THE KITCHEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XXV, 20 June 1896, Page 723

THE KITCHEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Owing to the alleged cheeseparing policy of the new Kitchen Committee, profound dissatisfaction recently existed among the kitchen staff of the House of Commons. The committee controls five men and five women servants, excluding the chef and manager. Their wages run from 30s to 10s per week, with food. Their hours are from nine a.m. until eleven p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays ; nine a.m. to six p.m. on Wednesdays, and on Saturdays they are on duty till two p.m. During the Easter and Whitsun recesses they are placed on half pay, and when Parliament is prorogued they are dismissed. It is also the rule for a cook and two attendants to always remain on duty until the House rises, so that under the most favourable conditions the servants are on duty one night a week each in an extremely hot kitchen until one a.m., and frequently all night. Up to the time of the appointment of the present Kitchen Committee, overtime was always paid to the servants who worked after eleven p.m. This is now entirely discontinued, even when they are kept on duty all night ! In spite of these excessive and irregular hours the utmost punctuality is demanded in the mornings, and one morning a notice was posted in the kitchen signed by Mr D. Moss, the under-manager, to the effect that all servants more than five minutes late in the morning will be fined 6d. Another grievance that the cooks complain of is that their allowance of beer has been reduced from six to four pints per diem, and that they are not allowed to purchase drinks at the Strangers’ Bar, although no restrictions are placed on the waiters.

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