STRAIN OF WAR EFFORT

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21177, 29 July 1940, Page 6

STRAIN OF WAR EFFORT

British employers and employees have entered into the greater production drive with such enthusiasm that they have discovered they went a little too far and too fast, so that it has been necessary to reorganise the system to some extent to obviate over-fatigue. Work, it has been said, never killed any man. That is probably true, but overwork has been proved to be another matter. Hundreds of thousands of British men and women threw thoughts of their personal wellbeing to the winds and entered into the spirit of the national drive with such vim that they over-strained themselves. Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, at top speed was the practice in many factories. It was found soon that absences through sickness or fatigue began to affect production. Now it is proposed to reorganise work on principles that will give the maximum output on a basis that will stand the test of time.

The working people have proved their willingness to work to the limit of their physical ability, but from the national point of view it is unwise to allow them go beyond the limits of safety. Therefore, where necessary the hours of work are to be reduced reasonably, and an effort is to be made to train thousands of unskilled workers to take their shifts in the factories and so maintain the output at peak level. As it is, there has been a slight reduction of output because the workers, although physically able to lift production for a period, attempted too much and could not sustain the effort. This experience is interesting in that it is providing Britain with data that will be useful in peace as well as in war. British men and women in many industries have been working 12 hours a day for seven days a week, or roughly twice as many hours as the average New Zealander works. It is perfectly clear that while New Zealanders could work many more hours each week without the slightest detriment to their health, at least the one day's rest a week is of definite value. And great though Britain’s need is, it has been found necessary and wise to revert to that weekly day’s rest. Even if one day’s work is deducted. British workmen will still toil over 70 hours a week, and do it willingly. They realise, as many people in more favoured countries do not, that every extra effort is a blow struck against the Nazi tyrant.