LABOUR IS LOYAL BUT WORKS IN DARK

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23361, 21 June 1941, Page 8

LABOUR IS LOYAL BUT WORKS IN DARK

BRITAIN’S HOME FRONT

‘ [By a Staff Correspondent of the “Sydney Morning Herald.*.’]

LONDON. June 16.. Labour—using “the term in its economic sense-is in a more Powerful position in Britain than it ever has been before. Actually it is the most significant single factor in the war structure,, because only with the cooperation of the working P e °P. le P f Britain,will it be possible to maintain the standard of production which is necessary if this war is to be won. Because of this development. Britain has had to change almost over nisht its industrial machine. This nas mlant an mdustrial revolution; and m any survey of the war effort one should, examine the r ®? u ] ts t J^ a s„5 d e n been achieved m rn f the change from peace-time to war time fiC After y a thorough investigation of conditions in all parts of England, and talks with industrial, e con°rmc and Vinqiness experts, I feel tnfit it is ac curate to say that, on broad efficient machine has been developed. There are still defects to be rectified, but they are not so complicated that they cannot be rapidly overcome. ■ An economic expert attached to the Government to make a s virvey of the viewpoint of the workers ol England told me that, as a rough estimate, ne believed 75 per cent, of the workers of England were backing the war, 15 per cent, were easy-going about lt ( but nrenared to co-operate m a casual fashion), and 10 per cent, were against The* Industrial Machine His assessment appeared to me to be confirmed by my experiences in a tour throughout England. . Simultaneously- with my interviews with representatives of *he Pf °£l e erally, I had long conversations with outstanding union leaders. They firmed this attitude of mind. The cnair man of one of the largest unions m England (a union with w hlc h able Australian union is affiliatea) summarised, the position fbu - . •"I believe that the majority of tne workers of England are m this fiSht £, t “s SJof'l&df feel ss rsans sg* during the Spanish war. Nevertheless, we do not feel that, at a time lik this we should be preoccupied with vain regrets. 'Our attitude is that all sections must co-operate m the war effort so that we can overcome the immediate menace I—Fascist 1 —Fascist Germany. Generally, this official and other union .leaders told me, the Government has done an extremely efficient jon in converting the industrial machine, They, claim, -however, that this nas been achieved only because a former labour leader and union secretary (Mr Bevin) has been made Minister for Labour. They declared that there might have been a complete breakdown in the industrial machine had he not been' appointed to this post. Mr Bevin’s Task One of them explained the position thus: “Some members of the Government are still wedded to the idea of a privileged class which advocates compulsion on lines similar to_ the Fascism which we are flghttng. Compulsion is bound to fail under democracy, and Bevin, understanding this, has managed to -disentangle the enormous complications that have been involved in converting the industrial machine without any suggestion of forcing man and woman to do something against their wishes. It is a great ■ achievement.” The complications involved in this change-over, as he explained to me, amounted, mainly, to the telescoping

ana uisycioa* ; With telescoping, there is unavoidable interference with the livelihood of in*-; ' numerable workers; with dispersal it is necessary to persuade workers, both men and women, to accept movement of labour from one part of the. counter to another, however this arrangement might interfere with personal ‘con*' venience. _ ‘S'* According to this union official, Mr Bevin has achieved this without antagonising the workers by any suggestion of compulsion , He added that there is still a disposition among highly-placed members of the Government. to withhold from the workers information which mignt easily become a factor in determining the degree of their co-operation. He gave, as an example, a recent conflict at one of England’s best-known aircraft factories. The workers there were on short time while they were ■ reading ,in the newspapers that it was necessary for the people of England to give their utmost to the war effort Irritated, they went on strike. The management did nothing about it An important member of the Ministry of Home Security Intervened, explained'to the men that not only wa* this organisation being converted fromone form of manufacture to another, but also was going through the proces* of dispersal, and that, therefore, disotganisation was unavoidable. The men immediately returned to work: But they said: “If we had been told this In the first place, there would never have been any trouble." * The union leader's complaint wai that the employers had failed in their duty by not dealing with their worker*, on an intelligent basis. Using Labour Skilfully

Another union official (whose view* I found coincided substantially with, those of a highly-placed member of the’ Labour Party who has now been ineluded in the Ministry) made two suggestions which he believed would materially improve the war effort. They were:— “That there should be greater coordination between the department* tinterested in production so that labour? would be used more skilfully; and that the workers generally should be taken into the confidence of the Administration so that, with an understanding of objectives at which their leaders are aiming, they would not be irritated by what superficially appears to be, either inefficiency or exploitation." I put these two ideas to" important members of the Ministry and they agreed that they were points well taken. They declared, also, that they were making an effort to simplify the administrative machine so that these objectives could be achieved, and that they were convinced that in the near future deficiencies that now exist would, be eliminated. * - My investigations convinced me that they are working hard now to build on the intense effort of the workers, and, according to representatives of the; Government, they will be able in the. near future to overcome many of the disadvantages about which workerf representatives now complain. One of the most Important of them said to me in an interview: “Thesepoints you raise are important. The complaints probably are justified. You must realise, however, that you cannot convert an industrial machine . overnight without some dislocation. As we gain knowledge we become more efficient, and, in the meantime, we are doing our best to. see that the loyalty of the people of England in their industrial effort is not wasted.”