Page 355 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

Statements Unjustified.
At Rushden, of course, to use an appropriate proverb, the boot
was on the other leg, and here the relations between the C.W.S., its
employees, and the local trade unionists were cordial from the first,
as they continued to be.
The trade conditions during the years immediately foUoAving
1905 still did not help production. A further advance in the price
of leather took place, and, with the general cost of hving rising, the
demand for cheap, light boots became more insistent. Substitutes
for leather more and more were introduced, and such goods were
reported as offered by makers within the co-operative movement.
On the other hand, the C.W.S. had built up a reputation upon
all-leather footwear, and upon all boots sold under the Wheatsheaf
brand being of C.W.S. manufacture, and the management at
Leicester regularly had succeeded in nailing to the counter any
statements mtended to injure either propositions. Again, influenced
bj^ modern taste, the trade became more seasonal ; and it has alreadj^
been pointed out that the seasons offer a perennial problem in the
co-operative world. If the distributive departments cannot meet
the demand for new goods as and when it arises they are likely to
lose then' trade, and accumulate bad stock from late deUveries ; on
the other hand, the productive departments cannot put the whole
difficulty upon the shoulders of labour by engagmg and discharging
employees entirely m the easy way of those who are under no
responsibility to workmg-class constituents. It was under such
circumstances that, among incidental occurrences, there came an
attack upon the business by a representative of the women's section
of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives. Spealdng at
an Anti-Sweating Exhibition held in Bristol during March, 1908,
this official (Miss Willson) made certain statements reflecting upon
the wages paid to women workers at the C.W.S. Leicester boot
factories. By the followuig September, when it first became possible
to raise the matter at a C.W.S. Quarterly Meeting within that
city, the speech had grown to a very positive charge of sweating.
" Members of the miion," it was reported, " would rather be out
of work than accept a situation at the Leicester works of the
C.W.S." Mr. Lander, for the VrHiolesale Society's Committee,
made a long and detailed reply. The alleged unfair payment was
absolutely denied. There was, Mr. Lander said, no fist or standard
for women workers in the Leicester boot and shoe trade; but the
C.W.S. employees received "the best wages given in Leicester for
the same class of work." Yet Miss Willson returned to the charge,
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