Wage Earning and Education Part 12

A somewhat similar treatment is followed with respect to the iron and steel group of industries--blast furnaces, steel mills, rolling mills, wire mills, nail mills, and bolt, nut, and rivet factories. These industries are characterized by a high proportion of common and semi-skilled labor in the working force. Between 75 and 90 per cent of the workers are of foreign birth. In the operating department of one mill only two Americans were found among a total of 600 employees. As a rule the native born workers are mechanics employed in the power and maintenance departments.

With scarcely an exception the occupations are of a nature that require the worker to learn through actual experience in the mills.

Theory and practice must be learned at the same time. Even the supervisory and executive positions in which a technical education is of considerable value require a long and arduous apprenticeship on the job before the worker can compete with men who have started with the scantiest educational equipment, but have picked up a knowledge of the processes by experience and observation. Below these positions the work rapidly grades off to various kinds of machine operating in which not even the ability to read or understand English is required.

No plan of vocational training is presented, because at present the mills recruit almost exclusively from foreign labor, and only a very small number of boys from the public schools are likely to seek employment in them. The technical content of the work which might conceivably be given in evening cla.s.ses, except in the case of the few directive and supervisory positions, is so small that continuation instruction offers but meager hopes of success. Under present conditions the long working day and the necessity of changing from the day to the night shift, or vice-versa every two weeks, const.i.tutes an insuperable obstacle to the organization of night cla.s.ses.

The princ.i.p.al need of the rank and file is a speaking and reading knowledge of the English language, so that the workers can be taught to avoid and prevent accidents, and give themselves the necessary care when they occur. Instruction in English with possibly courses in accident prevention and personal hygiene represent about the only training possible that can be said to have any real vocational significance.

CHAPTER XVII

SUMMARY OF REPORT ON THE BUILDING TRADES

A careful estimate places the number of men engaged in building construction in Cleveland at the present time at about 30,000, comprising more than one-fifth of the total number employed in manufacturing and mechanical occupations. About two-thirds of these workmen are skilled artisans, distributed among some 20 different trades. The estimated number in each trade is shown in Table 22.

SOURCES OF LABOR SUPPLY

The building trades get their workers from four princ.i.p.al sources: immigration, native journeymen from outside the city, helpers, and apprentices. Immigration contributes the largest proportion in both skilled and unskilled work, practically monopolizing the latter. Over four-fifths of all cabinet makers, more than two-thirds of all brick and stone masons, and nearly two-thirds of all carpenters are foreign born. Plumbers and steam-fitters show the smallest proportion of foreign labor.

TABLE 22.--ESTIMATED NUMBER OF MEN ENGAGED IN BUILDING TRADES, 1915

----------------------------------------+------------------+ Workers in trade Number employed ----------------------------------------+------------------+ Carpenters 7,105 Painters, glaziers, varnishers 2,746 Plumbers, gas- and steam-fitters 2,014 Bricklayers 1,800 Machine woodworkers 1,198 Sheet metal workers or tinsmiths 1,069 Cabinet-makers 895 Inside wiremen and fixture hangers 750 Plasterers 638 Paperhangers 379 Structural iron workers 356 Roofers and slaters 315 Stone-cutters 292 Lathers 275 Stone masons and marble setters 250 Ornamental iron workers 200 Cement finishers 200 Hoisting engineers 150 Elevator constructors 100 Parquet floor layers 100 Tile-layer 100 Asbestos workers 75 Wood carvers 63 Helpers 926 Apprentices 306 ----------------------------------------+------------------+ Total 22,302 ----------------------------------------+------------------+

APPRENTICESHIP

The general decline of the apprenticeship system which began with the invention of modern labor-saving machinery has affected the building trades least of all. Here it survives in an active state and is steadily gaining ground. It is in favor with many employers and with all unions. The best apprenticeship systems are found in the strongly organized trades.

It is true that in some of the trades apprenticeship is little more than a name, meaning simply that permission has been granted to learn the trade. The apprentice is left free to pick up what experience he can between the odd jobs that are given him. What meager instruction he receives comes from a journeyman worker who is none too eager to give up what he considers the secrets of his trade.

The union regulations provide that boys shall not enter the trades as apprentices or helpers below the age of 16. The limits set by the various trades and the union regulations as to length of apprenticeship are shown in Tables 23 and 24.

TABLE 23.--UNION REGULATIONS AS TO ENTERING AGE OF APPRENTICES

----------------------------------------+------------------------+ Asbestos workers Enter at any age Bricklayers Between 16 and 23 Carpenters Between 17 and 22 Cement finishers Must be full grown Elevator constructors Must be full grown Lathers Must be 18 years old Inside wiremen Between 16 and 21 Painters and paperhangers Before 21 years old Plumbers and gas-fitters Must be 16 years old Sheet metal workers Must be over 16 years Slate and tile roofers Must enter before 25 Steam-fitters Must be full grown Structural and ornamental iron workers Between 18 and 25 ----------------------------------------+------------------------+

TABLE 24.--UNION REGULATIONS AS TO LENGTH OF APPRENTICESHIP PERIOD

_Trades in which indentures are usually signed_ Bricklayer 4 years Plasterers 4 years Sheet metal workers 4 years

_Trades in which indentures are seldom signed_ Steam-fitters 5 years Carpenters 4 years Inside wiremen 4 years Plumbers and gas-fitter 4 years Cement finishers 3 years Asbestos workers 3 years Painters and paperhangers 3 years Slate and tile roofers 3 years Lathers 2 years Structural and ornamental iron workers 11/2 years Elevator constructors varies

All obtainable information points to the conclusion that the number of apprentices employed in the city is far below the maximum permitted by the unions. Many large contractors have no apprentices and say they will not bother with them. Others state that they have been unable to get or keep good apprentices and have therefore given up the plan.

UNION ORGANIZATION

The building trades are among the most strongly organized in the city.

It is estimated that their unions at the present time include about 90 per cent of all the men engaged in building work. Practically all the large contracting firms employ only union labor. The few non-union workers are employed by small contractors.

Requirements for admission to the different unions vary to a marked degree. If the union is strong and has a good control over the labor supply, admission fees are higher and regulations as to apprentices and helpers are more stringent than if the union is fighting to gain a foothold.

EARNINGS

No industrial workers in the city are paid better wages than those employed in the building trades. More than one-half of the skilled workers are in trades that pay an hourly wage of 50 cents or over. The hourly rate in each occupation is shown in Table 25.

TABLE 25.--UNION SCALE OF WAGES IN CENTS PER HOUR MAY 1, 1915

_70 Cents_ Bricklayers 70.00 Hoisting engineers on boom derricks, etc. 70.00 Stone masons 70.00 Structural iron workers 70.00

_From 60 to 70 Cents_ Marble setters 68.75 Inside wiremen 68.75 Plasterers 68.75 Slate and tile roofers 67.50 Parquet floor layers (carpenters) 62.50 Lathers, first cla.s.s 62.50 Plumbers 62.50 Steam-fitters 62.50 Stone-cutters 62.50 Hoisting engineers, brick hoists 60.00 Elevator constructors 60.00

_From 50 to 60 Cents_ Tile layers 59.38 Lathers, second cla.s.s 56.25 Carpenters 55.00 Cement workers, finishers 55.00 Sheet metal workers 50.00 Painters 50.00 Paperhangers 50.00

_From 40 to 50 Cents_ Asbestos workers 47.50 Composition roofers 42.50

_Under 40 Cents_ Cabinet-makers and bench hands 37.50 Machine woodworkers 37.50 Electrical fixture hangers 37.50 Hod-carriers 35.00

Union organization is a more powerful factor in determining wages in these trades than technical knowledge and skill. A high degree of skill in a given trade brings little advantage in the matter of wages.

By establishing a minimum scale below which no journeyman shall work, the union secures practically a flat rate of pay for most of the men in the trade. When there is much building work and good men are scarce, contractors sometimes pay higher wages to highly skilled workmen in order to secure their services. As a rule, however, their reward comes in the form of steadier employment. The less skilled man is the first to be laid off when business is slack, while the first-cla.s.s workman, for the reason that he is so hard to replace, is the last to be discharged.

Many unions, among them those of the carpenters, bricklayers, and painters, make no provision as to the wages of apprentices. Table 26 shows the wages in three of the building trades that have established a uniform scale for apprentices. Sheet metal apprentices are paid a bonus of $1 extra for each week served.

TABLE 26.--USUAL WEEKLY WAGES OF APPRENTICES IN THREE BUILDING TRADES

-------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+ Sheet metal Year Inside wiremen Plasterers workers -------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+ First year $5.50 $5.50 to $6.25 $5.00 Second year 13.20 8.25 to 11.02 5.50 to 6.00 Third year 17.60 13.75 to 16.00 6.50 to 7.00 Fourth year 22.00 19.25 8.00 to 9.00 -------------+----------------+----------------+--------------+

HOURS

The usual working day is eight hours. Many of the trades work only a half day on Sat.u.r.days throughout the year; practically all have this half holiday during the four summer months. For holiday or over-time work the men receive either pay and a half or double pay.

REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT

Due to the seasonal character of building work, it is next to impossible for a building contractor to keep a large force employed all the year. One result of this situation is that the men change employers more than any other workers in industry. Irregularity of employment is greater in building construction than in any other of the princ.i.p.al industries of the city. A comparison between the different branches of building work as to regularity of employment is presented in Diagram 11. The best showing is made by electrical contracting, in which the average number employed is 93 per cent of the maximum working force, and the poorest by plastering in which the average is only 66 per cent of the maximum.

HEALTH CONDITIONS