19 JUNE 1936, Page 2

The 40-Hour Week Consistently and unanimously the delegates of the

British Government and employers at the International Labour Conference have opposed, at every step, the drawing up of a draft convention for establishing a 40-hour week in the textile industry. When the Com- mittee set up to discuss the problem voted that the convention should be discussed during the present conference, the British employers' delegate announced that the employers' group would take no further part in the discussions. On Tuesday, when the Committee adopted the text of a draft convention, our Government's delegate, together with those of Hungary and Venezuela, abstained from voting ; the delegates of the United States, Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain supported the convention. It may be admitted at once that there are arguments against the convention ; chief among them the difficulty of putting it into practical operation. But it is a little disappointing to find our Government's delegate united, at every opportunity, with the delegates of the most undeveloped countries and of the employers in opposing a convention whose adoption is in itself a sign of progress. At Geneva we have contributed little to that advance, small as it is ; in marked contrast with our attitude has been that of the United States representatives—though whether, in view of recent decisions of the Supreme Court, the United States could give effect to the convention at all is highly doubtful.

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