WORKING FOR VICTORY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23721, 30 July 1940, Page 6

WORKING FOR VICTORY

Another instance of workers giving practical expression to their will for victory is provided by the foundry employees of Booth, Macdonald and Company, Penrose. They have offered to work an additional four hours a week at ordinary rates of pay for the duration of the war, a modification of conditions that no doubt will be approved by the Government, which has power to ratify such arrangements. Actually the workers' offer is most timely as the foundry is engaged on Government contracts. The benefits should be mutual, adding 10 per cent to the foundry's production'and 10 per cent to the workers' wages. While this latter increment is not negligible, the ruling and activating motive of the workers is "our desire to do our utmost to further New Zealand's war effort." They want to be doing their bit, to back the men on active service—their sons, nephews and brothers. This moral recompense must always be the highest reward,.

Other groups of workers have taken similar decisions, some even forgoing payment for longer he n-s, and all moved by the idea of helping to man the economic front during the war. One of the first to give the lead was the Nightcaps coal miners' union and it was followed by others on the West Coast. In relation to the whole body of Labour, however, the movement is small. If a really substantial contribution is to bo made to increased production—the great need in prosecuting the war and in preventing inflated prices—the principle of working harder for victory requires to be much more generally accepted. Now that several bodies of workers have proved the latent will of Labour by taking the initiative, the Minister would do well to restate the proposition to all workers. Given the impulse, the workers could surely be relied on to respond to the country's urgent need.