FOOTWEAR PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 11, 13 July 1944, Page 7

FOOTWEAR PROBLEMS

SHORTAGE OF LABOUR

The willingness of the workers' organisation to make any possible and reasonable allowances to aid the position as it affected the footwear industry at the present time is expressed in a statement by Mr. George Marston, secretary of the Wellington Footwear Operatives' and Bootmakers' Union. The ' attention drawn' to ' the acute shortage, of labour in the footwear industry was timely and correct, he said in commenting upon the footwear manufacturers' recent decision to ask for the direction of labour from less essential leather-working industries to the footwear industry. His union of footwear operatives saw one remedy, and that was for the load to be shared by other less important branches of the leather-work-ing industry. For instance, the total labour engaged in. the slipper, handbag, glove, and fancy goods leather manufacturing trades was- disproportionate to that in the footwear industry when the essentiality of the respective productions were surveyed. While it was not suggested that such manufacturing should be sacrificed for the footwear industry, it was suggested that some interchange of labour would alleviate the position. The less essential industries could perhaps help the footwear -factories out with a temporary transfer _of skilled operatives, such as machinists. Under an interchange method such as this, the outputs of the various leather industries could be balanced up on the score of production and necessity. POSITION OF EX-SEUVICEMEN. In dealing with the effect upon the industry of the heavy drawing-off of labour for the Forces, Mr. Marston mentioned that it was significant that of a group of footwear operatives recently released from the Forces none had returned to his former industry. The counter-attractions for female workers, notably the women's Services, had also affected the position. The one way his organisation saw of guarding against a recurrence of the present problems ■ was that when industries were re-established on a peacetime basis provision be made for young operatives to receive a thorough grounding in all aspects of an industry, rather than in one specialist job. Had that been the case in the past with the footwear industry many of the present problems would have been selfsolving, manufacturers being enabled to offset "bottle necks" by transferring staff inter-departmentally. The scheme admittedly would offer certain serious difficulties, but it should not be lost sight of in the post-war period, he suggested. In the meantime the workers believed that the immediate problems could best be settled by a thorough and sympathetic consideration of the suggestion to overhaul the use of labour in the less essential leather-working industries. In at least one case to Mr. Marston's knowledge a slipper factory had taken over a worthwhile quota of boot machining with a helpful effect no the footwear industry. "If this is possible in one case, it should be possible in others," he added.