SKILLED WORKERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1940, Page 5

SKILLED WORKERS

TRAINING IN BRITAIN MR BEVIN’S SURVEY NEED OF SUPREME EFFORT. GREAT EXPANSION PLANNED (British Offlcial Wireless.) RUGBY, August 8. The need for a continuous mid increasing stream of skilled workers to nniinlain Britain’s ever-growing arms production was stressed by the Minister of Labour, .\lr Bovin, in a statement in the House of Commons.

He pointed out that the needs of an expanding mechanical army would call back to military service many men who had been temporarily released to factories, and he emphasised the importance of actual workshop training for replacements and new entrants into the armament industries. Admitting that training in the workshops resulted in an immediate sacrifice of production. Mr Bevin said this sacrifice was both short in time and small in volume, and would be made up very quickly. “The Government is satisfied,” he continued, “that the war is not going to end in the immediate future, and it is, therefore, of vital importance to initiate now the necessary steps not only to make good temporary losses, but also to ensure greatly accelerated production later.” Mr Bevin intimated that the scheme of Government training centres would be expanded and expressed the hope that the number would increase from the 19 at present to 40. Men and women were being trained at these centres in about four months, and the present output was about 100,000 trained personnel yearly. This would be doubled if his hope of’ 40 training centres was realised. Taken in conjunction with Mr Bevin’s statement, the announcement by the Ministry of Labour that up to July 11 over 30.000 skilled men who were not considered operationally vital to the army had been temporarily returned to industry is of added interest. Over 3000 were released between June 10 and July 11. and a detailed “comb out” of men who. before joining the army, were regularly employed in certain occupations is being undertaken.

In the course of his statement Mr Bevin warned industrial employers against lack of appreciation of the enormous need for rapid expansion in the training of skilled workers (states a Press Association cablegram). This was necessary, he said, in order to meet the requirements of the expanding munitions programme, and the maintenance of a satisfactory export position. The enemy had speciallyi tackled the whole problem, to which British employers must give greater attention.

“If employers are seized with the importance of training,” he said, ijj am satisfied that with Dominion and American assistance we will overtake the disparity in favour of the enemy. It is worth a supreme effort.’.’