WOMEN’S WAR SERVICE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4561, 17 April 1942, Page 5

WOMEN’S WAR SERVICE

WORK ON RAILWAYS REPLACING THE PORTERS For the first time in Auckland, women are to be employed on the railways. This departure is entirely a war measure, brought about by the fact that so many men have enlisted or have been called up for military service that it has been impossible to replace them permanently. The women seeking positions in the railway service must be between the ages of 21 and 35. Their duties will be similar to those of a junior porter, but with the omission of work such as shunting, which is considered unsuitable for women. Those engaged will undergo a special course of training.

The wages will be £3 a week, plus a cost of living bonus. There will be a working week averaging 40 hours, with rotating shifts which begin not earlier than 6 a.m. and end not later than 10 p.m. Each woman employee will be issued with two blue uniforms of the overall type similar to those worn by members of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, with a peaked cap to match. The women who intend to take up this work must be of a high standard physically. Fifteen will be chosen as a beginning. Women of 20 and 21 are among many Aucklanders who have been or are about to be transferred from their normal employment to other work in essential industries. For the most part they are women who have been transferred from clothing establishments not engaged on war contracts and sent to factories producingservice uniforms and other military clothing. .