e 2 * ? There are *x honestly believe THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER WIVES WHAT ARE THEY WORTH? By THELMA CARTWRIGHT Can you put a price on the work a woman does in look- ing after her home and hus- band? How much should she get for ironing a shirt? Bath- ing the baby? Kissing away the tears of a three-year-old who’s fallen and scraped his knee? Like most housewives there are some days when I feel that no amount — net even a king’s ransom—could compensate for the trials and tribulations of those times when everything goes wrong. BEST JOB On the other hand there’s the occasional day — and let's admit that it’s very occasional — when I feel that my job is the best in the world, and I wouldn’t accept remuneration for it even if it were offered, which has » always been unlikely up until the present. Now, however, Mrs. Grace MacInnis, MP for Vancouver - Kingsway, has actually proposed that house- wives, those unsung heroines, should be paid by a grateful society for the long hours and poor working conditions that, up to now, they’ve tolerated only out of love. HEADLINES I doubt if there’s a news- paper in the country.that didn’t carry banner headlines about Mrs. MacInnis’ sugges- tion. headlines there was a note of scepticism in the small print. The idea of paying house- just can’t be taken seriously. I happen to think that it ean be taken seriously but only if two points are cleared up now. Why’do women go out to work in the first place and what advantages would _there be in paying them to | stay home? people who that women +« go out to work to widen their f horizons, to add interest to their lives, even to improve ‘their minds. It never seems * to occur to them that a great nhumhb of women go out to for one reason and one alone. They go out to < to earn money. And S wrong with that? Men been doing it for cen- | But if we assume that numbers of women only for money it seems believe that they home if they were wives seems so far out that it . Now the second point about the advantages of encourag- ing more women to stay home brings up the whole tired and overworked question of the special needs of working wo- men. Where are the day nurseries and creches that we so badly need and have need- ed for the past ten years and longer? Where are the longer lunch periods and special] emergency leaves for working mothers that have been ad- vocated by groups like the In- ternational Labor Organiza- tion for decades? If our communities were to provide even one-tenth of the facilities needed to cover these special needs the cost would run into millions of dollars. If, as I’ve suggested, there are many working mothers who would really rather stay home if they could afford it, then we begin to see some of the advantages in having them do so. STAY HOME Of course this doesn’t mean that industry or business will suddenly, overnight, find themselves without any wo- men employees. Nor does it mean that facilities for work- ing mothers, even if their numbers decrease, ought not to be provided. Even though HANEY — But underneath the STORE HOURS OPEN 9 AM to 5:30 PM CLOSED ALL DAY MONDAY OPEN FRI. NITE ‘TILL 9 PM HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” PORT ALBERNI BUSINESS GUIDE | SHOP AT oodwards PORT ALBERNI YOUR FAMILY SHOPPING CENTRE FOR A COMPLETE SELECTION OF 7 stan woe’ weak Your guide to better value I believe many women might prefer to stay home if they could rely on some sort of regular income, there will al- ways be many others who would rather go out to work. And whether they do this be- cause they are really dedi- cated to their work or ‘simply because they don’t like stay- ‘ing home, no one is going to question their right to do as they please. : LIKE MONEY Women like to have money of their own and the house- wife is no exception. By pay- ing her a regular monthly sum Government could show the housewife that her role in society is appreciated. In- stead of penalizing the wo- man who stays home with her family such a. scheme would, for the first time, give her a real alternative to go- ing out to work. Because, let’s face it, many women have really no choice but to work if they want to main- tain any sort of reasonable standard of living. Arguing the case as to why such a scheme might be a good idea is quite a different thing from working out how it would operate. For ex- ample, would the efficient wife and mother be paid _ more than a sloppy house- keeper? Would the duties in- BRITISH COLUMBIA PHONE 723-5641 volved in looking after a six room house warrant a larger income than those of a four room apartment? The Ottawa Journal work- ed out a rough estimate as to how much a housewife is worth at current rates of pay for her various roles as maid, cook, chauffeur, etc. This sort of breakdown always em- barrasses me since I’m sure I’d never be able to get a job as a maid and anyone who hired me as cook would re- gret it after the first mouth- ful. However, the Ottawa Jour- nal estimates that, for a seven day week, the housewife ought to be getting about $140 which works out to something like $560 a month. But be- fore you rush off to resign and go home to wait for your cheques to arrive remember that, at the moment, this is just a suggestion. Whether it ever becomes a fact is another matter. But even if it does, one thing is certain. No house- wife and mother worth her salt will ever get what she’s really worth. 1-80 SICK LIST Ed Linder, Financial Secretary of Local 1-80 IWA, visited patients in the following hospitals and _ distributed candy, cigarettes and copies of the Western Canadian Lumber Worker. CHEMAINUS HOSPITAL Giovinni Pagarut, Chemainus; Mrs. Rose Brooks, Crofton; Mrs. James E. Buckner, Chemainus; Arthur Milligan, RR 2, Nanaimo. LADYSMITH HOSPITAL Clem Ingram, Ladysmith; Sam Douglas, 4th Avenue, Ladysmith; Mrs. Mack Erickson, Ladysmith; Mrs. Wil- liam Defty, Comox; Mrs. W. Y. Wright, RR 2, Ladysmith. ~KING’S DAUGHTERS Mrs. Abel Joe, Trunk Road, Dun- can; Mrs. Carol Patterson, Honey- moon Bay; Mrs. Syd Smith, Port Renfrew; Mrs. Charles Cochrane, St. Julian St., Ouncan; Mrs. Darshan, Mangat; Mrs. Raspal Sekhon, Lake Cowichan; Mrs. Amar Kaur, Lake Cowichan; Mrs. Charlene Livingstone, Lake Cowichan; Joseph Gravelle, Lake Cowichan; Jack Cushman, Beech Ave., Duncan; Hendrik Wikkerink, Cobble Hill; David Aitken, Cobble Hill; William Ross, Youbou; Robert Hastings, Duncan; James Long, Cay- cuse Beach, Honeymoon Bay. NANAIMO GENERAL Allan Graham, Cassidy; Frank Wamuss, Milton, Nanaimo; J. F. Francis, Qualicum Beach. Financial Secretary Ed Linder of Local 1-80 IWA visited the following patients in the Nanaimo General Hospital February 18, and distributed candy, cigarettes and copies of the Western Canadian Lumber Worker. Mr. Marcel Beuselinck, Parksville; Mr. Irvine Pointe, Shoreline St., Na- naimo; O..Hollander, Langley; Mr. Doug Welch, Campbell River; Mr. George Parker, Kennedy. St., Nana- imo; Mr Leo Harris, Lantzville, Mr. Peter Asdal, Victoria Rd., Nanaimo. JOB AID OTTAWA — The federal Labor Department has put into effect its new manpower mobility program providing financial aid to unemployed workers who wish to move to other areas where jobs are available. Label pickers pick this | label] Enjoy U.B.C., the traditional Bohemian beer with light- hearted histor- ical facts behind every label. U-10835-2 . the Cates L seven C: he zr om Chu nite, BA ak Bere: Vie tr erie oe ¥ an . boty ”A Leidet “Mo > Dispel see AISE THE CARLING BREWERIES (B.C) LIMITED This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia. wy ka