Women in Canadian History Education Guide

4. Description of a woman’s work in a cotton mill, Royal Commission on Labour and Capital, 1889 Jennie Morrell, Weaver, Cornwall, wife of William Arkwright, of the same place, Laborer, called and sworn. By Mr. Boivin :— Q- What is your occupation? A- I am a weaver in the Stormont Cotton Mill. Q- How long have you worked in that mill? A- The most of four years. Q- What are your wages there? A- I get about $1 a day now. Q- Are there any children working there? A- Not in the room I am in. Q- Is your work constant? A- Yes. Q- Do you see any employee there having too much work to do? A- I think we all have too much work, once in a while. Q- Do you work by the piece? A- Yes. Q- And you take a little rest when working by the piece—you do not object to take a little rest when working by the piece? A- Yes; but if we do not do the work we do not get the money, that is all. By Mr. Heakes :— Q- I suppose prices are not so good that you can afford to take a rest? A- No; it is only $1 a day. Q- Do you get as much now as before the strike? A- Well, I have got back again now. Q- Is it true that the length of the cut has been increased? A- Not that I know of. Q- Is every thing satisfactory in the room where you are now? A- Every thing that I know of. Q- Is the treatment of the hands fairly good? A- Well, he always used me well. By Mr. McLean :— Q- Did any of the overseers ever use obscene or bad language towards you? A- No; he never used bad language to me. 5. Description of women’s work in dressmaking industry, Royal Commission on Labour and Capital, 1889 Miss Helen Garnett, Dressmaker, Toronto, called and sworn. By Mr. Armstrong :— Q- Will you please tell the Commission the average weekly wages of a first- class milliner or dressmaker, or are both trades combined? A- They are separate. Q- Take, then, a first class dressmaker; please state what would be her average wages? A- I have never been in anyone else’s workroom besides my own, and I run only a small business. My best hands receive $5, $6, or $7; $7 is the outside a week. Q- How many hours will a woman work per day for those wages? A- From 8 until 6, with one hour at noon. Q- Take young girls going to learn the business; are they apprenticed? A- Usually they are. Q- How many years have they to serve before they become experienced hands? A- They think it dreadful if they have to serve six months. Q- What do they generally receive per week when they first go to the business? A- They are supposed to serve six months without receiving anything. They are usually little girls who come right out of school. We have to teach them to sew; they cannot even so much as use a needle. My experience has been that sometimes, a girl can be very useful in two months, but then she has been taught to sew at home. Q- Then you would consider a young girl who has some knowledge of sewing much more useful in the business than a young girl who has never been taught that branch? A- Certainly. Q- Are there many dressmakers idle in Toronto at the present time, to your knowledge? A- I could not say; there are none of mine idle; this is what we call the dull season. Q- What would be the average wages of a first-class milliner, to your knowledge? A- I used to work at the millinery myself, and the wages—of course it is difficult to give you the average, but the best wages were about $8 or $9 a week. That, however, lasts a very short time; it would only be about four months in the year. Q- Are they employed a larger part of the year at less wages? A- Yes; we keep on the cheap hands and teach them while business is dull, because we have more time ourselves to show them how we want the work done. […] Source: Report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labor and Capital in Canada : evidence, Ontario. Ottawa : A. Senecal, 1889, http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08114/2?r=0&s=1