HOURS OF WORK

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 June 1946, Page 6

HOURS OF WORK

ARE THEY SUFFICIENT FOR NEEDS ? PRIME MINISTER’S VIEWS (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 31. “For myself, I do not think that any hours are sacrosanct,” said the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser), after referring to the shortage of timber, cement, and coal, when a deputation waited upon him. to-day to present remits adopted'at the Dominion conference of the Returned Services’ Association. Mr. Fraser added that if a proper standard of living could not be maintained on a 40-hour week he did not see any objection to additional hours that would produce it. If 30 hours could do it, then he saw no reason why hours should not be reduced to that.

Shortages Discussed.

The remarks by the Prime Minister followed an inquiry by the Dominion vice-president of the Returned Services’ Association (Mr. C. O. Eell), as to what was being done to increase supplies of timber and cement for housing. It had been stated that the shortage of cement, which was a bottleneck, was caused by the coal position, he said. What was the position as far as working conditions in those industries were concerned? The Prime Minister said that he advised-the Returned Services’ Association to set up a committee of trade unionists and other workers to address themselves to these problems. He would be glad to have representations from any such committee. A great many of the men who went to the war would not go back into timber mills, and the same applied to coal mines. The State Forest Service was taking steps to provide better housing conditions at the mills, as young men would hesitate to take their young wives to live in shacks around the mills.

More coal was being produced in New Zealand now than at any other time in its history and less was imported, said Mr. Fraser. There were shipping difficulties with coal and cement, and cement work on tunnels had been stopped so that Taranaki and Palmerston North could be assisted with cement. These problems were being dealt with, but they were not easy. Cigarettes and Matches. There' was- also the problem of cigarettes and matches, he added. Young girls had been ordered into factories during the war, but they could not be kept there now against their wishes.\The question had come up the other day of the shortage of bricks, and there were enough kilns to produce enormous quantities of bricks.

By and large, no country had had better from its workers than New Zealand had had during the war. “I would not hesitate to say to the workers in any industry—‘The hours are not sufficient—what can you do?’ ” said the Prime Minister. He added that in some coal mines men were going back to work on Monday and on back Saturdays.