The cause of the lockout of the engineers at home is now given us as the men's demand that they be allowed to control the amount of overtime worked, a demand refused by the employers on the ground that it is a distinct interference with their proper managerial functions. It would help us to; reach a more reliable conclusion upon the dispute were the case considerably more amplified in the telegrams than it is, but as matters stand one or two general remarks may be put forward. In such a business as engineering overtime may at any moment be necessitated by a breakdown in machinery, and in order that industrial concerns outside of engineering may not be utterly dislocated employers must have the power to order additional hours of work without reference to the feelings of the unions. Where, however, it may be felt that the engineers have something worth saying is in reference to overtime lasting over considerable periods, necessitated by the demand for delivery of particular pieces of work at a specified date. In such circumstances, considering the amount of unemployment, it seems surely reasonable to ask that the employers put on extra shifts in order to spread employment over as many hands as possible. We are, however, more or less in the dark as.to what the actual case is. When it comes to a question of where our sympathies are likely to be found there is one small matter which may be brought to mind. The engineers profess to-day a very great regard for their unemployed. A couple of years ago, when a great many ex-service men were out of jobs, they resolutely closed their doors against any assistance to them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.