WORK IN HOTEL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24850, 23 March 1944, Page 4

WORK IN HOTEL

FOUE GIRL STUDENTS' COMPLAINT AND REPLY (S.R.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday A report in newspapers alleging that four girl students froni the Dunedin Training College were, during their vacation, directed by the manpower authorities as waitresses, housemaids and second cooks to a country h°t« where thcv were required to work 10 to 15 hours daily and then falsify the wages book and accept payment for the: normal working week for employment was mentioned by Mr. P. G. Connolly (Government Dunedin West) Mr. J. W. Munro (Government -Dunedin North), and Mr. P. Nielson (Government —Dunedin Central), in an urgent question in the House of Representatives to-day.

The members asked if this were so would the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, indicate what steps he proposed to adopt to protect workers directed to essential work from such exploitation. £55 Overtime Pay Collected After reading from a signed statement from the girls the Prime Minister quoted from a statement bv the secretary of the Hotel WorKers Lmon, Dunedin. It was stated in the secretary's statement that the four students concerned had called at the union office on February 3 and paid their union dues, handing in a statement of overtime which was to have been worked, covering a period of four weeks. At no time during the currency of their employment had any of these workers complained to the union about their conditions. On January 31 the union organiser visited the hotel at which the four students had been emploved and collected on their behalt £55 14s Id overtime pay due to them.

Girls Receive Money On February 7, four davs alter the complaint had been lodged, the statement continued, the girls were advised bv telephone to call at the union office and collect the money paid over on their behalf and this they had done on that date.

Mr. Fraser said that routine instructions had been given to district manpower officers to take all reasonable steps to ensure that no directions were made to employment where the conditions were unsatisfactory. In view of the fact that all necessary steps appeared to have been taken by the workers' organisation concerned there appealed to be no necessity for Ministerial action in this particular case. •