crm@cs.duke.edu (Charlie Martin) (09/19/88)
The discussion of regulations limiting number of hours worked by women
reminded me of somehing I read while living in Germany several years
ago:
A woman had to leave a skilled craft for some reason I don't recall.
Germany has tax-paid ("free") re-education in those cases. She'd always
liked baking, so she applied to the state-run Baker's Apprentice School;
she was accepted, went through the two or three year course, and was
duly certified an apprentice baker. She then applied for a job.
Now, bakers work odd hours. They start work at something like 3 AM so
that everyone can have nice fresh broetchen usw at breakfast.
Women, however, are not allowed to work between midnight and 8 AM (with
some kind of waiver for waitresses and the like, I don't know the
details.) This is because of a law intended to protect women after the
war, when the supply or workers was small and times were hard.
The result, as I'm sure you've guessed, was that she was not allowed by
law to work in her new craft because she was a woman.
The moral, it seems to me, is that we ought to be very careful of *any*
law intended to protect *any* group in particular; it seems to always
have unexpected side effects.
P.S. What I remember of the result was that this woman said "you guys
are nuts! I'm moving to the US," and did.