PIECEWORK SYSTEM

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 80, 2 October 1933, Page 10

PIECEWORK SYSTEM

FOR RELIEF WORKERS

OBJECTIONS PUT FORWARD

SPEEDING UP NO CURE

■ Mr. S. F. Vella, secretary of the National Union of Unemployed, replying today to the statement made by Mr. J. S. Jesscp, deputy chairman of the Unemployment Board, regarding tho piecework system, said that Mr. Jessej) has obtained publicity in connection with the board's piecework idea; and undoubtedly the publicity was directed with the intention of attracting the favour of the employing authorities of No. 5 labour. "Once tho idea has been planted," said Mr. Vella, "it is obvious the board would introduce this yoke. There is a ring of humanitariahism in the words quoted by Mr. Jessep, but let me examine some -of his good reasons for scrapping the wages system and introducing piecowork. "Mr. Jcssep states: 'Nothing can outweigh the fact that our present system is tending to tragedy for tho men. Wo are concerned with this because the standard of the workers in New Zealand, in other days, was second to none in the wortd.' Ho further proceeds: 'If you only use a limb to a certain extent, its full uso is interfered with, and if men are not asked_ to exert themselves, {hey will deteriorate.' Tlie apparent concern for the physical well-being of tho unemployed can bo usacssed.at its true value when we consider the amount of sustenance provided by the board to a relief worker ■whilo he is ill and away from the job.' The full amount is nil. This fact has no bearing upon piecework, but it displays "how much practical concern for the physical well-being of the unem ployed is manifested jn treatment received, as compared with the professed moral motives attached to Mr. Jessep'3 purpose in speeding up, or 'piecework, which, is one and the same thing. SPEED NOT TROUBLE. "The tragedy, referred to by Mr. Jessep is not to be cured by driving the.men a: little harder on piecework, but lies in the permanency of uneconomic occupation at a poor remunerative level. There is no tragedy in tho speed at which pick and shovel works pxoceed. Machines and modern equipment will yield maximum results whon maximum results are required. Our problem was accentuated and even created by the speed or volume of work performed with efficient methods. Wero we to pursue Mr. Jessep's objective a little further,! we could have rows of men with spades digging broad acres, dispensing with the plough. The digging would be speeded up, cither for tho physical benefit of the men or for the greater result from labour. But to what sano conclusion? If the desired objective is for a greater result, the obvious thing to do is to reintroduce the plough. If, on the other hand, the objective is to preserve the physical fitness of the men, it is'tragedy itself to be Stuck on a cold hill turning soil with, a spade, and to reflect with the turn of each sod that there is no purposo to one's labour but to maintain fitness. v FAIR WAGE BEST SPUR. "The inferenc/s regarding deterioration of the men mado by Mr. Jessep is an undeserving slur upon those who have suffered so long.' I have visitecl subsidised jobs, including the railwly ■job where men havo been taken straight from relief. A, few minutes before 8 o'clock tho men were literally on their'toes, giving ono the impression generally experienced at a football match just prior to the 'kick-off. From start to finish, men on these betterpaid jobs keep the pace going. A. little investigation would convince Mr. Jessep that tho New Zealand worker has not deteriorated. The paying of a fair ■ivago is all that is required, and tho ■worker can be relied upon. "To pay a pittance, and then apply the lash called 'piecework' is a policy which will rebound to the discredit ot the Administration. Members of local bodies should resolve to reject the ■piecework system, and not court administrative difficulties which tho piecework system, with its complications, would entail. We wish to reassure local bodies and the public generally that there need be no fears as to the efficiency of tho unemployed, providing a decent standard of pay is Tomtroduced. . . ~ "Mr. Jessep hints of a tragedy, writes a member of tho Secretariat of the National Union of Unemployed. <<Tho moral deterioration of if people ■who are compelled to,gain the essentials for existence by methods.which degrade the self-respecting citizen, and which benefit the unscrupulous who are content at all times to accept charity as a right, constitutes the real tragedy. A system which compels respectablo families, to practically beg their sustenance in a country blessed with an abundanco of natural products is an unnatural, uneconomic, and unmoral system. Mr. Jessep's piecework proposal is h<s says, not intended to reduce tho men's earnings. .. . Nor, he should have added, is it intended to increase their earnings. . . . The men recognise the deteriorating effect of the present system, but they do not agree with his remedy. Most, of tho valuable work dono in New Zealand has been by wellpaid workers on time-payment methods. An employer has always the right to dismiss the unsatisfactory men, and tho loafer naturally gravitates to whero he belongs. - . "The-contention that if the unemployed citizen is paid normal wages those .in ordinary employment will get oil to the list of recipients of unemployment funds, forms the most formidable obstacle to a return to ordinary conditions. Unfortunately it is one of the basic pillars of tho board's policy. It the moral.ana physical welfaro of the nation depend upon the experiments of 'piecework,' 'compulsory camps,' etc., then the.families of ; New Zealand are facing still deeper tragedies."