FORTY-HOUR WEEK

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 55, 6 March 1942, Page 4

FORTY-HOUR WEEK

! HAMPERING FARMERS NORTH ( ANTERBI RY PROTEST (Press Assn.) Christchurch, March 4. A strong protest against the retortion of the 40-hour week in the present state of war was made by Mr. J. Vv. Earl at. a meeting to-day of the . North Canterbury district executive . of tiie New Zealand Farmers’ Union. “The enemy is at our back door,” said Mr. Earl, “and the Government has not got the guts or the backbone to suspend f'.ie 10-hour wet k.” i Farmers were working al! hour.-, and when lheir children grew up they would be ashamed to admit, lhat they had permitted the things they were permitting in 1942, ho said. Lalor, in a discussion on wheatgrowing, Mr. A. M. Carnenter said , that while newspapers, grain merchant'; and others wore pointing out the responsibility of the farmer to grow wheat, the farmers, while accepting that responsibility, reserved Iho right to “point out certain facts." Farmers worked, ho said, with no stopwork meetings, no strikes and no . a farmer working all hours and days demands for more money, but when (Sundays included) wanted to send his wheat to the miller, only by a great concession were a few sacks accepted on a Saturday afternoon. The 40-hour week stopped that sort "I' thing. Or if a farmer's machinery broke down on Friday night it might not be repaired until Tuesday morning because overtime work was too expensive to pay for outside the 40hour week. And while the farmer wanted labour the placement office was broadcasting appeals, giving t.c<conditions of employment, for forestry workers. Farmers were plae-'’ 1 at a disadvantage by all this. Coi’.''i not the 40-hour week be waived? Could not forestry work wait a whil And. above all, could not wheatgrowing be declared an essential industry? | The discussion ended when a resolution was carried that farm machinerv experts and service men be classified as essential key men. Members said they wanted the resolution to imply that the industry bp treated as essential.