LABOUR IN NORWAY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22200, 18 February 1942, Page 4

LABOUR IN NORWAY

THE manpower of the Norwegian nation is exploited by Germany by a different method from that used, for instance, in France or Poland. Norwegian prisoners of war were not transported to Germany, although a certain amount of propaganda for “labour volunteers” was carried out among the unemployed. The immense volume of physical work performed in Norway itself in the German interest can, however, be indicated by the fact that about 100,000 unemployed have been absorbed by industry, and that there is now a serious labour shortage instead. This is the more remarkable since the total output of consumers’ goods is admittedly on the decline, and in the textile industries short-time work is still prevalent. In the metal and building industries, however, and more generally in all German-owned enterprises, overtime of two hours a day was made compulsory by official decree. Numerous workers are employed on road and railway construction, harbour construction and shipbuilding, and on other work of strategical significance. Others are working in industries —forestry, fishing, hydro-electricity, manufacturing, and so—which are designed to relieve Germany’s raw material and food position. There is also a shortage of labour in merchant shipping, owing, mainly, to the reluctance of sailors to perform their dangerous profession for the enemy’s sake.

At the same time, the standard of living among the working population has been considerably lowered through direct Nazi intervention. Trade union and employers’ repre-

sentatives had agreed to introduce a sliding wage scale in accordance with changes in the cost of living, but the Nazis have not given their consent to this agreement. The cost of living had already increased by about 30 per cent. The rise in prices is partly due to a new purchase tax, while at the same time actual w ages have also been lowered by a higher wages tax. Many skilled workers formerly working in consumption goods industries are now employed on lower paid work in forestry, road building and agriculture. On the other hand, the payment of extra piece-rales to workers engaged in special defence and fortification work has recently been forbidden. According to a Swedish trade union paper, the Norwegians wage level, formerly one of the highest in the world, has now been lowered to the Central European standard.