556 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION P. 



men, in another it was said that the women were still ' being trained ' and no 

 definite I'ate had been fixed. 



Previous Emploi/mcnt. 



The majority of women who have come into the trade (either to new pro- 

 cesses, or to processes formerly performed by men) were not previously in the 

 trade, but were engaged in serving in shops, domestic service, tea-packing, one 

 from an asbestos factory (put to cutting heels, as her former experience in 

 cutting up material was found to be helpful for the new work). In one firm 

 the small number of women who were to take on men's jobs were selected from 

 women already in the firm working on ' uppers ' before the War. In some cases 

 girls have been taken straight from school to replace boys who have either left 

 or been put on to more skilled work. 



Training. 



The new processes have been taught the women in the factory, but they are 

 simple, and in general an average girl can reach her maximum in one to two 

 weeks, e.g., one girl nailing half -soles came into the trade, having formerly 

 served in a sweet shop (and earned 12s. weekly), and at the end of one week was 

 earning 21. She has been earning at this rate for several months. This girl 

 was not exceptional. 



Where women have been actually substituted for men or boys the work is in 

 no case highly skilled, and is such that it can be learned in the factory without 

 detriment to material. 



Question of Permanence. 



As far as the replacement of men by women is concerned, the question of the 

 men returning is hardly a practical one as the percentage replaced is so small. 

 Women who have been introduced for new ' war ' processes will, of course, 

 have to go, but as a whole their ' market value ' will probably be considerably 

 increased (and therefore their ability to 'hold their own') as they will have 

 learnt to work to time and to ' speed up,' which, coming from purely time work 

 jobs, such as domestic service, and shop service, they would not have been able 

 to do before. 



Seasons why there has been little Substitution and comiMratively little Altera- 

 tion in the Demand for Female Labour in the Boot and Shoe Trade. 



(1) The increased demand for boots since the War has been for heavy Army 

 boots, and these are practically entirely made by men. 



(a) Because the machining on Army boots is heavy, and is not generally 

 done by women, though except for the actual weight of the work, 

 there is no real reason why it should not be done by women. 



(b) Because even where it is, or if it were, done by women the actual 

 amount of machining to be done on the boot is very much less than on 

 the ordinary light boot, as there are fewer seams, i.e., the scope for 

 what is normally the women's branch of the work is smaller. 



(2) In the light boot trade there has been practically no entry of women 

 into men's works for two main reasons : 



(a) Organised and very emphatic resistance from the men. 

 {b) The work very skilled and requires long training. Parts of it, notably 

 lasting and finishing, much too hea\'y and laborious. 



War Emergency Conditions of Employment of Female Labour in Substitution 



for Male Labour. 



At a Conference of Representatives of the Manufacturers' Federation and 

 the Operatives' Union, held at the invitation and under the Presidency of 

 Sir G. R. Askwith, K.C.B., K.C., Chief Industrial Commissioner of the Board 

 of Trade, on June 3, 1915, to consider the situation that had arisen in the boot 



