THERE have been suggestions that the merchant shipbuilding industry should have been subsidised by the Government.
In the 1960s, when I was deeply involved in shipbuilding, the government of the day twice intervened, with disastrous results. The first was in the Fairfield experiment and the second in the creation of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. Both resulted in considerable escalation of wage rates on the whole of the Clyde and failed to increase productivity, and they undoubtedly hastened the demise of the industry.
If Government subsidies are to be given to save the industry, they should be long-term and both management and labour must demonstrably work together towards becoming competitive in the world market.
Alexander Stephen,
Cutty Cottage, Balfron.
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