The People's Health
1943-10 1943 1940s 36 pages On the whole, the problem, I think, calls for more attention, more support and more co-operation from the Labour Movement than we have so far got. Health in industry must not be treated in an isolated way. Committees must be set up and they must be linked up with the outs...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
Newcastle-on-Tyne : North-East District Committee, Communist Party
1943
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/99AAAA16-3CDF-4E31-B883-97A9B37E3D10 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/8F069D00-D28F-40C3-802D-41CBF7EB6F34 |
| Summary: | 1943-10
1943
1940s
36 pages
On the whole, the problem, I think, calls for more attention, more support and more co-operation from the Labour Movement than we have so far got. Health in industry must not be treated in an isolated way. Committees must be set up and they must be linked up with the outside world. 1,800 children died last year from diphtheria. It is calculated that all were preventable. While immunisation is not altogether a preventive, it is a fact that children immunised have a twenty-five times better chance of avoiding diptheria [diphtheria] than those not immunised. Last year for example, 90 per cent. of the children who died from dipthheria [diphtheria] were not immunised. We want a link up of all organisations dealing with health and health problems. We want housewives' organisations to link up with Trades Councils and trade union branches, with shop stewards' committees and factory health and welfare committees. It is only in this way that we shall achieve a real National Health Service which will bring about the great advances in the health of the people which we believe are possible. FATIGUE. Among the many issues today affecting workers' health, fatigue is perhaps the most important. There is ample evidence that workers are beginning to suffer from an accumulation of fatigue from years of long hours. This is an extremely difficult matter to put right, because with differing methods of payment it might be all right to tell workers that they will be healthier if they cut down hours of work, and that production will go up as the result, but it might mean trouble if a cut in the workers' wages is involved. It is a fact, however, that there comes a time when you work so long that you produce less. But, at the same time, it must be remembered that the first requirement for good health is a good pay packet. It is utterly impossible to get ahead with this problem without some machinery for mutual discussion between workers' representatives and managements. There was a report in the "DAILY WORKER" recently of men working 70 hours a week and the management said this was too long for good health and good production and proposed to cut out Sunday work. This met with strong resistance from the shop stewards because a cut in Sunday work meant a hefty cut in the wages packet. I do not know how you are going to settle this problem, but unless it is tackled from the beginning with a knowledge of what is involved then the serious risk will be run of serious trouble being caused and perhaps production impeded by strike action. But among young workers, fatigue is a really serious matter. Fatigue lowers resistance to infection. Simple colds are caught which easily develop into severe bronchitis. On the job "rejects" go up, accidents go up, your guts and initiative go down — all with fatigue. You have no courage left ; you cannot struggle ; you are without ideas. That is what is happening today with workers who have worked long hours over any considerable period. It is a serious matter for the workers themselves and lots of doctors feel it is serious too. Perhaps that is some explanation for the statements issued by the British Medical Association recently. There are other issues too, — juvenile delinquency, health of women — particularly pregnant women. It is calculated that half the children to be born next year will be born of the women now working in factories. That must be an important matter for factory health and welfare committees to be considering. 10
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |