Page:Fred Arthur McKenzie - British Railways and the War (1917).djvu/26

 reasonably be expected to continue under far lower wages than other men in allied industries in the same districts. Above all, there was the outstanding fact that the old scale of wages was inadequate under war prices. The average cost of food of the kind mainly purchased by working men had doubled; clothing was much dearer; all the incidental expenses of living, except rent and rates, had gone up; and men could not maintain their families decently on the old wage scale. The idea of making the rise the same for all ranks was to benefit most those who needed it most—the lowest paid men.

Up to the beginning of the war British railways had been very reluctant to employ women labour, even for office details. Booking clerks, head office staff, ticket collectors, attendants in dining-cars, were in nearly every case men. But the shortage of men and the desire to release as many as possible for service with the Colours caused the introduction of women workers early in 1915. The experiment was a great success. Women were employed on an ever-growing scale, not only for purely clerical duties, but for manual work of many kinds. Soon everywhere there were women cleaners, women porters, women ticket collectors, women booking clerks, and many others besides. The trade unions pressed for a definite understanding about the wages the women were to receive, and further asked for assurances that the employment of women in capacities where they were not formerly employed was an