WORKLESS GIRLS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20908, 15 July 1933, Page 14

WORKLESS GIRLS.

COMMITTEE CRITICISED i CONDITIONS AT RELIEF CENTRES. FAY REDUCED TO 5/- A WEEK. Objection (o the reduction from 7f| 6ci a week to 5s a week of the wages (liven to unemployed single women and girls wot king at the cooking, training. :)nd sewing centres of the O.rfstchurch Women's Unemployment Committer war expressed fcv iipcmp!uyefl girls yesterday. Tin- rcrinrtion. ih~v «aid. riiea"t that thry vo"1d have .1.:3 to live on for a period of 12 ve<->kr i including a six weeks' period'. T'" l i■<, combined with reductions in allowance? made for room rent, and refusrls of such allowances. i thpir position impossible*. | "Those of. who are living away from horn-"' have none as far as wo cor." said on~ of the gi r ls. "V.'e cannot continue U !r e this any linger. Is it anv wonder we object to hiv'nr; to work for five shilHnss a week"" Out of this sum of £3. she said, they had to provide breakfasts and meals, rnd clethins;. while many of them hid also to nav rent, as thsy had been

lowances for this purpose. In addition firing had to be found. Petition to the Mayor. "The girls have just received notice of the reduction in their small wages, and many of then say they will not go back to work on these conditions. They are signing a petition to place their complaints before the Mayor (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.i. and to ask him to do what is in his power to have the wages restored." j At the cooking and sewing centres | the girls worked six weeks and then had to stand down for six weeks. They worked in two shifts, each of three days. About 12 girls were in each shift at the cooking centre, and about 30 in each at the sewing centre. At the training Centre the period of work was also divided into three-day shifts, but the training lasted for a continuous 13 weeks, after which the girls had to find employment. The "iris registered with the committee received two meals daily (one on Saturday and none on Sunday) at the centre, and morning and afternoon tea while working. Room-rent Troubles. The objection was made mainly on behalf of girls who had no parents or whose parents did not live in Christchurch. "A great number of the girls are living away from home," it was stated. "Although 20 beds are supposed to be available at the Young Women's Chr'stian Association for unemployed girls, only about five or fix are staying there, and some have been refused accommodation. The unemployment committee has been paying 12s 6d a week to the Young Women's Christian Association for girls staying there (bed. breakfast, tea, and weekend meals). "Moat of the girls who have been refused work at the centres are living in rooms apart from the Young Women's Christian Association. Now the committee wants the girls who are living in rooms to pay their roomrents out of the small wages they are getting. Though it was paying. 6s rt week to landladies- for some of them, if has now definitely refused to j pay for several, and is not giving i them work. ! "After July 17 the girls will have 10 pay to have their shoes mended. They buy clothes at the depot, having to pay 50 per cent, of the committee's prices tor second-hand garments. Firing: and Food. "Lately applications for firing by single girls have been refused. Not long flgo Miss M. B. Lovell Smith gave two giris an order for firing, but when they took it to the central depot they were refused coal. They then took their case to Mr R. T. Bailey, and after some negotiation by him with the depot, orders for coal for five girls were recognised, and they received half a bag each. The contention made at the depot was that no firing was provided for single men, and that none could be given to single unemployed women. Other girls have since put in applications, but these have been refused." Statement for CoifimiUce. Most of the members of the Womon'o Unemployment Commilteo were unwilling to make any statement about the case put forward by the girls, and referred all enquiries to one member of the committee, who, though at first saying there was nothing to be said for publication, later made this statement: — "None of the gilds employed at the centres has made any representations to the committee. The person solely responsible for the agitation <1 know quite well Who she is) has never been employed at the centres, but has refused work offered. "The state of the finances of the committee necessitated a review of its expenditure, and as a result its outgoings hava had to be reduced. Notice has been given this week of the reduction in wages. The position concerning the girls employed in the centres is still under review. No person who has previously been granted room allowance has had that allowance entirely cut off. The arrangement existing between the Young Women,'s Christian Association and the Christchurch Women's Unemployment Committee has been cancelled, and a lesser amount has been allocated to girls living at the Young Women's Christian Association in order to make available for room-rent allowances in

to break on its landward bank. The storm which caused the sea must have been a long way off, for with us the day was cloud'ess with a light breeze off-shore. The line of the breakers was almost parallel to the beach, and they very soon filled the old mouth with shingle. When the tide receded, tfie river was "flowing out to sea towards the south. When we take into consideration the strong scouring current which flows out of the Rakaia. even at high tide, we get some idea of the amount of shingle which must be carried into it to change the direction of the mouth in so short a time. Such seas as the one described are admittedly of only occasional occurrence, but whenever they did occur, there would be a very good chance that they would not only block up the outlet of the Lake, but also pile up material in the north angle between the beach and the wall to such an extent that the re-opening of the outlet would be a very difficult matter indeed. (To be concluded.)

approved cases money which has not previously been available for that purpuse. The food at the centres is of the best. "Those women and girls who are employed under the jurisdiction of the Christchurch Women's Unemployment Committee have received better treatment than many of their less fortunate sisters in other centres." Talking Without Knowledge. "The girls are talking without any knowledge," paid Mrs A. I. Fraer, who is a member of the committee. "There was no suggestion of a reduction in Die report of the finance committee ( resented at the meeting I attended today." Asked whether any such step had been taken, or was contemplated, Mrs l raer said: "I cannot say. I am not a member of the finance committee." When it was pointed out to Mrs Fraer that the girls said that they had been told that their pay was to be reduced she said. "The girls are jumping at conclusions', I think." Questioned about allowances for room rent, Mrs Fraer said that the committee preferred to have unemployed single girls staying at the Young Women's Christian Association, because some sort of supervision could be exercised there. No allowances for i nom rent were made if the girls had homes in the city, because the mothers complained that allowances of 111 i sort encouraged 111" girls to break away from the home. Where the girls could not stay at the Young Women's Christian Associa lion the committee desired t'nrm to stay in approved homes. Unfortunately, suoervision was the last tiling some of the girls desired. Where the Young Women's Christian Association considered a girl was not suitable to stay at its hostel the committee tried to find an approved home in which to take a room, but only once had it happened that tne association had had to debar a girl. Mrs Fraer added that the Minister for Employment 'the Hon. Adam Hamilton' had expressed his approval of the committee's conduct of its affairs.