In-

quiries which were made amongst the men showed that they were quite

satisfied with the accommodation and

the food, although in one instance it was indicated that more green food was desirable.

The camp at Arapawanui is not yet completed, having been established only about three weeks ago, and Mr

Barnard proposes to make certain suggestions for the improvement of the conditions there. The men there, however, are all - working well and are not discontented. The meals which the men ai’,e provided with are ample and well varied. The meals for one day taken at random from a collection of menus were as follow: —Breakfast: Oatmeal porridge, fried liver and bacon, braised steak, bread and butter, tea, golden syrup. Lunch: Curry and rice, mined pie, “bubble and squeak,” bread and butter, jam, golden syrup, tea. Dinner: Soup, roast leg of mutton, mashed pumpkin,- baked and boiled potatoes, rice pudding, bread, tea. The Rates Of Pay The chief cause for dissatisfaction amongst the merf is the rates of pay that they receive. They received 5d per yard for rock material and 2ld per yard for clay material. At the Public Works camps they work a 47 hour week, and the overseer at one of these camps stated that the average wage per week per man over a period of three months was Ils. In addition to the fact that they were working under extremely bad conditions due to the wet and should therefore be paid at a higher rate, the men claim that very often they handle say a yard and a-half of material, which is credited to them as being only a yard.