RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT.
In view of the evidence brought to bear upon the subject, The Consumers’ League wishes to urge the inclusion of women restaurant workers under the Mercantile Law, the general provisions of which are:
(1) That the working day shall not exceed nine (9) and the working week fifty-four (54) hours.
(2) That women shall not be employed between the hours of 10 p. m. and 7 a. m.
(3) That there shall be one day of rest in seven, and
(4) That there shall be a regular time off each day for meals.
APPENDIX I.
A STATEMENT FROM THE LABOR DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ADVOCATING THE LIMITATION OF HOURS OF WORK FOR RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES.[14]
At present restaurant employees do not come within the provisions of the law relative to hours of labor of females, or the day of rest law. To the casual observer it is very evident that there is no other employment in which males and females are employed, where the hours of labor are so long, and where the employees are compelled to be constantly on their feet. It is admitted that there is no class of work in which so large a percentage of females is employed. The Legislature has recognized that the females working in restaurants should be protected to some extent, by providing in section 17 of the Labor Law that “Every person employing females—as waitresses in a hotel or restaurant shall provide and maintain suitable seats” but by the very nature of their work the employees have no opportunity to use these seats. There seems to be no good reason why the hours of employment of females in restaurants should not be subject to law as in mercantile establishments, and that all those employed in the same should enjoy the benefits of the day of rest law, as they do in other employments. The evil resulting from restaurants being exempt from the provisions of the Labor Law relating to hours and day of rest, is shown in the fact that bakeries and confectionery establishments have added to their business the serving of sandwiches and lunches, and endeavor to escape the provisions of the law by claiming that they are exempt because they are operating a restaurant. This illustrates the subterfuge to which many employers will resort rather than comply with the law.
James L. Gernon,
Chief Mercantile Inspector.
APPENDIX II.
EXTRACTS FROM A TENTATIVE REPORT ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF WOMEN EMPLOYEES IN RESTAURANTS, BASED ON A STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE OCCUPATIONAL CLINIC OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
From such opportunities for observation as our clinic study afforded us, it is safe to say that this occupation is one which may affect the health of women and in connection with long hours and small wages may combine to cause an increased existence of sickness among them. The effect of work that requires standing and running about while carrying loads for many hours during the day will be particularly marked upon the generative organs of the woman. The influence of the work in this particular, which we are unfortunately unable to study, because of the opposition it would inevitably arouse, leads me to believe that from this standpoint alone, there is a definite hazard to the child-bearing capacity of the woman. This is of vital consequence to society as a whole, as well as to the individual workers, and therefore well justifies every effort to correct the undesirable conditions that attend this occupation.
Louis I. Harris,
Chief, Division of Industrial Hygiene.
APPENDIX III.
RESTAURANT WORK FROM A WORKER’S POINT OF VIEW.
“A nine hour law would be a very good thing. I think long hours are very bad for women in restaurants. Most of them have varicose veins and flat feet, and a large number suffer from stomach trouble. Look at me, I am strong and healthy, but when I’m through at night, I am just all in. It’s a dreadful nervous strain.
“Girls have to live on tips. If you tell the boss you can’t make any, he says you are no good and discharges you. You have to put up with it or starve. The majority of girls—the better class of waitresses—if they could get a good living would be glad to do without tips. Of course it would be a revolution and would require a lot of agitation.
“Girls in restaurant work have greater temptations than most girls. Advances are always made, especially in certain districts. A great number go wrong because of so many advances.
“Nothing has ever been done for restaurant workers. The bosses all seem to think we are a lot of crooks. Waitresses think the same of them. Girls don’t change their jobs so often because they like to. They get fired, mostly because the manager just wants to, or the work is too hard and the place miserable.
“There should be a nine-hour day, and two meals with half an hour allowed for each. Hours should be arranged consecutively. The best regulation would be to have girls work in shifts, going on at eight and coming off at five, or going on at eleven and working until eight. The same arrangement could be made for the kitchen help.”
APPENDIX IV.
SCHEDULE USED.[15]
