ABSENTEEISM AND STRIKES

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 114, 9 February 1944, Page 6

ABSENTEEISM AND STRIKES

Research Officer’s Report ENFORCEMENT OF PENALTIES

The view -that it is a wiser policy to relv chiefly on steps to investigate and remove the causes of absenteeism rather than to insist only on penal measures is expressed by Dr. A. h. C. Hare, research fellow in social relations m industry, in his second annual report to the council of Victoria University College Absenteeism continued to be an unsolved problem, states the report, and evidently it was causing the Nationa. Service Department some concern. The report refers to the establishment about a year ago of' the industrial psychology division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. An investigation, carried out by the divisions into absenteeism in the engineering industry during two months of IH_ showed that gross absence rates for men were about 6.5 per cent, ot .the total number employed. IV omen m the engineering and various other industries showed a gross absence rate ot about 1PC “Thesc figures included absence from all causes, and sickness would account for at least 2 per cent., and probably more,” states the report. ’Voluntary absenteeism among men, therefore, could not be considered very high, though in the aggregate it still accounted tor a considerable loss of working time.

"The rate of absenteeism among employees of coal mines is much lower than public discussion might suggest. An official inquiry was instituted recently by the Department of Mines and statistical records of absentees at the principal collieries throughout the Dominion are now kept by the department. These show that 10.8 per cent, of the total number of shifts which could have been worked in the winter months of 1943 were lost owing to absence from work. Sickness, accident or other reasonable causes accounted for 7.6 per cent., leaving only 3.2 per cent, of unexplained absenteeism. “In a period of slightly more than 10 months, manpower officers were notified of 7564 persons absent from work. Of these 1427 were found to have a justifiable reason, 5109 were cautioned, and 424 were fined, the remainder being then still under investigation. These figures suggest that the absenteeism sections of the national seci'ice regulations are very largely a dead letter, as few employers take the trouble to notify manpower offifew employees were fined. The alleged inactivity of the National Service Department in this respect led to many complaints from manufacturers that it was useless to report offenders, as no action was taken. Partly as a result of their protest, it was announced that the department was going to adopt a stricter policy toward the problem.. Manufacturers are now requested to investigate all cases of absenteeism before reporting them, as in the past cases of sickness often have been reported erroneously.. “It is very doubtful how far a stricter policy of fining Absentees will ever prove effective. There is plenty of evidence that absenteeism is increased by long hours, inadequate meals, bad conditions in the factory, and bad industrial relations, that when attention is paid to reducing these causes the extent of wilful absenteeism is not great.” Legal- Penalty For Striking, In a general reference to industrial troubles in the Waikato coalfields in September, 1942, Dr. Hare says: “The threat that the Pukemiro strikers would be prosecuted under the Strike and Lockout Emergency Regulations was carried into- effect when, on September 11, two days after the strike became general, 196 summonses were served on the Pukemiro miners and on the 18th 182 were .sentenced to one month’s imprisonment. The sentences were, however, not carried into effect immediately, and after work was resumed on September 28, the Prime Minister announced that the sentences had been suspended. V “Last year, in. reference to another strike, the question as to how far 'industrial unrest can be controlled by legal penalties was discussed, and it was stated that ‘it will always remain doubtful how far legal penalties for ceasing work can really contribute to industrial peace and goodwill, but the existence of laws which are not enforced weakens respect for the law.’ , ' ■ “In this instance ■ there can be little doubt that the threat of legal penalties resulted in strengthening the sympathetic strike and in making a settlement more difficult. It seems probable, that the majority of the miners felt that the Pukemiro men were suffering from an injustice, and however mistaken and unconstitutional the Pukemiro miners action in striking had been, they were not going to return to work and leave men suffering from an injustice to be prosecuted. If a body of men feels that an injustice has been committed, to prosecute them merely adds to the sense of injustice without providing any remedy for the cause, and for this reason legal penalties against strikes have very generally been found to be ineffective, not-only in New Zealand, but in other Countries. "Moreover, the question of the legality of the strike led the police to forbid all mass metings of the miners, a step which not only caused considerable feeling, but added to the confusion by making it difficult for the miners from the different mines to discuss together the issues involved. • • “Whatever view, however, may be held of the method of legal penalties for the prevention of strikes, it is clear that to have laws and not to enforce them, to threaten penalties and not to implement the threat, reduces the law to a farce. It were far better to abolish penalties for striking and rely on prompt and adequate machinery for investigation and conciliation.”