SETTLEMENT OF STRIKE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21371, 15 March 1941, Page 8

SETTLEMENT OF STRIKE

News of the settlement of the strike at the Woburn railway and munitions workshops will be received with relief throughout New Zealand. The fact that such an upheaval could occur at a time when unremitting effort is required to win the war was very disturbing, and it is good to know that the trouble was not so deep and bitter that common sense could not prevail. Such strikes are liable to create precedents, and it would have been disastrous to allow the trouble to drag on and spread to other works and other industries. The fact that the men are going back to work, as they are in duty bound to do, will have a sobering effect on the rest of New Zealand.

Apparently the strike has gained nothing in new concessions for the workers, but it has meant the loss to the country of the fruits of several days’ work by hundreds of men. If the negotiations and the settlement have resulted in the elucidation of the national duty of the men and of the Government towards those men, the strike might not have been entirely in vain. The 40-hour week is the crux of the matter. It is perfectly clear, as the Prime Minister himself has emphasised, that greater personal effort is necessary in New Zealand’s conduct of the war programme. Within limits, effort can be increased in the space of the 40-hour week, but it is beyond doubt that the output per man in the Dominion could be increased substantially by an extension of the hours of work. That greater output is there for the taking, and New Zealanders must make up their minds whether the war situation demands it.

There is an impression in some quarters that the movement in favour of an extension of the working hours is a veiled but deliberate attack on the institution of the shorter working week. That is a matter that could and should be left for decision when the war is won. If the war is lost there will certainly be no question about a 40-hour week. Another and ruthless authority will see to that. The issue is not and should not be a political one at the moment. New Zealanders must simply ask themselves whether there is need for greater personal effort. If that question is faced squarely there can be no doubt about the answer. It can scarcely be claimed that the payment for the work done in New Zealand industries is niggardly, judged by comparative standards.