Evening star., 1943-02-23
Work or Fight
Rule Approved
By yHouseGroup
Absenteeism Called
An Ugly Situotion'
In Johnson Report
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
The House Naval Affairs Com
mittee, approving a work or
fight principle, blamed war plant
employees today for laying off
work to such an extent that I'VE
are not doing a good enough job
to win this war"
The workers in our war plants
for causes which we have not yet
ascertained, are not on the job long
enough, steady enough, reliably
enough" the committee reported.
Describing such absenteeism as
"a very ugly situation" it recon-
mended transfer of absentee work
ers into the armed forces If the
conditions cannot be corrected.
The committees stand was stated
In a report, prepared by Rebre-
sentative Lyndon B. johnson. DEM
ocrat, of Texas, requiring officers of
Navy yards and stations to supply
Information to local draft boards on
the number of days each man of
draft age is absent from his Job
without prior authorization.
Report Gives Figures.
The report embraced letter from
the Navy Department giving fig
ures on the prevalence Of workers
failing to report for their jobs, espe-
cially on Saturdays and Mondays
This letter referred to Monday
morning sickness" meaning rest
Ing up from too strenuous pleasures
the day before"
F The Navy Department feels" it
said, that unjustifiable absenteeism
must be reduced to zero If possible.
The gravity and grimness of the
war Is becoming more evident every
day. Within the limits of human
endurance and continued maximum
production, no working day. hour or
minute should be lost from any
cause whatsoever"
The committee report said. 1--WE
have not yet plainly and accurately
analyzed the reasons for absenteeism
in industry in general.
However, we do know that in 81
commercial shpyards. employing al
most 80 per cent of all wage earners
engaged in new construction in COM
mercial yards, 7.8 per cent of all
man-hours were lost as a result of
absenteeism during the month of
October, 1912 The average time
lost from absenteeism In the mid
week of October amounted to four
hours per week for each wage Garner
on the payrolls of these shipyards.
IA to 20 Per Cent Rate.
In some yards the rate of abb
senteeism reached from IA to 18
per cent and in one yard the abb
sentee rate was between 20 and 30
per cent.
"A most serious aspect of this sit
uation is the fact that the tendency
toward absenteeism is increasing.
America wants to know why this
sbsenteeism, what to do about it,
how to stop it. The why comes
first. When we have the know why,
our oSlcCLiNe SeFNlCe mas pretty
effective know how The principle
of work or fight is sound if wisely
administered.
1T is pretty persuasive argu-
ment, but 1t is effective only when
we know what we are talking about
and setting about to do.
Our Army needs soldiers, but our
soldiers need guns, tanks and ships
and planes. Upset the balance, take
the labor force out of the plants that
make these things, and you hurt us
worse than you hurt the Axis The
workers who can, will and do pro-
duce these things must be kept on
the job.
IF there are workers on the job
who cannot, will not and do not
produce, we must find out why.
When We do find out why we will be
in position either to correct the
conditions which are causing alb
senteeism, or, If the conditions cam
not be corrected, then to transfer
the absentee workers into the armed
forces"