SEVEN MILLIONS

Grey River Argus, 28 February 1947, Page 5

SEVEN MILLIONS

TO WORK AT NIGHT f Britain’s Power Shortage LONDON, February 26. Night shifts will be a feature of British industry for at least the next three years in order to spread the electricity demand more evenly and avoid a break-down. This prolonged period iy necessary for the manufacture of new generating plant needed to cope with the full day-time demand, says Reuters. It is proposed that one-third of the workers in the main manufacturing industries using electricity shall work in the night-time each week. If some additional transport workers who will be?needed are included, the number concerned totals over 7,000,000. They will work at nighttime for one week in every three or four. Therefore the total working night at any given time will be anything up' to 2,250,000. Women are included in the total of 7,000,000. Their work is regarded as essential, and roughly 2,300,000 will be affected.

The Government expected that there would’be three stages- in bringing industry back to production, said Sir Stafford Cripps, in the House of Commons. First, there would be a few relaxations of electricity restrictions in London and the north-west. This would enable the north-west to prepare for the resumption of supply next week, and also ease the position slightly in London, where the Government hoped industry would be able to start again “before too long”. Secondly, the Government would have to improvise plans for two or three weeks to sort out the complications resulting from' the diversion of coal to priority consumers during the blizzards.

Thirdly, the Government hoped to get industry back for the remainder of the winter on the allocation plan which was just starting when the blizzard caused general disruption. Sir Stafford said that the summer months- would have to be used for stocking up, and the Government, for this purpose, would produce a coal budget, including some form of limitation on the use of gas and electricity bv domestic consumers.

‘He added that it would be two or three years before Britain got sufficient generating plant to meet even existing needs, apart from future requirements. The country’s difficulties could be relieved without the plants shedding the load if a third of industry went on to night work. Britain might have to face things' moie difficult’than that if the country were to secure firm economic foundations. “The general situation is still critical, but not so critical as it was”, he added. We have to work out longterm arrangements, vvh’ch may be unpleasant for the people, in the interests of industry".