WAITRESSES ON STRIKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13756, 22 May 1908, Page 8

WAITRESSES ON STRIKE.

SCENES AT A PICCADILLY RESTAURANT. A SYMPATHETIC PUBLIC. SOME AMUSING SITUATIONS. • l-RfiM iini OWN' uor.nrsi'ONrir.vi.j j London, April 10. Am. Nee. Zealand visitors to Loudon knowhow the various restaurant-* in the virii;y of Piccadilly Circus arc " rushed" on Saturday afternoons niter matinees and concerts, and that the crowding is at its | dens, st between 5 p.m. -iml 6 p.m. Simii larly they will be awaie that on a weekday "ili.- busiest interval during the lun-cheon-hour is from 1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. And these hours were selected by the staff of one of the biggest restaurants at Piccadilly Circus—the Cabin—to air their grievance?. One of the forty-odd girls employed as waitresses at the Piccadilly t.'iisia- branch of the Cabins Restaurants, having been dismissed on what her colleagues regarded as insufficient grounds, tin: latter decided on a bold scheme of revolt. Accordingly on the stroke of 5 p.m. hist Saturday, when there wen- something like 500 customers in the plate, the whole :>t the waitresses ceased work with dramatic Middenue*:s. The fair strikers set down whatever they happened to be currying at the time, and, utterly regardless of the protestations and astonishment of hungry customers, thev rushed at topmost .-peed to the manager's loom upstair*. Ten minutes previously the manager-director had received a telephone' message that Tic was urgently wanted. He responded promptly to the call, but when he arrived the strike had already been declared. The spokeswoman of the strikers was a pretty, lair-haired girl, who «et forth the grievance* of herself and her companions. They demanded, she said, the immediate reinstatement of the dismissed waitress, and a guarantee that none of the. .staff .should be dismissed for at least, three mouths. Failing acceptance of their terms the girls would leave the restaurant then and there. Realising the .situation, the managingdirector quickly capitulated, and the triumphant waitresses at once returned to their duties. But peace and quietness did not last long. For on the following Tuesday there was another demonstration —and this time the consequences for the waitresses themselves were more serious, for all were dismissed. The entire staff came on. 1 on strike — waitresses, kitclienmaidK, cook*--—and many amusing scenes weie witnessed. At 1.30, when the place was crowded with customers at lunch, the girls assembled on the ground floor from all parte of the building and declared that the strike had begun. Presently the cooky, iu their white, with the bar hands and the rest of the employees, joined the throng, while the band stopped, and the customers looked on in amazement at the abrupt, termination to their meal. At the conclusion of the- earlier strike Mr. Frankenberg, the managing director, had signed a document reinstating the dismissed waitress and guaranteeing to her colleagues three months;' continuity of service, but this document was drawn up only in pencil on the back of a paperbag. Fearing that Mich an agreement, from its informal character, would not be considered legally binding, the girl* sought on Tuesday to .have if put into more conventional formbat without success. On realising that (something untoward was about to happen, these in authority ordered the doors to lie closed, excluding a number of people who were about to enter for their lunch. The news spread that the girls were once more on strike, and a big crowd quickly- gathered outride and peered through -the ' window*". The number increased to such an extent that practically the whole roadway in the vicinity was blocked, and a- force of police had to be hurried to the spot to secure a passage for the traffic. In a few minutes Mr. Fraukenberg was on the scene, ana the spokeswoman was again si fair-liaired, bright-eyed, sweet.voiced damsel. The manager ie said to have been trembling with anger, and at once addressing the girl, who was known by her companions as "Ken," he said: "Do yon refuse to work':" "Yes," she, replied, " unless you sign this document" —holding out a typewritten sheet of paper. A storm of oheeifc< greeted this announcement. "Then you are dismissed shouted Mr. Frankenberg. "And we will all go—we will all go!" cried the girls in,chorus. Then one of the customers called for three cheers for the girls, and these were given with surprising heartiness, women and men joining in the applause. Then the spokeswoman, "Ken," mounted one of the tables, and tired off a vigorous speech, "We are entirely on our own," she said "we have no union, behind us. We are wc->k girl* without many friends, and these companies think they can crush us. Some of us have invalid parents to support, and there are at least five of us who have to keep their whole families. We don't want to strike for the sake of striking, but we arc fighting for our lights, and we ask the public to Help us. (Loud cheers.) We are not- foreigners. We are British women. {More cheers.) We work diligently, but we won't have a. manager who thinks he 'can bully us, one minute and talk to us. lightly and loosely another." (Loud applause.) j- Finally,, the manageress from the Fleet- I I street branch arrived on the scene, and | requested the public to leave, otherwise ■ the police would be called in to remove i them. They accordingly left, accompan- ■ ied by the girks. The big crowd etill j waited outside, and more lusty cheering j greeted the appearance of the waitresses. I " Ken'' mentioned that the gitls worked ! 12 hours a day, and their pay was 6.s 9d per week, while the word<= "No gratuities" were printed on the menu?. Yesterday at mid-day there were only 18 people at the tables.