Harvesting Wages

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 47, 18 November 1937, Page 6

Harvesting Wages

TOILER.

Sir,— Mr Ckambers is taking exCention to ■ being drawn in to.toe tke lino set by tke Labour Government, but I will give you tlie other side. ' In 1934, wkeh wool -was about -8d. n lb., I was on tke- kay-press working foj| a sheepfariner. Before we' started. work we kad to travel about five miles over. treacherous cOuntry, and get sea-sick on tke journey; After eontending with tke wind all day, we baled 500 bales and earnedj at 3/6 a 100, 17/6 eack. for tke day, Wkick finished at 9 p.m. tkat nigkt. Tke following day was worse j only 350 bales up to 6 p.m. Well, tke following season I wenti witk aiiother contraetor and it was worse. Wind and rain were frequeutand we never made 10/ a day, after leaving town at 7 a.m. If a farmer got a cow-boy at ; 10/- a week in tkose days, and put him on to paint his kouse, he kad to pay kim painter's wages, so why object to pay-s ing decent wages to men. who work hay; presses? • . Of course, tkere are a lot of farmers i wko begrudge contractors earning a few bob at harvest time, and they kava bought all manner of mackinery thinki ing tkey wonld work them witk ckeap faim labour, but n'ow tkat tke new Government, tkat gives tliem big prices for butter and wool, rnakes them pay; living wages, they squeal. The besti thing for them to do is to sell all their machinery^ and liang up a big photograph of it and tlie last of the cheap

labour gang. — Yours, etc. Hastings, November 18, 1937.,