THE ENGINEERS' CHOICE
The confederation's claim, originally made in May, for a 15 per cent, wage increase is roughly equivalent to an increase of El a week for skilled men and 17s. 6d. fop unskilled. It is based on three main points: that wages have failed to keep Pace with the rise in the cost of living, that the productivity of the engineers has greatly increased, and that the industry's Profits can easily cover the claim. Both the engineering and the shipbuilding employers have now finally turned down the demand. But the claim is no more refuted by the employers' statement that much of the profit had been ploughed back and that there are a host of small engineering firms Where the profit may not be very impressive, than it is estab- hshed by the confederation's simple arithmetic of dividing the industry's gross profits by the number of workers. The justice or practicability of the engineers' claim can plainly only be established by an inquiry or by arbitration, both of which are open to the engineers and both of which, at present, they refuse. In an interview published on the morning of the strike a union leader naively revealed this attitude : "It was the confederation's own job to make the necessary investigations on which its case was built. A full inquiry was therefore made by the body best qualified to make it "—i.e., the confederation. Any general acceptance of this curious attitude naturally plays into the hands of the real trouble-makers.
If the engineers are misled into further strikes or a ban on overtime, one thing, and one thing only, is certain. Britain's export trade, to which engineering products contribute well over a third, must inevitably suffer. Not only will there be no question then either of better conditions or of higher pay, but the engineers' present standards, built up over the years, will be threatened.
• The engineers must realise this: it is not their claim, but their method of trying to enforce it that calls for the strongest condemnation. There is still time for them to choose. They are nearing, but have not reached, the point of no return. There is still room for a peaceful consideration of their case. But if the extremists get their way, they will present not a case but an ultimatum.
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