Evening star., 1942-09-28

4 .lS
senteeism means persons staying
away from their work without just
cause or reason. During my stay
In England there were instances Of
| this before courts and in each case
the individual was what We might
call wilfully lazy. negligent, and
could give no sound reason for
absence.
In some instances. the individual |
was fined and imprisoned. This
prevails but very little. There is
a feeling that it prevails more |
amongst the female workers than |
amongst men.
! Married Women Work.
| There are hundreds of thousands |
| of married women who have one |
| child or one dependent and whose |
! husbands are also in the military |
| forces. who are employed in every |
| possible kind of work dealing with |
| the war. All single women are |
| subject to any draft for service, eX-
cept carrying arms, the same as |
men.
For instance, I found women IN |
munitions plants doing the work
of men. In large production bomber
plants l found 60 per cent OF the /
| EMPLOYEES were women. / 1ound /
women doing intricate mechanical |
work that almost aStounded me.
| found women running electric /
| cranes.
Those women. many of them with |
high school educations, who never
had done this work before, were |
trained to become competent work
ers in a period of six months. The
main woman operator has an as
sistant. who serves kind OF ap- |
premiership, and in short perlod
the apprentice becomes an operator
I talked to some of those women
Longer Work Week.
The average age is about 70 years
| Most of them never worked at
manual labor; many of them come
from well-to-do families, but the |
spirit of patriotism and their reallza-
ton of the great dangers confront
ing their nation is so great that l
failed to find one person in the
hundreds to whom I made myself
known as the representative OF the
workers. repeat, not one OF them
had any complaint.
This next statement is not going
to be appreciated by labor and 1t
will be wilfully misinterpreted by
the enemies of labor. The state
ment is that the average working
hours for all classes of workers in
defense employment is about So
hours per week Overtime is paid
after 48 hours. Those defense plant
industries, many of them, are some
distance from the cities and towns.
Consequently the worker has to
spend an hour, in many cases, get
ting to his employment and re-
turning.
Malnutrition has been one of the
serious problems confronting the
British people, especially the leaders
of the government They fully
understand that men and women
who are giving so much energy and
time and strength, six days week,
must not be permitted to let the
body wear out.
People Are Healthy.
Consequently in most large fac
tories there are established restau-
rants where substantial meals are
supplied the workers at very
reasonable price For those eating
in these restaurants, the amount
consumed is not deducted from their |
regular rations at home.
Most of the workers that I have |
seen. except in the congested dis |
tricts in London, seem healthy. They |
all realize that this war may last
not one, but two, three or four years,
and that they cannot wear out the
human machinery during the next |
| year.
| Remember that England has been |
in this war for the past three years. |
| Remember also that they have suf-
fered beyond the possibility of any
speaker to explain.
The mental agonies of the masses
of the people who have suffered
death and paralysis in their families
and the destruction of their property
is impossible to explain by word or
pen. You would have to be there
and see the conditions in order to
have any understanding of the seri-
Gus menace confronting the nation
and the problems of the people.
All general orders sent out by the
government are supported fully by
the workers Nearly all of the
tovaI ~, their j,cop,ac
and all workers have deducted from
their salaries certain amount. de-
pending upon their earnings, for the
purchase of what we would call in
our country War bonds.
Taxes Very High.
There is no complaint, and the
people realize that they are putting
little money away for the days of
depression or confusion which they
are sure will obtain at the ending of
this great world conflict, even if their
! country is successful in the struggle,
which they are confident it will be.
There is a tax on almost every
thing except on the necessities of
life. When you are in England five
days you must have coupons for
food. You cannot buy clothing of
any kind without coupons. l was
three days trying to get box
of matches in two leading hotels.
Intoxicating liquors, with the ex-
ception Of beer reduced in strength,
are at premium, The workers are
not dissatisfied and are not COM
planning
Now some people will construe the
previous statements as meaning
that we in America, the workers of
our country, are not doing our
share. First let me say that when
we have been three years in the
war, or before that time-as is now
the condition in Eneland-we, too,
may be short of labor.
At the present time there is no
such shortage of labor in our coun-
try as there is in England. They
are going over every class to see
where that person will be more
. I ncnfNi this