BONA FIDE BARMAID OR NOT?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1081, 21 March 1911, Page 5

BONA FIDE BARMAID OR NOT?

»- a WATCHING THE ENROLMENT. e Urgent, warning regarding barmaids has o beeii travelling over the wires. The secrer t tary of the Hotel Employees' Federation, a Auckland (Mr. T. Long), has telegraphed J as Under to Mr. D. M'Laren, M.P., and ' Mr. E. J. Carey, secretary of the Cooks' s and Waiters' Unionl "See the Minister fojk Labour. j! Strongly ; protest against forms for B registration of barmaids being sent to n hotel licensees. The unions in each v centre will undertake responsibility. t Otherwise there will be much abuse." On receipt' of' the telegram, Messrs. n M'Laren and Carey interviewed Mr. r Lomas, Secretary for Labour, and pointed li out the possibility of abuses creeping in, e as suggested by Mr. Lon.T. Mr. Carey sng- t gested 'that it would have been better t had the Department written to licensees, c pointing out that the forms could be ob- a tained at the office of tho local factories s inspector, or from the police sergeant in districts where no factory inspector was located. The girls could then aptily to tho office of the Department, and* fill . in their registration fornj. ' Mr. M'Laren pointed out the express intention of tho-new Act. It was to restrict the employment of women behind r bars, and only those women who were e actually employed in the calling at the t time of the passage of the Bill Cor were ; bona fide dependents of -tho calling) s fihould be given the privilege of regis- i tration. j In reply, Mr. Lomas assured the speak- j .ers that the Department would .take | every precaution to see that no such abuses as suggested would creep in. The licensees were entitled to be informed of their obligations under - the new provisions, • so"-'--'that' '■ later "oni'-Hf 1 they did not pay attention to them, actiort. could be taken., There wp.s little chance of any but bona tide barmaids securing registration.. Each. application .would b.e ; investigated by the local factory inspector of the district wherein the application was presented. Further, in districts where there" was no such inspector, the Berg&mt of police would be asked to 'furnish reports on applications; The Department had from the present time until Jufie to investigate eve'ry claim' nut in, and caro would be taken to ensure that the principle of'the'Act would be .given effect to, and that no bogus registrations should be effected. ' ■ Apropos to' the foregoing, though not necessarily connected with it, it may be mentioned that Sub-section i of Section 36 of the Act of last session sets out that any barmaid who has been for three months continuously employed for not less than three months, at any time during tho year previous to the passing of the Act, may be registered. It is "not expressly stated that that three months of service must be in New Zealand; and the ouestion is being discussed whether it does not leave it open for barmaids, say, of Sydney, to cross over to New Zealand before the end of June, and apply for registration. It may. generally bo assumed, as a result of the restriction in the number of barmaids consequent on the legislation, thpt wages will shortly be'gin to increase, and with this prospect in view 'it is not unlikely that barmaids from Australia may desire to come here.