SCATHING ATTACK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21067, 12 April 1943, Page 4

SCATHING ATTACK

BRITISH OUTPUT WAR SUPPLIES LAG WORKERS' CRITICISM (By Telecraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) (10.20 a.in.) RUGBY, April 11. “Although enormous advances have been made in Britain’s war production, many obstacles still clutter up the wav to a clean drive through to victory' on the industrial front,” according to a report from the Amalgamated Engineering Union. The report, which is based oil 1 returns from joint production committees in 1000 factories, says that the Ministry of Production had no overriding authority to end the scramble for priorities which was crippling production, v Countless workshops were grappling with intolerable shortages and inadequacies. 1 ‘ The. system of allocating raw materials, which was safe in the hands of monopoly interests, still defeats the efforts of the plan to carry out programmes of continuous high output. Sub-contracts still evade control and and confusion, reigns in the underworld-of sub-contractors who retain a vast reserve of precious skill.

.“.It is evident that there is a fundamental lack of ,a long-term central- plan for production which is capablo of over-ruling all. vested interests and irrelevant considerations. “During the recent events in North Africa production limped on with un-cb-ordinated steps, stumbling over protected inefficiency, guided principally by the combined zeal, goodwill and ingenuity of individual arrangements, and the .men who rail against the slow pace. , Britain has been geared up" to" a higher production effort than evef, : but at the top' there is- still improvisation and fiddling—fiddling to accommodate the interests of private ownership and -to safeguard the" least efficient -unit and to avoid stepping bn the toes of powerful interests associated with the controls governing production. “Pressure From Above" “The workers fear that, as victory comes within sight, there will be iti--1 creasing pressure- froiti above to discourage their partieipatidii in the organisation of production and less inclination to subject the big industrialists to the 1 type of control without which production cannot reach its potential maximum. - The . workers are not persuaded that every ounce is going into the fight to-day,. There comes a point, which ive are fast approaching, when half-measures are not far removed froth sabotage. ” The report emphasises-;.that. - its information is drawn exclusively from tho workers,- but •no jp.bint is made which.is not frilly backed by eyidehce. Increased, production is recorded in 49 per cqrit of the cstabTsiKments covered by: the report, compared With 04 per cent recorded in the previoris report. The increased, output is attributed to the reorganisation within tho factories and improved cooperation from the managements, decreased production is recorded, in 4 per cciit of the factories, while 4(i per cent showed no change. Other factors ' holding up production, says the report, are obsolete and unsuitable machine tools, misuse of labour, idle machines, shortage of supplies', urtveri • flow of orders, obstructive managements, low standards of output, late-coming, and absenteeism. -y