PRODUCTION NEEDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 September 1940, Page 7

PRODUCTION NEEDS

ATTITUDE OF EMPLOYERS & WORKERS

OPINIONS AT ECONOMIC CONFERENCE.

SHORTAGE OF COMMODITIES RECOGNISED. ißy Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Sharply divided opinions were expressed by Jlr 'l'. (). Bishop, secretary of the New Zealand Coal Aline Owners’ Association, and Air A. AleLagan, president of the New Zealand federation of Labour, at the Economic Conference vesterdav.

The real question facing the conference, Mr Bishop said, was how could something be done to arouse enthusiasm for work. "I have an intimate knowledge of one industry,” he added, "and I have recently been engaged in making a survey of it throughout the Dominion. That survey is not quite complete, but I have seen enough to be sure that what I am now going to say is entirely true. I do not think anyone in that industry, with some exceptions, is really putting forward the maximum effort of which he is capable with a sincere desire to do all that lies within his power to produce to the fullest extent for the sake of the country. "We are told, and we know it to be true, that we are fighting for our lives, yet there is not the slightest evidence that we have any such knowledge. I have seen managers and officials standing upon their dignity and attaching importance to trivialities which are not worth more than a few moments’ consideration at any time. I have seen workers making disputes and holding up their own work as well as the work of whole organisations over questions that were of no particular moment and which could be decided either way without anyone suffering more than a temporary and trivial annoyance. "I have seen large bodies of men leaving their work regularly and systematically day after day an hour or more earlier than the knock-off time named in their own agreement, and so deliberately curtailing their own earning capacity and their collective production. I have no hesitation in saying that the industry is not organised for maximum production even on a peace-time basis, and that there is a most deplorable absence of the spirit of real co-operation between the sections of the mine-workers from the manager to the trucker which is essential to efficiency. “I do not know wnether that industry is typical of others, but I suspect that it may be. Unless it be upon the land there is no evidence of highpressure work in this country. There is no indication other than the sight of uniforms in the streets that the country is at war. There is no indication that we realise our of living depends upon our own efforts, and that if we want to enjoy consumption of goods we must first of all produce them.’ ACCUSATION RESENTED. Mr McLagan said he did not think it was going to help to have people coming and accusing other sections of making no war sacrifice. Remarks of that kind could only be made from an utter lack of knowledge of the position of the people who had been accused. “If the miners of New Zealand are not working for their living I am damned if I know who is working for his living,” Mr McLagan said. He believed the people he represented were just as willing as anybody else to make sacrifices to see that the war was won. They were making greater sacrifices than some other sections. Useless recriminations could very well be cut out.

The president of the New Zealand Employers' Federation, Mr W. Machin, said that during the last 10 years the primary producers had done well for the country in increasing production, which over that period had risen about 21 per cent. In production other than farming during the same period there had been no increase. The impression had got into the mind of the town worker that he should limit his effort. It was continuing to the detriment of the well-being of the country. The farmer was at the basis of the country's economy. Could there not be a standstill on some of the things that built up his increased costs? SAME BASIS AS SOLDIER. Mr F. P. Walsh, a delegate from the Federation of Labour, said the country was fast getting to a position where there would be a shortage of commodities. The labour movement as a whole was prepared to go on to the State. He believed the country would have to accept a reduced standard of living for the war. The workers were concerned to see that that was shared equitably. The secretary of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ Federation. Mr W. H. Nicholson, said the incomes of the sheepfarmers had been stabilised, but their costs had not and they could not carry on on that basis. Some form of subsidy on export prices was suggested. If the primary industries went down the secondary industries ultimately must share the same fate. Representing the New Zealand Timber Workers’ Union. Mr J. Read said New Zealand workers would compare more than favourably with workers in any other country. Two employers in the timber industry had stated that they were getting as much production bn the 40-hour week as they had previously done on the 48-hour week. It did not always follow that increased hours meant increased production.