FORTY-HOUR WEEK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 87, 9 October 1937, Page 13

FORTY-HOUR WEEK

APPROACH OF BRITAIN

BALANCE COSTS AND WAGES

PACE OF INDUSTRY

One of the chief industrial topics for consideration at the Trades Union Congress is likely to be the 40-hour week, wrote Harold Stannard in the "Daily Telegraph." It is one of the live issues in the industrial world today, and the example of other countries is being cited both by those who champion and those who oppose it. The 40-hour week is the next milestone along a road already marked, first by the 10-hour, and more lately by the eight-hour day. Sooner or later we shall pass it. The Socialist contention, advanced with some heat, is that we should be about to pass it now if the British Government had not dug in its toes at the orders of reactionary capitalism The facts are worth setting out, partly to correct misapprehension, and partly because it is interesting to see how the right way of approach to a generally desired end is only found by the method of trial and error. Two circumstances have favoured the attempt, persisted in now for five years, to base a 40-hour week on an international convention. One is the existence of the International Labour Office, which seeks to bring conditions of labour throughout the world to a uniform and steadily improving level. The other is Britain's legitimate anxiety for her export trade. We of all people can least afford to bind ourselves by undertakings which will exert an upward pressure on production costs, if our commercial rivals in the world's neutral markets still keep their hands free. When the international limitation of hours in the textile trades was under discussion at Geneva the representatives of the British employers objected that Japan was " working her looms for 120 hours a week and for 28 days every month. FEAR OF DISADVANTAGE. It is this fear of placing Britain at a disadvantage in the overseas markets to which she exports that has made the British Government exceedingly cautious in its attitude to international labour conventions, and has given its critics the opportunity of saying that it has let the leadership in industrial reform pass into other hands. The general prosperity of our working population sufficiently refutes this charge, but it is worth noting that the countries which have been the first to experiment, not wholly successfully, with reduced hours are the two most self-contained nations in the world— France and the United States. The attention' of the International Labour Office was first directed to the 40-hour week by Italy in 1932. In tabling his proposal the Duce's intention was to combat unemployment. Hours, his representative at Geneva explained, were to be reduced without increasing the cost of production. It was further contemplated that by an arrangement of multiple shifts machinery should run for at least as many hours per week as before, the only difference being that more people would be required to look after it. The total amount of wages paid would, however, remain the same, and . the policy was in fact a work-sharing scheme. With every industrial State in the world harassed by the growing number of its unemployed, the proposal was sure of sympathetic consideration. It was referred to a preparatory technical commission, and the International Labour Office estimated that if adopted it would increase employment by 10 per cent. PUT INTO OPERATION. How the scheme fared at the Commission's hands will be described in a moment. Italy, whose master is not the man to wait on the verdict of commissions, put .it into practice in 1934, and Italians were bidden note this important piece of pioneer work. In 1935 the Italian 40-hour week was partially suspended in the interests of production for the Abyssinian campaign. The campaign over, it was restored, but early in the present year it was again suspended on the ground that 40 hours work per week did not enable the Italian workman to earn enough to maintain his standard of life. This was the aspect of the matter which engaged the attention of the preparatory technical commission. The British trade unions, whose attitude in the matter has been consistent throughout, took the view that the reduction of hours must be accompanied by a 1 proportionate increase in wages so that ' the workmen's weekly earnings were not diminished. An explicit resolution ' to this effect was duly tabled, and the . case for it has been powerfully argued ; by Mr. Bevin. . This cardinal resolution, which goes j to the core of the whole problem, was eventually withdrawn. In opposing it, ( the employers insisted that the payment of more money for less work must increase production costs. One j of two things would then happen. s Either the 40-hour week would give a j fillip to mechanisation and so displace | labour, or prices would have to be put , up and demand would fall off. , A PROPOSAL WITHDRAWN . > From the labour side increased con- J suming power was brought forward against increased producing cost. But in view of the lukewarmness of a good many workmen's representatives, as j well as the opposition of several Gov- n ernments, the proposal that earnings j should not be reduced was withdrawn J in favour of, a colourless face-saving resolution, under which the Govern- . ments signing the proposed convention t wfere left to take such steps as they j found desirable to maintain their national standards of life. f The British Government has never jwavered in its view that unless the j maintenance of earnings is guaranteed, j a 40-hour week convention would be \ nothing but a phantom. , Attempts r nevertheless have been made to carry t the matter further by conventions re- c gulating the hours worked in particular trades. r From the Socialist point of view a s great victory has been won because t the International Labour Conference t has accepted the 40-hour week in prin- a clple. It has, however,, been found i necessary to admit so many modifica- c tions and exceptions that, according to c British critics, the whole plan is re- t duced to a mere form of words by the t provisions permitting overtime: v The alternative method of national enactment has been adopted both by France and by New Zealand. A CONGENIAL ACTION. It is congenial to French thought to enact a principle and deal with the ii difficulties of its application as they t occur. Our British way is exactly the a opposite. We prefer to begin with fl what is practicable and gradually g extend the field. b

Conversely, in France, M. Blum began last year with the universal enactment of a 40-hour week, combined with holidays with pay, and most of the rest of his term of office was occupied with the settlement of the disputes to which his new law gave rise. The difficulties of its application are by no means at an end, but M. Flandin has

estimated that "I'experience Blum" has I increased French costs of production by a good two-thirds, and there is general agreement that output must be increased if the social gain is not to be more than wiped out by the rise in internal prices. In this country we have preferred the method of two bites at the cherryThe five-day week is not identical with the 40-hour week because the day worked is generally 8J hours. But the live-day week appeals to business men as the most economical way of effecting hours reduction.

It means that they have to arrange for the equivalent of two Sundays a week instead of one. The second Sunday represents the real cost of the scheme, and the firms which have applied it find, as they expected, that the cost is more than offset by the gain in the efficiency of labour. Whether all industries admit of organisation on a five-day basis is, of course, still an undecided question, but it seems clear that the 40-hour week cannot be imposed without more ado on the existing system. When Sir Kingsley Wood was Postmaster-General he told the deputation which came to advocate a 40-hour week for postal servants that if it were carried through under existing conditions of Post Office organisation it would cost an additional £6,000,000 a year.

A few days ago his successor. Major Tryon,' in reply to a similar application for reduced working hours, pointed out that they could only be achieved by increased taxation or increased charges for Post Office facilities.

What will, probably prove to be the right way of approaching has been indicated by Lord Baldwin in the speech he made at the dinner given in his honour by the Federation of British Industries shortly before his retirement from the Premiership.

Lord Baldwin pointed out that the increased pace and complexity of modern industrial processes imposed a nervous strain on those engaged in them of which account must be taken in the hours worked. What we are all concerned to find out is the optimum period of daily labour. As the demands made on the workers' powers increase, that period is bound to grow shorter.

The case for reducing hours without reduction of earnings will become unanswerable when it can be proved that over a fairly long stretch of time a workman's net output, allowing for faults, time lost through accidents, etc.. will not be diminished if his hours are reduced from their present total of maybe as many as 47 to a new general level of 40.