STANDARDS MARK IS VALUED BY LABOUR FEDERATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 December 1950, Page 7

STANDARDS MARK IS VALUED BY LABOUR FEDERATION

WELLINGTON, This Day (0.C.). The Federation of Labour wants the work of the Standards Institute continued. It declares itself concerned with recent statements of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation “which clearly reveal a desire on the part of that organisation to negate the important work being carried out by the institute.” The Federation of Labour’s views are set out in a 750-word letter to the Minister of Industries and Commerce, and the Director of the Standards Institute. Recent statements of the Manufacturers’ Federation, the letter claims, “clearly imply that it desires that its members should be free to supply goods of any degree of inferiority to the general public, upon which manufacturers and traders generally are dependent for their prosperity. “It is surprising that any organisation acting on behalf of so important and numerous a membership should have so clearly revealed that it is so little concerned with the quality or cost of the goods supplied by its members to their customers. “The Federation of Labour, m its annual reports, has repeatedly drawn attention to the importance of standardisation as a means of reducing production costs and thereby reducing prices while, at the same time, affording the public some assurance that the goods supplied would conform to some reasonable standard of quality and efficiency. “The Manufacturers’ Federation may rest assured that its endeavour to belittle the use and value of the standard mark will not succeed. “That great section of the public, represented by this organisation will welcome the use of the standard mark as a certification that goods conform to a reasonable standard of quality. “Manufacturers who use it may be assured that their goods will soon find a preference that will provide its own evidence of the people’s appreciation of the work of the Standards Institute and the value t>f the standard mark.”