Ministry of Munitions

The successes of the materials economy department were de pendent upon the initiation and conduct of research and experi ment on an extensive scale and by the embodiment of their re sults in the modifications of design, as well as in minimizing the waste in many manufacturing methods. In a similar way the work of salvage and the collection and utilization of scrap from works was entrusted to special departments, and a number of factories were set up to convert or re-form the supplied materials. On the other hand the scarcity of some materials greatly stimulated home production where the necessary ores were obtainable and the Ministry was responsible for many extensions of steel works, recovery plants, chemical works, mining operations and so on. With regard to the non-ferrous metals the guidance and inspira tion of this work was under the superintendence of a mineral resources development department.

Labour.

Just as the supply of materials involved the Ministry in many unforseen undertakings, so did the supply of labour, only in this case the difficulties were much greater owing to the inti mate human interests that were involved. When the Ministry was established the demands of the fighting services for men had already begun to affect, not only the volume of available labour, but its quality, because so many highly-skilled craftsmen had already joined the colours. This double scarcity of volume and quality was the determining cause of the devices that came to be adopted.

Prior to the establishment of the Ministry, an agreement had been entered into with the trades unions of the engineering and allied trades (the "Treasury agreement"), an important ingredient of which was that future modifications of conditions of employ ment should not be accompanied by a reduction of rates paid for piece-work, and a pledge was given for the post-war restitution of pre-war conditions. (A similar pledge accompanied subsequent agreements.) The arrangement as to piece-rates, although just in itself, was the cause of much subsequent difficulty, because, as a result of training new labour and of the growing scarcity of skilled men, it became more and more necessary to remove skilled men from repetition work and use them for the more expert proc esses, which, by their nature, could only be paid by time rates. The consequence was that skilled men often found themselves receiving less pay than the unskilled workers introduced in the process of "dilution" whom they themselves had often trained for the work.

In order to assist the Ministry with the vexed questions that arose daily a joint committee (the "munitions labour supply corn mittee"), of representative employers and trades unionists was set up and rendered invaluable service. This committee marked the beginning of a system of joint consultative bodies that worked both centrally and in the different districts and shops, in helping to deal with the multitudes of points that arose as to classification, wages, work conditions, hours and the rest.

Various devices were adopted to promote the augmentation of labour supplies. The War Munition volunteers was a body con sisting of skilled men who were prepared to go wherever required, and they were often used in starting new factories or workshops, as well as in helping to speed up supplies that were urgently required.

The Army Reserve Munition workers was another body that came into being later on, and consisted of men who, owing to their skill, or for other reasons, had been brought back from the colours, or were not fit to rejoin them, and who were used some what similarly to the war munition workers.

Dilution of Labour.

But by far the greatest augmentation of labour was obtained by training men and women who were drawn from all manner of other occupations. The technical schools, colleges and universities were participants in the training schemes, but the greatest schools for training of the less expert crafts were in the works themselves. This process of "dilution" was signally successful. Its introduction and conduct were natur ally attended by innumerable difficulties, and it is probably not too much to say that it could not have been successfully carried out except by the goodwill of the workmen and employers' representa tives throughout the country. In one form or another dilution was responsible for the serious strikes that took place in the Clyde area, at Barrow and elsewhere, and these disturbances led to the creation of a special body of dilution commissioners who were set apart to superintend the introduction of new workers and to adjust ' disputes.

The breach with old industrial methods, and the utilization of vast numbers of new workers, especially of women workers, com pelled the Ministry to take powers to regulate hours, wages and conditions of employment generally. This first introduction of women on a great scale into what had hitherto been regarded as the sphere of men's work, as well as other devices adopted at that time, are clearly destined to have an enduring social importance. A body of experts was set aside to study the conditions affecting the health and industrial capacity of munition workers (the "health of munition workers committee"). The work of this committee was sometimes of a striking, if of transitory importance, as in the elimination of T.N.T. poisoning in the explosive factories, but their inquiries into physique, into the effect of hours, posture, food supplies and methods, upon health and industrial output, are of permanent value. This work led to the establishment of the industrial fatigue research board, which is now attached to the national council of medical research under the Privy Council. Concurrently a close study of industrial welfare developed, and one branch of it was concerned with the provision of canteens in the different works and factories; but in many ways it has, led to modifications in the conduct and standards of employment.