Production and Working Conditions
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Governm ent is Calling a Halt to M oyes Involving More Pay fo r Less Work
CONDITIONS in trade and industry, the fear of inflation, and the urgent demands of both the export and internal markets, are forcing the Government into what is amounting to a campaign for the virtual stabilization of wages. At least. Ministers are expounding the precept that the rewards of labour and the production from it must be maintained at a satisfactory ratio. Workers, unless they can prove that they are underpaid, must not expect official encouragement of higher remuneration unaccompanied by a rising output.
In connection with the building industry, Mr. Bevan announced only a few days ago that costs must not increase; rather should they decrease. Other members of the Government have made forcible remarks in a similar tenor.
Now, if the trades unions and the shop stewards exercise increasing pressure in respect of Wages, the curious situation of a Labour Government fighting against its own supporters may arise.
It is not often that we have had reason to praise this Government, but, here, it is showing a partial return to sanity and a better appreciation of facts rather than of abstruse theories. Let us hope thot the "cake," to which reference has been made recently by Labour speakers, may soon contain more and better ingredients. Only in this way can all participate in a higher standard of living.
Welfare Pays Dividends During our visits to various factories, we have taken a keen interest in both production and working conditions. As is perhaps natural, we have found that there is a close affinity between these two vital factors. In a few places there have been complaints that the workers were not pulling their weight as they should, at least as shown by tie figures for output. In others the estimated targets set by the employers have actually been exceeded, and thisimprovement was entirely credited to the excellent spirit in which the workpeople had co-operated.
There are many causes of delays in production in some industries or parts of them. Sufficient materials of the right kinds may not be available; shortages in even small and normally unimportant items may exercise a drag on sections of the works which would otherwise be well forward; fuel and power supplies are not always satisfactory. Even congestion in a factory created by delays in shipping may slow the wheels. Large stocks are apt to influence workers psychologically; there may not appear to be such great urgency when it is a matter of adding to the " pile " rather than supplying a steady flow.
A Fine Example What is more appreciated by the workers than anything else is constant care for their comfort. They are not mere machines and should not be treated as such. At one of the most successful factories in this industry, the workers, apart from being well paid. receive two weeks' holiday on pay, whilst there is available to them medical service for which the equipment is better than that obtainable in many hospitals in the provinces; there is also a chemical laboratory where all oils, soldering paste, etc., are carefully analysed to avoid illness caused by occupation. The canteen arrangements are excellent, playing fields are provided, and, as a little personal matter, every child belonging to an employee receives a Christmas giftvoucher.
The directors participate in works outings, etc., not necessarily all together, but in such a way that the Board is nearly always represented. This concern, which commenced manufacturing at its present site in 1928 with 25 people, rose to a peak employment figure of 7,000 during the war, and has never experienced a strike during that period or since.
Another prominent manufacturer is supplying workers with preventive medicine against colds and influenza and is distributing halibut oil capsules to build up resistance to infection. It is expected that the incidence of sickness will be reduced.
is not always possible in congested areas to provide all such facilities, particularly playing fields, but it is the spirit more than the substance that matters. Workers and management should constitute a team and pull together for the general betterment rather than resemble a tug of war with the two on opposing sides.