N.Z. WOMEN IN WAR TIME: WORK IN MANY FIELDS

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23743, 15 September 1942, Page 4

N.Z. WOMEN IN WAR TIME: WORK IN MANY FIELDS

LABOUR PROBLEMS

One of the problems New Zealand is now trying to solve is the organisation of woman power. We have come to this task later than most of our Allies, It was not until Japan entered the war that the number of men put into camps was so large that the use of womens labour in practically every occupation became essential. Now that the business of calling up every able-bodied young man is completed the ]ob of replacing them in industry with women and of organising women’s corps to supplement the services is being systematically tackled. The Present System There are at present three main branches of women’s war work apart from all the voluntary work that is being done. The first are the womens corps attached to the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and the Army Nursing Service. So far there has been no conscription into these units. All enlistment is voluntary, although it must be for the duration of the war and one year after. These women must be free to move about as the services require and be between 18 and 45 years old. The second group women war workers consist of those who have voluntarily undertaken men’s work for the duration of the war —the land corps, the postwomen, the women tram conductors, married women who have returned to teaching, and so forth. The third' group are the girls in the conscripted age group who have been directed, by the manpower officers into essential industries. Although any essential industry may presumably apply to this officer for girls, it is mainly to hospitals, as domestic staff or nursing aids, to hotels, to clothing and woollen mills, and to factories making parts for gas masks that conscripted girls have so far been sent in the Christchurch district. Like other workers in essential industries they must remain In, their jobs for the duration of the war unless they have good reasons for leaving them. ' : Co-ordinating all these branches of work is the Women’s War Service Auxiliary. This organisation interviews both volunteers for the services 'and the girls who have been called up for industry. Other parts of its work include the organisation of the corps of land girls who work on farms, the enlistment of women workers for the linen flax industry as well as the formation of various, groups for part time voluntary work. Conscription « The experience of those handling conscription of girls in this area has been that a great , deal of agitation, alarm, and even some opposition has been created. This is mainly due to lack of understanding of the process by which conscription is carried out. Certainly it is a complicated process which often involves many months of waiting and uncertainty. First of all girls in the age group have to register. Then they are interviewed by the W.W.S.A. On the result of this interview they are classified into three gpoups: those available, .those possibly available, and those not available. The manpower officer then interviews the girls of the first two groups to find out the kind of work they are doing, the extent of their training, the wages they receive, and their preferences as regards war work. Finally, when vacancies occur in an essential industry, the manpower officer instructs them to go before a hospital board or a factory manager for yet another interview. The disturbing effect on a girl of the uncertainty of her ultimate fate during the months between registration and final placement is considerable, ‘ The question therefore arises whether all these interviews are necessary. Surely a Small full-time group of women working under the W.W.S.A. could find out in one interview all that it was necessary to know about the girls and also keep sufficiently in touch with industry to place them where they are needed. Thus one of the three interviews could be eliminated. Value of the Voluntary Principle Very much of the unsettling effect of conscription, however, could be eliminated by placing greater stress on the voluntary principle. In England, conscription for industry is a last resort rather than a regular policy. Were a survey to be made periodically in each district of the number of workers needed for essential industries, the result widely advertised, and a call made for girls to fill these positions, it is likely that- little actual conscription would be necessary. Such a system would preserve the element of enthusiasm for the job which employers all agree makes all the difference to the quality and quantity of work turned out. , Those who have handled the enlistment of girls are high in praise of the capabilities and enthusiasm of the volunteers into the services, into the linen flax industry, into the Post Office or the Railway Department. But the average attitude of conscripted girls is different. They are seldom enthusiastic, sometimes resentful. The extraordinary productivity of women’s labour in England, which is reported to be generally greater than that of men doing the same work in peace time, is attributed to just this quality of enthusiasm for a job that Will help to win the war. Therefore enthusiasm should be preserved and cultivated at all costs, even perhaps to the extent of giving to workers in essential industries a special badge or armband. > Voluntary enlistment would also be facilitated by a more satisfactory classification of industries. Luxury industries from which labour will have to move should be listed as well as the essential industries to which it has to go. The unlisted industries would then constitute a group in which, although labour was not reserved, it- might remain at the discretion of the manpower officer. Some such distinction between industries already exists unofficially. It would make for greater certainty and less unrest if the principle were given definition. Then the public would undoubtedly like to know on what grounds industries are classified as essential. Is it any industry which is short of workers or any industry that can pull political wires? The fact that the pickle industry and the hotel trade have both been declared essential prompts these questions. To the average person neither of them seems essential to the winning of the war. Surely the public should know how this very important question of the classification of industries is settled. Were women represented, as they should be, on the body, which takes these decisions, it is likely that domestic workers on farms, in houses where there are invalids and where there are several young children would be considered at least as essential as domestic workers in hotels. The Wage Problem When girls were called up, for factory work, in a Canterbury district, a short time ago, those under 21 had to be sent home again because the statutory wage for beginners in industry was insufficient to pay their board in town. It would be a reassuring factor if the minimum wage were made applicable to all conscripted women workers. The fact that the productive capacity of learners is small should not determine the wages of those whom the war has brought into industry at a later age than usual. In war time the profit motive Las to go into the background and national interest take its place as the regulator of productive effort Another aspect of the wage problem arises where women are filling positions previously held by men. In such cases it is only fair to the women themselves and to the men whose jobs they take that the wage payment should be the same. This principle is already accepted in several trades, in the tramway service, in grocers’ shops, and for pressers and cutters in the clothing industry. In every case women should make a stand for it. If they

V [Specially written for “The Press” by CAROLINE WEBB.] i,

do, they have a good chance of-jecu,. ing the support .of the trade timinm which are becoming not a little ca? cerned by the fact that cheap femji; labour in not a few industries jl giving at, least as much satisfaction a the more expensive male labour Which it has replaced. If the disparity £ wage payments continues a very diffl, cult situation is going to be created after the war for both employers employees; and not only in the cue of women directly replacing men,:™ whole problem of equal pay MnjJ? and women doing similar raised and must be raised at such a time as this. “Modern equipment can practically eliminate the need for brut* strength en manufacturing. Thereto* there are no limits to the usefulness of women in production. It is entity a problem of training,’-’ writes fin cfc server in Britain. In practically* g)l firms where women have replaced men, this observer reports, employer! have found them as efficient as men and outstandingly more efficient in work' which requires either nimble fingers or a delicate touch' and keen eye, or in monotonous work requiring a high degree of patience. ' It would be interesting to have some such survey of women’s work made in New Zealand during the war. Qver and over again I have found from’in. .quiries that women are giving more satisfaction than the men they have replaced, although they are neaity always paid less. The Linen Flax De. partment, for instance, is enthusiastic about the results of the employment of women in the operation of scutching. In factories where the substitution has taken place there has beetle remarkable improvement both in the quantity and the quality of the pmduct. The women are considerably cheaper to house and are paid two-, thirds of the men’s wages. These facts may find some people incredulous. Those who appreciate the' physical /endurance, skill, and concentration- required by the usual work 1 N women—housework, cooking, and cate of children, all performed at the same time—will not be surprised. Bub h6’ group, whether it be a nation, aclass, or -a sex, gives up its privileges Willingly. Women will haveto ofganiH« and fight for economic riehta aadjff did for political ones. The Public Service . The main battle will certainly be in the Public Service, where yjKapw are employed under conditions that arenothing short of scandalous. Although the Public Service Act makes ntf di* crimination between the sexes, regulations and administrative procedure have been used to keep women.in the - lowest grades of the services, tq’pay. them at consistently lower rates-then-men, and to appoint them only as temporary members of the Service' This means that they, can be dismissed,atshort notice and that they Have-ho right of appeal against dismissal;-la the matter of promotion, or as Regards; salaries. Except for a small group'of.' women in the professional 1 divfslgp/ women are debarred altogether the higher - grades i of. the' Public;4ss, vice. They have no opportunity, Wlttfe soever cf entering the adWJnjistMw, division, which comprises. who take decisions on and is thus more important'BSiSSpi ■’ House of Representatives, in.traift-. eminent of the country. ' In recent months women have entered the'JWUfaffii vice, some to replace mep, uthwlaßl cause of the many’ activity that are taking BwNBaMHI of them have though some, classified aOgtWwWM temporaries,” can join IhMWMME tion scheme, their prospectgw;iMp eration and opportunities W.UtMR ment are very limited, I -:-,; ■ Rehabilitation To shelve the problem" ot-VoMl-economic rights op -to worthwhile career ,in the" fatyiffireTt : vice on the grounds that tbqß-“W eventually marry, is becomijWCnW 1 less plausible. The fact Has i faced that after the war, th% pJWhp,. of rehabilitation is going, to whem women i; early as much as ands of women now going intoJß»,S®j t vices, thousands in war industrili'fla -j the great number temporarily,ten- • ■ ployed in men’s jobs will. sudaCßly-» thrown on the labour market|sW.i mounting casualty lists will < a Itrger proportion than - want to find their life’s ; Work|'W-»* 'i dustry, the professions, OP the,jPwP > Service. The sacrifice of the® SWW i is as great as any that is pads, tow] time, and their post-war status tWm - be a problem of first importgiM®*^®-! The only satisfactory basis which to approach: the problem* $ M i habilitation is that of ecpnojniq MW* ity between men. and wojnen, ..sjw ’ other basis would be as uhsatlnftpw? as it would be unfair. The arguajP s that men’s wages have to suppqra*. family is met by the contention universal family allowances much more efficient and more ecorapj ical way of providing for children wIM that of paying every adult male ** though he had a wife and (oidy) children. The solution'to the lem of women’s economic rights, tnerc* fore, is also the solution to the prop* lem of the large family—-ccotvoimc equality, plus general family auow' ances. Recent research, by showing that the main cause of real poverty » England is the large family, has persuaded the British trade union mov? ■ ment to support the principles ram ’ ily allowances. In accepting * have also abandoned the only grounos , on which economic inequality between men and women can be sustained- - Another development propitious , the economic equality of nietr an women is the fact that the war tas i shown nations how to banish, the oogr , of unemployment. Competition ; tween men and women for a um number of jobs need not at |? e ~; a i peace as ’in war. the productive cap? acity of a country is planned ana con trolled in the national interest. « , only when profit is the mainsprtngjP. industrial activity that chrome upe .. ployment, booms, and slumps order of the day. In building tne new world order after the war, therefore, it is to be hoped that there will economic discrimination - women. Their service with theiorj- *5 their conscription into the way in which they have done m work surely entitle them to equality-