CLOSING OF SAWMILLS

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20679, 14 December 1938, Page 6

CLOSING OF SAWMILLS

If he has told the whole story the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, is thoroughly justified in urging the need for close inquiry into the closing of many timber mills in the South Island over the Christmas holiday period, thus depriving hundreds of men of their employment at a time when wages are most acceptable. There are two sides to every story, however, and the inquiry suggested by the Minister should permit of justice being done to all parties. The Minister’s complaint is that the mills have closed down from December 9 until after the Christmas holidays, and that the men have been deprived of their paid holidays and the building industry of the timber urgently needed for the construction of houses. He points the moral that employers and the Press have consistently objected to the holding up of industry through stoppages of work on the workers’ initiative.

On the grounds enumerated by the Minister there is certainly need for inquiry. In the interests of continuity of employment and of industrial needs it is undesirable that the mills should be closed even for a brief period. From the period of inactivity must be taken the paid holiday, and that apparently is the chief bone of contention. Is the industry so sick that it cannot afford to grant a paid holiday, or is the paid holiday wrong in principle ? These facts could be established by the inquiry the Minister suggests.

The principle of the paid holiday has not yet been accepted generally in New Zealand, which is understandable where industries have in many eases been shaken to their foundations by drastic changes in industrial laws and by heavy increases in operating costs. Sawmilling in particular has experienced many difficulties. \yhile building by the State has increased largely, orders for private house building have almost vanished, and so the sawmillers have had more than their share of problems and financial losses. An industry can pay only what its returns permit, and if the policy of the Government has made it impossible for the employers to be generous the Minister himself must accept at least some of the responsibility. ____________