Women in the Printing Trades: A Sociological Study.
General
Women in the Printing Trades: A Sociological Study.
Printing industry -- Great Britain; Women -- Employment -- Great Britain; Women printers -- Great Britain; Working class women -- Great Britain
In some houses they do illuminating, as for this the women are found
not to possess sufficient skill and patience. One large house employs 4
men for a superior sort of relief stamping--gold and silver on a
coloured surface. The crest or monogram has to be stamped in plain
first, then coloured, then stamped with the gold or silver by the men.
This last process requires great skill and accuracy and care, for if it
is crooked by a hair's breadth the thing is spoilt. Girls are stated not
to be accurate and careful enough for this work, although they are
employed for the simpler sort of gold stamping.
Where heavy hand machines have come in they have ousted women. One
employer considered that if stamping machines worked by steam came in
women would be employed on them. In one house, however, where there was
machine stamping, it was done by men. We were told by a large employer
that there is now a new machine in the market which may supersede female
labour. It colours the surface first and then embosses it out. Another
new machine requires a feeder only, as the die is coloured, rubbed and
stamped down by machinery.
_Job Hands. Interview with Agent._
Miss R., like Mrs. B. before her, apparently acts as a sort of
bureau-keeper for job hands; sometimes she has work in to do herself and
keeps a certain staff, at other times she gets a notice to say that W.
has got a big job and wants so many hands; she collects them, sends
postcards all round, and goes and works herself too. Very few of her job
hands would touch magazine work; they usually work at prospectuses. Mrs.
B. used to do all the work for the ---- Societies. There were hundreds
of job hands, how many she cannot tell at all.
REGULARITY.--The work is quite uncertain. "You never know when there
will be work; but July and August are usually the slack months, but this
year (1900-01) it has been slack all the year. Job hands, however, do
what they like when there is not work, whereas constant hands have to
come in and wait whether there is work or not."
HEALTH.--It is hard work, but there is nothing unhealthy about it.
GENERAL.--She spoke with pitying contempt of the "constant" hands and
their low prices and the long hours they worked.
APPENDIX III.--GENERAL GLASGOW REPORT.
(A.) _Letterpress Printing. Machine Feeding and Flying._
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