FACTORY DISCUSSIONS
By AMABEL WILIAMS-ELLIS
1 T is not impossible for anyone who has ever lived in a school, I a college, a battalion, or a hospital, to imagine the life of a present-day war factory. Small issues bulk more than life-size, cliques, loves, hates develop, and you can't see the wood for the trees. In many ways the life has special trials. Perpetual noise, perpetual crowds, and, as a rule (as Mr. Priestley has observed), no daylight except on Saturday. Different members of these com- munities have their special rubs. But almost all suffer in one way or another from " occupational cramps," and find it difficult without some outside stimulus both to struggle successfully with their tasks and to remain human, accessible, and interested in things outside the factory. All this was clearly seen by the Ministries concerned with industrial production, and by the Ministry of Information. Hence not only entertainment in factories, but constant reminders of the larger issues of the war by means of speakers, films and exhibitions in factory-canteens.
Earlier this year three individuals, an author turned lecturer, a student of modern educational methods turned factory personnel officer, and a social investigator with experience of working at a factory bench, watching all this, began to wonder if it might be possible to do yet more. Could the factories not have a larger share In the opportunities for fresh information and for self-expression which the Army 'and Civil Defence were getting by means of the regular planned discussion of current affairs? "There's a lot of uncared-for thought in this factory." This was another aspect. ould not the factories, too, contribute to the co-operative thinking that is so laudable a feature of British activities in this fifth year f the war? An Educational Trust thought there might be some- hing in such ideas, and last July gave us just enough money to try ut a small-scale experiment. Time, place and fatigue seemed to among the most formidable difficulties. Then many doubted if
discussions in factories would not turn into political wrangles. And how could discussion-leaders be selected? Only experiment could show. The managements and workers of eleven war factories in and around a city which must remain anonymous decided, after some persuasion, to try out a scheme.
Now, as everyone knows, every factory, like every ship, has a personality of its own. Thus the experiment worked out differently in each case. We tried, however, to provide for unity in diversity by arranging that representatives from all the factories participating should meet regularly. Each factory elected its own discussion- leaders—sometimes formally, sometimes most informally. Sometimes they would be shop-stewards, one was the general manager, another the works metallurgist, some were workers (usually skilled), who had hitherto taken no part in community life ; some were keen trade union members ; there were two women welfare officers.
In most cases our first activity was the exhibition of a film in the canteen. We had no official backing, but persuaded the factory itself to ask M.o.I.'s film division for three documentary films which brought before the canteen in a striking way the issues of health, town-planning, and our relations with three of our principal Allies.
Factory representatives reported at the inter-factory meetings. Here is a first report from a heavy engineering works employing about two thousand men and women : " As you know, we had never had films in the canteen but once, during the whole war. The day being very hot the first reaction, when they trooped in to find the canteen blacked-out, was one of annoyance. But they soon found the films gripped them. Three hundred were having dinner, and half as many more crowded in, and you could have heard a pin drop. Next day some of us had a sort of meeting to talk it over. We'll have more along next Thursday—about twenty have said they want to say something about it. Our idea is not to spread too wide at first, but to have a good group as a nucleus. We'll have another show for the whole canteen if M.o.I. can arrange it. They were surprised because it was bright, and so was our discus- sion. But don't expect us to race ahead. We like to take our time and do things our own way."
In this factory a very lively discussion-club was formed, and in
seven others the response was immediate ; several within about six weeks formed clubs which consisted of two or three separate dis- cussion groups. All the clubs considered the meetings between discussion leaders from different factories so valuable that they decided to federate, and they have set up a constitution on this basis. They exchange ideas and discussion topics—education, housing, the origins of Fascism, the U.S.A., and so on.
During the first two months the present writer was on the spot and did a fair amount of " servicing." This consisted at first mostly in finding out for the discussion-clubs what outside speakers or " expert witnesses " could be got ; in getting them into touch with sources of information such as the different departments of the regional M.o.I. office ; in bringing appropriate books and pamphlets along for sale in the factories, and in arranging that people likely to be helpful and interested should come along and meet the dis- cussion-leaders at the inter-factory meetings every third Saturday. Later one of the chief tasks was to try to arrange training facilities to meet the demands of the clubs.
For the last eight weeks the federation has been running entirely on its own, with a committee representing management, workers and adult education. They are developing fresh activities, for instance, acting by request as public opinion finders for two medical groups (doctors and industrial nurses). They have promised to help the head of the city technical school, who wants people from factor:es to talk to his school-leavers. Within their factories the• clubs con- sider that they have improved relations between staff, workers and management, and have had considerable effect in interesting non- members who had hitnerto been bored by the films and speakers coming into the canteen. Two clubs have already sponsored dis- cussion-clubs outside the factory. It would, of course, be rash without further experiment in other districts to say that industrial dis- cussion-clubs run in some such way will always meet a long-felt want. But they certainly have in the factories that have tried out the idea.
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