FINE RECORD

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 198, 22 August 1942, Page 7

FINE RECORD

N.Z. TIMBER WORKERS

OW SERVICE AND OUTPUT

The timber workers of New Zealand—sometimes more flippantly reerred to by themselves as "the woodpeckers"—have a proud war record.

keTnmp h ,^ e play , ed a rand Part in s «PP h es of timber, so war actiiuv V° St K 6Very branch °f war activity—timber for housing is f ° r b ° Xes in which f ood overseas - f or ammunition seese5 eese crates and scores of other indispensable articles. Not only have they achieved this nvp'rc W - 20 u° of their skilled men artnffiv 8 Forestry Corps, thev .have, with their depleted pft-iHr v,' ln . creasecl production and fw t e / a record with the proboard°feet° r 194041 of 342,000,000

The timber workers are iustlv P r °ud of . the fact that, since the introduction of the 40-hour week ~ V6 ' i n , the aggregate, produced more timber per man per day than ever before.

Bushmen, far back in isolated parts of the country, have worked in snow, mud and rain, with the toughness and fortitude for which ousnmen have long been celebrated. Men in planing mills and in sawmills have worked long hours at high-speed machines "to deliver the goods. Other timber workers in their respective fields have rendered similarly valuable service.

I think," suggests Mr. F. Craie national secretary of the Timber Workers' Union, "that when the war effort is being discussed, the achievements of the timber workers should be acknowledged."

Full acknowledgment of what the men have done is contained in a letter which the union secretary recently received from Mr. A. R. £- r J can > Timber Controller, in which is also given the numbers of men from the ranks of the timber workers now in the armed forces tl i e .-.- tota ! „ bein f? 292G, while an £ i j 9/1 have been either withheld or withdrawn for essential work.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser has also written an acknowledgment' I believe Ihere is no other industry which excels your own in sincerity performance and contribution to the war effort."

So if the stalwart "woodpeckers" busily pecking at their same old trees far back in some remote neck 9* the woods, do feel like breaking into song it will generally be conceded that they actually have something to sing about.