Cumberland County NJ Archives News..... Hello Girls on a Strike, February 7, 1903 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nj/njfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Virginia Boone silver_lining77@ymail.com July 28, 2013, 7:53 pm Dollar Weekly News February 7, 1903 Hello Girls on a Strike They Objected to working all night Went out in Two Cities Fair operators of Bridgeton and Millville lay down the receiver and quit work – Cause of their action The three young lady operators at the Interstate Telephone Company’s office in this city suddenly quit work yesterday afternoon and the three in the Millville office did the same thing. The Bridgeton three were Miss Nana Fox, Miss Carrie Phillips and Miss Tressa Smith. Orders had been received from District Superintendent Hess acting for the Home office at Trenton, that two of the girls were to work all night alternately, a week at a time. To this they objected and were informed that if they did not do as requested their services would be no longer required. The girls regarded this as final and left for their respective homes. Leland Mires has been night operator for sometime, staying in the office all night. He slept in a hammock with the night bell close as hand which rang when there was a call until he answered it. The claim was, however, that the night service was not giving satisfaction and the new plan was formulated. The girls did not like the idea of staying all night alone in the office, which opens directly off the street with no advance in wages, and indeed did not relish the idea at any pay. The company have (sic) found that it will be impracticable to find girls who will do the night service and have decided to abandon the idea. They have not recalled the regular operators, however, but have engaged Miss Bessie Shaw and Miss Mabel Vanlier, who have been working some what in the past as relief operators. The local superintendent and one of the linemen were at the switchboard this morning and beside the unaccustomed work were having trouble because of the wires that had been torn down by the heavy wind last night. THE STRIKE IN MILLVILLE From our Millville Office, Jan 31. Yesterday at 1 o’clock the operators in the Interstate Telephone Co’s office in this city laid down the receiver and transmitter and stopped work. The girls in the Bridgeton office did the same and one of the linesmen had to run the office yesterday as best he could. The girls base their strike on the fact that an order had been received from the main office in Trenton for them to work, by turns, all night long…(part of the sentence missing due to damage to the paper)…until 11 o’clock in the evening, as they have been doing, they would have to work until 7 o’clock the next morning. L. M. Hess, the manager, was in Ocean City all day yesterday and was not here when the strike took place. The girls say they will not go back to work until the order is rescinded or other arrangements are made. To work all night, they say, would be too lonely and really dangerous for a girl; instead, they think the company should get a boy to stay there all night as the Bell Telephone Company does. The subscribers, as a rule, seem to be with the girls in their strike and also say it would be dangerous for a girl to stay alone in the office all night. Some subscribers want all night telephone service, saying that it is a great benefit to them; others say that all-night service is not needed here and none have asked for it. Whether this be true or not, matters not, but it seems to be unanimous among the subscribers that they do not want a girl to stay there all night but instead seem to think that a boy or young man should be hired. As the matter now stands the telephones are not in good working order, as it proves a hard matter for anyone to jump in and take up such work as that is. Mr. Hanes, who is getting his orders from the main office, of course, can not relieve the position in which he is placed, but it is probable that when the sentiment of the girls and of the subscribers is learned at the Interstate home office the order will be withdrawn and the girls go back to their old places. Manager Hess could not be found by a reporter last night and it is not known what action will be taken. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/njfiles/ File size: 4.6 Kb This file is located at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/cumberland/newspapers/hellogirlsstrike.txt