FOREIGN COMPETITION.
THE placing of big British shipbuilding- orders with German and other foreign firms brought about the setting- up of an official committee of inquiry. The report of the committee avows that there is no substance in the contention that the difference in tenders was due to any greater skill on the part of the German workmen, or to superiority in technical equipment, organising- capacity, or the science of naval architecture. The inability of British tenderers to get down to the German fig-ure, on the contrary, was found to be due to the burden of cost of materials, and equipment and services beyond the control of the industry. On the question of labour costs the committee supplied the following- table of weekly earnings (with the lengths of the workingweek) in Germany, Holland and Britain is given;—
(Tyne; 47 hours) But there the comparison ended. The inability of the committee to supply any comparison of the productivity of the hour unit robbed the table of any g-reat value. From a practical point of view the committee’s report
was worthless, it tneoriseci a great deal. It made suggestions. Quite seriously it proposed to ask the Minister of Labour “ whether there are any steps he can take to further the observance of a shorter working week in the shipyards of other countries.” Its other suggestions were on a par. Subject matter for polemics was freely supplied by clauses such as : “ A joint conference, to discuss better interchangeability of work, “ without infringement of the broad principles of craftsmanship But when it came to the issue at stake: Why Germany and Holland can build ships more cheaply than Great Britain the committee assigned no reason. Probably it did not know why. Any way as far as the British public is concerned the report does not let it know.
Skilled Unwork. skilled. skillet Germany 35/S 32/11 28/1 (Hamburg-; to to to 54 hours) 37/10 35/1 30/3 Holland 44/0 38/ 0 33/0 (Rotterdam 54 hours) Britain 5-5/0 41/6 38/0
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Bibliographic details
Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 117, 21 January 1926, Page 4
Word Count
333FOREIGN COMPETITION. Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 117, 21 January 1926, Page 4
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