"INCORRECT"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 17, 12 September 1931, Page 3

"INCORRECT"

RATEPAYERS' LETTER MAYOR TAKES ASSOCIATION TO TASK FOR CRITICISM SALARY CUT QUESTION His Worship the- Mayor, Mr T. Jackson, at last evening's meeting of the Rotorua Borough Council, dealt in uncompromising fashion with recent criticism raised by the Rotorua Ratepayers' Association on the score of the council's refusal to inflict a 10 per cent cut in wages and salaries of its employeesr These eritieisms were voiced through the correspondence columns of "The Post" and 'at the conclusion of the meeting Mr Jackson brought the matter under the notice of councillors. The secretary of the Ratepayers' Association, he stated had seen fit to send a letter to the Press ineluding a copy of a letter sent by the association to the council, and the council's reply to that letter, together with certain comment by himself, regarding the council's action in refusing to inflict a 10 per cent wages cut.

Qbviously Incorrect "I would not have taken any notice of this had it not been for the fact that some. of the statements in that letter were obviously and patently incorrect and . that they conveyed an impression which is an injustice to the council's staff," said Mr Jackson. "Some of those statements are likely to create a false impression as to what has taken place. I have at all times, ever since the question of the 10 per cent cut was mooted, definitely and strenuously opposed a 'cut.' "At the time of the eleetion,"- Mr Jackson continued "I made my position absolutely clear and definite on this issue. I said that I was not prepared to accept any 'cut' unless I saw a definite indication of a corresponding fall in the eost of living. That is my personal attitude, and I make it clear now, because the Ratepayers' Association has assumed that the only I way in which economic stability can I be restored is by a 'cut.' They seem to think that it is the philosopher's stone which will solve all our troubles. That is their opinion and they are entitled to it, but I am entitled to mine and I am of the opiniori that we cannot aslc the wage-earner to carry the whole of the burden." Obstinate Institution Mr Jackson stated that he mentioned this because the Ratepayers' Association in its original letter had taken up the attitude that the whole of the country had accepted the "cut" as a means of effeeting economic stability while the Rotorua Borough Council was the only obstinate institution which had opposed it. So far as the council was concerned the position was clear. The question of a reduction in salaries had been thoroughly gone into by the Finance Committee and as a result of this investigation it had been found that with one exception only, the members of the administrative staff were not receiving the maximum salary which it was possible for them to attain. Further, the Finance Committee had been of the opinion, and this had been borne out by investigation of the conditions in other centres, that the salaries paid to the staff were considerably below those ruling in other places. Taking this into account and also the fact that by means of economies in other directions the council had been able to effect a 10 per cent. reduction in the rates, the committee had reached the conclusion that a salary cut was not justified. Kept On lialf Time A statement had also been made by the Ratepayers' Association in its letter that the earnings of the outside staff had been reduced, "not by cutting their wages but by cutting their working hours. As a matter of faet, the position was that some of the men had been kept on half -time, who would otherwise have been dispensed with. Had times been normal, and the men been able to obtain work, on the completion of the loan schemes, they would have been dismissed from the council's employment. In view of the present conditions, however, the council had adopted the means of giving these men half time employment instead of throwing them on the labour market. It should also be borne in mind that the work of the inside staff had been considerably increased as a result of the work arising out of the unemployment relief. Invidious Comparison "A further misleading statement," said Mr. Jackson, "was an invidious comparison made between Rotorua and Mount Albert boroughs. These statements only proved that those who wrote the letter were either vindictive or ignorant of the facts. The statement was made that the Mt. Albert Borough, with a population of approximately 20,000 had a Town Clerk drawing £600 a year, with no assistance, while the Rotorua Borough had a Clerk and an Assistant Clerk, costing £700 between them. As a matter of fact, the Mt. Albert Borough has a clerk drawing £650 per annum; an assistant, five in the office staff, two typistes, and a seperate staff in the Engineer's office. "I can only say that it is a thousand pities that these people who criticise the administration of the borough staff do not make themselves conversant with the whole of the facts before they enter Into print," Mr Jackson concluded.