DEFENCE WORK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 March 1941, Page 5

DEFENCE WORK

IN THE UNITED STATES MEASURES TO PREVENT STOPPAGES. PRESIDENT STUDYING PROPOSALS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, March 13. The chairman of the House Naval Committee, Mr. Vinson asked for quick Congressional approval of legislation to eliminate stoppages of work. He said that during 1940 and up to the middle of February strikes resulted in the loss of 7,817,000 man-hours, labour sufficient to make 325 bombers. Mr. Vinson added: “American people have a right to expect the co-operation of all elements in carrying on the defence programme.” He said his Bill for arbitration, while requiring both employers and workers to postpone certain normal rights, was needed badly. “There is no question but that labour is asked by this Bill to postpone during conciliation efforts, the exercise of its right to strike,” he said. “There is no question but that employers are asked to postpone, during conciliation and mediation efforts, the exercise of their right of lock out and of their right to lower wages, lengthen hours and make other changes in conditions of employment. These are sacrifices employes and employees engaged in defence production are being asked to make.” Mr. Vinson predicted that people would insist, during the present emergency, that union membership should not be made a condition of an individual’s employment in the service of the country. President Roosevelt conferred today with the Secretary of Labour, Miss Perkins, and the Defence Production Administrators, Messrs. Knudsen and Hillman, on labour problems connected with the defence programme. Out of 45,000,000 workers, about 16,000 are on strike.

For several weeks Mr. Roosevelt has been studying proposals by the Labour Defence Board to settle industrial disputes and eliminate friction from the defence programme. The President has intimated that he envisages a board which, besides mediation activities. would survey production and labour problems from a long-range vantage point. Moreover, the Labour Mediation Board would seek to integrate the swelling defence production into a useeconomic pattern which would develop after the national emergency passes and enable the transfer of employment into a planned national economy, thus avoiding the chaos which would otherwise result from an abrupt cessation of the huge defence programme.