INDUSTRIAL POLICY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 287, 23 August 1918, Page 7

INDUSTRIAL POLICY

THE GARTON MEMORANDUM

FOUR BROAD PRINCIPLES

IV (Conclusion),

Only by the removal of the mutiml Inutility of employers and employed can yo sulvu tho industrial problem and liruduco industrial prosperity. ' Pour broad principles must guide the solution :—

.'»). Tho first necessity of the industrial filiation is greater efliciency of production, an increase of tho volume and the quality of output. (b) Thisre-ult must bo sought for Tathor in improved organisation and tho elimination of waste and friction, than in ndding to the strain on the workers. iind must bo nccompnnied by giving to industry ii worthier and moro clearly recognised place in our national life.'

(c) Ibis can only ho accomplished by the active co-operation of Labour, Management, and Capital to raise the general level of'productive .capacity, to maintain i\ high stnndard of workmanship, and to improve working conditions. ■ (d) Labour, as a party to imlustrv, should have a voice in matters directly concerning ils special interests, such as Tate.s of pay and conditions of employment. Adequate machinery should ho created both for securing united action in tho pursuit of common en-Is and far the equitable adjustment of points which inyolvo competing interests. This machinery must bo sufficiently powerful to enable -both sides to accept its decisions with confidence that any agreement arrived at will be generally observed. No Radical Reconstruction of Social System.

A\o have to deal with an immediate danger— the prospect of an industrial crisis following on the signing of pence. J\'o measure involving a radical reconstruction of tho social system lias any ohanco of adoption in time- to avert this evil. On the other hand, tho prospect ot any specific programme'emerging ii'om n period of internal conflict is small. We can .only find a way out of tho threatened difficulties by accepting the conditions imdor which wo work ami nocking to unite all classes in the pursuit of interests which are common to all. whatever may bo the ultimate direction of industrial progress, an- advance is Jnoro likely to be founded on a first right step than to come through the chaos of industrial warfare and class-Imbed. Whalever action is taken must be the result of frank and full discussion between representatives of all parties to tho question. It will not do to look to tho Government for tho initiative. Whatever part tho State may play in the future of industry, it cannot move in advance of tho general level of opinion among those concerned. Moat of tho difficulties apply with'equal force ,to State-con I rolled industries, and while the solution may involvo legislative sanction or State action, tho problem itsolf can bo fsetUed only by agreement between thoso chiefly concerned.

It is probable that a largo percentage flf tho disputes arising over rates of pay, the introduction of labour-saving' machinery, hours of work, the demarcation of tasks, trade union restrictions, could lie'avoided or compromised, if employers and employed really understood tho reasons for tho attitude of tho other party, Tho opposition to new methods of working, labour-saving machinery, dilution of labon,r, scientific management, springs largely from the fact that those schemes are imposed from abovn and arc presumed to bo framed solely in tho interest of the employers. Tho opposition to them is. in fact, a revolt against dictation. On the other hand, tho uncompromising attitudes of employers docs not, generally speaking, arise from a tyrannical spirit or a mero desire for increased' profits, but from impatience with tho men's separatist attitude and their inability to realise the common dependence of employers and employed upon tho produce of their joint exertions. Tho same difficulty arises in the caso of distribution of earnings. Tho worker feels that his labour is treated as a mere commodity, the market valuo of which may be forced down by the employer, irrespective of any consideration of a decent standard of lifo for tho employed, and that ho receives the reward of' his toil not as a matter of right or as tho equitable, division of the proceeds of joint effort, but as a dole fixed by tho nrbilrary will of tho emplover or as a concession extorted by force. The employer feels that each demand made upon him represents a raid upon his profits limited solely by tho power of the workers' organisations and unaffected bv any consideration of the working expenses of the business, provision for depreciation or dilapidations, or the building up of ft reserve nennst fivhvro depression. The main problem is, therefore, fo fettle Ihe miestion of stains in some way ■which shall givo tho workman the sense of self-respect and responsibility which he desires, without interfering unduly wilh I lie employer's exercise of the necessary functions of management. Tho irade union regulations, so largely suspended by agreement for the period of lb" war represented an attempt to substitute for the autocratic control of tho employer over the working lives of his employees a greater degreo of self<iiTection by the organised workers them-

selves, acting through their accredited representative:). Co-operation Required in Lieu of Antagonism, The explanation of the comparative failure of the employers' associations and trade unions <m tho constructive su'ilo of tho industrial problem is to bo found ill their strictly sectional and defensive origin and outlook. Jtegarding themselves as entrusted with tho interests of ono parly to industry and not of industry itself, they have paid no attention to tho problems and difficulties of the other side, and I hey have conic together only when one had a demand to make of the other or when a conflict was imminent. Thus they hnvo always met in an atmosphere of antagonism, and their negotiations have been carried on as between two hostile bodies. Exchange of views has come at too late a stage in the prneeeiMngs, nnd their discussions hava been confined t« specific points of dispute and have not embraced (he consideration or ( constructive measures for the improvement of industrial conditions and {lie inoreaso of efficiency. Yet the 'possibilities of combined action which lie in these two great groups of highly organised and powerful bodies might transform tho whole. face of industrial life. Their united knowledge of both sides of tho industrial process should enable them to throw light on every phase of its successive developments. Their united strength would render them, in combination, practically irresistible. But the eo-operation between tho two groups must be conlinoiis nnd constructive, and based , upon a recognition of the common interests of employers nnd employed, both as parlies to industry and members of the community. Employers must realise that the necessity of a sympathetic urd°rs(anding of the live? and standpoint of those with whom they work and of a willingness to co-operate, without ,i.>t„!i,.„ ' ,„• ~„(,,,„ „, „,.„„. ende'ivoiir to impro'-e their material or social conditions. Labour must realise its direct interest in tlm improvement of industrial nrocosses. the organisation of industry, the standard nnd niiantity of. production, and the elimination of waste in material or effort, Roth (he employers' associations nnd trade unions must learn to regard themselves ns joint trustees of one of the most important elements of the national life. Joint Committees. The memorandum then points out that conciliation boards or industrial boards on the Australian model are useful in preventing conflict and enabling employers and employed to contract on more equal term", but that the exchange of views before them comes too late, and that the i parties meet not to co-opernto but to oppose, each other. The machinery for .co-operation would consist in its simplest form of joint committed?, representing both the management and tho works staff. At the meetings of such committees any questions affecting working methods and conditions could be brought up for discussion by cither side. The representatives of management would explain the nature and extent of any proposed innovation designed to increase output or economise effort—tho introduction of new automatic machinery, time and motion study, standardisation of tools, analysis of fatigue, elimination of waste— and its cil'ect upon' the earnings of the firm nnd of the individual worker. This explanation should give each worker au interest and sense of responsibility • in his work, by. making it, clear to 'him, through his representatives, tho reason for the methods to be adopted and the relation of his job to the whole process of production. The workers' representatives would consider the proposals from Hie 'point of view of tho interests of the men employed, the relation between the different, classes of labour, tho strain on the workers, the amount, of iniorest nnd intelligence put into their work. Tf necessary they would put forward modifications or safeguards' for tho protection of these interests. Where the result was to show a real divergence of opinion or of interest it. would be freely discussed, with a view to finding a way round nnd adjusting the balance botween common and competing interests. In like manner proposals for alterations in the, hours or conditions of .labour, in the interests of the health or social welfare of the workers, would be put forward by the workers' representatives and discussed in the light of any objections on the score of expense or difficulties of working urged by the representatives of management. , Joint Board for Staple Trades. In the staple trades the method of works committees would require to bo replaced, or supplemented, by joint boards composed by representatives of the employers' associations and tho irado unions. Two co-equal boards might ho created in each industry, one representing Management and tho other Labour, with'a supremo board of control coordinating the work of both. The functions of the management board would cover the "business" side of tho industry; those of tho labour board would relate to conditions and horns of labour, tho demarcation of tasks, and everything that touches most, nearly the lifo of the worker. -Representatives of these boards, meeting on the supreme board of control, would deal jointly with all matters by which the interests of both parties were affected. Such questions as the dilution of labour would bo discussed by the joint board of control, both froin the point of view of efficiency in production and from tiiat of the interests of tho workers and' the position of the trade unions. In this manner it should be possible to construct nnd give effect to a definite policy and programme for each

great industry as a whole, representing n reconciliation between the common ami competing interests of employers unci employed, and based both upon the desire to obtain tho maximum of efliciency and the, desiro to obtain the IjCit possible conditions for the workers.

In order to avoid the evils of inelasticity and over-centralisation, nnd to make duo provision for tho varying conditions of diiVerent localities and firms, it might he advisable to combine the creation of I hose central boards with an organisation of district and works committees, charged with the special care of local and individual interests and problems The representation of such committees on the central boards and the delegation to them of local questions would constituto a protection against tho injustice which might otherwise bo done by an attempt to equalise rates of pay in areas which differ widely as to the cost of housing and food, or i'l which the conditions of production aiai transport: produce important variations in working expenses. They would also serve as a protection to establish workshop and local craft traditions against the deadening tendency to a mechanical uniformity. National Industrial Councils, In iis most ambitious form, the Supreme Hoard of Control would resolve iiscll into a iNatiuual Industrial-Council lor each ot the staple industries or groups of allied industries. The members would be elected by ballot, each electoral unit, or pair of parallel units, returning one representative of Management and one 01 Labour. In many industries it would be desirable to find"a place on the council for representatives of the Applied Arts, both with a view to raising the standard of design and workmanship, and with the object of encouraging; the human and creative interest in production. Such industrial councils would not supersede the existing employers' associations and trade unions, juuiiy sides of wheso present activities would'bo unaffected by the creation of tin; new bodies. Matters connected with sources and supply of raw material and the cultivation of markets for the disposal of the finished products would remain exclusively the concern of .purely commercial federations of manufacturers, acting in conjunction with the Stale. The benefit side of trade unions and many phases of the internal organisation of labour by them would be similarly unaffected. The. unions and the employers' associations would send their delegates to the industrial councils charged with the defence of (he special interests represented by them and equipped with special knowledge of their particular problems. Tho general policy outlined by tho industrial parliaments would be carried out in detail largely through the older organisations. Field of Action. The field of action open to the industrial councils would extend, to (a) the suggestion and consideration of improved methods and organisation; (b) the maintenance of works, discipline and output; (c) the maintenance of a high standard of desigu and workmanship; (d) tho education and training of apprentices, and the conditions of .entry into the industry ■ concerned; (e) the demarcation of tasks; (f) tho prevention of unemployment, the development of security of tenure in tho trade, and the deoasualisation of labour; (g) questions of wages and piece rates; (h) _ tho prosecution of research and experiment, and (i) tho improving of the public status of the industry. Where the council represented a, group of allied trades, it would naturally concern itself with the co-ordination of their work and tho adjustment of their respective interests. In addition to the promotion of internal prosperity, the councils would be able to give, public utterance to the views and needs of each industrv in its relation to tho whole national life. They would take account not only of economic, but of moral and aesthetic," values. Their, object would be not merely to increase the productive efficiency of the. industry and to reconcile the competing interests of those engaged in it, but. emphasiso the worth and dignity of industrial lifo. nnd to enlarge the scopo offered by it to the energies and ambitions of those concerned. It would be pari; of their task to emphasise' the close connection between industrial questions and those relating to education and social conditions.

New Attitude Required to Industry,

Whatever scheme is adopted should give expression (o a real desire for cooperation between employers and employed. Whatever form the new developments may take, the essential preliminary is the adoption of a new attitude with regard to industry, the recognition of national Tesponsibilitv for industrial conditions, the recognition of the joint responsibility towards the nation borne by those who arc engaged, whether as employers or employed, in its activities. To hold the balance true between the economic and the human sido of (ho problem; to increase at onco the extent and quality of output; to makn the work of each man, in any position, an integral and worthy part of his life as a citizen; this is a task as truly national as that of victory in war.