The Grey River Argus THURSDAY, January 9th, 1941 PULLING THEIR WEIGHT !

Grey River Argus, 9 January 1941, Page 4

The Grey River Argus THURSDAY, January 9th, 1941 PULLING THEIR WEIGHT !

From the very wide publicity, accompanied by no little recrimination, which any instance of delay in industry is at present given in the Dominion, it might almost be imagined that there was ground for serious complaint. As a matter of actual fact, there isn’t. In all probability the workers generally in this critical period will compare more than fav ourably with the employing class anywhere in the country, judged by their response to the call for co-operation in the war effort. The press, which is in the hands of the employing class, never fails to feature any complaint against workers, and this in a way that might suggest that where there may be ground for some complaint, the. workers generally are at fault. Out of at least a quarter of a million manual workers, however, such criticism of them has not applied to the extent of even one in every two hundred ' and fifty, whereas the press addresses homilies from time to time 1o two hundred and forty-nine out of eveiw two hundred and fifty. The latest instance is where, some factory workers appear to have extended the Christmas holidays for a day or so. If they have had to foil as hard while engaged as appears from the rush nature of the work on which they arc said to be engaged, they may be able to work a great deal better for the rest of the year if they do at this time, have a slightly longer spell. It is very amusing to note people who have a long holiday whenever they feel like one taking up the role of an injured party and talking to workers generally as if they were children. The truth of the whole thing seems to be that the complainants are either very ignorant of ordinary logic, or else reckon that the workers are thus ignorant. The exception is being quoted as if it were the rule, whereas the relative infrequency

of workers stopping their toil for an interval goes to show that nonstop working actually is almost the universal rule. Employers 1 certainly can be given full marks in the matter of eagerness to get done as speedily as possible all ■ jobs directly or indirectly con- ( netted with the war effort. But if somebody asked them Io forego any of the.profits involved, they . might be apt to say that somebody else could have the job. They have their own interest in view quite as much as any other, so that they are not warranted in saying the workers have no right to study their common interest when they believe they might c otherwise suffer a collective injustice. If there has been an occasional instance of a questionable halt in operations, probably a comparative few have misled the majority, or have themselves magnified a minor into a major issue. Anyhow, there are no em-

ployers giving away anything for nothing in connection with the war effort. In Britain, not so long ago, the authorities came to the conclusion that even in the most

essential industries the pace had been made so hot that the workers in the long run were actually losing efficiency, and that the brake had to be applied. If workers in New Zealnad, say in the transport industry, slave out their insides six days a week, they will lose efficiency if they are kept going likewise on the seventh day. A sense of proportion is called for in everybody, and especially in those who demand the maximum from the other fellow. Not one in a thousand New Zealand workers would designedly retard the war effort in any way, and the Minister of Labour is 100 per cent, right when he says that the vast majority of the wage-earners are 100 per cent, with the Government in that regard. It is invariably some manual workers who are singled out for an example, whereas manual work when speeded up and prolonged entails a physical reaction which those without experience of it appear to ignore. Pot-bellied critics whose careers have been dedicated to sweat conservation might to try themselves out before they condemn others. Taken by and large. Ihe New Zealand workers are the backbone of. the Dominion’s war effort, and when a few lay themselves open to criticism, it is no occasion for blaming -any jot hers It is rather one for a definition of what is to be regarded as a reasonable effort in view of the stringency of the war situation. It is not when workers exceed normal hours in their labour week after week that they are given any prominence, although it must be said that they look for no more wordy kudos; it -s only when there happens, here or there, to be a hitch in the process that the labourers in question are given anv mention. The workers, on their part, will not allow themselves to be browbeaten in this fashion. They have absolutely no reason to tolerate such q thing. Thev are doing their bit.