SINGING GIRL-WORKERS.

Waikato Independent, Volume V, Issue 325, 17 January 1907, Page 6

SINGING GIRL-WORKERS.

A porcelain-manufacturing company at Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A., has one of the oddest labor troubles ever experienced by any industrial concern. Twenty-five girls have gone on strike because the company would not let them sing while at work.

A new male foreman’s first official act was an edict against singing. Indignant, the girls appealed to the office and were ordered back to work. Then the strike was on. Among the favorite selections of the girls were : “ Keep on the Sunny Side, “ Waiting at the Church,” and so much zest that they could be heard a block away, and it was almost impossible to transact business in the adjoining offices. There was a climax when one of the clerks, receiving an order over long distance telephone, was asked when the goods would be shipped. Instantly, as if in answer to the query, a shrill voice floated in from the workroom to the telephone: “ When the Harvest Days are Over, Jessie Dear.” The man on the other end of the line, believing that he was being ridiculed, banged up the receiver and the firm lost the order.