MUNITION MAKING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 8

MUNITION MAKING

RAILWAY WORKSHOPS NEEDS OF THE SERVICES DECREASE IN STAFF The workshops of the New Zealand railways are at'present undertaking to tljcir full capacity the manufacture ol munitions, and so important is the work and so short is the staff that the average hours worked by each member of the service amount to 50 a week. The special munitions and machinery now being manufactured in the workshops include some hundreds of universal gun-carriers, minesweepers, boilers and engines, linen .flax machines, Otago rolling mills duplication and army trucks, as well as all classes of work for the Army, Navy arid Air Departments. This information was given to the Armed Forces Appeal 'Board at Christchurch when a number of appeals for exemption from military service were asked for by the Director of National Service on behalf of the Railways Department. After representations had been made to the board by Mr. H. W. Dallison, workshops superintendent, with headquarters in Wellington, adjournments sine die were granted in all cases. On November 8 a total of 8821 employees of the service were either serving overseas or else in camps waiting to leave for overseas. In addition at present there are 618 men undergoing territorial training, and this group remains consistently between 500 and 600, Since war was declared man-hours have increased toy 2,000.000, and to help offset this 2000 juniors have been appointed (including 550 female clerks), but this has been at the expense of efficiency. To compensate for the decrease of manpower and the increase of man-hours, it is necessary to work long hours of overtime in all branches of the service.