LONGER WORKING WEEK

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23043, 11 June 1940, Page 12

LONGER WORKING WEEK

♦ FREEZING WORKERS’ CONDEMNATION «LOWERING STANDARD OF LIVING ” The danger of the war being used as an excuse for lowering the standard of living of the workers is the subject of a resolution carried recently by North Canterbury freezing workers. Thfe resolution condemns attempts bein-' made to extend the working week. The resolution is as follows: — “That this meeting of North Canterbury members- of the Canterbury Freezing Works and Related Trades Union condemns as unjustified the efforts now being made by some employers’ agencies to extend the working week. “We consider that the war situation is in danger of being used as a means of reducing the workers’ standard of living and conditions of work, and that such agitation cannot be justified whilst large numbers of competent and willing workers at present unemployed remain unabsorbed in industry. “We condemn such agitation as mischievous in the extreme, and believe that sincere co-operative effort by all concerned to assist the Government in the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of maximum production is all that is required. “We believe that the people responsible for this agitation should themselves be prepared to make the sacrifices they are demanding of others and urge the Government to conscript wealth and profits as dne of the very first steps in the Dominion’s effort to defeat barbarous German Fascist aggression/*