On This Day, 24 April 1917

Birmingham Daily Post

Tuesday 24 April 1917

NO WOMEN IN THE GLASS TRADE.

MEN REJECT PROPOSED INNOVATION.

An acute controversy has arisen in the glass trade on the question of the proposed employment of women in the glass cutting shops in the Stourbridge and Birmingham district. An article in a trade paper stated that there was a dearth of glass cutters and decorators, and the natural thing would be to relieve this by the introduction of women, who, it was stated, were perfectly well able to do much of the work with a little training, but that the trade union had refused its consent, though for over twelve months the union had been urged by the employers to acquiesce in the innovation as a war measure.

The general secretary of the United Flint Glass Cutters Society, Mr. J. Hewitt, of Birmingham, replied that at no time had his union been urged to acquiesce, in the employment of women as a war measure, neither had any guarantees ever been offered for reverting to the old order of things after the war. What was required from the manufacturers’ point of view he added, was the permanent establishment of the female glass cutter.

Mr. J. Donaldson Harward, the secretary of the British Flint Glass Manufacturers Association, has now disclosed the conditions which he states were agreed to at a joint meeting between representatives of employers and the Glass Cutters Society, at the office of the Chief Industrial Commissioner of the Board Trade, on November 14, 1916, under the chairmanship of Mr. D. C. Cummings, acting on behalf of Sir George Askwith. They were, he says:—

(1) That the exiting position, rates of pay, and hours of the male glass cutters shall in no way be prejudiced by the introduction of females.
(2) That all men who have left to join the colours or work in munitions shall be reinstated.
(3) That the remuneration of females both during the period for learning and after they have become qualified shall be fixed by the Board of Trade, after the parties have been given a further joint hearing.
(4) That the question whether the women are to become trade unionists or not is matter for the women themselves to decide.
(5) That the above arrangements shall continue in operation during the period of war, and then be subject to further conference, under a chairman appointed by the Chief Industrial Commissioner’s Department.
(6) That if any question arises as to the interpretation of these arrangements, the matter shall be referred to the Chief Industrial Commissioner’s Department for decision.

These terms, adds Mr. Harward, were in due course ratified at a full meeting of the manufacturers’ association, but were rejected by the cutters’ society, 80% of the members voting against their adoption. The war, he concluded, has provided an absolutely unique opportunity to secure a far larger share of the world’s trade, but the action of the men has put an effective bar against its being seized and made the most of.