CUTTING WAGES.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17748, 14 March 1927, Page 4

CUTTING WAGES.

Press association j

OPPOSITION LEADER RAISE5 GTRONG PROTEST.

(Per

WESTPORT, Last Night, > Speaking.at the monthly meet'n.^ of the Westport branch of the., La^ hour Party Mr H. E. Holland, lead er of the Opposition said he unhesitatingly condemned the Govern ment's proposal to cut down wagei standards on relief works for xxnemployed. Two main prixrciple^ should be observed in finding work for the unemployed. In the first place the wages paid should be the?' standaxkl rates obtaiuing for thd class of work to he done. ' It cosf just as much to keep the family of a man exnployed ou' relief work as! it did to keep any other family of sixnilar size; indeed, in the majority of cases it would cost more, fot the Unemployed woidfer would probably have to go far -from home t d a relief joh, and yould therefore have two homes to keep. Since the relief pay was to be 12s (Tday, which would not amount to more than £3 a week, allowing for wet days, a married man would he lucky if he was able to send home 30s a week. Even if the work were close to his home no ordinary family could he maintained on 12s a* day. In the second place the- works to be put in hand should be the most urgently needed . roads and railways, some of which had been hung up many years and which would be of great economic value inasxnu.ch as they would aid both' production and distribution by providing easy access to and from th6' market. If the works undertaken were necessary there could be no excuse for not paying the standard wages. He predicted that many married men would find themselves quite1 unable to accept work M 12s a day because of the impossibility of maintaining Their famxlies. There could be no excuse on the ground of lack of money for^cutting ihe wage rate, and he anticxpated tliaf plenty of trouble would r.ccrxxe from this determinatxon.