WHAT THE SHOP ASSISTANTS THINK OF THE MID-WEEK HALF-HOLIDAY.

Evening Star, Issue 14037, 19 April 1909, Page 6

WHAT THE SHOP ASSISTANTS THINK OF THE MID-WEEK HALF-HOLIDAY.

It is a gross injustice to many shop assistants to assert that they are working for the Saturday half-holiday as against the interests of their employers. There may be a few disloyal enough to do this, but we believe the hulk of them recognise that, however desirable a UNIVERSAL Saturday half-holiday may be, the project to make it compulsory in separate towns is little short of a farce, '['hey know quite well that no late week-night would ever approach the splendid turnover on Saturday afternoons and evenings, and are quite willing to continue rilling their positions loyally on the Saturday. DIMINISHED TRADE WILL SOON'RESULT IN REDUCED STAFFS, and thus both employer and employee would suffer alike by the introduction of the compulsory Saturday half-holiday. The shop assistants of Christchurch held an enthusiastic meeting the other day to defend themselves from misrepresentation, and passed the following motion unanimously:—'"That this meeting of shop assistants _ are satisfied with the Thursday half-holiday, which has-worked so satisfactorily to employees, employers, and the public for many years, and, desiring existing arrangements to remain, will use every endeavor to have Thursday retained as the day for the weekly half-holiday." Of course, the retaining of Wednesday is the ambition of the Dunedin people, and undoubtedly most of the shop assistants are of this mind- £1442]