‘Female labour exploited and abused’

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32407, 21 September 1970, Page 6

‘Female labour exploited and abused’

The vast, almost untouched source of female labour was the most exploited and abused source of labour the world had ever known, said Mr L. Fortune, Canterbury secretary of the New Zealand Engineering Union, in Christchurch on Saturday, speaking at a seminar' on the training and retraining of women for work in the community, organised by the Women’s Advisory Council of the New Zealand Labour Party.

More than 60 women attended, some from as far away as Wellington and Invercargill.

Mr Fortune said that in New Zealand many export markets relied without doubt, on female labour. From the trade union’s point of view, the present situation was more than undesirable. Many employers in industry also used women to depreciate real wages for male workers. Women blamed “For this, I blame women themselves,” he said. “They fail to recognise their value to employers, and therefore are prepared to under-esti-mate their contributions to the employers’ industry. "Second, many women workers treat work as a joke —something to • take them away from home for a while, or as a temporary supplement to their husband’s wages. The employer is well aware of this fact, and exploits it to the full, even at the expense of male labour. “Some employers seek highly-committed female lab-'

our, and gloat when they have a labour force which is completely relying upon them for the sustenance of children left on the hands of the woman when her husband or associate has long since disappeared.” These conditions were forcing female labour into “the slave workshops of New Zealand,” said Mr Fortune.. Kept low

Many industries kept their awards relatively low, and paid female labour in accordance with the award because they were forced to pay equal pay. Male labour was paid far in excess of the minimum payment. "Recent moves have assisted in making award rates more realistic to rates that are actually being paid, but a considerable amount of work remains to be done in this direction,” he said. “Here again, a problem is constantly confronting us at the way women exploit their female rights, but still wish to retain, equal status with male labour. I am afraid a lot of old wives’ tales regarding womanhood have to be overthrown before full equal-

ity can possibly be achieved.” Mr Fortune said that female labour was at present expected to exist in many cases on 70 per cent of the male rate. In many other cases this was even lower. Even where equal pay was achieved it was only paying lip service to equality. Persons today were told that there was a grave shortage of skilled labour in New Zealand, he said. There was, however, the vast source of female labour waiting and prepared to be trained. All that women lacked was an employer who was prepared to recognise them when they were trained. "The time has passed when women continue to stay at home and wage an unequal battle against too many mouths to feed and too' little income to succeed,” said Mr Fortune. , “Women are now in the position to take a look at this, their position—and, with the right attitude, to do something about it,” he said.