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Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 575, 5 July 1933, Page 5

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clean sweep made OPOTIKI BOROUGH COUNCIL DISCHARGES CLERK AND STAFF REDUCED WAGES PROPOSED A definite decision to dismiss the whole of the horough permanent employees and call for the resign^tion of the town .clerk (Mr. T. Fleming) iwas made at a special meeting of the Opotiki Borough Council held to-night. The motion was carried after a vigorous debate, the mayor (Mr. G. S. Moody) and' Crs. Short and Main asking that their votes he reCorded against the resolution. The mayor warned councillors voting for the motion that the-y would be legally liable in the event of any action for compensation being brought by any of the dismissed workers. Approximately six permanent employees are involved in the decision. The only employee who will remqin will be the office girl, but aka meeting to be held on July 18, the council will consider new applications to fill the vacant positions at a reduced scale. of wages. : There was a packed gallery when tbe council assembled to hear Cr. Anderson bring forward his notice of motion that the whole of the permanent staff should be asked to tender their resignations and that new applications be called. The motion was secopded by Cr. S. Patterson and the debate was opened by Cr. Short who said that he understood that the notice of motion called for the review of the wages paid to the whole of the borough's permanent staff but not for their dismissal. He considered that Cr, Anderson's proposal we-nt too far. He pointed out that in some cases,' the employees came under arbitration awards and that it would be illegal for the council to pay wages below the' rates fixe-d by these awards. Cr. Anderson said that this aspect of the matter could be discussed when the new applications were received. No Compulsion Cr. S. Shalfoon said that the council could not he compelled to continue to employ men for whom it had no work. He saw no reason why the council should continue to employ its permanent employees at the present scale of wages, whe-n having regard to the necessity for economy. He suggested that the Worlcs Committee could be left to deal with any matters of an urgent nature such as the hursting of a water main and so on. Cr. Short objected to the summary nature of the motion and warned councillors that they would "probably land themselves in a mess." Cr. Shalfoon said that it was not proposed to pay wages . below thestipulated award rate. The town clerk, said that the wages proposed by the motion were below the rate fixed by the award. Cr. Short said that the whole position was most irregular. It was definitely stated that the new applications would be called at wages below the award rate. Need For Caution The mayor warned councillors that they must be very eareful regarding their decision. Cr. Anderson said that they need not be timid about the matter if they decided to meet on the 18th to consider the new applications. Cr. Short asked Cr. Anderson whether he remembered that four days would elapse between the date fixed for the resignation of the present town clerk and the date of the appointment of a new clerk. Cr. Anderson said that he thought the office girl could carry on in the meantime. The mayor: We can take pot luck. iri fact. Cr. Main objected to the clerk being asked to resign. He thought that Mr. Fleming would be quite justified in refusing. Cr. Anderson said that if there was any objection to that portion of the motion, it could be re-worded. Per- : sonally he had the highest regard foi ; Mr. Fleming both as a town clerk and as a citizen. Mr. Fleming said that while the council had a perfect right to instruct him as to his duties he did nol 5 consider that resigning was one oi them. The wording of the motion was accordingly altered. Most Unfair Cr. Short said that the whole pro1 posal was most unfair and unbusi * nesslike. He considered that it woul( " have been much more fair to ask th 1 employees to accept a reduction ii * wages rather than summarily to dls " pense with their services. As he rea } the law, only those councillors votinj P for the motion would he liable in th( event of any legal action followinj the decision. There would be no lia bility devolving upon the councillor voting against the motion or upon th ratepayers. Cr. Shalfoon alleged that certai: borough sections had been confiscat ed as a result of unpaid rates. Thi was an absolute injustice to the rati payers to whom he would always b loyal. He contended that the reduc tion in wages as a result of th i. carrying of the motion would enabl a reduction in rates to be effected. " Cr. Short denied that any sectior y had been confiscated. Where se y tions had been taken they had bee b taken over at the reque'st of the owi e ers. il it Reduction Not Necessary 0 Speakirig on behalf of the counc n employees, the town clerk contend( il that the borough was quite able 1 continue paying the present scale i- wages. It was not true if it was co: ;o tended that the financial position sy the borough had become worse durii the last two years; He considered th is the amount of outstanding rates w e- normal and quoted figures to prole his coritentions. He had shown a pr iy vious finance committee' various av of riues by wKich.it' could effeet savin of and he contended that these had be more than equal in amount to the su

i paid in salaries to the office staff. He believed that if anothe-r statement i was prepared it would be shown tha,t 'he had been responsible for similar , savings since. - - > ] Continuing, Mr. Fleming said that . as an instance, the office girl was at ? , present receiving only £81 per an- . num and this after several years satisfactory service to the councih In private employment and in # similar .circumstances, she would now be re- _ ceiving at least £2 a week. A Little Bill i At this stage in his remarks, Mr. 3 \Fleming said that he would take the i ippportunity of presenting the counjcil with his account for £99 18s 8dj representing commission due to him j, -under an arrangement made with a l previous council by which he received ^ '31 per cent on all new work in.the borough which he supervised. He res lO.uested that the council would pay e ,the account as soon as possible as he required the money. n Comparative Wages Cr. Short pointed out that 4d of the s fixed rate of 6d was to meet loans authorised by the ratepayers them6 selves. After an objection hy Cr. Shalfoon had been overruled, Gr. e Short proceeded to quote comparae £ tive wages figures taken from four other boroughs similar in size to OpolB tiki. He contended that this compari3_ . son was in favour of Opotiki. n , Motion Carried '= 1_ In reply to a statement by Cr. An'.derson that this was the first opport- ■ unity he had been given to put his rixo tion, the mayor said that Cr. Ander:il ison should be grateful to the counid tcil for holding up the matter as it to \ had heen out of ordei\ )f . The motion was then put to the n- meeting and carried. The ayes were of Crs. J. Moody, S. Patterson, T. Webb, ig S. Shalfoon and the mover. The noes at were the mayor, and Crs. Short and as Main. ve The mayor asked that the voting be e- recorded and reminded councillors e- votirig for the motion that -they gs i would be liable in the event of any s-n legal action on the part' of the em:m ployees eoncerned.