BRITISH WORKMEN

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 154, 25 March 1922, Page 9

BRITISH WORKMEN

LOSING THEIR REPUTATION FOR INDUSTRY ‘machinery takes place ' OF SKILLED LABOUR v OBSERVATIONS OF A NEW ZEALAND BUILDER Unless the British workman abandons his present policy of ■ little work for much pay Great ; Britain Is in a fair way to lose a great deal of her trade. This Is the bpinion hold by ,Mr. A. Campbell, a prominent Wei* « lington' builder, who has just returned from a twelve* months’ visit to Croat Britain and the continent. In conversation with a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. Campbell stated that he found labour conditions in England and Scotland in a very bad state., i “Being a practical builder,” he said, “I was naturally very much interested in the building operations in progress in the various countries I' ■■ visited, and I must say I was very disappointed in the conditions prevailing at Home.” ‘Many of the big building works were practically closed down, and ship- ' building was at a standstill. One factor which had seriously affected shipbuilding, Mr. Campbell explained, was that all the joiners had left the shipyards, as they could make more money on the different housing schemes were in progress. “The prices of houses are higher at Home than , they are in New Zealand, and the Government and people there do not get as good value for, their money as we do here,” confidently assorted Mr. Campbell. 1 • UNEMPLOYMENT DOLE A MISTAKE. The unemployment dole dealt out by the British Government, he thought, had a good deal to do with making the workers improvident. While this money was being paid out, manv of the people s : mply would not work or look for work. From inquiries, he had - found that as much as £7 a week had been received by some families, and in his opinion it would have been wiser for the Government to inaugurate re- - lief works than to pay out money to the unemployed for doing nothing. . Mr. Campbell ’said that when he visited Glasgow, where he had relations, he had been very much surprised •, ,to. find shipbuilding on the Clyde practically at a standstill. At Garlock ’ he had seen seventy steamers, of all sizes up to 12,000 tous.tied up at the wharves. The same thing was to he seen at Southampton, while two hundred ships, mostly vessels which had been used during the war, were lying idle in the Firth of Forth.MACHINERY TAKING PLACE OF SKILLED LABOUR. . The high cost of skilled labour and the go-slow policy of the workmen had forced builders, to go back to concrete. Steel frame and concrete was being , almost ; exclusively used for. big build- • . ings, .and concrete for houses arid; cottages. In England, - Mr. Campbell found that they were grading all their shingle, and consequently 'did not hjive to use half the amount of cement used in New Zealand. He saw a wall five inches thick being constructed of cement in the proportion of 8 to 1. The shingle whs all screened through machines, and mixed by machines, tvhich gave a greater density of concrete. REDUCED EFFICIENCY. Mr. Campbell said that a big building in. the Strand in London, nine stories high, was being constructed exclusively of concrete: This was brought about bv the high cost of skilled labour. To show how the British workman had fallen off in efficiency, he was told by a prominent Liverpool builder that whereas his workmen before the war had laid 1200 bricks a day, they had now fallen off to 400 or 500 a day. In London, an electrical manufacturing company before the war had erected a building in which the workmen laid 800 bricks a day. Recently they had to put on an addition, . when they found the same workmen duly laid 300 bricks a day. On the other hand, the workmen on the Continent were trying to see how much they could turn out. “If the British workers continue their present Tactics,” Mr. Campbell declared, “they will find that machinery will soon have to replace skilled labour, as the latter is now too costly for the return obtained.” UNREASONABLE SPIRIT. To show the unreasonable spirit obtaining among a section of the workers at Home, Mr. Campbell stated that 'relief works had heen started for the unemployed at Liverpool, the men being paid 2s. a day less than the ruling rate- The works had not been long in progress when the men struck because they were not allowed a bov to supply them with morning and afternoon tea. On the other hand, there were many men unable to find employment who wore only too willing to tackle anything. Things wgrp very hard for such as these, as they could not leave the cities. There was no such thing as the country as we know it in New Zealand. They were having a yerv bad time altogether in Great Britain. REPAIR WORK GOING TO THE CONTINENT. The adverse labour conditions, declared Mr. Campbell, were forcing employers of labour to send shipbuilding repair work over to the Continental yards. In France and Belgium he found that men were working all hours to get things in order again. The spirit of the workmen in Belgium and France was very different to that being displayed in England. On the Continent, while they were poorly paid, the workers were seemingly happy and. Contented, and were working cheerfully and at top pressure. .On visiting Louvain he was agreeably surprised to find that the shattered town had been practically rebuilt. Men, women, and children were working away as happily as could be at the work of reconstruction, and both sides of the principal streets were littered with building material. Fino buildings, up to four stories in height. Were going up rapidly. A good deal of the haulage work was done by dogs, and he had actually seen three dogs pulling a load containing a yard and a naif of sand. Everywhere Mr. Campbell went he found that the New Zealand soldiers had left an excellent namo behind them. One Glasgow man decJared that “the All Blacks and then the Sow Zealand soldiers had made New laland famous.”