LABOUR AND SERVICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 213, 16 September 1940, Page 5

LABOUR AND SERVICE

manning the farms ; A PROBLEM TO BE FACED The major portion of the r time at the Eastern Bay of 'Plenty District Council of Pri--'rnary Production, held in the 'County Chambers on Friday, was taken up with discussion on the ever-green question of farm labour —or the lack of it, .According to the opinions voiced by most of the members the labour question, already acute, will become so serious as * to cause a crisis when the num : .ber of farm workers is still further decreased by the call-Ing-up of men for military service. One of the main points raised was. that Territorial camps had been fixed for a time when, every available man was requir •ed for the heaviest part of the -dairying result of .-the a remit to the National Council of Primary Production, expressing the view that the position could be better met by deferring the camps until March. Discussion was started 'when a letter dealing with the subject was read by the secretary. From Mr R; £. Tennent, Director of Primary ■production, it stated:—

The National Council has given full consideration to the farm labour -position, and has had the matter • discussed in conference with the 'Government. It appears that farmers needing labour are relying on single men forthcoming and have not realised -that practically none are available'- and will not become available. It must be made clear that the great majority of farmers Jiave no hope* at all of securing single men, but there is a™ reasonable chance of obtaining a married man. Separation Allowance Increased It is not possible to build Public "Works quarters for farmers rapidly 'enough to provide accommodation for immediate requirements if the labour demand is to be met with married men, and the Government has decided to increase the separation . allowance from 12/6 weekly to £1, where a married man is obliged to live away from his family " in order to work on a farm. It is imperative for District C.oun•cilis and Primary production Committees, who should be informed by the Councils, ro impress on farmers the absolute necessity for applying through the Placement Service for married fann workers. This is a very necessary step and -an active campaign will have to he got under way immediately, using all methods of publicity personal! contact, to meet a serious position that will arise if farmers -do not accept married wofkers. Councils and committees are ask'ed to contact farmers to find out the real position—who are short or ■prospectively short of labour. . A very necessary line of action is to ■discover which farmers have not arranged for shearers and what prospects there are for meeting these requirements. It will be well worth- while, having investigated the situation, to discuss the position with the Placement Officer :and the representative of the N.Z. Workers' Union. It is also advisable for District Councils to keep in touch with Man Power Committees who have very full responsibilities in connection with the labour situation. 4B Scheme Suspended. If it can he arranged a meeting •of the District Council with Production Committees might be very ■."useful if representatives of the Placement Service, the State Advances, and other bodies- coukl be present. While PublicPWorks houses for farmers may not be made available without some delay, it would he wise to have farmers apply for "them so as not to have to improvise -when the necessity arises in a more -acute form. To bring about the transfer of anen to farms the 4B scheme has been suspended in the meantime and no further contracts w 7 ill oe -gone on with on the completion o1 those now being carried out. Suitrable men on. Scheme 13 and those -on Public Works who have had farm experience arc being offeree! positions on farms, and the refusal to accept such positions results ir suspension and dismissals It is up to farmers to apply for married :men. Saving' Labour. , Something was clone ( last season to organise sft'etfriiVg activities anc

tliis must be done again with even more vigour. Councils and Committees will know best what arrangements can be made along these lines but it is imperative to get busy right away. It may be found necessary to spread shearing over a wider period. Finally, steps should be taken to save labour by inducing farmers to use their machinery to I lie very fullest on a co-operative basis. This has been stressed previously with regard to farm tractors, but there is a real job of work for Councils and Committees in pushing this effort to a maximum. If it has been feJt that there was little to do in the past it will be realised that in organising to meet the labour position Councils arc faced with a stern task which wiii need their fullest exertions. Simplifying the Procedure. Mr W. A. McCracken was the first to speak on the subject and lie suggested that where Public Works Department men were available the foreman on the spot should be given authority to release men for casual farm work and thus relieve the farmer of the difficulty and delay usually experienced when he had to apply ' through a central office. As the speaker pointed out, weather conditions changed from day to day and as a rule farmers could, at the best, tell only the night before whether or not they could harvest on any day. The procedure was too unwieldly, Mr McCracken said, and could be simplified. "At the present time we are getting nowhere," said Mr H. C. Me-

Greatly, who expressed the opinion that the 40 hour week was largely to blame. "If the 40 hour week is not going to lie knocked on the head now," lie. said, "it never will be." Mr McCready complained that hours for workers in the primary industries, such as shearers, were unnecessarily restricted. It was impossible to get labour and the farm ing community was footing the bill. That was all for the want of a bit of common-sense on the labour ques tion. "If those conditions had existed in Britain," said Mr McCready, "Hitler would have had his dinner there long ago." Position Likely to Become Worse. Mr E. Thompson emphasised that women and children hatl to assist

in farm work, especially in the milking, while thousands of men enjoyed the benefits of the 40 hour week. The speaker cited a case and admitted that it was only one ou* of hundreds. Mr Meredith said that the position was likely to become much worse when Territorial units went into camp in January, which wag a busy time of the year on farms. "There are not enough married men with experience to replace experienced single men," he said, and another member of the council added, "Not one per cent/' Quoting the inconvenience caused in his own case, Mr N', J. C.i MacDonald said that harvesting operations would be seriously disturbed, He thought that the position could be eased somewhat by holding Territorial canrps in the autumn and he formally moved that his suggestion be put as a resolution and forwarded,,to the National Council". An Alternative. Mr J. Lr. Burnett was a ready seconder and. added several pertinent observations. It was no use suggesting replacements for the men called up, .he said, because according to the Director of Primary Production's letter replacements were not available. In any case to adopt that method would be putting the cart before the horse. If men were available for replacement purposes, why not put them into camp and leave the experienced men to do their vitally important and skilled work? "They are no good on the farms, anyway," concluded Mr Burnett. The latter point was emphasised by Mr MacDonakl,, who said that he had trained his son over a number of years in the highly skilled work of looking after pedigree stock. It would not be possible to train another man in even two months. No Men Available. Mr Simson, Placement Officer at Whakatane, said that there were no men, either single or married, available at the present time for farm Avork; only Maoris from Native Schemes and they Avould probably regard their Avork as just as important. The' position Was very indefinite, said Mr Simson and he could only conclude that the Government had other proposals in vieAv. Answering Mr Mac Donald, Mr Simeon said that employees were not drafted into camp if the em-

ployer exercised his right of objection and the Man-Power Advisory Committee sustained that objection. The speaker said it was- difficult' to get single men to go on to farms for work and another member added: "And it's harder to keep them." A fresh view was raised when Mr G. 11. Taylor said he had been assured that if a camp for men. willing to work on farms were established at Waimana twelve men would be assured of permanent employment in that area. One difficulty, as he saw it, was the rate of pay. Would the subsidy offered by the Government be paid to these men if they were semi-skilled. The Placement Officer said the subsidy did not apply to semi-skill-ed labour as it would prove rather difficult to draw the line. As far as the Department was concerned either a man had had experience or he had not. Proposed Camp at 'Waimana. Mr Burnett said the proposal for the establishment of a camp for farm workers in the Waimana-Nultu liou area had been placed, before the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semplc, during his visit to the district some weeks ago. The wages would be paid by the Department and the farmers employing the men on a fifty-fifty basis. The Minister, said Mr Burnett, had been in full agreement with the suggested scheme and had approved of it to such an extent that he had immediately asked the Engineer with him to sup ply particulars of the cost., When it had been thought that a difficulty might arise in getting enough men for the camp the Minister had stated that in his capacity of Minister of Man-Power he had the authority to delegate, men for that particular job.

So far nothing further had been heard from the Hon, R. Semple, added Mr Burnett. A Letter Discussed. As part of the labour problem, a letter received from Mr D. Beattie, manager of the. Opotiki Dairy Company's pig farm, also came in for considerable discussion. •Mr Beattie stated that his son, who had formerly assisted him in the management of the farm, was now in camp at Narrow Neck, ..Auckr. land, and the Man-Power Advisory Committee at Paeroa had refused

the writer's request for his son's exemption from servicc. A request made direct to the Minister of Man Power met with a negative result and the writer requested whatever assistance the Primary Production Council could provide in securing his son's release. His aid was invaluable on the farm and, as had been found since bis entry into camp, absolutely necessary. The Man-Power committee's reason* for its refusal of release was given on the that 'any intelligent labourer could fill the position' (Laughter) and the committee, going a step further, forwarded the names of two men it considered suitable for the job. Both hadl been engaged on pig farms about ten years ago and had I since been employed by the I Public Works Department. "One wonders whether they left for the industry's benefit, or their own,'' wrote Mr Beattie. "With all lespect to the military authorities, they are not competent to dccide which men should serve," said Mr W. A. McCracken. "The job requires district tribunals composed of men with practical farming experience and in touch with the many difficulties that confront the primary producer." It was decided to write to the Man-Power Committee at Paeroa supporting Mr request for his son's release from military servicc.