SWEATED LABOUR ALLEGED

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21335, 30 November 1934, Page 6

SWEATED LABOUR ALLEGED

TO THE KM-OK (IK TIIK MIKH.H. .Sir,—For a long time now I have watched the progress of exploitation of a most vicious nature in one of the city's small fashionable dressmaking businesses. I would add that it is a form of exploitation compared with which sweated labour pales into insignificance. I have known this business to commence operations at 7 a.m. and young girls not yet out of their 'teens to be kept at work, sometimes not getting away until after 1 p.m. for lunch. It i.s rarely that they are finished work at night until nearly 6 p.m. When Saturday comes, instead of the usual longed-for holiday, some of the staff are kept away from weekly recreation by a demand for their presence until sometimes 2 p.m. without lunch. Of course mothers who have cooked a nourishing dinner are pleased to see it spoilt during the waiting process. Upon numerous occasions young girls of 16 or under are made to take packages for long distances on Saturday afternoons, sometimes not getting home until 3 p.m., according to the distance. All these instances I have quoted are glaring violations of the regulations governing factories, but the authorities take no action. Why, may I ask? Are the country's future mothers to be made physical wrecks before they reach maturity owing to official negligence and the profit-grasping propensities of the employer? In any case I hope the authorities will take immediate action to see that the matter is rectified. Incidentally no complaint will be recognised by the Labour Department from anyone not directly concerned, which means that the girls themselves remain silent in fear of losing their employment. No doubt it is easy for businesses employing only about a dozen girls to escape official notice. Hoping to see our girls get a fair deal.—-Yours, etc., ANTI-SWEATED LABOUR. November 28, 1934. IThe authorities of the Labour Department in Christchurch, to whom this letter was submitted, stated that the department was only too pleased to receive and to investigate complaints from any persons, whether or not connected with the factory or industry concerned. Without further details they were not in a position to comment on the statements made in the correspondent's letter. If the writer called or wrote to the department, his complaints would be investigated.]