The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-12
War in the Kitchen.

The establishment of a servants
union in Chicago has caused considera-
BILE discussion, mostly of a humorous
character, and it has generally been as
sumed that this is an aggression to
which housewives ought not to submit.
But really. when one comes to read
over the rules there does not seem to be
anything very unreasonable about
them, and, in TACT one householder took
pains to write to Chicago paper and
state the fact that there is nothing in
the demands of the union which goes
beyond the privileges which have been
allowed to servants in his family, as
matter OF course, since his housekeep-
ing days began. II is not necessary to
suppose that all of these rules are IRON
clad and cannot be broken over in case
of life and death. In other industries
the employe is not supposed to stand
on ceremony If the factory or office is
on fire or some other extraordinary
emergency occurs, and the fact is that
most families find that their own con-
venience is better served by having es-
tablished and regular habits of living.
The demands of the union are as fol-
lows:
Rule l. Work shall not begin before $50
a. M. and shall when the evenings dishes
washed and put awey. Two hours each
afternoon and the entire evening at least twice
a week shall be allowed the domestic as her own.
Rule 2. There shall be no opposition on the
part of the mistress to club life on the part Of
the domestic. Entertainment of friends in limit
ed numbers shall not be prohibited. provided
the domestic furnishes her refreshments.
''Rulc 8. Gentlemen friends shall not be barred
from the kitchen or back porch. Members of the
tsinily o. the house shall not interrupt the
versaton arising during said visit.
Rule L. Domestics shall be allowed such hours
| off Monday as viii permit them to visit the
bargain counters OF the stores and enjoy on that
day the same privileges enjoyed by the mistress
and her daughters.
Rule s. All complaints shall be made to the
business agent OF the union. The question OF
wages shall be settled at time Of employment
and reduction shall be allowed
There is nothing in these alleged
privileges beyond the ordinary rights
claimed by a human being in other
| lines of work. One need only consider
what sort of life a person would be
| likely to lead if these We're disallowed
| to see that the claims of the union are
not unreasonable. The first demand is
that work shall not begin before half
| past Ave in the morning. There is no
reason why it should. In nine hundred
! and ninety-nine households out Of a
I thousand, in the city at least, the SER
| want will have ample time To prepare
| breakfast if work is begun even later
| than this. 1t is also stated that work
! should cease When the evenings dishes
are washed and put away. which
means that nobody shall be compelled
| to work before half-past five in the
morning or after seven or eight O'Clock
at night The ordinary labor day is
eight or ten hours. There is certainly
no need, in the average household, for
anyone to be at work all the evening
| as well as all the morning.
| But, il may be said. the essential ma
| ture of the servants work allows some
leisure time in the afternoon; the work
| is not continuous. Very true; and the
union claims two hours-no more-of
leisure time in the afternoon. Most ser
wants of any ability can secure much
more than this if they choose; and
| those that cannot are hardly worth
/ hiring.
! Another rule is that the mistress shall
| not interfere with CLUB life on the
part of the domestic. In the name of
common sense, why should she? The
| owner of a department store or the
manager of a factory does not investi-
| gate the social relations of his clerks
unless they are guilty of fragrant mis-
conduct, sometimes not then. The en-
| tertainmsnt of friends at the expense
| of employers may reasonably be OBJ
| jected to. but this is not asked. The
| next clause of the rules simply de-
| mands for the servant what any honest
| person wants and needs-a place for
| social life. In this city the difficulty is
| avoided by allowing domestics to re-
| turn tc their homes at night, but II a
mistress insists on taking her servant
| az an inmate of the house she has GER
tainiy no right to demand that the girl
shall neither receive her friends N the
| kitchen nor go out to see them else
where. That is an amount Of interior