The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1947-05-29

Among the lowest paid persons
in the whole American economic
picture has traditionally been the
domestic worker. Before the war,
it is estimated that there were
about two million men and women
in domestic service. Statistics
about the actual number employed
at any one point, their average
wage, their specific duties and
working conditions, are generally
not as available regarding domes-
tic workers as they are in other
fields of work.
The difficulties facing this group
of American workers are COM
pounded out of low wages, long
hours, lack of protective legislation,
lack of organization, and bad en-
ployer-employee relations. 1t is i'm
portant for union members to un-
derstand these difficulties and the
proposals that have been made to
cope with them.
Domestic workers are drawn
from the marginal groups of So
ciety. The great majority are wo-
men, with proportionately high
percentage of Negroes, both male
and female. With employment OPP
portunitieS normally restricted for
these groups, they are forced to
household employment as the only
means of earning a living.
Unprotected BY Social Security
Laws
Because of the difficulties that
were assumed to exist, domestics
were exempted from the social Sc
curity legislation of the middle
thirties. State wage-hour laws ex-
cept domestic workers from their
protective provisions. Certain states
having child labor laws similarly
do not apply them to domestic en-
ployees.
Employers and employees seldom
have any distinct notion of how
to handle their relations with each
other; negative patterns are too
often set among the employers
over the bridge table or back fence.
The result is frequently a noun
tain of unsolved grievances.
Some of the grievances arise out
of the very character of the work.
1t is impossible to serve early break
fast, stay around until the supper
dishes are done. and work an eioht-
hour day. There is no clear defini-
tion between heavy and light work.
Despite the wartime magazine sar-
toons (typical the madam agree
ing to the domestic workers use of
her sable coat every Thursday,
there is no standard contract or
in the initial hiring
of the vast majority of these en-
ployees.
Grievances were so widespread
and the stigma ON this type of
work so great, aside from the low
wage involved, that as the war
emergency set in, do
mestic workers flocked to war in
dustry. Many learned skills and
all had a taste of decent wages,
hours, and working conditions.
Their new experiences created a
natural unwillingness to return to
household employment as long as
It can possibly be avoided.
Two Problems Require Solution
The problems involved are two
odd: the need of solving the grie-
yances of the domestic employee;
he need for meeting the demand
or household workers. For the
present, those who are in domestic
service are benefitting by the war
ime shortage-wages are higher,
of work are at least |
PARTIALLY set on hiring, and fire.
luently provision is made for a
distinction between "heavy" and
light" work. But those who sin
erely seek a solution to the prob
ems involved cannot afford to wait |
Until new depression sets in to
orce these marginal workers back
o poor conditions in the least de-
irable occupations.
To solve the problem, the follow