SHORTENED HOURS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1932, Page 8

SHORTENED HOURS

% TWO-MAN DECISION,?

COMMITTEE PIQUED

A BREEZY MEETING

Exception was taken by other members of the Wellington Unemployment Committee at a ■■ meeting yesterday afternoon, to the fact that the chairman End the secretary had published-a statement •without first ascertaining the concurrence, of the rest of the committee, some of the members of which contended that they jshould have been invited to be present when interviews ■with the Unemployment Board-and the Minister were held, as they might have had information not available to those ■who had. acted. , Other members, held that the chairman and secretary had not the power to; contravene the regulations under the provisions of tho Unemployment Act, in altering ■ the classification of the relief workers, and thereby reducing their relief wiges. , There were present the chairman (Mr.J. I. Goldsmith), Brigadier Gray, and Messrs. M. S. Galloway, P. M. Butler, P. D.. Cornwell, Jordan, and the secretary (Mr. P. Kinsman)." Mr. P. Eraser, M.P., attended. ;" ■ ■ ALLOCATIONS INSUFFICIENT. The allocation at the present time, ■aid the chairman, was not sufficient to pay each, man on relief work for the full number of hours, and it was again necessary to reduce each worker's hours. They were'daily Jbesieged by hundreds o£ : men, some of whom had been eligible as long as. two months, but who had not yet had work under the scheme. These men were surely entitled to some consideration from, the committee.. The board had often stated definitely that it could not increase the allocations, and under. " the.l, circumstances it had been necessary to act immediately. ■ : -.-••-., < Mr. Butler: "Are all theso Wellington men?" . - /, The chairman said this was so with few exceptions. Where men came from ■other districts, they, were kept, off-, work for a month.; One of them when -told this had gone straight back to the country. Mr., .Cornwell ' entered* a ' protest against taking men on at all from other places, which should take care of their «wn. •.■'"■■■ ■■ ,-.- :■-■.'■■■• :'"■■ ->--.•■'■>' , v ; SOMETHING FOR ALL. By doing what they had done, the chairman said, they \vould be able tp place next week practically all the men who had had no work. He asked the committee to approve the action taken by himself and the secretary. ■■;•'•■. .'■'■. Mr. Cornwell said that he ' would oppose such a course. ,' ". \ Mr. Butler said that directly he had heard of the proposed reduction of hours he had gone to Mr. Coates,- as a member of the committee'and as secretary of.the General Labourers' Union. Mr. Galloway' considered that nobody had the right,to ?act -thus in a dual 'capacity..,...Vj .. ~.'; , / Mr. Butler said that* he i'had never acted as for the. committee unless he had received its instructions. He had been, inf touch"with* Mr. Jessepsand Mr. Coates's secretary, and' had been assured that the money would be forthcoming, i That morning he had seen an ■unauthorised statementuhat the'hours would be reduced. He strongly deprecated the publication of "any * semiauthoritative statement without anything to. show,by whom it .was. made. The committee. should have been eonsuited in. the matter. " ■■ :•-•■ Mr. Galloway supported the action': of the chairman and secretary. \ ; There* were.times when prompt action, .was necessary. . ~.,"'. ;: '';..' "■'■■■■; ■:'. : i Mr. CornweU<^ee*ed, and recalled: a previous niotioirthat the board an* the Minister -shonM be approached by the committee intsuch, cases, ie wished \o ■■ give Mr. Goldsmith credit for what' I||3 had done many times on behalf 'of ■me committee, - but 'the 'committee should'be" taken in'to"hrs'confidence when action was: taken. They should, have ( been notified'of this- decision, and .-would, have been present to hear what the board: had tosay.: UEachbf "them sometimes had information which they had not been able to impart to the com--mittee, whicli, if collated,, ;.might be valuable to the board or to the Minister on occasions such as this.- He wished to pu'c it to the Minister.'that they were not getting enough money to carry out the" provisions of the Act which were definitely for 2, 3, and 4flay classifications, or the payment of sustenance.: -~-, ,- . -..'.,; =■ Mr. Goldsmith: ''That has been done many times." ' ~,./. .■:.:., Mr. Cornwell: "We should be notified when.any Minister is approached." ' The chairman: "I aiii constantly ringing you all up. I have rung you often and have not been able to get you.; L.have iung Mr..Butler.V ■f• ;Mr.: : Butler: "N<v sir.%ou haveVnbt lung me during 'the last fortnight.",:'.:". Several ' members agreed' that., ageneral discussion should precede the approach of; the Minister' or :board.' ', ■ T PEOTEST FROM WOEKEES. ' A' protest from workers on various' relief jobs against the spreading, of the work, on the ground that the already small relief, wages received were "made more inadequate by that process, waa heard. The speakers were introduced by Mr. P. M. Butler. . . Mr. Kruger, one ..of' the , Rolieston street four-day men, said that the men there h&i been loyal and did not belxeve in strikes, but after standing by the committee, they felt that they had been kicked ,in, the back, by this reduction of .Hours.;.and.ifesh, classification, under which' some' of them Tvbuld not get rations from' the? Charitable' Aid Board. 'v" ""'.'".'■".-• ."•' :' ' is 10Jd SHOJRT OF BENT,WEEKLY. Mr.'Williams, a man with a wife and four children, said that his rent was 30s. a week. If the proposed reduction, of hours was. brought 'about his wages wouia be £1 Bs-l^d a week,"and he would be ls.lOJd a week behind in lent, and. have nothing to live on.-His children ranged from 16 years to B,.and the eldest was, out-bf .work.., . They had not gone on strike, but unless something better could be done, "lie would not answer for some of the'men. Without reduction, all he had-was 7s 6d a week to live. on. ■ ■ They, - got an issue from the- Charitable- Aid Board in his week standing down. Mr. James, who spoke for 30 men on the Mount Cools job, said that they could just carry oniow. Most of them did not get a. full ration from the board, having only a wife and one child. One of them was £13 behind in rent, and now that there waß a prospect of still less money the landlord, -who .had been very, accommodating, would no doubt have to look to his own interests. .He himself .paid 35s' a week rent. Mr. Williams,'one'of'tne Happy Valley men', said that he had only Is BJd a week left to feed three children. Speaking for the -single men, Mr. Milne said that the reduced hours would mean.that the men would get 10s a week. It took 7s 6d to provide any •ort of room. ' '.'.., Mr. Milne said that the men had no •lothes or boots. His gang had. all refused to strike. Was the reduction not rather Eke ''putting :the boot

in?" Some of the men, in order to get food, were sleeping out of doors. Thore wore meu. amongst them who had ne\ rer owed nor borrowed a shilling before the depression. The men were desperate. ■ Mr. Goldsmith said that they could tell him nothing about the deplorable conditions in some of the homes, particularly those with children. He had seen homes -where tho last stick of furniture had been sold for food. He wished them to understand, however, that the committee could by no manner of means exceed its allocations. EEDUCED HOURS OPPOSED. ■ Mr. Eraser: f'.Has the committee decided this matter of the xeduetion of the hours?" , Mr. Cornwell: "It has not." . Mr. Eraser: "I hope the committee will not agree to it." ' , Mr. Goldsmith: "We have to take some of the men who are employed off or spread it round. If <-we cannot get the money from the Government we have to do something with' the money we have, and everybody is entitled to some of it. I will got the committee to' again approach the Government and insist on a larger allocation. I realise that these men cannot exist. We have no jurisdiction oyer the Charitable Aid Board. I wish we had."- The board had told the clmmittee that in the course of a week a scheme 'would be put into operation that would be satis; factory to the men. Mr. Butler: "Will you assure these men that the hours have not yet been reduced?" Mr. Goldsmith:"When an allocation in made it is the duty of the committee and the certifying officer to see that it is paid out as far as it will go. Four hours had to come off whether authorised by the committee or not." Mr! Butler: >" Therefore you and Mr. Kinsman did it?" Mr, .Goldsmith: "Yes." •':/. STILL PUZZLED. / Mr..Eraser;. "I. would like to get, the wholo'thing. straight and clear bofore the. men. go, • The allocation remains . the. same, the number of men working remains the same; the problem for the committee is.whether it should put on more men and; reduce wages, or Ice ep on the present, number of men at the present .ra.te.?." '-■'■• Mr. Goldsmith: "Not altogether. The time comes when we have either to put men off or reduce hours. The men are: in excess of the allocation." Mr. Eraser: "This so'rtof thing will drive the merr into revolt. I. do not think that any member df' the committee should be aparty to. it. ■ If the Government .and 'the -board care to bungle on, this committee should get out rather than be a party to it. Here are men who refuse to make trouble, and the .first regard they get for it is tov:bo. reduced... .If these men took to violence you could noVblame. them." Mr. Goldsmith: "I would not blame them.'.'...... :..:•. ; .-,■•■ ;.--■ Mr. Fraser: "After tbis'l would not ask the men .to hesitate any "longer in making a stand. . If hours are reduced, it should,be done against the decision of this committee." ■ ; Mr. Kinsman: "That is.only one side pf.it. We are distributing the work amongst the men, including, those who are • not ;placed yet. »As, the certifying officer, I aia charged with, not exceeding the allocation." T.i ', . Mr., Goldsmith:.."Every? ;, week, wo have to.pray'that some, of the men. are ill, or that it is raining. ".":'■ It is a terrible thing, but that is our only hope of 'keeping within, the allbcatoiu The only alternative is-to stand'some of the men down." -- .... Mr.-'Butler; said that Ayhatfthey were dealing with was a report to He Press not authorised by anyone. "I am going to move that; .this .committee .be .; no party to'the reduction of hours.: I do not know whether .you or Mi1.- Kinsman put this -thing 'in," but' it" nhould not have been put in-until the committee had,considered ,it,>and, the -statement should have jjiadsojhe. designation." : ■-■-■■ : -VOnm&!^BV:: SERIOUS... ' .■-■.; : Mr^Gaifißwaytwiid that there was no doubt th¥t;M?sroa|ter was^very .'serious. .Ho';h'^4j''iSMß^r9^yj';impres_sed:;,ljy/.thß': deputatijiii':- tha^afternbon;:'" »He :>; did:, not want" tof see. violence, 'theyshp^li'dofSOßietMng to rectify -the; conditions, i Y^fheyfsTb'piiia, immediately ■ go to the board rand'insist-'on .an increased allocation. £-"TKy *^ad «'waited long enough v?for ,ihe ■announcement « of . a schemed i- '&■ Mas vtiirie'lthEit2tnelGov-' ernment showed T itSi,hand.... He agreed with spreading the work. It was better to give. 800, men one. da^' ; thfin,'nothing. -' Mr. Fraser' said "tha^t the" statement wpuld never have been .made by men (with: any . knowledge,; of ..• - .-psychoWgy. After a week of tense excitement,, after they, had.-.been wp,Tkedj upon ;by "66mmunists ?who had .t^iyiee/..resorted . ; ;to violence,!once in the seizure of," the Trades Hall,, and once in.tKe seizjire.'of ;atrain",ani ? had resisted all, attempts :!to make them'disloyal, they were.tord.ih'.at' their, hour&.were,to- be.reduced.' Mr.-Goldsmith: f'.Woiild.it h'aypbe'en better toi have said nothing^ and taken five hours off each man?".. ■. \ '-!;';''.'"," .' • ; : Mr.• Eraser: l.'fßetter.,to.."liaye ,;dis: cussed it amongst:',the i: icpmmittee," aiid then wi^h, \thp^Governments'' ... not a 3c6simtteb Decision; Mr. Cornwejll! i said''it Would be made ;plain. that .the committee had not arriyed^. any,such decision. ; Eiirst'of all the position' should -.be 'put' before the Government by. the- committee. Some of : th' e'.' Governments schemes' must be.neaTly Teady.. ' Tho removal of the single' men wq'uld &116w' of dealing with the married [men; as the' Act intended. '-' Mrl Butler urged ihat no-reduction of'.OTurs take placßo.till the committee met-.the: Minister., ..The statement should* have come frorii' the bureau .oifi.cer*;and not .from, the committee. The officer's job wasto make the money go round'*as many men as it would enable to live. .-. . . Mr. Goldsmith:' "Would' it be; better to'tkkeisome of:.these men off who have been satisfactory for .a- long: time, in order to keep withiu the .allocation^" It was urged'that it was not fair rto. take offvmen who hadjwprked steadily for many months at. the low: relief wages in. order .to.put on'men who had only just been> put out of jobs -at; £4 arid £,5 a week, but.it was. also stated authoritatively that some . o£; the men tfoiff legistering had: been living for ; . a year on thflir savings, which were,now exhausted.' "■' '.;•' ■'■'},-:■■ ' ',- ' After further discussion, en .the. motion. of the < chairman and Brigadier Gray; it was decided that the committee approach the Minister of Labour to-day for an increased allocation. ; .Notice to Tescind the motion reducing hourg wasl given by Mr. Cornwell. It wasi. decided, that in, future the committee will meet weekly. • In the■ Teport by Mr. Goldsmith,, published yesterday, regarding this reclassifications, it ' was stated • inadvertently that the particulars of the numbers of men'were supplied by the Labour Department. -The officials of the Labour Department supply no information'- in the ordinary course themselves.' The facts on this occasion were given by Mr. Goldsmith. '-.■>: '-, ■. ~ '