CORRESPONDENCE

Evening Star, Issue 25301, 9 October 1944, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE

WOOLLEN MILL INDUSTRY. TO THE EDITOR. .M Sir,—ln to-night's ' Star,' under tip heading ' Ingratitude Charged,' is a reV; ply to a resolution passed at a general meeting of New Zealand Woollen Mi.i Owners' Association by Mr H. L. Boekett, controller of man power. The purchasing public will no doubt be pleased to know that they get their high-priced woollen goods only by virtue of the payment of considerab.e sums in financial assistance to directed workers. The wage scale and (in some departments) unpleasant working conditions do not attract workers to this high priority essential industry, and Mr Bockett correctly points out that only national service control through man-power administration has made it possible for tinwork to proceed. The owners have com : plained about biased man-power appea. boards, but they seem to forget that practically all directions to woolen mills of workers from other industries are unwillingly obeyed, because in most cases their conditions of work are not comparable with the job they vacate, while their wages have to be made up by the National Service Department. The owners' refusal to set up utilisation councils, " so successful in other factories," would suggest that the co-operation of the workers is not wanted—that the principle of supplying them with sufficient labour on a compulsory basis is quite all right, but the owners are to ,have the whole say in regard to the conditions under which the men work, while taking full advantage of stabilisation regulations as to wages. The sooner the conditions of the workers are fully ventilated in the Arbitration Court the better. Mr Bockett's comment reveals that woollen mill owners are the only employers to absolutely refuse cooperation in improving production and preserving harmony in the industry, while at the same time _ costing the department more in financial assistance than any others. When in future a housewife buys a woollen garment and pays a stiff price for it, she can also have the satisfaction of knowing she as a taxpayer " also helped to pay for its production.—l am, etc. Twister. October 7. [ln answer to Mr Bockett's criticism the mill owners have challenged him to publish the actual figures of the assistance given by way of subsidising directed labour, and also to set out the functions of the utilisation councils, after which they will enlighten the public as to the real position.—Ed. E.S.]