SIX-DAY WEEK?

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 181, 2 August 1941, Page 10

SIX-DAY WEEK?

UNDER WAR REGULATIONS WELLINGTON SUGGESTION (0.C.) WELLINGTON, Friday. In support of arguments presented at discussions of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce on the question of the 40-hour week and the war effort, in which he had advocated an extension of hours of work in New Zealand to meet war production needs, a statement has been issued by Mr. M. G. C. McCaul giving suggestions as to how a universal 48-hour week for the' period of the war could be operated. Mr. McCaul contends that the present practice whereby the onus is placed on industry to prove to the Industrial Emergency Council the necessity for increased working hours should be reversed. The following suggestions are made by Mr. McCaul:— "That a six-day 48-hour week be instituted under the war regulations with the proviso that hours worked in excess of 40 a week up to 48 be paid for at ordinary rates. "That the Industrial Emergency Council be retained to consider applications from employers or employees for modification of the working hours in any form of employment for any reason, and in particular for the reason that employment cannot be found for the staff over the longer week.

"That where practicable labour be transferred from industries oversupplied to industries that are short of labour. "That workers transferred from one employer to another under this plan have the same right of reinstatement with their old employers as in the case of soldiers. "That employers who relinquish workers to another industry under this plan have the right to apply for their return if subsequently required and the public interest permits."