" ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD."

NZ Truth, Issue 79, 22 December 1906, Page 5

" ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD."

SLAVERY IN THE SERVANTS' HALL. How One Swell Hotel Treats its Employees. There is ■• a pretty strong kick among the servants of a certain large hotel m Wellington, which does not appear* to have been well designed orto.be conducted upon lines calculated to render the employees a veiry happy family. ' ''

To begin with, it is stated that the stafi is not by. any means strong enough for the size of the* house and one housemaid is expected to do all the work of a whole flat of 24 rooms. Included m this enormous task are the lavatories and bath-rooms and girls reckon that they should not have this work to do while male boarders are about and using the conveniences —that m fact males should be set to thjs duty. .

.Then some extraordinary regulations as to hours have -been laid down by the 'mistress '6f- the hotel, regulations that would hardly be endured m a colored-labor compound. The housemaids must on jio account leave work till Sp.m. whether they have finished their tasks or not, and they must be m again, by 10 o'clock, under pain of dismissal. This naturally precludes their going to any theatre or other entertainment. When this matter was pointed out the reply was that any girl who wished to go to a theatre might ask permission to leave earlier and stay out later, and her "request would be considered." My, what a long tail our cat's got ! Any wonder that twelve of the staff have left within five weeks recently, turning the job up m disgust ; especially as the maids only receive 15s a week, -whereas smaller and less pretentious places pay 17s 6d. to 20s for much lighter work.

All hands have to wear uniform, and one girl-, who made her own out of material supplied by the " house, on leaving, handed m her costume, and actually the mistress wanted to charge her 5s for the material— in face of the. fact that she had got a well-made frock m exchange for her cloth. Naturally the girl did not see the loke and refused to pay the crown. * In arranging the interior of this house the architect appears to have ignored the commonest domestic requirements. For instance, there is no closet or room for the bestowal of the pans, brushes,, brooms, floorcloths, beeswaxing cloths, etc.. and they have actually to be stuffed into a wardrobe m one of the bedrooms. The waiters have no apartment m which to change from their private clothes into the ui*i[prm they are required to wear and vice versa, and must perforce do this m a room where the barmaids and office staff take their meals. They also have to stand up to the "hot press" to eat their food.

Altogether, m view of these reasonable complaints, out of many others, .itv^yilju^je admittedest/haty theire. is little wohd^-the^management fails to keen 8 . working staff together. Household servants m Wellington are not, nor are they likely to allow themselves, to become mere slaves to a grinding, inconsiderate management.