The resolutions of the Szarlej tailors’ guild are dictated by despair and destitution. However, we express our conviction that these resolutions will not be implemented, that ways will be found to remove the reasons for these resolutions, and that the craft will be able to continue to develop in Szarlej.

Finally, protests were raised against various incidental sewing and cutting courses which, supported by tuition fees from students, prepare candidates for the profession in a few weeks, thereby creating further competition for the craft.

Above all, the assembled members of the Guild spoke out against the “Władysława” sewing and cutting school in Katowice, expressing regret that the provincial authorities granted this school permission to teach women’s sewing and cutting.

With this, the agenda was exhausted, and the chairwoman closed the meeting at 7 PM.

FROM THE COMPULSORY GUILD OF WOMEN TAILORS IN KATOWICE.

READERS’ VOICES.

DEAR EDITOR!

On Thursday, October 15, 1931, at 4 PM, a Guild meeting was held in the “Wypoczynek” hall in Katowice, ul. św. Jana 10, chaired by the senior guildmistress, Ms. Teresa Kruppa.

After opening the meeting and welcoming those present, the chairwoman presented 12 apprentices with certificates of liberation as assistants. Ms. Marta Jendruszowa, chairwoman of the Examination Committee for Women’s Tailoring Assistants, addressed the new candidates for journeyman status, wishing them success in their future professional work and a successful master’s examination in the future. Subsequently, the chairwoman of the meeting commendably highlighted the results of the candidates’ journeyman work, stating that these works were executed exemplarily, which speaks highly of their professional abilities.

Regarding apprentice matters, Mr. Szwencner, a representative of the Chamber of Crafts, gave a very extensive presentation on various issues concerning the training of apprentices by masters and their obligations towards students.

The speaker discussed the issues of illegal training of apprentices in craft workshops, advising the Guild Board to have guild plenipotentiaries inspect workshops more frequently and to nip emerging evils in the bud, reporting every instance of verified illegal training or employment of an excessive number of apprentices to the Chamber of Crafts. Finally, the speaker noted that apprentices should be treated as actual trainees and not merely as tools for cheap labor. In the discussion following this report, several speakers took the floor, complaining that after passing their journeyman’s exam, apprentices leave the workshop and become independent or work privately for clients in their homes, without the obligation to purchase an industrial certificate or bear tax burdens and other social contributions. As a result, they pose a serious competition to established craft workshops, where work is increasingly declining.

It is not worth giving work to good clientele without payment. I had an incident that I am sharing with my esteemed colleagues.

In February 1913, Mr. Franciszek N., a former estate official from Doruchów, Ostrzeszów district, came to me for the first time and ordered from my materials: riding trousers — for 24 mkn., a black waistcoat for a tuxedo for 8 mkn., a colored waistcoat for 12 mkn., and additionally, I pressed his trousers for 1 mkn. In total, I performed work for 70 mkn.

After delivering this work, I received a thank-you letter from Mr. N for such careful execution and 20 mkn. in cash. A few months later, Mr. N. quietly moved from Doruchów to Mrocza. The World War broke out, and Mr. N. gave no sign of life. I inquired about his whereabouts for years until finally the Mrocza City Council reported that Mr. Franciszek N., a former estate official, currently resides in Gniezno on Trzemeszyńska Street, where he owns his own tenement house.

I wrote several registered letters and politely asked Mr. N. to pay the bill, although I reduced my claim from 50 mkn. from 1914 to 50 zł.

I am still waiting for payment, without success.

I present the above fact to my esteemed colleagues as a warning to everyone, and especially to the tailors in Gniezno, to be cautious.

The catastrophic situation of workshops in the women’s tailoring profession has reached such proportions — as the speakers noted — that workshops which typically employed 6-8 workers now employ only 2.

It was also learned during the discussion that another cause of the dangerous decline of workshops is

Sincerely,

Antoni Kucharski, Master Tailor, Ostrzeszów