THE WAR WORKER'S WELFARE
By ROBERT R. HYDE
AT the outbreak of War there is a common tendency to think that all human and social considerations can be abandoned in the effort to secure maximum strength of fighting force and maximum output of war material. In this there is a danger of overlooking the limits of human capacity, as happened in the early months of the last War, so that eventually the Government was compelled to take action by setting up the Welfare Department at the Ministry of Munitions. It is unlikely that the graver mistakes of 1914-1916 will now be repeated—although already many of the same problems are once again arising in industry—for the situa- tion is very different today. Statutory regulation of working conditions, health and safety within the factory has made a great advance, but far more important is the progress made on voluntary lines by the great majority of firms, who realise that provision for the well-being of their workpeople is an essential part of good business management.
This recognition of responsibility by employers is one of the most encouraging developments of the past twenty- one years. In 1918 the writer, who had been associated with Mr. Seebohm Rowntree in the Welfare Department at the Ministry of Munitions, believing that industrial welfare work was so closely associated with the wider question of industrial relationship that it should become the responsi- bility of industry rather than that of a State Department, founded the Industrial Welfare Society, and with the good- will of industry everywhere this organisation has ever since served as a focus to the development of the welfare move- ment in this country, and kept in touch with similar move- ments abroad. Therefore today industry can draw upon a fund of knowledge and the experience of well-established welfare schemes, as well as the advice and guidance of the Home Office Factory Department.
In consequence, the change over to wartime production has this time been better ordered in many of its material and human aspects, but a number of unwonted difficulties have arisen demanding the attention of those responsible for the safety and well-being of hundreds of thousands of workers, and it is of interest to note what is already being done by individual firms to meet the changed situation. Black-out restrictions in many cases involved speedy rather than carefully planned measures, but, since it is obvious that something more permanent than blinds or paint is required, the blocking out of windows or the fitting of shutters is necessary, which may involve working by artificial light for day as well as night workers, with consequent eye-strain and ill-effects on the health of employees. But more important than the problem of lighting is that of ventilation, particu- larly for night workers. This, however, is being obviated in many places by the fitting of outside shutters a foot or so from the windows, with openings top and bottom to admit the air, so that after dark the windows can be opened and the shutters closed to prevent light escaping. Screened exit doors, staircases and lift shafts also serve to maintain cur- rents of air.
Replies to a recent inquiry show that in the first month of war output was not adversely affected by the black-out, nor was there an increase in accidents, except those of a trivial nature which can be ascribed to people being " on edge." Most firms, however, anticipate difficulty later on, and their fears seem to be borne out by the records of one firm, which show a frequency increase of too per cent. in accidents during the month of October, and, as one might expect, a great increase in the number of septic cases.
One difficulty which will apply to all firms when the evenings darken quickly is the sudden change from the lighted interior to the blackness outside, which is particu- larly dangerous where air raid precautions to some extent obstruct exits, for accidents may be caused in the rush of leaving the factory on the cessation of work or to reach shelters in case of a raid.
Many firms report that at present restricted transport is not causing undue inconvenience to workers, who are pre- pared to accept a certain amount of discomfort as inevitable, but some have found difficulty in making travel arrange- ments for those coming long distances. With the shorten- ing days most firms anticipate that transport problems will become more serious. Some contemplate being forced to close earlier unless there is some lessening of the black-out, especially where they employ large numbers of girls ; others have already rearranged working hours, or relaxed rules of time-keeping in individual cases where reduced transport causes hardship. One large firm working a five-day week canvassed employees on suggestions for exploiting to the full the shortening hours of daylight and found them emphatic- ally against reducing the daily hours and working on Satur- day mornings, and on the suggestion that the luncheon break should be reduced to allow them to go home half an hour earlier 75 per cent. of the works and 55 per cent. of the clerical staff preferred to keep the present hours.
A relaxation of the legal restrictions of working hours is inevitably taking place in many factories engaged on urgent Government work, and in some women are already working on night shifts and on Sundays. If the mistakes of the last war are to be avoided this development will have to be watched very closely in the light of the experience then gained. The arrangement may be welcomed at first by the employees on account of the higher wages earned, but the night shift involves serious physiological as well as mental difficulties, which can only be met by the careful planning of meal and rest pauses and the provision of some form of relaxation. To avoid the long night-shift some firms are working a three-shift system, but one company which had arranged to do this was compelled to change over to two 12-hour shifts because the women objected to travelling before 6 a.m. and after to p.m. on account of shortage of transport and the black-out.
Since many of the normal interests and forms of amuse- ment have been curtailed, some interesting experiments are being made to provide by means of films or radio short entertainments during the luncheon hour, and many firms are carrying on club activities, or developing new forms of recreation by setting up knitting and gardening clubs, and encouraging reading and the use of their libraries, where these exist. It is to be hoped that much more can be done in the direction of cultural education, for today the factory tends to become in many places a self-contained community, and provides moreover a convenient social group. Where welfare departments exist much is being done to give information and advice on the many personal and domestic problems caused by calling up, evacuation, changes in the law, food rationing, and so on, and these departments can supplement the work of the Citizen's Advice Bureaux, where the latter are not easily accessible to the workers.
Many schemes are already in operation for granting allowances to the families of employees called up on active service, but this, of course, depends on the financial circum- stances of the particular firm. In this way firms keep in touch with employees in the forces, but a further personal connexion is being maintained in numerous cases through the works magazine. The publication of these periodicals is a recent development, and has proved most valuable as a link between management and workers and as a channel for disseminating information and airing complaints.
Continued and especially technical education is vital to the future of industry, and particularly important now that the raising of the school-leaving age has been abandoned, but in many places the local authorities have been unable to reopen evening classes. Many firms, however, have been running their own schemes for years in conjunction with the local authorities, and they are now stepping into the breach. One Sheffield firm drew up a special emergency scheme of technical education immediately war was declared, and within a week received applications from over 25o junior employees for admission to the classes.
Industrial canteens have become more than ever im- portant, especially in those districts where, owing to wives and mothers being moved to safe areas, men and juveniles are left to fend for themselves. In addition to good midday meals some works canteens are extending their services to provide breakfast or a meal after leaving work, or even cooked meals which may be taken home, and where the firm has gone over to night work these services are indispensable.
Thus it will be seen that there is a great improvement in the conditions under which munition-work is now being carried on compared with those which existed in 1914, a state of affairs due very largely to the voluntary action of industry itself. There was a time when the employer asked : " Can I afford welfare work? "—today experience has forced him to say : " Can I possibly afford to do without it? "
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