WOMEN IN A BAKEHOUSE

Hokitika Guardian, 7 October 1920, Page 3

WOMEN IN A BAKEHOUSE

JUDGE CRITICISES LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

AUCKLAND, Oct. 2. A case connected with the prosecution of two women who conduct a homo made cake shop in Gisborne was heard by Mr Justice Stringer to-day. The .magistrate at Gisborne had asked the Arbitration Court to state whether it had jurisdiction to insert a clause in the award prohibting women from working in a bakehouse. The court held unhesitatingly that it had jurisdiction to say whether '' omen should or should not work in bakehouses.

Counsel for the defendant admitted in answer- to a query from the Court that the question was a new and purely academic one, as in Auckland women who owned home-made cake shops had not been cited as parties to the bakers’ dispute, and since the prosecution in Gisborne, which dated from February last, a now award had been filed, and the prohibition against women working in bakehouses had been deleted. His Honour made severe comment oti the Labour Department. He said he failed to understand the principles upon which the Department worked. Time after time there were breaches of awards in the way of strikes, and no prosecution ensued. Here was a case in a remote part of the country, where a couple of ladies were baking a few cakes, and the question of the making of a bakehouse cropped up, with the result that the ladies were prosecuted. His Honour said he had to confess that he did not understand it.