ABSENCE OF STRIKES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 127, Issue 127, 9 July 1941, Page 2

ABSENCE OF STRIKES

POSITION IN CANADA INFINITESIMAI• LOSS IN WAR INDUSTRIE'S "Canada is fortunate in haA'ing an industrious popnla'ion and one \vhi:'h early ren'is d ihe vital issues at stake in the present struggle, and in no place ha v this realisation been greater than among our workers," said the High Comnvssioner for Cana 'a in New Zealand, Dr. W. A. Riddell, Avhen addressing the Wellington Rotary Cub. "Canada is; A'ircually free from strikes," he sain. "Time lost in nil industries as related to the total number of Avorkers in Canada, is equivalent to only 10 seconds 1 a day. fn Avar industries it has amounted to only a quarter of this, or seconds a day. "Only two important strikes hare occurred. One was a strike m a Hamilton steel plant. A dispute betAveen the management and the worker"? was referred to a Conciliation Board as is required by lr>w. The management having refused to accept the majority finding of the board, th** workers AA r ent on st r ike. Without de lay the installed a controller to talw over the management of the plant, and next morning the workers AA r ere back at their jobs and production resumed"The other AA 7 aS in Montreal, where 700 strikers returned to Avork immediately after being warned by 1;h« Department of Labour that labour r ts well as emp l overs had a responsibility to see that essential war industries must not bn delayed through industrial disputes. "About 350.000 additional men haA T e been absorbed into industrial employment since the outbreak of war." said Dr. Riddell. "One hundred thousand Avili brj trained in tech nical and plant schools in the course of the year, and of these about 80.|n, OO Avill be available for Avar industries. "Canada, fortunately for our war effort, is one of the Avorld's leading producers of minerals', and metals vital for mechanised Avarfare. She produces some 23 metals and 20 non metallics, including copper, lead, dnc, nickel and aluminium. T'h<» aluminium she; produces is sufficient for the construction of 50,000 aeroplanes a year. "Though Ave are sending large quantities of agricultural products to Great Britain, Ave also have half a billion bushels of Avheat in store, and at the end of the Avar this Avill be to feed a hungry AA T orld. "Canada is fortunate in having large supplies of hydro-electric poAV. er: something over 8,500,000 h/n. is already befmg produced, and practically every kiloAvatt of this is bein£ used at present. Construction wor!» has also begun on new poAver development to produce another half a million h.p. for use in increasing the manufacture i'o aluminium fo? aeroplanes. The recent agreement with the United S : .ate;s to deA'elop hydro-lectric poAvcr on the St. LaAv rence Avill giA*e each country an ad ditional 1,100.000 h.p."