The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-01-21

| LOndon.-LegiSlatiOn for industry in
Britain remains, as always, a matter
for Parliament In wartime, however,
for the purposes of speed and CON
yenience the power of making detailed
orders under the general power of an
Act is often delegated to the Minister
concerned, who may frame such emer-
| rency orders as he deems necessary.
Such orders, of course. are subject to
the scrutiny of the House of Commons
at all times These "directives,' most
of which, for industrial workers, come
from the Minister of Labor, are setting
new standards for industry.
For example, Il Corrective" or Order
from the Minister of Labor imposed, as
from November %, restrictions on the
hours of employment of young people
emnloved in various building and civil
and engineering operations. 1t re
Stricts working time in any one week
to = maximum of As hours in the case
of Young persons under l6 years OF
age. and 81 hours for those aged lb
and H. 1t also prohibits the employ
ment of young workers under Is years
of age without interruption for more
| than ) hours, without an interval OF at
least half an hour for Il meal or rest.
| Moreover it is forbidden to employ
Young workers Nwithin these age limits
on n Sunday unless Il whole holiday on
"a weekday is provided either in the
week beginning with that Sunday or i'll
| the previous week.
The Minister of Works and Plan
ming, has likewise issued regulations
for adult workers in building and civil
engineering works. The Order pre-
scribes that with certain Speclilc eN-
ceptions not more than GO hours Il
week are to be worked on weekdays,
and Sunday work is prohibited, except
on specific dates in the year; the ofder
laws it down that particulad kinds OF
emergency repair work, or work OF
Special urgency i'm the war effort, arl-
thorized by the Minister, as well as
preparatory work, railway work, and
continuous shift work shall be eN-
cepted from the operation OF the or-
del-but it is provided that III the
case of continuous shift work the
working week shall not exceed SIX
DAYS, including Sunday, and the total
number of hours worked must not eN-
ceed 60.
Wages And Working Conditions
An important extension of the wage
fixing powers of the Agricultural
Wages Board has also just been made.
Under the Defense Regulations the
the Agricultural Wages Board is now
empowered to fix wages, hours ana
| working conditions for all agricultural
workers.
Previously there were widespread
anomalies. The Agricultural Wages
Board fixed IA minimum of f3 week
for agricultural labor, but it was
within the power of the County Wage
COMMITTEES to fix working hours for
special classes, and also wage rates
for women, juveniles, and overtime
The result was that in one County
workers would be required to work 4S
hours a week in winter and 80 in
summer for the G3 minimum whilst i'll
lanother County they might have to Go
"a hours week all the year round. In
some Counties the hours were oO a
week all through the year, in others 4S
in winter and 80 in summer. Women 5
rates varied too from County to
County, ranging from Is shillings Il
week in some Counties to AIS or 3Ss in
others. Similar variations arose also in
respect to juvenile rates, overtime
rates, and holiday arrangements.
The Agricultural Workers Union
urged that the Central Board should
fix all rates. This has now been DONE
and the Agricultural Wages Board is
therefore in a position to enforce uni
form rates, hours and working condl-
tions throughout the country.
Part-Time Farm Workers
This does not mean, of course, That
! the County Wage Committees will have
nothing now to do 1t will be their
duty to see that the principle of uni
formity is maintained within their
sphere of authority. The Unions are
also hoping that through the County