FARM LABOUR

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 142, 3 April 1940, Page 5

FARM LABOUR

IS THERE A SHORTAGE ? COUNCIL FINDS LACK OF EVIDENCE The Bay of Plenty Primary Production District Council decided on Monday that owing to the fact that few replies had been received to a questionaire requesting farmers to communi cate their labour requirements, its only course was to advise the National Council that there was no concrete evidence of a farm labour shortage. A motion to that effect, moved by Mr Church, was withdrawn later in the day after a deputation of Waimana settlers had proved a definite shortage. Several members of the Council stated that farm labour was scarce and farmers were unable to get men. These remarks drew the observation lrom Mr W. Church (District Secretary of the N.Z. Workers' Union) that at Tauranga last Thurs day it bad been stated that an-ad-vertisement asking for a married couple had been answered with 40 applications and in another instance 30 replies bad been recei\ed to a similar pdvoftlsettitiiit* Mr Church added that the crux of the trouble was that employment on farms could not be guaranteed for twelve months. Mr McCready: That is the trouble we can't guarantee permanent em ploy men t but we could if we had the money. Mr Burnett: All this is getting ns nowhere. We know that labour .is hard to get. How about a remedy? Then we might get somewhere. Mr Boon said that the life in the towns appealed to the young people and there was no way of overcoming the attraction.

Mr Burnett: Wc have got to conn- i tcr the inducement. Mr McCready: The question 'Is there a shortage of labour?' is northing short of ridiculous. The chairman stressed the tact that definite figures had to be produced in a demand for labour. ''Can we place twenty men, if they arrive here?" he asked. Mr McCready criticised the construction of the questionaire. He said it was impossible to answer the questions asked. The chairman: What wc have to reply to is, 'Is there a shortage or . . "There is a definite shortage," said Mr Macdonald. After further discussion Mr | Church moved his motion* which I was carried.