AT BREAKING POINT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 247, 30 July 1937, Page 3

AT BREAKING POINT.

NEW ZEALAND BOOT MANUFACTURE. COMPETITION FROM OVERSEAS. (Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. A serious position lias been reached in several of the local boot and shoe factories due to the flood of imports of footwear from other countries with lower labour costs. One firm has dismissed 13 operatives already, and others are working short time in order to keep t'heir employees going j but it was stated this morning that the position was rapidly going from bad to worse, and that further dismissals in the near future seemed inevitable.

The manager of the factory which has dismissed 13 of the hands said today that prior to taking that step the factory was workng only three days a week. “The dismissals were made to enable a return to be made to full-time work for the remaining, employees, but I cannot see how it would be possible to avoid further reduction in staff in the next few weeks. Price-cutting has already broken out,” he said, “and my firm and others are prepared to make sales at prices below cost of production to-day in an effort to keep the factories going, but still we cannot make sales because of the intensity of the competition of imported footwear. “Mr Savage said those people who were importing goods to undercut the New Zealand manufacturers might find their goods would not arrive, but so far he has not lived up to his words. They have kidded us on all along, but nothing has been done, and now the breaking point has been reached,” he conelude.d.