WAR PRODUCTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1941, Page 3

WAR PRODUCTION

MUST NOT BE IMPEDED

WARNING BY MINISTER.

PERSONAL QUARRELS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “The Government will not tolerate cither employers or workers participating in personal quarrels to the detriment of our war effort,” said the Minister of Labour, Mr Webb, when referring on Saturday to stoppages that occurred the previous day at the Westfield freezing works and at the Dobson mine. He added that whatever leniency may have been shown in the past, the Government was determined that in the present crisis, there should be no hold-ups in essential industries.

Referring to the stop-work meeting held at the Dobson mine, Mr Webb said that subsequently the management dispensed with the services of three officials of the union. Whatever the merits of the case might be, said Mr Webb, the action of the men in ceasing work was a breach of the War Emergency Regulations, and in view of previous discussions and the present emergency situation, he had instructed the Department of Labour to take legal proceedings. He had also instructed the company to reinstate the dismissed men, and had also ordered that normal work must be resumed on Monday. “In the present crisis,” continued Mr Webb, “it is criminal on the part of employers or workers to impede production in any way whatever. The country is now faced with the greatest crisis of its history, and the time has come when every man, woman and child must pull their full weight in the country's war effort for their own safety and for the welfare of the nation.”