FULL TIME IN THE SHOPS
PATRIOTIC RESPONSE
Last night the official Press Bureau issued the following statement: “The Minister of Munitions desires to acknowledge in the warmest terms the wide spread response which has been made from all parts of the country to the appeal to the munition workers to give up their Easter holidays. He would like to accept all the offers that have been made, but the military and railway exigencies at this juncture make it necessary to contain acceptance to those classes of work particularly referred to in the Minister’s appeal. All firms whose work must be specially accelerated have now been notified individually by official telegram. “Those who have not been notified should take their holidays now. It in no way implies that one class of munitions work is more important than another, and it is vital that all munition outputs should be increased to the maximum which material allows. “The Minister further desires that all establishments which work during the holidays, and require railway facilities for their employees, should communicate with the railway company, or tramway or omnibus authority, concerned.” On the whole, it seems likely that, as the result of the German offensive, the war workshops this Easter will be as busy as at any time during the war. An official of the General Federation of Trade Unions was confident that the workers would willingly accede to Mr Churchill’s appeal. “Most of them are affected by the events now taking place in France,” he said. “Nearly all of them have relatives or friends at the front, and they will not want to let them down. They will be well advised to go on working, and I do not think there will be any difficulty.”
CALL TO “CARRY ON”
No official notice had yesterday been issued at Woolwich Arsenal, but the many thousands of workers in departments engaged on urgent work have been notified that the promised holiday must be cancelled. The workers have taken the Government’s appeal to “carry on” in a thoroughly patriotic spirit, and although there is naturally some disappointment among those who had been looking forward to a few days of rest, they are united in their willingness to forego their pleasure to ensure the maintenance of supplies for the front. There are a few – those who comprise the “stop-the-war” party – who are complaining, but the vast majority of the workers, with a loyalty and patriotism which is most commendable, have agreed to work through. The men at other firms have come to similar decisions, and there will be no stoppage in the Sheffield district. The Workmen’s Travelling Committee for Manchester and Oldham districts announce, through Mr. F. Hargreaves, the secretary, “All men of Gorton district have unanimously decided to work the Easter holidays owing to the demand for munitions. We will not desert our comrades in France.”