GOOD WILL IN INDUSTRY
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Sir Robert Hadfield's remarkablearticle on Good 11111 in Industry " should attract widespread attention to a crying need of the moment. We all realize we must have industrial peace, and it is high time that employers took some definite action to this end.
My suggestion is that a " Peace in Industry " Week should
be organized in London where—led by the Prime Minister— the many cures for industrial strife, such as co-partnership, profit-sharing, piece-work and, above all, industrial welfare, could be ventilated by their various supporters. There is no one cure which will fit every industry. Lack of space prevents me from setting out the whole programme, but it would be very comprehensive. I also suggest that the Minister of Labour should approach the many organizations which now exist to further this object, with the idea of their combining into one strong body, e.g.:-
The National Alliance of Employers and Employed. The Industrial Welfare Society, The Industrial Peace Union, - to name only a few. These organizations are all working in the same direction, but their activities overlap, with the result that subscribers to any one of them hesitate to support the others. The work before us is so vast, however, that amalgamation would not mean dismissal of any of the present officials.
My idea is that such an amalgamated body should invite certain well-known Labour leaders to join its council— probably a number equal to themselves—and should then study the intricacies of each industry in turn, and make recommendations regarding the broad principles on which suitable welfare schemes should be initiated or extended, as the case may be.
They should subsequently send representatives to all large employers of labour to have friendly discussions on their findings, with the object of ascertaining how nearly each employer is conforming to their ideas, and in every case they should be prepared to advise such employers regarding the best type of welfare scheme to suit their particular trade. Small employers could be circularized.
I am convinced from practical experience that, 'given a
living wage, welfare schemes lie at the root of industrial peace. It is not the amount of money spent on employees that is of primary importance, but the intelligence and sympathy with which it is applied.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Stag Brewery, Pimlico, S.W. 1.
WARRE BRADLEY.
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