A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46

39

APPENDIX I
LABOUR PROBLEMS - MERSEYSIDE

June 3-10, 1941 .

I. GENERAL

This appendix is concerned mainly with the working of the new scheme for dockers, and allegations of slacking and absenteeism in factories. Feeding and transport difficulties have arisen as the result of the blitz and there is a forecast of difficulties of accommodation for workers who will be imported to man new factories.

It is subject to the same reservations as the main report.

II. IN THE DOCKS

(a) Attitude to Work . There are 16,000 dockers on the new flat rate. 1,500 are said to have refused to take work offered in one week, the main reasons being unwillingness to go to other ports when they considered there was plenty to do at home, and delay in payment of men who have been away. Some difficulty appears to have arisen because men declared they had never been offered jobs, but there is evidence that these men were not in the appointed place and that many were, in fact, attempting to hide. Officials thought it unlikely that any genuine worker was included with those breaking their contract but a number of dockers' wives seem to have felt there had been a real injustice. Officials estimate that about 25% are unreliable or unsuitable and that perhaps 10% of these may have to be removed from the docks.

Men known to be good workers complain that they are employed continuously while slackers draw the same money for doing nothing. It is alleged that some men who do nothing all the week take Sunday work and make as much as a man who has worked hard for six days. Older men complain that they are not fit to do a full week's work but that they must do so, if asked, or break their contract. There appears to be some resentment among ‘regulars’ used to working for certain firms and handling a certain type of cargo that they are forced to take unsuitable work. Some complaints were heard of the new ruling that men must return to their own centres to have their cards stamped, as this may entail a walk of several miles.

(b) Methods of Dealing with Problems . Men refusing work are being suspended without pay or unemployment benefit. 600 have just been so treated with a threat that the period of two weeks may be extended. A plan is being made for the erection of compounds round the various centres which will make it impossible for slackers to hide or stand out of earshot. (We feel that these ‘cattle pens’ may have a bad effect on the morale of the decent dockers, especially as they are likely to be used by agitators as an excuse for ‘slave’ propaganda.) Work records and observations on individual dockers are being compiled. These were started three weeks before the blitz but were destroyed by fire. They will be used as evidence for the discharge of slackers and unsuitable workers and for more satisfactory allotment of different types of work. A separate pool of older dockers is contemplated but is said to present grave administrative difficulties.

(c) General Attitude to Dockers . Few officials or members of the public had a good word to say for the dockers, the tendency being to class them all with the worst. It was suggested that the only way of getting them to work was to conscript them into the army and then force them to do the job for 2/- a day. Seamen appeared particularly bitter about them, due to their own observations of work dodging, the dockers' comparatively high rate of pay, and the fact that they could live at home. (This attitude is interesting in view of the unpopularity of Liverpool dockers on Clydeside as compared with the Tynesiders, who are great favourites, as also are the London dockers.) A police superintendent was sympathetic. He described them as ‘nobody's children’, with no leaders except the ‘loud-mouthed subversive type.’ He thought they would respond to good leadership if anyone would take the trouble. It is said that Trade Union leaders, though in favour of the new scheme, are not using their powers of persuasion sufficiently.

III. INDUSTRY

(a) Supply and Demand . It appears there has been no necessity as yet for any large importation of labour, with the exception of demolition workers temporarily borrowed from other towns and a number of technicians from Jamaica. A serious shortage of skilled women for office work is reported. Allegations are made of the ‘freezing’ of skilled workers in certain shipyards and factories, while they are urgently needed elsewhere.

(b) Attitude to Work . The general complaint is that the attitude to work is an entirely mercenary one. “When we want to move a worker to another department, the only question they ask is, ‘What's the bonus?’” The bonus pool system is criticised as penalising the good worker who feels he is ‘carrying’ the slacker. Slackness is more apparent amongst the young workers, especially youths and girls without responsibilities. It is alleged that many rate-fixers are open to graft. Absenteeism is prevalent after Sunday work. On the other hand, attendance after the blitz week is said to have risen remarkably rapidly after a sharp drop and it is not thought that blitz conditions are being used as an excuse for absence, except in a few cases. Much has been said about the causes of absenteeism, but little emphasis laid on what appears to us to be the main reason, the lack of organisation of rest periods and holidays. There is an apparent disregard of the many investigations into hours of work and the effect on output. It must be remembered that, as far as the dockers are concerned, they have been educated to the casual labour system. Holidays are unheard of in their ranks. There are no welfare traditions on docks - or in shipyards.

The ‘costs plus’ system in operation on Government contracts is said to be leading to uneconomic planning and to account for the ‘freezing’ of skilled workers already mentioned. An official in an aircraft factory stated that, in his opinion, more work could be turned out with two-thirds of the staff if it was properly organised. It is said that Government investigation at this factory has not yet resulted in any improvements. Smaller firms with some Government contracts complain that the Government is not paying up sufficiently quickly and that they are having to pay interest on overdrafts which they are not allowed to include in their costs. They are also having to borrow money at high interest in order to fulfil contracts which are not paid for until completed, and this extra cost is also disallowed. The Government is criticised for wasting money on unnecessary supervision.

The workers' idea (possibly distorted) of the employers' attitude to the war effort appears important. It seems their patriotism is over-shadowed by their unwillingness to make profits for employers whom they regard as their natural enemies. Propaganda impressing workers of their importance, rather than encouraging their war effort, appears merely to incite them to use their increased bargaining power, whilst the recent publicity given to slacking in factories is regarded as an organised attempt capitalists to throw blame on the workers to cover their own short-comings. Keen workers with too little to do are said to be suffering from a sense of frustration which is leading to the feeling ‘What's the use?’

(c) Welfare . Welfare traditions are said to be poor in many of the established industries, especially in the shipyards. The high standards set in some new factories is causing discontent among the less fortunate. We were told that many firms are dodging the order to set up canteens as long as they can or are providing ‘token’ canteens which are poor, and therefore not patronised, or else, inadequate. Genuine difficulties are reported in getting equipment and lack of organisation in distribution is resulting in one factory getting cooking utensils and no stoves, and another stoves and no cooking utensils. The value of good welfare officers has been proved in one factory, where bombed out or distressed employees are helped to straighten out their affairs without the sacrifice of too much work time. The W.V.S. are co-operating with rehousing and other problems and a member attends regularly at the factory.

(d) Day Nurseries . We heard that day nurseries under the local authority were closed some time before the war as it was said they did not pay. No new ones have been started under the Ministry of Health scheme. A limited investigation into the need reveals a demand from about 20% of working mothers and a much higher percentage who would use them in an emergency. Satisfactory data is, however, difficult to collect and the authorities do not seem inclined to experiment. (In Nottingham, the University conducted a house-to-house survey on behalf of the Council of Social Service and we suggest that Liverpool University might possibly help, if approached). Opinions differ about the location of nurseries. Welfare officers favour small, well-dispersed nurseries in working-class districts, as they say that transport services to the big factories are already over-burdened and that, in any case, the immediate vicinity is not safe. A doctor in the Public Health Department thought this idea impracticable as the population is so scattered, and an enormous number would have to be set up to avoid a double journey, one to the nursery and one to the factory. Pending further enquiries, it seems that nurseries could at least be set up on Corporation housing estates and in other places on the outskirts of the city and beyond, to which large numbers of workers have moved. An increased demand is reported from Bootle, which is said to be partly due to the increase in illegitimacy.

The Regional Information Officer reports that the care of children is proving the greatest single obstacle in the way of the campaign to get women into war-work.

IV. CONCLUSION

Problems arising from the reorganisation of dock labour, and the recent airing of conditions in factories, have tended to raise public opinion against the workers without full appreciation of their point of view. In the factories, it would seem that the alleged attitude of employers to the war effort as it affects workers needs further consideration.

Difficulties caused by abnormal living conditions as a result of the blitz are general, and are discussed in the main report. It appears that the major problem in the future will be the accommodation of new labour for factories now under construction. Billeting of the homeless, already difficult, will clash with the needs of workers unless priority arrangements are satisfactorily made.

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