AND WHY NOT?

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 134, 8 June 1926, Page 9

AND WHY NOT?

LABOUR BUREAU FOR WOMEN.

ADVOCATED BY EMPLOYER,

FOR GOOD OF BOTH PARTIES.

There is in Auckland a well-known employer of female labour who cannot understand why there is not. in this city, a Government Labour Bureau on a par with that in existence for unemployed men. The employer ha* been intimately associated with labour questions at Home and has, at times, sat on commissions set up to inquire into unemployment among women. In her opinion, the absence of a women's bureau is a matter for grave consideration, and it is her intention to place the matter before the 'Minister of Labour.

"You would be surprised. - ' she told a "Star" representative, "if you could see the numbers of women who call at my place, not only every week, but every day, asking for employment. It is useless to say that there are very few women looking for work. The position is that, without a properly conducted labour bureau for women, employers are put at a great disadvantage, and so are the persons seeking work. With an agency, such as that in existence for the men, you are, in the first place, able to get the right type of worker with a minimum of trouble. The bureau knows the qualifications and general fitness of those on its books, and can usually supply a man at the shortest notice. With women it is different. In my case, tliey come along and I have absolutely no idea of their capabilities, except what they tell mc, and that, of course, is not always a guarantee. To find out what they can do I have to employ them temporarily, and then, very often, I am forced to discharge them. All this caust-s much waste of time and a lot of trouble that could be avoided.

"But there is another aspect, more important as far as the worker is concerned. If a woman calls, and I am unable to take her on, even temporarily, at the time, I take her address. That woman has probably been to other places for work, and has gone through the same routine. She may get employment elsewhere, without my knowledge, so that, whe.n I have a vacancy and I send for her, I find, often after a great deal of trouble, that she is not available. Not only that, but women out of work frequently move from place to place, and a week after they have left mc their addresses they have probably moved elsewhere. I have no means of knowing this, as they very rarely notify mc. Hence, there must be quite a number of women in needy circumstances who would be employed were it possible to keep in touch with them.

"A labour bureau is the solution. In the cases of men, they nearly always notify their changes of address to the official agency. If you want a man, the agency can tell you where to find one, or whether there is no one suitable on the books. Further, it can keep your requirements in view and can let"you know when a suitable person puts in an application."

If there is a bureau for men. why is there not one for women, asked the employer in conclusion. She intends to take her arguments before the Government, to see what can be done.

An inquiry at the Auckland Labour Exchange to-day elicited the information that a women's bureau was in existence up till about four or five years ago, when it was abolished, "because it was useless, in thst little advantage was taken of it." However, an official stated that if women do apply, everything possible is done to assist them.