For the month of May, I thought it would be interesting to post up Occupation reports written on the work done by the Jersey Department of Labour, as these delve into the fine grain of the German Occupation and how the Island coped with people, though no fault of their own, being unable to work because their businesses were no longer operating.
It is, of course, something which haunts us today, as something similar has happened with the pandemic, where people again have been laid off, or their employment has gone into a form of stasis due to the Covid lockdowns. Different times call for different solutions, but the problems faced in some respects are similar.
Occupation Reports from the Jersey Department of Labour – Part 3
Other Public Works
Other undertakings of the Department of Labour included amongst many, the construction of a new Cemetery at St. Brelade’s. The German authorities having requisitioned a portion of the existing cemetery, and the remaining portion being full, it was decided to construct a new cemetery on the glebe land adjoining. This entailed a large amount of work, but completed, has proved not only an acquisition to the Parish, but a beautiful and fitting place for the purpose for which it is intended.
Many of the sea walls surrounding our coasts received severe damage through various causes, and the work of keeping these in repair has meant the employment of a number of men, and the expenditure of a large sum of money.
The Old Railway Track from St. Aubin to Corbière, which had been beautified by the States for a portion of its length has been further improved as between Don Bridge and the terminus. Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been planted, and although temporarily a railway has been running through the track, the shrubs and trees have not been injured in any way.
Sickness Benefit and Furlough Payments
Since the Occupation, the Department of Labour has, with the sanction of the Superior Council, introduced schemes of Social Reform that are likely to become permanent and general in the post war period. The first was to pay the men unable to continue their work through illness, the same benefits as they would obtain were their incapacity due to accident. This has proved of great benefit, as, due to the conditions existing, the vitality of a large number of men employed by the Department has deteriorated, and without this concession many would have had to revert to their parishes for relief.
Realising that on the small wages paid, men could not afford to lose time through stress of weather, the Department, again with the sanction of the Superior Council, decided to pay this lost time, when and if circumstances prevented men from carrying on their work.
Manufacturing Works
To help solve the difficulty of obtaining buckets, brooms, dustpans, etc., a workshop was opened at Val Plaisant, and many articles were there manufactured and sold to the various business establishments for retailing to the public.
For a time a salt-producing plant was operated at La Collette Works. This plant produced a quantity of salt, but owing to the requisitioning of the works by the German forces, this had to be discontinued.
Due to the same fact a number of regular employees of the States’ Harbour Committee had to be found alternative employment, and this was done by opening a new engineering department at the Westmount Quarry, kindly placed at our disposal by the Constable of St. Helier.
In this Department all work on repairs to machinery for the mills, road repairs, plants, etc., etc., is carried out, and the men displaced from La Collette Works were engaged in similar work to‘ that to which they were previously accustomed.
Charcoal for use in the gasogene plants now installed in many ‘buses and lorries was produced in large quantities at our Westmount works, and the wood for the wood- burning producer ‘machines was cut up in suitable sizes at our Sun Works depot.
In order, as far as possible, to keep men in their usual employment, men from the bus companies’ staffs were employed by the Department on alternate weeks, returning to their normal employment at the end of the week, and being replaced by more of their fellow workers. '
Other trades had half their employees’ wages paid during any week when no goods were available for sale in their respective establishments, thus enabling these establishments to retain their full staffs without serious loss, and without burdening the State to a too great extent.
Family Relief
A scheme for relief of persons, especially those with large families, was put into operation at the beginning of the Occupation, and due to the generous response of the public, help was provided in hundreds of cases to families who, in many cases, were absolutely unable to pay for needed clothing, footwear, etc. The need for such a fund increased, as the necessity of replacing worn and useless clothes and footwear became more and more acute.
Interim Notes
The above were the main activities of the Department. In excess of these the sweeping of the main roads of the Island has fallen on the Department as far as the payment of the men employed is concerned. This has considerably relieved the rates of the individual parishes.
More Public Works
Occupation Reports from the Jersey Department of Labour – Part 3
Other Public Works
Other undertakings of the Department of Labour included amongst many, the construction of a new Cemetery at St. Brelade’s. The German authorities having requisitioned a portion of the existing cemetery, and the remaining portion being full, it was decided to construct a new cemetery on the glebe land adjoining. This entailed a large amount of work, but completed, has proved not only an acquisition to the Parish, but a beautiful and fitting place for the purpose for which it is intended.
Many of the sea walls surrounding our coasts received severe damage through various causes, and the work of keeping these in repair has meant the employment of a number of men, and the expenditure of a large sum of money.
The Old Railway Track from St. Aubin to Corbière, which had been beautified by the States for a portion of its length has been further improved as between Don Bridge and the terminus. Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been planted, and although temporarily a railway has been running through the track, the shrubs and trees have not been injured in any way.
Sickness Benefit and Furlough Payments
Since the Occupation, the Department of Labour has, with the sanction of the Superior Council, introduced schemes of Social Reform that are likely to become permanent and general in the post war period. The first was to pay the men unable to continue their work through illness, the same benefits as they would obtain were their incapacity due to accident. This has proved of great benefit, as, due to the conditions existing, the vitality of a large number of men employed by the Department has deteriorated, and without this concession many would have had to revert to their parishes for relief.
Realising that on the small wages paid, men could not afford to lose time through stress of weather, the Department, again with the sanction of the Superior Council, decided to pay this lost time, when and if circumstances prevented men from carrying on their work.
Manufacturing Works
To help solve the difficulty of obtaining buckets, brooms, dustpans, etc., a workshop was opened at Val Plaisant, and many articles were there manufactured and sold to the various business establishments for retailing to the public.
For a time a salt-producing plant was operated at La Collette Works. This plant produced a quantity of salt, but owing to the requisitioning of the works by the German forces, this had to be discontinued.
Due to the same fact a number of regular employees of the States’ Harbour Committee had to be found alternative employment, and this was done by opening a new engineering department at the Westmount Quarry, kindly placed at our disposal by the Constable of St. Helier.
In this Department all work on repairs to machinery for the mills, road repairs, plants, etc., etc., is carried out, and the men displaced from La Collette Works were engaged in similar work to‘ that to which they were previously accustomed.
Charcoal for use in the gasogene plants now installed in many ‘buses and lorries was produced in large quantities at our Westmount works, and the wood for the wood- burning producer ‘machines was cut up in suitable sizes at our Sun Works depot.
In order, as far as possible, to keep men in their usual employment, men from the bus companies’ staffs were employed by the Department on alternate weeks, returning to their normal employment at the end of the week, and being replaced by more of their fellow workers. '
Other trades had half their employees’ wages paid during any week when no goods were available for sale in their respective establishments, thus enabling these establishments to retain their full staffs without serious loss, and without burdening the State to a too great extent.
Family Relief
A scheme for relief of persons, especially those with large families, was put into operation at the beginning of the Occupation, and due to the generous response of the public, help was provided in hundreds of cases to families who, in many cases, were absolutely unable to pay for needed clothing, footwear, etc. The need for such a fund increased, as the necessity of replacing worn and useless clothes and footwear became more and more acute.
Interim Notes
The above were the main activities of the Department. In excess of these the sweeping of the main roads of the Island has fallen on the Department as far as the payment of the men employed is concerned. This has considerably relieved the rates of the individual parishes.
More Public Works
The widening of the main road from Tower Hamlet to Teighmore, and from La Coupe to Gibraltar in the Parishes of St. Saviour and St. Martin, and various other small schemes of road widening were also undertaken.
The large pond at the Mental Hospital was cleared of the thousands of tons of vegetable matter that had accumulated during past years.
Peat Extraction and Communal Ovens
During the summers of 1941 and 1942 large quantities of peat were taken from the marsh at Grouville, and from the shore at St. Ouen’s Bay.
The extraction of this material from the latter was found, through various causes, to be too expensive, and was discontinued. ,
On the other hand an almost inexhaustible quantity was found at Grouville, and although the beds were not worked in 1943, early in 1944 it was decided to recommence work, and many men were found employment on that work during the summer months.
Faced with the problem of providing cooking facilities for large numbers, the Superior Council, in June, 1944, instructed the Department to build communal ovens at various points adjoining congested areas.
Seaweed as Fertilizer
In order to help the farming community to obtain fertilizers, otherwise unobtainable, the Department undertook the collecting, drying, and transporting of seaweed from various bays. Some thousands of tons have thus been made available.
Salt Production
The inability to obtain salt from overseas necessitated the provision of salt water distribution, and this has been undertaken not only for the use of the general public, but also for the Bakers, who, for the first time, have had to use the Atlantic Ocean for mixing with their dough.
Howard Davis Park Works
The new military cemetery at the Howard Davis Park, and the construction of rock gardens at the same venue, was carried out by men supplied by the Department.
Women’s Employment
Since the inauguration of the Women's Registration Section, 1,049 women have been registered and found employment to date (July, 1945). Of these 722 have been sent to Summerland, 332 of which have now left and are working privately. 288 are now on private work, 32 in receipt of relief and 17 are unemployed. This figure includes clerical workers and domestic workers.
Concluding Summary
Such is a rough outline of the activities of the Department. That we have made mistakes we are only too willing to acknowledge. Much that we have learned has only been learned by hard and bitter experience.
8,900 barrels of peat (about 6o-lbs. to the barrel. Sold to the Public at a controlled price).
723 tons of blocks (given, or sold at a specially low price, to the deserving poor).
158 tons of roots and heads (disposed of to the Public at a very low price).
465 tons of special wood (used for making charcoal or supplied to Summerlands, etc., for special purposes; e.g. for making clogs, coffins, broom handles, axe handles, brushes, etc.
The average weekly sales during the period under review amounted to about 343 tons of fuel wood and 2,800 faggots.
Sales realised about £31,000 during the twelve months, this low figure representing a heavy subsidy granted to the purchasing public.
The distribution of wood during the period was just about sufficient—after allowing for wastage in drying, bad wood and sawdust——to permit of a ration of 1 cwt. Per coupon per month for all except about 4 months in the summer, and ½ cwt. per coupon per month during those 4 months -equivalent to 2 cwts of fuel per month to small families during 8 months and I cwt. per month during the remaining 4 months, and proportionately larger amounts to large families and to various institutions ..
It is interesting to note that, at this time the Department was producing more than enough charcoal to do- the equivalent of the whole of the work done by the petrol , used in all the Department’s Lorries. In other words, the Department was, in effect, supplying all the fuel for its transport work.
It may be fairly claimed that under great difficulty we have found employment for all who have sought it, and although many have been forced to undertake work to which they were entirely unaccustomed, yet all have been given work enabling them to earn a sufficiency with which to purchase the bare necessities, and all who need help- have been helped to the fullest extent to which the funds at our disposal have permitted.
Edward Le Quesne,
President.
The average weekly sales during the period under review amounted to about 343 tons of fuel wood and 2,800 faggots.
Sales realised about £31,000 during the twelve months, this low figure representing a heavy subsidy granted to the purchasing public.
The distribution of wood during the period was just about sufficient—after allowing for wastage in drying, bad wood and sawdust——to permit of a ration of 1 cwt. Per coupon per month for all except about 4 months in the summer, and ½ cwt. per coupon per month during those 4 months -equivalent to 2 cwts of fuel per month to small families during 8 months and I cwt. per month during the remaining 4 months, and proportionately larger amounts to large families and to various institutions ..
It is interesting to note that, at this time the Department was producing more than enough charcoal to do- the equivalent of the whole of the work done by the petrol , used in all the Department’s Lorries. In other words, the Department was, in effect, supplying all the fuel for its transport work.
It may be fairly claimed that under great difficulty we have found employment for all who have sought it, and although many have been forced to undertake work to which they were entirely unaccustomed, yet all have been given work enabling them to earn a sufficiency with which to purchase the bare necessities, and all who need help- have been helped to the fullest extent to which the funds at our disposal have permitted.
Edward Le Quesne,
President.
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