CHEESE WORKERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 June 1942, Page 4

CHEESE WORKERS

(To the Editor.) Sir,—The chairman of the Wairarapa Manpower Committee gave figures showing the men wanted in six cheese factories in this district, also the number of men in sight. There is another side to this problem which has to my mind the greatest bearing on the recognised shortage of cheese workers. These are the reasons as I see them. First, the hours worked and the loss of time incurred by workers in cheese factories, together with wages paid for that class of work. Let me give you the best figures. Take a ten-vat or more factory. Here are the wages paid: —First assistant, £5 14s per week, less tax.; 2nd assistant, £5 7s 6d per week, less tax; 3rd assistant, £4 19s 6d per week, less tax; all others, £4 10s per week, less tax. Let us take the hours, which are as follow: —52 hours per week for 22 weeks; 44 hours per week for 17 weeks; 38 hours per week for 13 weeks. The season starts in August and the flush starts about October and goes on until the middle of January. It is in. these months the 52 hours are worked and the £4 10s men come into the factory. Froih January onwards every two weeks, sometimes three, a vat goes out of production, and then the £4 10s men are put off, and gradually this depletion of men goes on until the factory shuts down at the end of May and for two months the factory is closed, to reopen in August. Now no one surely expects a man to hang around for six or eight months awaiting for the factory to open. He goes to another job giving more constant work at more wages and far less hours, and in many cases not such hard work. Neither the directors of these factories nor even the suppliers seem to make any attempt to find for these cheese workers any work in the off season, or to try to keep their employees in the factory. Thus you see why cheese’ factories are short of men. Furthermore a cheese worker must be physically fit, as it is an exceedingly labourous occupation. It would be good training for wrestlers and the like. In conclusion, your readers no doubt will see the reasons why cheese workers are in short supply and perhaps how those difficulties’ , could be overcome. Thanking you for space. —I am, etc., FRED COLE, Workers’ representative on the Wairarapa Manpower Committee.