On This Day, 6 July 1916

Birmingham Mail

Thursday 6 July 1916

GIRLS’ NEGLECT OF WORK.

NIGHT SCENES IN A BIRMINGHAM FACTORY.

The Birmingham Munitions Tribunal this afternoon heard a complaint by a firm against eight girls of neglect of work.
The case for the first was that the girls were on night work, and at the conclusion of dinner-times, which finished at one o’clock in the morning, they pretended to be asleep and did not return to work at the proper time. They refused to start when requested, and continued more-or-less idle throughout the remainder of the night. The girls visited the workshops, tried to get the other employees to join them, and created an uproar which lasted the whole night. As a result there was a general disorganisation of the work. They threw food at the viewers, said a representative of the firm, and also, he was sorry to say, at the matron. Once a rotten egg was thrown, whilst other missiles resorted to were fish bones, tea leaves and tomato skins. In addition the language was abominable. There seemed to be an impression on night shifts that all discipline should be relaxed.
The only girl of the eight who denied the charges said she was not very well and had just dozed off when the foreman pushed her and requested her to go back to work.
The remaining seven said their attitude was a protest against the treatment meted out on to the one girl.
The Tribunal found the eight guilty. Two of the girls who said they were sorry were fined 12s. 6d. The other six were ordered to pay 25s.
Professor Tillyard said they must remember that they were working for their country and for the soldiers, and if the supervision was less rigid at night they relied upon their honour to do the right thing.