Hours of Work
The principal argument for a five-day week in industry is that, through the beneficial influence of increased leisure, a larger total output can be produced in a shorter time. To the extent that indus- trial labour must be regarded as unpleasant, all sentiments of humanity and enlightenment go with this_argument. But it is very doubtful whether it applies to British coal miners at the present time. Their work is hard and dangerous and conveys none of the incidental rewards 'of creative endeavour. On that score the miners should be among the first to get the five-day week. But, on the other hand, there is no evidence whatever that a reduction in hours will produce a more than proportionate increase in the output of coal. In fact, there is every chance, given present tendencies, that it will merely legalise absenteeism while preventing the willing few from working as long as, they have been doing. Consequently, Mr. ShinWell's promise of a five-day week in the coal-mining industry looks like one more sign of his failure to understand the implica- tions of his job and one more manifestation of his itch to make sensational speeches—a desire which led him last Sunday to sweep away both the present system of mining hours and the House of Lords in a single spate of words.
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