Sparing bus men’s blushes

Press, 6 July 1977, Page 1

Sparing bus men’s blushes

The bus-drivers of Christchurch might be upset or embarrassed if they had to share their lavatories with women, according to Mrs E. B. Brooke, a member of the Christchurch Transport Board.

Mrs Brooke said this when asked to comment on a statement yesterday by the National Advisory Committee on the Employment of Women. The council said that it had recommended to the Labour Department that shared lavatories should be allowed where there are fewer than 10 persons employed, provided there is enough privacy. At the Transport Board’s last meeting in Christchurch, Mrs Brooke asked why the board was still advertising for male busdrivers only. The general manager (Mr M. G. Taylor) replied that the board was prevented from employing

female drivers because the law' said that separate provision must be made for women.

He said that the board had plans to extend the city depot and include separate facilities, and hoped the Budget might help the board. The advisory council said that the law' was embodied in the Factories Act, Shops and Offices Act, and Drainage and Plumbing Regulations, and prevented many small-scale businessmen, who had traditionally engaged men only, from employing women.

Mrs Brooke said that changing the law might help, but in the case of the Transport Board it could upset or embarrass the men.

If the laws were changed the women who applied for jobs as bus-drivers would no doubt accept the situation, but if a woman walked into a mixed toilet it could upset a man.