BARMAIDS’ DEMANDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 August 1938, Page 9

BARMAIDS’ DEMANDS

BETTER HOURS AND WAGES WANTED. All is not well behind the bar. according to the barmaids of Britain meeting recently at Birmingham. They talked about hours and wages, but their chief appeal was for Sundays off. Said one girl: “No one ever imagines we want to go to church. We have all been well brought up, and been to church since we were children. When they get time off, they said, they go home to see the family, go to church, and spend an hour or two with men friends. They said their working life was shorter than in any other woman’s job —the smoke, long hours, heavy work, aged them. “Then, we’re not wanted,” said one of them. They start at 9 a.m. and go on to 11 p.m. or midnight for six and a half days a week, at a job that needs tact ,as well as a strong arm for the pump. Girls begin this work at 17s 6d a week, and rise to a top salary of £2 a week. Most of them live in and one of the grievances is that the wife of , the manager usually expects them to do a little of the housework as well swill the yard and polish the brass in the bar. One of the leaders said: “We are expected to look after our hair .and clothes, make ourselves attractive. We don’t get tips, but a good barmaid can draw a lot of trade to the house if she is . attractive and bright. We have to stand up to a lot of rough talk and temper and not answer back. They expect us to be angels.”