I'se a-loafin' on the Shipway

Like the U.S. Government, some U.S. defense plants have overexpanded since Pearl Harbor, are now temporarily a crazy quilt of inefficient use of manpower--too many workmen, too few foremen, long waits, misplanned work, shovel-leaning by workers who have nothing to do. One bad example was turned up last week in Seattle, where for two weeks Reporter Don Magnuson worked in a shipyard building destroyers, found enough loafing and inefficiency for a series of shocker stories for the Seattle Times. Reported Magnuson:

"Never during my time in the yard did I put in an honest day's work. I do not think I averaged one hour of labor for each shift of seven and a half hours. Some nights I was engaged usefully for no more than ten minutes." (His pay: $8.36 a day.) "One night, as quitting time neared, a group of perhaps 20 men had congregated . . . ready to make a dash for the gates when the whistle blew. All had stopped work about ten minutes earlier, and there were about three minutes to go. A foreman happened by. 'Break it up, boys ' he ordered. 'Spread out a little.' "

Once, from the superstructure of a destroyer, Magnuson looked down on a group of 13 men. One was working, the others smoked, talked or just leaned against railings. Twenty minutes later Magnuson looked again. The only difference: "Now there were 14 men and two were working."

A friendly welder's advice to Magnuson: "Just keep a wrench or something in your hand. Then you'll be okay."

Once Magnuson arrived at work three minutes late, thus automatically losing a half hour's pay. When he started into the yard the gateman said: "There's no sense in doing anything you won't get paid for. Get smart. Go over and have a cup of coffee for 25 minutes."

At no time were more than 70% of the men in the yard really working. But "the men were not to blame. They were idle, but not from choice. They want to work."

Before printing its series, the Seattle Times called Roscoe James Lamont, who is head of the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. yards where Magnuson worked. Lament hit the ceiling: "If you run those articles you will be raising more hell than any bunch of people in the city of Seattle. . . . Your whole God-damned bunch ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are giving the company, the men and the war effort a stab in the back. How in the hell can you call yourselves Americans? . . . How the hell do you suppose the boys overseas will feel?"

When his temper cooled, Lamont pointed out that his yard was several months ahead of schedule, that it had received the Navy "E" for efficiency.

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