Shift System
AFORETASTE of one kind of competition that can be expected from the Common Market was given last week in the story that skilled ship- yard workers are being recruited on Clydeside by Germany, with the offer of pay bonuses, accommodation and even—a curious inducement —English cooking. The reason they are leaving is simple: that the Germans work a round-the- clock shift system which is so profitable that they can afford to pay the higher salaries. Presumably this kind of attention, previously directed mainly to scientists and professional footballers, will be extended to all crafts where British workmanship has a high reputation but a low remuneration. If the shipbuilding unions here want to keep their men at home, then the way to do it is to relax old restrictive practices, enabling British ship- yards to compete on level terms. Mr. Dan McGarvey, the General Secretary of the Boiler- makers' Union, complains that the departing workers are unpatriotic; he would be better placed to make this charge if his union was not notoriously one of the worst of the restrictive practitioners helping to drive trade to German shipyards, and providing them with the income which is being used to lure these recruits away from home.
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