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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-01-28, Page 8PAGE EIGHT From y Window WHAT A WOMAN The case of the Sudbury wom- an who works in a cocktail lounge as a singer by night and on a city construction site by day intrigues me. You might even say I am totally enthralled by the kind of a woman who could perform both those jobs to the satisfaction of her employers. I'm not particularly surprised that Betty Burnett has chosen to work on a construction site with with the boys. Incidentally, read ers, Betty is what you might call a steel rigger... and I imagine the pay is pretty good. As I was saying, I'm not un- steadied by Betty's labors in the construction business. I have absolutely no reason to assume that women could not do an acceptable job on construction.. but I would suppose that it would be necessary to have a particular type of woman. It would seem to me that a steel rigger would have to be a hefty gal with man-sized muscle, She would have to be able to climb to the heights of the build, ing (the building on which Betty is presently employed is a ware- house and I'd imagine it is high enough to make the average man think about crawling up to it peak). For those reasons it would be READER GIVES ANSWER ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1971 Shirley Keller my thought that any woman who was feminine enough to sing love -songs in a night club and wear those slinky, sexy dresses most songstresses wear, would be slightly out of character on a construction site. And that's wily Betty Burnett intrigues me most. Of course, there would be some similarity between the two jobs. Both positions would require the applicant to have a certain rapport with the men, wouldn't you say. After all, whether a girl was warbling "Love Me Tonight" or hoisting a steel beam in place, it would be to her advantage, I would think, to have the males in the place on her side. In the latter instance, it may even be possible to do very little of the actual labor if the boys on the rigging crew were anxious to gain her favor. It was very interesting to note from the newspaper account about Betty's double life that her employer, a man by the name of W. H. Schwartz, is entirely satisfied with Betty's performance on the construction site. In fact, Schwartz indicat- ed that he is not all adverse to the idea of hiring more women if there are girls who will come forth to do the job. "I can't get any men to work for me, " states Schwartz. HuronCounty Council Turns Down Federation of Agriculture Proposal (by Shirley J. Keller) Huron County Council turned down a proposal from the Huron County Federation of Agriculture which asked that the policy ref- erring to the retirement age of county policy be changed to permit persons of more than 65 years to hold part-time jobs with the county. By a recorded vote of 30-10, councillors voted to retain the present policy which states that all persons be retired at the age of 65 years. Reeve Charles Thomas of Grey argued that it is often people of 65 years of age or more who are "most qualified to do a job." Mr. Thomas didn't suggest that any preference be given to older persons. He felt that empl- oyees should be hired on merit. "Many persons over 65 have many useful years left, " said Thomas. "We should not have a hard and fast rule here." Reeve Clarence "Derry" Boyle, Exeter, disagreed. "I think we should have a hard and fast rule, " said Boyle. He said that if it is company policy to retire employees at the age of 65 years, there will be no hard feelings when the job ends. Ed Oddleifson, Bayfield reeve asked, "why should anyone be Automatically unemployed be- cause he is over the age of 65 years?" Oddleifson said that retired persons on a fixed income would welcome a part-time job and should riot be denied that right to work if work is available. Harold Wilds, Wingham dep- uty -reeve, said any good busin- ess prepares for the retirement of its senior employees by bring- ing along younger workers to take their places. He said it was his feeling that when a county employee reached the age of 65 years, his job would immed- iately become available to some- one else. If no one stepped for- ward, the senior person would be kept on until a replacement was found. This latter statement from Wild brought an audible rummer of disagreement from his assoc- iates. "You could keep them on but you wouldn't pay them accord- ing to this policy, " argued Anson McKinley, Stanley dep- uty -reeve. "My concern is for the libraries in the county. A policy to retire employees at the age of 65 could very well have the effect of forcing the closure of the small libraries in the county. The library board has said it does not want this to happen." "If there is so much unempl- oyment, " said deputy -reeve Cecil Desjardine, Stephen Town- ship, "why is it so hard to find part-time help?" "Because you can't earn a liv- ing with a part-time job, " offer- ed Charles Thomas. "It helps, " retorted Desjardine, Deputy -reeve of Ashfield, Eugene Frayne, said there would be no trouble filling part-time positions, even the positions of librarians in the counnty. Frayne said as long as someone holds the job no one is interested but as soon as the post becomes vac- ant, applications for the jobs would come in. Reeve Harold Robinson, Howie) concurred, He said there was no trouble in Howick attracting younger people into part-time library work. I suppose the reason is obvious Mr. Schwartz runs the kind of a business which is rather uncert- ain. After one job is completed, there may not be another in the area for sometime, requiring the employees to either move with the job or quit. That's not a very sure way for a man to earn a living, especially a home - loving man who likes to be with his family at the close of every day. Besides that, it gets mighty cold out on a construction job this time of the year. Some fellows just aren't accustomed to such abuse. Mr. Schwartz says most guys come to look the job over, stay a couple of days and then leave because of the chill Sudbury winds which whip around the rafters. Betty is tough, I suspect. Like many, many other women, Betty was probably conditioned for the job hanging out clothes every day in the winter months, standing around outside while junior builds a snowman, waiting in a long line to get into the winter underwear sale, racing around in the knee-deep snow in the backyard picidng up what's left of the morning newspaper. Betty is also quite a woman, I would say. It is reported there are men in Sudbury who chastise Betty for taking away a man's job and leaving some children somewhere starving and cold. That's always beep. the way, hasn't it. There's always people who wouldn't do the job them- selves yet hate to see someone else have a chance at it. What's it called? Dog -in -the -manger? I wouldn't have Betty's job on a bet. Neither would 99 percent of the women I know. But if Betty Burnett can do a man's job to the satisfaction of her employer, get paid a man's wages and be contented doing it, let the fellows who want the job come forth - and compete for it in the regular manner by comparing skills and ambition rather than casting ugly remarks. St. Joseph and Bluewater Visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dominic Jeffrey over the past weekend were Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Jeffrey and Denise, of London, Linda Jeffrey of London, and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Jeffrey of the Blue Water who joined them Sunday for dinner. At the home of Mr. and Mrs, Charles Rau this past weekend were Mr. and Mrs. Morris Rau and family of London. Mrs. Valerie Cantin accomp- anied by her daughter Mrs. Eric Shultz and family, from Detroit spent the weekend at Mrs. Cant• in's home on the Blue Water, Mrs. Louise Cantin returned to her home from Detroit this past wekkend. Mr. and Mrs. Garfield Den- ornine spent the weekend in London visiting with their son and family Mr. and Mrs. Lester Denomme. Mr, and Mrs. Michael Rau, of Stratford spent the weekend visiting with their parents Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Denomme, and Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Rau. WHEW! It's Not Fit To Hang Clothes Outdoors In This Blustery Weather NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY LIBERATOR DRYER ONLY $16 9 G/NGERICH'S LTD. Zurich Seaforth