FORTY-HOUR WEEK

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 7, 8 July 1938, Page 9

FORTY-HOUR WEEK

ADDRESSES AT GENEVA

EFFECTS IN NEW ZEALAND

MR. MOSTON'S REVIEW

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, June 15.

"It can be safely said that, with few exceptions, a return to longer hours is not desired by employers or workers where the shorter working week has been adopted," Mr. H< E. Moston, the New Zealand Labour Department's representative, told the International Labour Conference at Geneva.

"Reduced hours of work to meet the great increase in productivity is becoming more and more an accepted basis of agreement between employers and workers," he added. "Some flexibility, however, is necessary in respect of certain industries. With. a proper tribunal to determine these industries, and the nature of exemption to '"be applied, any opposition to the shorter working week should be largely overcome. The New Zealand legislation provides that wages shall not be reduced on account of any reduction in the working hours. In fact, wages have increased since the shorter working week came into operation." '•

Mr. Moston's remarks were'mainly confined to New Zealand's experience of the shorter working week, and he gave a description ,of the Dominion's 40-hour legislation. ' He also criticised a. "misleading statement" made by Mr. N. Oersted (Belgium), who had said, with reference to the reduced hours of work in New Zealand, that no legal limit was set to the amount of overtime that might be worked, and that special rates were paid for overtime so that there was, in fact, a legal increase in wages rather than a reduction of hours. OVERTIME POSITION. Mr. Moston pointed out that, in the first place, there was, in the case of women and boys employed in factories, a legal limit to the number of overtime hours that might be worked. It was. restricted to 90 hours per year, with an additional 30 hours in special cases, when time and a half was paid for wages. Shop workers were prohibited, except for stocktaking. In the second place it was incorrect to say that there was no legal reduction of hours, but only an increase in wages. The reduction in normal hours effectively s established the 40-hour week, since under all the awards of j the Arbitration Courl all workers except farm workers and domestic servants must be paid for overtime. Although there was no rigid limit to the number of hours that might be worked by men "in factories the higher rates fixed for overtime constituted an effective check. At present the 40-hour week applied to 65 industries, and, in the majority, it was adopted by agreement between employers' and workers' organisations. There was no doubt that as existing awards expired workers' organisations would renew their demands for a reduction in hours of work. "Opponents of the 40-hour week predicted that the Government's legislation would raise costs of production to such an extent that many industries would be unable to carry on," said Mr. Moston. "The latest figures available on factory production, for, the year ending March 31, 1937, show the value of production for the year as £106 000,000, a record level in the history of New Zealand and far ahead of the. previous record figure of £91,000,000 in 1929-30. . . "The number of persons employed m factories in 193&-37 was 96,400, exceeding the previous record by 9800. The number of factories, namely, 17,126, exceeded the previous year by bM. Salaries and wages paid amounted to over £18,000,000, also a record. There is in fact, abundant evidence to show that reduced working hours have not had the adverse effect on industry predicted by opponents." UTILISATION OF LEISURE. Mr. Mostsn admitted "in passing," that the five-day working week had.in a measure created a problem regarding the proper utilisation of leisure time. This was receiving the "serious attention" of the Government, which was encouraging sport and providing easy travelling facilities. ' ' He also mentioned that New Zealand found some difficulty in keeping in touch with the work of the International Labour Organisation. To arouse more interest he suggested a greater use of the cinema and broadcasting, and also proposed that the Director, or members of his staff, should visit countries such •as New Zealand periodically. I "There is ample evidence to show that nations are making stern endeavours to provide happier and healthier conditions and to lessen the sum of human misery," Mr. Moston concluded. "It is the function of this assembly to carry the efforts of individual countries forward by means of International Regulations and Agreements. In this way the International Labour Organisation can achieve something that is worth while and assist in bringing about a better understanding between man and man, between employer and worker, and between nation and nation." ______