AFTER FORTY YEARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 14

AFTER FORTY YEARS.

TAILORESSES' BIRTHDAY. STORY OF SMALL EARNINGS. FORMATION OF A UNION. Tho 40th anniversary of the formation of tho Dunedin Tailoresses' Union, which fell last Thursday, is tho subject of an articlo by Mr. J. T. Paul—formerly a member of tho Legislative Council—in tho Otago Daily Tunes. IJo gives soino instances of tho low prices paid for tailoresses' work in Dunedin and other New Zealand towns 40 years ago lie quotes from a series of articles published at tho time. Tho investigator on behalf of tho Otago Daily Times visited the homes of sevoral workers who toiled long hours for small returns.

Tho first case was of a woman employed in finishing boys' knickerbockers. To tho question. how long she would work, she replied: "Till just about 11 o'clock, but then 1 shall liavo made my 3s 6d today—that is, by working from half-past eight this morning till 11 to-night. But this is a special day—it is all tho better class of work. Jt is only when ono gets tho first-class work that you can make anything like that." Sometimes this woman mado 2s for such a day's work, and girls of 15 years were receiving 2s Cd a week and less for a week's work. Homo worked eight hours in a factory, followed by many more in tho home. "Tho night work is tho killing part of it," another wgman told the interviewer. "Without bringing work home at night wo could not make more than 14s a week, work as hard as wo could. An ordinary hand would make 9s or 10s, and some would not do that." Somo of tho prices were staggering. Women were paid per pair for moleskin trousers, and somo mado three pairs in a long day Many mado less. For men's sac coats Is 6d was paid for making them all through, excepting the machining. For shirts 3s per dozen was offered for making them from the web. Flannels were paid at Gd per dozen, and second-class shirts were paid for at Is 7d per dozen, and the women did their own pressing. Tho earnings of tho women on thi3 work ranged from 5s to 7s 6d per week, and to do this they had to take work home at night. Other women were discovered making flour bags at £d a dozen, or 6d a gross. Of this work one woman added—"and that put tho set on mo and mado mo leave. If I did three gross a day I did very well indeed; that was too much to do and tho work was very hard." The first fruits of these exposures was a great awakening of public opinion and a committee of citizens was appointed. In turn tho committee reported to a largely attended public meeting at which leading citizens spoke. Of theso but three aro still alive—Sir Robert Stout, Sir Georgo Fenwick and Dr. Waddell. With others theso men strongly urged the formation of a union, to be called "The Tailorcsses' Union of New Zealand." The Tailoresses' Union was formed on July 11, 1889, and the Rev. Rutherford Waddell was elected its first president. It has been the foster parent of all the other unions in the clothing trade in New Zealand. n