BONA FIDE BARMAIDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14400, 23 March 1911, Page 5

BONA FIDE BARMAIDS.

QUESTION OP ABUSES. WATCHING THE ENROLMENT. Urgent warning regarding barmaids has been travelling over the . wires (says the Wellington "Dominion.") The secretary of the HoteL Employees' Federation. Auckland (Mr T. Long), has telegraphed as under to Mr D. McLaren, M.P., and Mr E. .J. Carey secretary of the Cooks' and Waiters' Union: , ."See the Minister for Labour. Strongly protest against forms of . registration, of barmaids being sent to hotel lioensees. The unions in eaoh centre will undertake responsibility, Otherwise there wilf be much abuse." Ou receipt of the telegram, Messrs McLaren and Carey interviewed Mr Lomas, Secretary for Labour, and pointed out the responsibility of abuses creepmg m, as suggested by Mr Long. Mr Carey suggested that it would have !>een better hud the Department written to licensees, pointing out'that the ■™rms could be obtained at the office of the local factories inspector, or from the police sergeant in districts• wherd no factory inspector was located. The could then apply to the office of the Department and fill in their re-gistration-form. ' Mr McLaren pointed out the express intention of the new Act. . It was to restrict the employment of women behiud bar's, and only those women \yho were actually employed in the calling at the time of the passage of the Bill (or were bona fide dependents of the calling) should be given the privilege ot registration. In reply, Mr Lomas assured the speakers that the' Department would tike every precaution to see that no such nbibvea as suggested would creep in The licensees were entitled to he informed of their obligations under the ufw provisions, so that later on if they did. not pay attention to them, action could bo taken. Thore was little cbxmce ot any but bona fide barmaids securing registration. Each application would be investigated by the local factory inspector of the district whercn the application was presented. Further, in districts where there was no such inspector, the sergeant of police would be asked to furnish reports t n applications. The Department had trom the present time until June to investigate every claim put in, and core would bo taken to ensure that the eftect to, and that no bogus regis trat.cns should bo effected. Apropos to the foregoing, though not necessarily connected with it, it may bo mentioned that Sub-seotion 4 of Section 30 of the Act of hist session sets out that any barmaid who has been for throe months continuously employed for not loss than thr4 months, at any time during the year previous to the passing of the Act, ihay bp registered. It is not expressly stated that that throe months of ssrvic» must be in New. Zealand; and the qi-«stion is being discussed whether it does not leave it open for barmaids, of , oyd.ney, to cross over to V»w Zealand bet.™ the end of June, :'.„d ?1 P. 1 / for registration. It may generally he assumed, as a result of the rea. tnetion in the number rtf barmaids consequent on the legislation, that wages w».t! shortly to increase, and wTth tfci«• Prospect in view it is not unlike- *(' barmads from Australia inav desire to come hero.