OTIRA TUNNEL

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10290, 27 May 1919, Page 6

OTIRA TUNNEL

WHAT DELAYS COMPLETION ?

WAGES AND LIVING CONDITIONS

Mr H. E. Holland, M.P., has handed tho following statement to the Press in connection with the delay in completing the Otira Tunnel:

“Sir William Fraser's statement made public on Monday re the deputation which waited on him on I riday, is very complete in so far as it covers his own reply to the representations made to him; but it conveys to the public no idea of tho facte placed before the Minister by tho various speakers. “My own statement set forth that while tho wages of the men wor King in tho tunnel at the Otira end ranged from 14s bd to lbs bd (apart nom shift bosses) those working outside the tunnel were receiving as low us 13s, including bonus. 1 pointed out that, according to tho statement of the men's executive, if the workers provide themselves 1 with adequate oilslriu ciotniiig, the extra cost to them for these items alone would run to £1 35.6 d per week; hence if it is admitted that the wages at Otira end average 15s a day (£4 10a per week), as the Minister declares, this amount is reduced to less than £3 10s by reason of this cost. Generally speaking, the cost of living has risen quite 1W) per cent, at Otira since tile outbreak of war, so that the 15s which the tunnel \yorker is said to average has a purchasing-power of not more than 7s 6d as compared with pre-war wages. “I stated to the Minister what is a fact bevond the possibility of contradiction, “namely, that, apart from tbe hotels and the residences of several officials, there is not a single structure tiff Otira fit for a woman to rear children in. In one shack a family consisting of father, mother, and six children are living in three rooms, none of which exceeds 12 x 10 feet. In another of two rooms, with a lean-to added, a family of father, mother, and four children exist. One room serves for living and dining room; in the other room the whole family _ of six sleep; and the lean-to is utilised ns a kitchen. These are merely cases in point. “The huts for single men are slightly better than the places provided for the married; but they are bad enough also. At Arthur’s pass the huts tor single men are indescribable. “There is no doctor at either Otira or Arthur’s Pass. At Otira there is a hospital, which is in charge of a capable nurse, but all serious , cases must be taken to either Hokitika or Greymouth for treatment. In maternity cases the women are compelled to go away and this involves a heavy expenditure, which reduces wages m proportion. “The men engaged on tho work say that it will take at least five years to complete the tunnel with the number of men at present employed, but that it could be completed in a little over a. year if the necessary additions to tho staff were madb. They furthoi say that it is quite possible to enormously increase the number employed; but that this can only, be done if wages are increased and living conditions improved. Mr McCombs showed that if tho number of workers were increased and the wages lifted, the sum total of wages could be saved in interest charges. “The deputation, in addition t/> advocating that stops bo taken towards electrifying the tunnel, urged that th* wages should be increased to £1 a day to enable the tunnel workers to live up to the standard of workers elsewhere whoso wages, in their money expression, may appear to be less; further, that the number of men should bo considerably increased, the housing conditions materially improved, and medical service provided. They pointed out that men employed at the tunnel prior to going to the war refused to accept work there on their return, and that other men are constantly leaving to accept,work at tho sawmills and in other callings where the conditions are more favourable and the wages better.

“Finally, Sir William Fraser is in error when he says tho deputation urged the abolition of the small contract system. I don’t think any member of tho deputation made that suggestion. In reply to Sir William’s statement that the men at Arthur’s Pass were making 23s lOd per day, 1 personally drew attention to the fact that these men were working on contract, and that the contract system was of necessity a speeding-up system, t further pointed out that men's lives were shortened by speeding-up under such conditions. . Beyond that, I don’t think any demand was made for tho abolition of the contract system at Arthur’s Pass. But I am 'lertain that, in the interests of both the men and the country, a system of adequate wages on a day labour basis and devoid of speeding-up is to be preferred.”