SPEEDING UP.

Waikato Argus, Volume XXX, Issue 4728, 13 June 1911, Page 4

SPEEDING UP.

“At one exchange in Manchester at which 1 work myself, girls are taken downstairs in hysterics. These p;.'a will be the mothers of the future generation, and they are having their nerves absolutlcy torn away. These words were contained in a remarkable speech delivered by Miss A. Tynan, a Manchester delegate to the sixth annual conference of the Amalgamated Society of lelephone Employees, which concluded recently, at Leeds. Speaking in passionate tones, Miss Tynan proceeded to make some serious allegations in regard to the conditions.of women telephone operators. The conditions under which the provincial operators worked, she said, were very bad- When an operator went into an exchange -.he received a wage which was quite inconsistent with the position she had to maintain. She obtained annually an insignificant increment until she had been in the service nine years, when she was entitled to promotion if she could get it. “1 feel so strongly,” proceeded Miss Tynan, "that 1 can hardly talk about it. You men have no idea what women operators have to put up with. They are at the board eight hours a day. going at it as hard as they can. Behind them i the supervisor, who is compelled by the people behind her to speed the operators to an almost absurd extent. The speeding up process reminded hei of Upton Sinclair’s book, “The Jungle,’ in which he wrote of girls who were egged on to do work which it was almost impossible for them to do. “1 am an operator myself,” added Miss Tynan with emphasis, “and ! say that girls have no right to be speeded up to this extent. Large numbers of them are constantly off sick, largely owing to the conditions under which they work. Nervous prostration is what they suii'e r from, and it is largely as a result of tfie way in which they are compelled to stick at the boards, whether they are tit to do it or not. “ When a girl lias waited nine or ten years for nromotion she has a prospect of being made a supervisor. What is her position then? Is it improved? Personally, I don't thnk it ii. The Shop Assistants’ Union have been legislating for seating accommodation. What will you say when 1 tell you that supervisors are not allowed to sit down from the time they enter the exchange to the time they ieave.it, except for a short interval. These girls are standing from perhaps nine to one, and then they come in at two and stay until six. Can you imagine the position. ft is ruining the health of our gills.” She did not think there was a girl in the Manchester Exchange with a perfect nerve system. “Yes,” concluded Miss Tynan, replying to the interjections of a delegate, “they arc slaves. They are sitting at the board, and they are being driven us if they were slaves. W’e want an Emancipation Bill.” l.oud cheers. Atfer discussion an amendment instructing the executive to take immediate and definite steps to improve tiie conditions of the provincial operating staff was carried.