BANK CLERKS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12423, 12 February 1901, Page 4

BANK CLERKS.

The striking article which we publish: in another column should rouse public interest dn the peculiar conditions of work at present obtaining in the banks of 'the colony. Ihe facts there set out are, no doubt, familiar to seme of our 'readers, but "the cruel case of the bank clerk," as someone has called it, has not often been put so dearly or so forcibly. The difficulties are t many and various. It is true that the bank clerk often holds an extremely responsible position, and receives a very small wage; .it is true that promotion' comes slowly and not always according to merit or experience; and it is true also, that bank employees are hedged round with written and unwritten restrictions. But the position has noifc changed materially during many years, and the majority of these deskworkers sought employment with their eyes open. They knew what to expect. The work, or rather the position, is popular with young men of a certain class who, are attracted by the social standing it is supposed to give them, and the supply of labour is, therefore, always in excess of the demand. Then, too, as one of the clerks interviewed, said, young men in receipt of a private income willingly accept the small wages and refuse to join in any movement to secure better pay or more favourable conditions of work. As for the muchdebated •'matrimonial clause," it is designed as much in the interests of the employees as in those of the shareholders. No doubt an artisan can support a wife and family on £3 or £4 a week, but a bank ~ clerk would need to re-draft his wbola scheme of life -to obtain the same result. We are nob now defending the payment of low wages. The banks are not philanthropic- institutions, it is true, but we honestly, believe that they -would consult their own interests by attaching- better salaries at least to the more responsible positions. The real.remedy for the trouble's of the bank eierk, however, is to be found in combination. Other workers who endeavour to establishi a trades union encounter precisely the same difficulties and the same opposition frcau their fellows; but a. little, determination and a little quiet " education " will carry the day. We need hardly 'say that the columns of the Press are open to bank employees as to. ail workers, for the ventilation of their genuine grievances.