RECOGNISING LOYAL SERVICE.
During the whole of the time which it took to build the new bakery the Society was working at a disadvantage. Notwithstanding the leasing, first of Scotland Street bakery and then of that in Hill Street, it was impossible to keep pace with the demand for bread. The result was that the committee decided to sound the foreman baker on the question of whether the men would be willing to begin work an hour earlier in the mornings. The men when approached agreed readily, and thus the difficulty was met to some extent. In recognition of this willingness on the part of the men to meet them, the board decided spontaneously to advance the men’s wages by 1/ per week. One cannot help but contrast this willingness of the men to help the Society in a difficulty with incidents which have occurred at later dates, when the bakers could not be induced on any terms to work extra hours in order that difficulties might be overcome. The first attitude rather than the second one is that which makes for the avoidance of friction and the creation of a fraternal spirit between the directors of a Co-operative concern and their fellow-members who carry on the work of the Society. It is, unfortunately, a fact which is to be deprecated that employees are disposed to treat Co-operative societies worse instead of better than they treat other employers, and the process of reasoning which leads to such results is somewhat difficult to follow.