Ottawa Report

By Pllrlck Nicholson

Officials in labour departments and labour organizations here are remembering the old saying "There ll no fun like work" and begin- ning to worry that specialisation in breeding rrvredom and taking the fun out of work.

Specialisation by which is meant lob simplification. is a North A- merican device to overcome the acute shortage of skilled crafts- men and to facilitate mass pro-. duction. What began as an indus- trial necessity has become an economic evil, and in many in- dustries one hears of older work- ers being very worried about it. The effects have tended to reduce the diiieren'.al paid to skilled workers. and hence to remove the incentive to young men and wo- men to learn a trade.

Before the v. .ir, the skilled work- er was paid twice or three times the wages earned by an unskilled worker in thc lower categories Today the premium on a pair at hands rather than on a head. coupled with the post-war system oi’ across-the-l.~.iard wage increases. has reduced tne skill differential so that in, tor example. the ship- building industry. average wages ior unskilled work of the easier categories are 5.20 a hour, while the skilled shipyard worker starts It around $1.65 an hour.

Lazy Specialisation In the Maritime coalmines. one

-nears nu untiinient aapnassd am it is not worth the trouble of learning a skilled tuk and the hard work or doing it. when with- out any prior training and pre- sent sweat wages can be earned which are very little lower.

In the automobile manufactur- ing industry. one hears the similar sentiment that over-simplification at job brings boredom and even danger. so rellti is sought either by periodic change 0! task or by bieaking up the 50 minutes work in each hour.

North America is far behind Europe in craitsmanship. which alone can bring pride and inter- est in work. The average pro- ouction-line err ployse here can only perform his s.niple allotted task. piobnbly installii.g the two screws which hold the vioffle to the willie- piece or some similar routine op- eration which can be learned in a matter of hours. As revolt from this. the Minister of Labour here. Hon. Milton Giegg. and his staff tire working 14. create more wide- spread use of the system of ap- prenticeship, even on-the-Job ap- prenticeship, rnercby workers can learn trades \'llh greater variety and less boredom.

Many industries are finding that over-specialisation can reach the point of diminishing returns, with boredom leading to an inferior iroduct and wasted materials. not to T‘llE‘nl.lOl"l time lost through ac- cidents caused by careless bore- doni.

Unions Want. Equality

Some Unions, E5l'lt‘Clall)' the C.

61;. unions. act as if they are up- posedto "skilled" jobs just as they are opposed to “skliled" workers. and the ti-adesmsn who finds that he is compelled to belong to a union or unskilled men soon discovers that his union is chiefly interested in eliminating the di.'. ierence in pay between the skilled man and the sweeper.

The United Church Board of Evangelism and Social Service has now joined some o! the forward- looklng unions and managements ir. questioning the ultimate econo- mic benefit 0' this trend. Some Unl0llS admit that they are wor- ried and support the widespread icsling that the skill differential has become too low.

Ottawa appe.irs to have sudden- ly (list:n\'ci'cd with some surprise that here in its ivory Tower it is rcmntc from popular feeling on this point; as one official put it to me: "How can I know what the rank and file worker thinks when l soc mic as often as I see a hippopotamiis?"

It is a healthy sign that many v.orkers ll'l(‘lllSt'J\'€S recogmze what lraderslnp is only Just learning, and that they have for years known the value of variety in a job, Kern wu:-itinen have resented tlzc C(IllSpli‘a('_\’ to make work dull and monotonous. and the new fash- ion oi’ Job-brmneriiiig will be wel- Cilnled bi them. It may soon re- real that in fact, :f the workers are L'l\'€ll the opportunity. we have no snortatze iii competent variety- workers after all: as the saying goes: ’I‘here is no iun like work.

Receive First

J .... ..

Pictured above are the member. of a First Aid class at Stanley Bridge who received the qualifying certliicaies after completing a course in First Aid which was held once a week since last November. The instruciress during the course was Mrs. A. S. MacEwen.

Lei: to right, front row, they are: Mrs Cranford Macxay. Mrs. Elmer Fyie, Mrs. A. S. MacEwen, (instriictrossi, Mrs. Earl Henry. Mrs. Frank Bcll. Second row, Rob- crt MacKa_r. Mrs. Lea Reid. Olga

Aid ‘Awards '

Murphy, Marguerite Davis. Carl Woolner, Mrs. Noreen Turner. 4

MELBOUR.N1l'., (Australia (CF)-— Robert Menzies opened a. campaign for re-election of his Liberal-Country party coali- tlon"I‘ues «y with a promise to muuists with whatever

Prime Minister

"fight Co weapons we hue."

Woolner. Mrs. Stanley Coles. George Carr, LouLse Carr, Mrs. D. B. Rel James Flemming. Back row. Betty Mrs. Ray Douglas,

9

QUEBEC. (Cl-')— Liberal leader George Lapalme said today the Quebec government's decision to restrict prbvuclal housing aid» to persona borrowing money _ under the provincial plan "will punish thousands of citizens."

In a prepared statement ra- leaaed. Mr. Lapalme acid Prem- ier Duplessia" recent announce- ment that his government would not cooperate in application of rec- ent tcder:-l housing legislation amendments is the third restriction imposed by the Quebec govern- ment alnce adoption at the Quebec Housing Act, in ‘IMO.

Under the Quebec law the prov- incial government paya up to three per cent of the interest on loans

made by government - approved companies. Mr. Laplame said the Quebec

government imposed a tint rea- triction shortly after the Quebec Housing Act was adopted by with- holding provincial assistance to home-builders who borrowed irorn Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation. a federal government agency.

A second move by the Quebec government was to restrict hous- ing iad to persona building homes in the larger cities. except in iew CASES.

FOURTH MOVE RUMOR

Mr. Lapalme said the rumor now

orrosmoii ttilbtll DENOONCES DllPlESS|S' HOUSING AID PLAN

wu afoot that the Quebec gov- ernment would soon announce in- auranco companies who are linked in some way with Central Mort- gage would not be authorized to make housing loan’ under the provincial act.

‘'1! this rumor is well founded. it will be a tourth restriction and probably the most serious one since it would cutvott one of the most important sources at hous- ing loans."

Mr. Lapalms said Mr. Duplessls in a recent press conterence had called a 5%-per cent interest rate on federal loans "exhorbltant." But the provincial law. he said. allowed loans at an Jnterest rate of six per cent.

C.N.lt Operating Revenues Down

MON'l1llAL. (OP) — Canadian National Railway: Tuesday re- ported gross operating revenuu in March for the entire system amounts dto 366362.000. A decrease cg $4,507,000 compared with March ion. Operating expenses were 852.- ooi.ooo compared with 856989.000. with net revenue at £2,011,000 com- pared with $4.300.000 in March of

34 ti: o 3-.1-_:_._i-_» W-..

Mlnlsler - Shtol? Wife ‘Int Accldenl

SEAT (AP)—A suburban llevue shotn:lg;‘l;r1" his wife in bed Monday nigh; 3:“ unloading zl .22-calibre riflew "' “mske it safe {or my childre Mrs. Mary Btra-vmyg;-_ W“:

Rev, Cleo P. Btrawmyer, p,m‘|. “l the coiinmupio iirst Congrggmongg . W48 hit in the he“ I“ Mr. Btrawmyer mid

"We were preparing :oai°e':°v'.‘°,"’ a convention in 3DOK|ng vp,md°’ morning when I thought of “'11. loaded .22-calibre rifle. W, M three children and I was . I: one or them nil ht et

whlle- we were g‘one.' hold M 1' "So I decided to unload it .whu,, I was doing It. I lbeppgd on thumb tacit with my stocking 1,; The shock must have cauggd to hit the trigger oi the gum.

For the first three month. or 1954 operating revenues were 315;. 109.000. operating expq,-nu. .1“: 578.000 and deficit or magma Comparative figures for the uni, three months in 1968 were: open,‘ in revenues. $165,212,000; ope,“ in: expenses. :ie7.m.000. and . deficit of $3,116,000.

The figures do not include tam equipment rentals and 1.,“

last year.

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