BRITISH DOCKERS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 44, 15 November 1940, Page 12

BRITISH DOCKERS

31 r. Eraser Replies To Criticism PART IN WAR EFFORT “We have cause io be grateful to the British worker upon whom a great, purl, of Hie brunt of the present struggle is now railing, ’’ said Hie Prime Minister. Mr. Fraser, when referring yesterday to a London cable message in whieli it was stated that I here had been complaints in some qmirlers of slacking by English dock workers. •'The report savours very mm-ii to mo of a cheap Press si uni.” said Mr. Fraser, “and 1 feel that ils apparent exaggerations give a false picture ot conditions in Britain today. From evidence in my own possession, and from some knowledge of tlie dockland areas, I feel that a wrong impression of real conditions has been drawn. I have no hesitation in slating that the British dockers have never worked harder than they have during the present war. and they have not: confined their efforts to Britain alone. -Hundreds went across to work for the Expeditionary Force in the French ports of Brest. Le Havre. Cherbourg. St. Nazaire, and other places. Moreover, men have been transferred to wherever shipping pressure was greatest, and Hie labour force of the West of England ports in particular has been strengthened from Eastern ports to meet new and urgent, demands. “It should be realized also that the dockland areas have been very heavily bombed, and though a groat many workers have been rendered homeless they are still carrying on with their work. Another circumstance which must inevitably affect efficiency is the fact: that since the docks have been one of the principal Nazi targets since the blitzkrieg began, loading is constantly being interfered with and during air raid alarms workers are compelled to seek shelter. "This factor has a serious effect on activities and is not, of course, confined to dock workers. It. affects practically every phit.se of war production, and it is a striking tribute to tlie British worker That he not: only does splendid work in the face of danger but he does it with a grim determination that whatever Hie personal danger to him and his family Britain's war effort shall proceed at an ever-accelerating rate.”