Fur trade workers
The Fur Trade Board (Great Britain) was established on 25 October 1919 and converted into a Wages Council under the Wages Councils Act of 1945. It was still in existence in 1988. The Board regulated the wages of workers involved in the preparation of animal skins for clothing (including processes such as 'fleshing', shaving, sorting / grading, dyeing and packing) and the manufacture of some items of clothing out of furs.
The series of trade board papers in the Trades Union Congress archive includes four files of documentsLink opens in a new window relating to the Fur Trade Board. As part of the Modern Records Centre's 'Sweated trades' digitisation project, we have made a selection of these documents available online,Link opens in a new window including the items highlighted below.
Illustration: Interior of fur post, Canada. Image included in 'Furs and the Fur Trade'Link opens in a new window by John C. Sachs (Pitman, 1923).
Working conditions and pay:
Minimum rates of wages for male and female workers, Apr 1920Link opens in a new window
Includes weekly rates and piece rates for 'hand fleshing and shaving' and 'unhairing, pulling, cutting down and shaving' a wide range of different types of animal skins - from anteaters to zebras.
Minimum rates of wages for male and female workers, Apr 1920Link opens in a new window
Includes piece rates for 'machine fleshing' different types of animal skins.
General minimum piece rates fixed for male and female workers, Nov 1920Link opens in a new window
Includes piece rates for 'hand fleshing and shaving', 'unhairing, pulling, cutting down and shaving', and 'machine fleshing' different types of animal skins.
Proposed additions and alterations to the fleshers' price list, Dec 1920Link opens in a new window
Letter from Thomas Street of the Fur Skin Dressers’ Union.
Observations on the minimum wage rates and suggestions for revision, 1921Link opens in a new window
Sent to the Secretary of the Fur Trade Board by G. Wagner & Co. Ltd.
Also includes general minimum time rates, piece work basis time rates and overtime rates for certain classes of male and female workers.
Order confirming general minimum time rates, 1924Link opens in a new window
Includes weekly rates of pay.
Notice to employers in the fur trade, 1927Link opens in a new window
Office of Trade Boards notice warning employers that they may be prosecuted if they fail to comply with Trade Board regulations.
Objections to rates of pay:
Each change to the recommended minimum wage was publicised by the issuing of printed notices by the Trade Board. Individuals and organisations then had a set period of time during which they could submit formal written objections to the proposed changes. Inevitably, when wage rates increased most objections were sent in by employers; when rates were reduced most objections were sent by trade unions or workers.
Objections from employers to proposed minimum rates of wages:
Joseph Crumpholt of J. & A. Crumpholt, Oxford Street, London, 1919Link opens in a new window
Bevington & Morris, London, 1919Link opens in a new window
Mrs F.W. Pitney of Barnstaple, 1919Link opens in a new window
A.M. Hyams of Edinburgh, 1919Link opens in a new window
C.W. Harris of Harris, Snelgrove & Company, Walthamstow, 1919 (1)Link opens in a new window
C.W. Harris of Harris, Snelgrove & Company, Walthamstow, 1919 (2)Link opens in a new window
M. D. Bandler of Bayswater, 1919Link opens in a new window
Bevington & Morris, London, 1920Link opens in a new window
William Whitehead of R. Whitehead & Son, Ltd., Bolton, 1920Link opens in a new window
Henry & Co. of Leeds, 1920Link opens in a new window
Ernest Hume of Manchester, 1920Link opens in a new window
E. Smith & Co., London, 1920Link opens in a new window
Revillon Freres of Regent Street, London, 1920Link opens in a new window (with covering letterLink opens in a new window)
E. David Hodge of F. Slater Ltd., Glasgow, 1920Link opens in a new window
C.W. Slater of Glasgow and B. Sefton of Edinburgh, 1921Link opens in a new window
Objections from workers to proposed minimum rates of wages:
Ada Ashford of Harborne, Birmingham, 1919Link opens in a new window
Harry Pizer of Aldgate, 1920Link opens in a new window
R. C. Charlick of Tottenham, 1920Link opens in a new window
Summary of objections to proposed rates of wages, 1927Link opens in a new window
Copies correspondence from Tanner Bros. & Co. Ltd., London, Bertram Seftor, Edinburgh, and A.V. Hatter, Cardiff.
Scope of the Trade Board:
Not all workers in Trade Board regulated industries were eligible for the minimum wage, employees who were regarded as doing peripheral jobs (such as messenger, delivery driver, etc.) could be excluded. In some cases the Trade Board was required to rule on 'questions of scope' - whether the work of certain employees came within the scope of the Board (and the minimum wage). Submissions to the Board on questions of scope can include information about manufacturing processes and types of work done by individual employees.
Question of scope: squirrel tail trimming, 1927Link opens in a new window
Question regarding the eligibility of women trimming garments with fur for the minimum rates.
Questions of scope: fox skins and skunk, 1928Link opens in a new window
Questions regarding Indian fox skins, Russian kit fox skins and South American skunk.
Training schemes and apprenticeships:
Possible apprenticeship scheme, 1920Link opens in a new window
Copy of a letter from C.W. Blunt, Secretary of the London Fur Trade Association, asking for a possible apprenticeship scheme for "children of bona fide British Subjects" to be discussed at the next trade board meeting.
Applications for the registration or certification of apprentices:
Albert Walter Rixon apprenticed to J. Johnston, London, 1927Link opens in a new window
Exempted workers:
Trade Boards could issue permits of exemption which allowed employers to pay less than the minimum wage. Permits were given to workers who were regarded as having a physical or psychological disability which affected their work. Applications (usually submitted without employees' names) include information about the age, gender and medical conditions of the individual workers.
Statements of permits of exemption granted, 1920-1922, 1927Link opens in a new window
Brief information about permits granted.
Summary information about applications for permits of exemption:
Employee of S. Markheim, Ltd., London ("old age"), 1921Link opens in a new window
Employee of N. Cohen & Sons, London ("old age and failing capacity"), 1927Link opens in a new window
Employee of W. Ujhely, Ltd., London ("neurasthenia"), 1928Link opens in a new window
An index to these documentsLink opens in a new window is available.
Inspection and enforcement:
Report on inspection for year ended 12 April 1921Link opens in a new window
Summary report containing information about inspections of firms and irregularities identified over the course of the assessment period.
Report of deputation to the Ministry of Labour, protesting against lack of enforcement of the minimum rates of wages.