DEMANDS ON INDUSTRY
BRITISH STATEMENT ON ECONOMIC RELATIONS / fc ■ — 7 The National Joint Advisory Council has been recon- . stituted in order that the Government may receive from both 1 sides of industry the best advice and assistance on all matters alfecting relations between employers and workers. .It consists of 17 representatives of the Employers' Confederation and 17 of the Trades Union Congress. Meetings have already been held, at which the Lord President of the Council, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ihe Persident of the Board of Trade and the Minister of Labour have been present.
"At a meetingon 0cto,berc30, 1946, the view was genei'ally expressed that an essential" condition of our future prfospei-ity and well'i^be^ngt was 5|d- ' creased produetivity and the most efficient and economic use of labour," : stated Mr. G. Isaacs in a preface to the White Paper on Relations between employers and workers. "There is a prospect for some years to come of a ] general shortage of labour, so that the fear of unemployment should not be i reflected in the outlook of those called upon to seeure increased .production. "The democratic nature of our industrial relations entails great responsibility on -both sides of industry to ; work for the interests of the eountry as a whole, and this is specially im- ! portant in dealing with the very seri- ; ous prohlems which confront.us at the present time. At the meeting on October 30, the council agreed to co-operate with the Government in. disseminating information about the general economic state of the eountry, including questions of comhatting inflation, halancing' foreign trade and increasing the labour force in vital undermanned industries. "The council aceordingly requested the Government to mafce availahle a full statement of the main economic considerations affecting relations hetwen employers and trade unions. This paper has been prepared in response to that request, and is issued in full asociatioh with both "sides of the National Joint Advisqry Concil and with their endorsement." Need for Sustained Effort. The statement hegins by emphasising the great need for a considerable sustained increase in production of all kinds. It details the reasons why Britain's position. is extremeiy serious and adds that in spite of the vicissitudes of the last seven years this eountry has proceeded rapidly to establish scnemes of social improvements in the way of the housing j programme, improved educational sys- ' tem, comprehensive old-age, unemploy- i ment and health insurance systems, , and medical and other services. The.kernel of the economic industrial policy of the British Government is a speedy and substantial increase in the output of products of British industry, coupled with maintenance of quality. Extension of consultation betwen management and workpeople v/ould he advantageous. The biggest .prohlem is the shortage of manpower. The eountry has six years' arrears of civilian york to catch up on in addition to repairing a vast amount of bomb damage and re■building of blitzed areas. New houses have to be huilt, industry has to be modernised and re-equipped, public services have to be improved to meet new needs; new schools, hospitals and many other facilities of a corporate life have to be provided, and abovc all we have to 1'estore an abundant supply of goods and services for the consumer at home, and to meet the needs of export trade. How is all this work to be done? At the end of November last year the total working population was some 20,324,000, or some 570,0-00 more than mid-11939, but this does not mean that we have suffiicient labour.
Raising of School Age. For export worfk, some half-million more are required. Reinforcements from demobilisation this year Will be insufR'cient, while the raising of the scnool-leaving age of 1'5 years will mean the loss of 370,000 in the following 12 months. In fact, the prospect is of an over-all shortage for some years to come. The shortage, however, is not spread evenly. Some of the most vital industries are the most severely undermanned. The statement sets out this position in tabulated form. It shows. for instance, how coal-mining manpower is down by 43,000' on the mid1939 figuxe, cotton by 88,000 and clothing by 125,000. In addition, we must pay our way abroad. As a result of the war, we have incurred debts and lost half our overseas investments — and their income. We import more than half our food, and1 most of our raw materials. At present, though we export more goods than in 1938, we import only 70 per cent. of that year's importg. Yet we cannot even pay for this low amount of imports except -by using the Canadian and United States loans. In the last year there has iben a deficit of about £2/7 million monthly between exports and imports — or £328 million for the year. But the loans give us only a short breathing space, and we must export still more; in ; fact, 75 per. cent. more than before the , war. Passing to costs and prices, the statement says it is not enough to divert output from home consumption to export. Wle must keep our customers and hnd new ones; .we must rnake sure that on price and quality we can sel our goods/ We must increase substantially our share in the world's export trade. The need is for re-equip-ment, increased mechanisation and cooperation in maintaining production at the highest pitch of effiiciency. Internal Prices Steady. v Subsidies have ikept "internal prices steady, -but' in the present hnancial year they will cost nearly £490 mil- . lion — of which some £264 million is )for food. A measure Yf stability" has been achieved, but wages, salaries and profits have been increasingv Regarding wages, it has now been possi-ble over a wide field of industry to make
provision for ipost-wjar seittlements. After rising considerably the general index figure of wage rates has remained virtually stable sin^e last July. The change-over from war to peace so far has been very smooth and :he position reflects the good sense and steadiness of the general body of workers. Wage rate increases since July, 1945-( .reckoned in terms of the 1945 wage jhill,. amount to some £250' million. The total increase since the be;vinning of the war, in terms of the J 939 bill, is some £1200 million. ''The Government and the eountry desire that thsee gains should be made seeure and become a permanent advance i'n real, wages. How is this" de;ire to be achieved? The* statement .says: "The answer, irst and last, is by increasing producion. This is the only means by which .ve can achieve a genuine, permanent ialance between the volume of pur.hasing power and the supply of ?0ods available. At present there is .oo much money chasing after too few voods." Over £7000 million of income (after income tax has -ben paid) is rying to buy some £6000 million worth ->£ goods and services. But increased ;rpduction per hour worked is not .ecessarily in itself enough. Wjhat is .ecessary is increased production per uinum. The statement shows why it s a matter o£ over'-riding importance hat essential industries be ibrought to he necessary strength without delay. The -Government will do all it can o avert or minimise interruptions d-ue o local unemployment. We niay also iave to reckon with dejprejssioits •rising. abroad, but the "Government 3 oding all it can in present intermtional discussions to .reduce th^s 'anger to a minimum and is.prepar•ig measures to counteract it at home hould the danger threaten. The Government will maintain price ontrol and see that no unregulated icrease in prices of essential goods .nd services occur.
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Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5318, 3 February 1947, Page 2
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1,256DEMANDS ON INDUSTRY Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5318, 3 February 1947, Page 2
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