BONUSES AS THE SPUR

Chronicle (Levin), 5 April 1949, Page 5

BONUSES AS THE SPUR

Australian Production Falls Down Seriously SYDNRY, Aprit 4. Tbe fa-Uing pff ;in . prpvdu,GSbion has beeome so seripps in tpat tae Labour Party has Vem for.ped to abandon oue of . its .nipsf pherisijeii pianks in its platform aM t o apyAeatt tlie introduction •pf mcentive payjn«Bts or bonuses as & spur to workers. ifkis step has resuited oniy because appeals hy Mr. Chifley and his Ministers have "borne uo fruit among tin workers. All available flgures show that cost.- , are rising rapidly whiie production oftejn. remain s at levels below those oi 1939'. * Many econom-ists claim that the in creased costs stem mainiy frotn the introduction of the 40-'hour week whieh, they aver, has been responsibie for ai eyen greater fall in production than represented by th§ hours lost. A prominent Labour supporter says that the 40-hour week system has not been fairly tried iu Australia because. in most faetori.es, the ful) 40 hours i. not worked. He adds; in explap.atiou. that slovenly methods and gener.al iack of efficiency have resuited in che week*' ly hours being as low as 3.5 while greater rest peripds havg not had the hoped-for effpet of increasing efficiency Mr. L. Withall, F.ed.era] director oi the Associated Ghkniber.s of Manufae turers, s,ays that .all over Australia where factories have adhered to the 40rhour week; production has fallen, whereas in cases where longer hours are worker and oyertime is paid, outpui has increased, His statement that empioyers who have introduced some forai of ineentive payments havp haived their lndpstruu troubles and increased production, is not questionpd by th.e Labo.ur Farty. So far the Liberal Pai'ty, which suggested ineentive payments many ygars ago aud .which mak.es proflt shariug schemes part of its industrial policy, has made no pomment, Observing Mw ' trend of economic matters in Australia, Mr. Menzies and Mr. Casey expecteu no less. They were not eveu surprised when, following a request by caucu.and Labour Party headquarters, the 'Australian Couneil of Trade Unions agreed to investigate ineentive pay ments. But Australian unionism has a loug way to go before the uew order is implemented. The Communists, who have a strong hold in many important unions, will fight any suggestion of a profit sharing system — even disregarding their operation in the Soviet Uniou itseif. They will work on the distrust which exists between employee anu ; management, for contenled workers have never reacted favourably to tne militants. Hqw far the new view will penetrate the massed ranks of labour, is not yet elear but it is plain that the words "sweat shops" and "siave labour," will be exclusive :prpperty,-of the Corn ■ munists in this ' year's Federal eleetion.