On Strike, or, Where do the Girls come in?Glenfield, Edric
General
On Strike, or, Where do the Girls come in?
Glenfield, Edric
Australia -- Fiction; Humorous stories; Short stories; Strikes and lockouts -- Fiction
It is generally known that barmaids are looked down upon on account
of the position they hold. I myself should not wish to see my sister
behind a bar; but if my sister was in Australia, and had to work for a
living, I would sooner see her behind some of the bars in Sydney than
in a situation in a firm of the description of Lazy, Bones and Co.,
Cordon, or Paul Pry. Of course, as everybody knows, there are bars
_and_ bars, barmaids and barmaids; but in the respectable hotels a girl
who behaves herself is treated better and leads a better life and gets
higher pay than the female employees in firms of the description of
those I have mentioned.
I might refer to a hotel in Sydney which is well-known by the name of
Nodoubts. In this hotel the young women are treated as well and with as
much respect as it is possible to treat a woman who has to work for her
livelihood, but at the same time the barmaids in Nodoubts would sooner
be behind a counter in the employment of one of the leading drapers in
Sydney, if they got proper pay and treatment, than behind any bar.
The Hero, having ascertained that the women in Sydney had some real
grievances, at once set about to rectify them. He consulted with some
friends in Sydney whose sympathy was on the side of the working girls,
and they organised a system of campaign for the girls’ strike. Every
respectable girl earning her own living was called out on strike,
and received a pound a week out of Reginald’s own pocket. About five
thousand girls came out, and the employers at once filled up their
places with union men who were out of employment owing to the late
strike amongst the men.
Of course, the fact of having wharf labourers and officers of the
steamers employed in the place of the girls in these establishments
caused a great deal of annoyance to the Sydney public generally. It
is a well-known fact that there are certain articles which a lady may
require which she can only ask a woman to serve her with, and, though
the capitalists themselves were opposed to the strike, their wives,
feeling the inconvenience they were subjected to, were urging them when
at home to give in to the demands of the strikers. A girl on strike
also has a great advantage over a man in a similar position. When a
man strikes he is unable to work at all; he can do nothing but walk
about the streets with his hands in his pockets, looking absolutely
miserable; the girl on the other hand can always employ herself at home
doing needlework, or some other useful occupation, which would at the
same time bring in a certain amount of money towards her support. It
was felt by Inspector Gooseberry and his staff that precautions must
be taken to protect the city against any possible outbreak amongst the
girl strikists. Though the girls had behaved in a thoroughly lady-like
manner, still 5,000 of them walking about Sydney together caused a
great deal of inconvenience to the public, and traffic generally was
much incommoded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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