“That this Council expresses its conviction that equal pay for equal work is the only solution of the problem of male and female labour in the Civil Service, and considers that the establishment of this principle is the only alternative to the competition of cheapness which is the result of the existing double standard of payment, and is affecting so injuriously the conditions of service of both men and women.  It therefore pledges itself to endeavour to obtain the abolition of the sex disability.”

Women in the Service are realising more and more that their strength lies in effective combination.  A new organisation has recently sprung into being as a result of the introduction of Women Clerks into the Board of Trade and the National Health Insurance Service, the Federation of Civil Service Women Clerks having been formed for the purpose of working for the larger interests of the women in the various clerical departments of the Civil Service.  The general policy of the Federation will be to afford a ready means of communication between various sections of the Service for the purpose of taking joint action when necessary in the interests of the whole body of Women Clerks, and to enable them to concentrate more effectively on the larger issues connected with the claim for equality of opportunity for women with men in the Civil Service.

* * * * *

This article will not be complete without some reference to the Report of the Holt Committee which is engaging the attention of the Postmaster General at the present time.

When the Report was published in August last, it was generally agreed that the women had been badly treated.  The demand for equality of remuneration with the male staff which was put forward by the Women Telegraphists and the Women Clerks has been completely ignored.  The Women Sorters are awarded an increase of 2s. a week in the maximum salary, and, as a set off, it is proposed that they shall undertake a larger portion of the minor clerical duties now performed by Women Clerks.  The immediate supervision of the Women Sorters is to be met by the establishment of the Senior Sorters (who at present receive a supervising allowance of 3s. a week) as a regular supervising class with a fixed scale of salary, viz., 32s. per week rising by 1s. 6d. to 38s.  The ultimate supervision remains in the hands of the Women Clerks.  The Committee recommended the abandonment of the tentative new grade of Female Assistant Clerks on the ground that there is no need for a class intermediate between the Women Sorters and the Girl and Women Clerks.  A further recommendation, causing widespread dissatisfaction, is that the hours of duty shall be increased by three and a half hours per week.  The eight-hour day for manipulative work and the seven-hour day for clerical work has hitherto been the standard working day in the Post Office, and the suggested increase with no