PRICE CONTROL ‘COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED'

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 February 1949, Page 2

PRICE CONTROL ‘COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED'

[SPECIAL TO STAR! WELLINGTON, This Day.

Stronger, members on the Price Tribunal could have done much better, although a reasonably good job had been made of price control, states the annual report of the national council of the New Zealand Federation of Labour.' The annual conference of the federation had recommended that membership should be completely changed, and should include representatives of the industrial movement and the consumers. The 1 widest publicity should be given to applications for private increases, and a system of public hearings for all important applications adopted, continued the report. The benefit of price control could be seer, in the effects of the removal of control in Canada, Australia, and the United States, where the workers were demanding its restoration. The report added that the question of price control over whole industries, rather than on selected items, was worthy of consideration by the federation. It was also felt that control of profits was just as essential as control of prices. The national executive was concerned at the growing practice of unions joining with employers in support of their applications for price increases.