HOSPITAL BOARD POLICY.

Grey River Argus, 16 December 1943, Page 6

HOSPITAL BOARD POLICY.

(To the Editor). . Sir,—I wish to make a few comments on the report published in the papers regarding the re-affirmation of the Grey Hospital Board’s resolution not to be affiliated with the Hospital Boards’ Association of Employers. The Chairman’s statement that the Board is elected by all sections of the community is so obvious that it calls for no comment, as any thinking ratepayer realises that the members are democratically elected to administer the affairs of that Board, irrespective of any member’s political leanings. One member’s statement that it was necessary to become a member of an Employers’ Union pears to sug"est that, at least in that member's opinion, the Board would not be able to make a local agreement without the advice of a parent body, and that the Board would blindly foH low any agreement made by such a parent body. That point was in fact raised by another member who strongly opposed any suggestion of areduction of wages or conditions, and gave in my opinion a true indication of what should be the Board’s policy. It is a generally accepted fact tnar any Union of Employers is formed to combat the clainis of the workers. While such an organisation Is necessary in private business or industry, it is not the function of a local body, subsidised bv the Government to ally itself to a national employers’ body. I think it is a credit to the Board members that they have adopted this attitude, and that the public should appreciate the fact of the whole question being publicly aired I am etc., SATISFIED.-