THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1936 FORTY-HOUR WEEK BEGINS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22512, 1 September 1936, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1936 FORTY-HOUR WEEK BEGINS

A great industrial experiment, the 40-hour week, comes into fairly general operation throughout New Zealand this morning. The principle has been enacted by the Government, applied wherever practicable by the Arbitration Court, and now has to be worked out in practice. The real test is about to begin. . Whether it is successfully passed or not, whether the 40-hour week from the experimental stage to become an established fact, depends as much on the workers as on the employers. The employers are bound to do their best to make the shorter week workable because the survival of their industries and businesses is at stake. The result of their efforts will be largely conditioned by the measure of cooperation given by their staffs. Some of these are disappointed because they have not received all they expected by way of reduced hours or the elimination of Saturday work, but, as the Prime Minister empha- j sises in a statement published this | morning, the economics of trade and i industry cannot be recast overnight j in labour's favour by a mere stroke I of the legislative pen. It was left j to the Court to decide whether the j principle could be applied to the facts in particular industries. Unfortunately it had to clear a mass of work under pressure owing to the restricted time limit set by the Government, and it would be surprising, in the circumstances, if all its decisions were perfectly consistent. Probably the employers have more cause for dissatisfaction than the workers, but both should be prepared to accept the Court's interpretation of the rules and play out the game in the best spirit.

So far most of the points have been awarded to the workers. They have gained most of the decisions on hours and have had wages restored to the 1931 level, generally for shorter time. They should recognise that the new conditions cannot be established automatically and that the employers are faced wi£h many difficulties and problems. These will in most cases take time to dispose of. So far the employers have been allowed very little time and given the minimum of consideration. The whole business has been rushed and a set of new conditions imposed' on them with only hurried regard for the economics and organisation of their businesses. It is notable, that, while private employers are required to conform to the new regime on a hard and fast date, the Government is suiting its own convenience in adopting the 40-hour week in the departments. Certain Ministers are finding it impossible to apply it universally and immediately to their staffs. Why should they expect and order private employers to accomj plish more than the State can do, to fulfil conditions that they admit they- find impracticable to grant all •» at once 1 The discrimination in their own favour is all the more marked because the private employer has to meet competition not faced by the State departments. For the Government it has been pleaded that time is required to work out the organis- ) ation of the shorter working week and to train the extra staffs made necessary. Nevertheless the same plea did not succeed when advanced in particular cases by the employers. Now there can be no question of the Government's sincerity on the new policy, but its very sincerity makes the more impressive its admission in practice that there are severe obstacles to be overcome. That should persuade the workers that the private employers' objections cannot be lightly brushed aside, that they are real, and that employers are faced with a stiff problem which may prove insoluble for many without the utmost co-operation from their staffs. As well as paying higher wages foi shorter hours, employers will hav< to pay stiffer taxes. If they are tc remain in business, these extra costs will have to be added to prices, thus discounting the rise in wages. Whal effect higher prices may have or volume of output remains to be seen, but there is the risk of reducing demand and consequently employment. A graver and more immediate risk is that placed on industrialists who have to meet overseas competition and cannot recoup themselves by raising prices. In spite of Mr. Savage's reassuring statements, nothing has been done to protect these manufacturers from an influx of imports, nor has anything been proposed. On the other hand a country so dependent as is New Zealand on its 'export trade must guard against producers being prejudiced by high internal costs or high tariff barriers in competing in unsheltered markets overseas. When all these factors are taken together, it is seen that New Zealand is hazarding a great deal on the Government's industrial experiment. Its success has yet to be proved by operation, and it will undoubtedly be hopelessly jeopardised if the workers are not prepared to help it to succeed. This morning Mr. Savage advises patience, and it is good advice. Every returned soldier knows the importance of consolidating the ground won. If an attempt is made to advance wages and conditions ahead of the capacity of industry to support them, the inevitable result will be collapse and retreat. As the Prime Minister points out, the Government established the general principle and left detailed application to "a competent tribunal to judge ... in the light oif evidence." The Government, he says, does not intend to dictate to the Court, u a judicial body," and the workers should be equally ready to uphold its authority instead of attempting to override it. Permanent gains are made, not by violence, but by co-operation.