LACK OF WORK

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10313, 24 January 1927, Page 3

LACK OF WORK

SURPLUS LABOR IN POVERTY BAY/" NUMEROUS SWAGGERS C'N THE ROAD. It is doubtful if even the corresponding periods in the slump years .iollowing the Great War found so many men seeking work as at the present time. In the main centres the position is becoming acute and, according to Labor Department officers, even in the smaller districts many men are out of work and many are to be found tramping through the Dominion looking for" employment. In Poverty Bay and the East Coast January has always been considered one of the best months of the year for the casual laborer. Road works, harvesting, and other seasonal operations are in full swing. Yet the local Labor Department’s books show that 12 men have registered during the week, while it is known that many others do not bother. J hey know that the Department has little to offer them. Recently for some work in connection with the Poverty Bay Power Board four men were called for. Within a few hours they had over 30 applicants! it cannot be said that there is less work under weigh in the district as compared with previous years. The Public Works Department have certainly closed down to a certain extent ,but County and Highways Board works are in lull swing. The building trade is also fairly busy. • It appears that the position in Gisborne would be even worse than durum some of the slack winter months if It were lfot for th* fact that there are several large contracts at present providing temporary work. Among these can be numbered the Harbor and Power Board’s works, which are responsible for the absorption of over 300 men. The statement is often made that there is work further back if the men will only look for it. The East Coast, one of the richest pastoral districts in New Zealand, provides striking contradiction to that assertion. On some of the larger stations at the hack of Tokomaru Bay where ten years ago it was impossible to obtain men, it is nothing unusual to-day ioi over a dozen swaggers to call dining a week. In addition there are many applications over the telephone. •Very little bush is being felled and casual labor is not required; In fact it is now admitted that there is little undeveloped land left, in the Dominion that does not require considerable capital to make it productive. According to the Minister of Lands during his last visit to Gisborne, it is questionable whether it will ever be possible profitably to bring the hulk of the so-called waste lands into a state of production. Even among the dairymen, one of the least attractive jobs—that or cowboy—is sought after to-day. liecent arrivals 1 rbni Home and c\ on Colonials can he found working over twelve hours a dav for 30s a week. Cases can he cited in Poverty Bay where youths of IS are working long hours on farms for 10s a week. Under those circumstances it cannot be said that country workers are difficult to obtain, for 10 years ago- it would not have been possible to hold hoys at those wages. In regard to men. little casual labor is required. It is not a temporary slump, nor is the position confined -to one particular district. A local resident who recently paid a visit to the Christ church Labor Office was told on good authority that men line up tlieie in queues every morning seeking work. In all parts the Labor Department s books show that the majority of the applicants are recent arrivals iiom Home. , , , T Questioned on Saturday as to the extent of unemployment in the district at the present time, Mr D. W. Coleman, for many years secretary ot the Poverty Bay Laborers’ Union, said that he could not remember it being so bad at this time of the year at any time since he came to Gisborne. He had been told on good authority of one case where 42 men applied for a permanent job which could be filled by an unskilled laborer.