Immediately kicks and complaints began to pour in. Troy came by
telephone they came through societies they., came by maft and, occa
sionally they came in person.
And in a big- percentage of the cases the person complaining has re
fused to give his or her name. They bQg that their letter shall not be men
tioned lest they lose their position even though it be one of rank pay and
rotten conditions. The employe is hanging on to his meal ticket
And a big result m a nutshell, of this "keep-ife-quiet" way of employes
reporting infnngements-on the law, is the bringing- to light of the fear that
grips the workers. Phone calls and
letters indicate that many are afraid
to call their name their own.
But it has been just these name
less, scrawled-in-pencil notes and
anonymous 'phone calls that have
brought about good results. Out of
912 complaints in the past nin
months, 512, have made cases for the
state factory inspection department.
The women's ten-hour law is hit
the hardest with 292 of the convic
tions coming under that head.
The child labor law came in for
"its share with' 192 convictions, and
safety sanitation law was hit for 85
convjetions. The balance of the com
plaints were scattered among the re
maining laws, such as the occupa
tional disease law, the structural law,
the blower law, and the ice cream
manufactum.g law. While the num
ber of complaints in the latter group
is very small the'number of justifiable
cases runs in the same proportion as
in the other laws.
Most of the complaints that come
in may be traced to the rank of em
ployes who work under objectionable
conditions and who see a possible
remedy by applying to the factory in
spector. The fact that so many of
tie complaints come from persons
who do not want to give their names
works a hardship on the department,
according to Nelson. "Because," he
says, "if the complaint is not well
founded, we are obliged to let the
matter rest, since we have no knowl
edge of the person to whom we may
refer, for further details or additional
information.
"Each person registering a com
plaint with this department should
give his name and address. They will
be kept i in confidence."
Some of thte other letters received
by Nelsbn tell their story in short
notice:
A factory .girl wrote: "Please go
investigate downstairs in
the rear. In case 'pf fire the girls
WQUjobe nurned, like rats in a trap.
The stove te in the center of the
room, papers lying all over the floor
and every window is barred right to
the top. In case of fire the girls who
are not -right near the door woujd
never have a chance 'of getting out'.
Please go and see the place and help
save the girls. A. Working Girl."-
A. State street department store
girl sent n this note: "Send one of
your inspectors to and in
spect the girl's lunch room under the
front sidewalk No ventilation of any
kind and so cold that the girls nearly
freeze; so do the salesgirls in the
basement. The head cashier works
more than ten hours every day, and
there are girls under sixteen in the
grocery department who are hid if
they expect anybody to come. Please
do not mentiorrtnis letter to any one
as I would lose my place, but I was
sick from the cold rooms."
This letter from an .old woman
shows that in spite of her difficulties
in writing she has the welfare of the
kiddles at heart:
"Dear Offjcer Will let you know
that in factory j a bunch of
kids working not 16 years old they
should work eight hours but work
ten hours. Yours trufi a neighbor
lady."
Nelson says in conclusion thathe
solicits complaints from ofti?eneo?
the state.
Wk
3