Evening star., 1921-10-29
BRITISH EMPLOYER TELLS HOW
TO KEEP PEACE IN INDUSTRY
Good Wages, Reasonable Hours, Security
for Sickness and Old Age and Interest
In Business Urged.

"secondly. Workers should have
sufficient leisure for recreation ana
self-expression outside the factory
and the working hours should not 90
so long as to prejudice health. On tne
other hand, If they are too short 1t
will be impossible to raise the wealth.
production per worker to the point
necessary to enable adequate wages
to be paid.
! Thirdly Insurance against unem-
ployment should be sought Dy .ne e
worker as a means of economic Sc
curity. Such a system could pc
worked out and controlled by the
state whereby SO per cent OF average
earnings would be available for aver
age workers in an involuntary state
for a dependent wife and 5 per cent
for each dependent child. with IS
per cent average earning as a total
insurance payment. This insurance
may either be undertaken by the
state. by industries or small groups
of factories or by combination OK
these agencies.
Sickness comes also under this
! heading. 1t probably would be impos-
sible for workers to make their own
arrangements for insurance against loss
of wages through sickness. There is.
| however, q great deal to be said in
favor of a national system Of insur-
ance against sickness. In Britain the
benefits are Is shillings week for men
and IL shiLings week for women, the
contributions being 10 pence for men
and pence for women. Of which the
i employer pays pence in each case.
Care for Old Age.
"One other thing under this heading
I should not escape attention. That Is
old age. No system of industry can be
| considered satisfactory under which a
| worker who has been reasonably
| thrifty all his working life finds him.
I self, nevertheless, in want In old age.
Action either by the state or by indi-
vidual employers should be taken to In
sure against this risk.
"Fourthly. Workers everywhere are
demanding a greater share In the de-
| termination of their working condi-
! tions. Probably this movement has
advanced further in Britain than in
America, which may partly account
| for the different attitude adopted to
| trades unionism in the two countries
! In Britain the righ. Of workers to
| collective bargaining is never queS-
| toned. and a vast number OF employ.
ers regard it as an advantage that
| the workers should lie organized in
trade unions. Beside the universal
recognition of trade unions. employers
| in Britain are feeling their way to-
I ward methods of giving the workers
| in their own factories greater share
! in determining their working condi-
tions 1t is necessary to move eau
tiously so that the efficiency Of in
dustry may not be lessened.
Lastly. The final condition Of in
dustrial peace is that the workers
shall have an interest in the pros
perity of the business in which they
are engaged. 1t is important to be
clear as to what is expected 10 gain
from the introduction of n system of
! profit-sharing. 1t will not he an ef-
fective substitute for payment by
results, nor must it ever be intro
duced in order to undermine trade
unionism. Its purpose is to create Il
psychological atmosphere in the
works favorable to harmony"