Four days work

Press, 29 October 1981, Page 20

Four days work

Sir,—The reaction of the Government back-benchers to the Borthwicks proposal for a four-day u r eek for five days pay is typical of the prehistoric mentality of our elected representatives. The advent of microvchip technology has brought about the possibility that within our lifetime (I am talking of the' under-255), the whole structure of a workorientated society will be altered to an extent inconceivable to those at present in power. There is no conceivable limit to what the micro-chip computer and its workmate, the robot, can achieve; the real question to.be answered is how to bring them into society gradually. If a machine produces wealth, who shares that wealth, the men who own it, or the men the machine replaced? If machines do all the work, who does the wealth belong to? The answer must lie in between, and the answer is not going to be found within the 1930 s mentality of the present Government—Yours, etc., DAVID GLYN SANDERS. Akaroa, October 23, 1981.

Sir,—J. Sharp (October 24) blatantly misquotes me. I have no complaint about individual people working shorter hours, as I am all in favour of free choice. What I did say was that it is unethical to work four days and demand five days pay. And what is even worse is that it is compulsory union bosses demanding that, not individual workers. Our meat industry, as with many other areas of production in New Zealand, is being ruined by people who are clinging to the past and impeding progress and improvement. J. Sharp, and others like him, cannot see that micro-chip technology has the potential to create more jobs than any other technical advance, by opening up new fields of endeavour hitherto undreamt of. Those who are forced to toe the union line must realise that it is individual initiative that gets things done, not mindless group action—Yours, etc., ALAN C. WILLENS. October 27, 1981.