EIGHT HOURS CONVENTION

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 November 1928, Page 6

EIGHT HOURS CONVENTION

DIFFICULTY IN WORKING.

(British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, November 21. The Earl of Lytton, in the House of Lords, raised the question of the Washington Eight Hours’ Convention, and moved that the Government should, inform the International Labour Office at Geneva of the precise points on which they desired a revision of the Convention.

Lord Londonderry, on behalf of the Government, said this country was bound to maintain and promote the application of the general principle of the eight-hour day, or 48-hour week, so far as our special circumstances permitted, because that was part of our understanding in the Treaty of Versailles. The text of the Convention, however, was found to be veiled and ambiguous, and it failed to provide the necessary guarantee for uniformity of practice after ratification, and made no allowance for various industrial practices, perfectly consistent with its main purposes. "The British Government was impressed by the fact that the interpretations given to various articles of the Convention by different countries were widely divergent. Neither the present Conservative Government. of this country, nor the Labour Government could ratify the Convention so inapplicable in its present shape to our circumstances and, containing such ambiguities. We had no desire to oppose.the- principle ’ of eight hours. We 'desired only- to order the Convention instrument, under which uniformity of practice and enforcement would be assured, by removing ambiguities, and making provision for various industrial practices which in any Way opposed the principle of the Convention.