of the effects of general wage increases reported in that region. This effect on the earnings of higher paid workers tended to diminish as average rates increased. The minimum wage law had very little effect on the earnings of workers receiving over $1.00 an hour in 1949. About 5 percent of the workers in the Southeast earned averages of $1.00 or more in 1949; in 1950 about 6 percent of these workers earned this amount. Nearly all of this increase can be attributed to general wage increases. Since a large proportion of the workers in the fertilizer industry are employed in lower paying jobs, the increase in the earnings of the higher paid workers increased average earnings for the industry to only a minor extent. Other Effects of Higher Minimum The effects a higher minimum wage may have on an industry depend upon a number of factors. These include the size of the necessary adjustment in wages, the demand for the product of the industry, profit levels, and the ability to substitute machinery for labor. It is even more difficult to assess the influence of the higher minimum rate on nonwage items than on the wage structure. Because of its extreme seasonality, the fertilizer industry presents special difficulties. However, since the adjustments in wages made necessary by the 75-cent minimum were moderate for substantial segments of the industry, the pressure for other adjustments probably would not be as strong as might otherwise be the case. Hours of work-The new minimum apparently did not affect scheduled hours of work appreciably. There was a slight reduction in the length of the normal workweek, but the great majority of the workers in each period were employed on work schedules of 40 hours. The slight reduction. could reflect seasonal or fortuitous factors. Mechanization-Field representatives reported that a substantial number of plants had installed laborsaving equipment. About 25 percent of the establishments visited reported such installations within 6 months prior to the study. Belt conveyors and improved sewing machines were most frequently mentioned. Employers also reported that measures had been taken to increase the operating efficiency of their plants. TABLE 2.-Straight-time hourly earnings1 of workers in selected occupations in fertilizer establishments, United States and selected regions, 1949 and 1950 1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work. 1.18 1.09 1.04 1.01 * Includes data for other regions in addition to those shown separately. workers in the Great Lakes region. Occupational data were not furnished by five plants employing about 900 4 Insufficient data to warrant presentation of an average. .94 .91 .73 .66 1.09 1.06 .76 .71 (4) (4) .82 .76 1.21 1. 19 .82 .73 1.42 1.33 .77 Older workers-The new minimum had not affected the hiring policies of establishments with respect to older workers. It was expected that there might be some change in this respect. However, at the time of the study only a very small number of plants reported changes in their hiring policy with respect to the age of the worker. Related Wage Practices Data on supplementary benefits were collected only for the 1950 period. More than 75 percent of the workers were employed in establishments that provided 1 week's paid vacation after a year's service. About two-thirds of the workers were in establishments providing 2 weeks after 5 years. Life insurance plans were reported in establishments employing over 40 percent of the workers. Retirement pensions were reported by plants employing 18 percent of the workers. Fewer than 15 percent of the workers were employed on second or third shifts. The bulk of these employees were in complete fertilizer and superphosphate plants. About half the employees working on extra shifts received a wage differential-usually from 5 to 10 cents an hour. -L. EARL LEWIS Division of Wage Statistics 1 This article presents a brief analysis of summary data obtained from a survey of wages and related factors in the fertilizer industry. This is the second of a series of surveys designed to measure the effects of the increase in the minimum wage rate in low-wage industries. A comprehensive report will be presented by the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions and will be based on results of all the surveys. The study was limited to establishments with 8 or more workers. From more than 660 establishments employing over 32,000 workers within this size limitation, a sample of 326 establishments employing more than 21,000 workers was carefully selected to represent the industry. Straight-time wage rates or earnings (excluding premium overtime and shift differential pay) were obtained for workers in selected occupations and for all workers regardless of occupation. Information on selected supplementary wage benefits was also collected. The industry was defined to conform with Standard Industrial Classifications 2871 and 2872 which include plants manufacturing complete fertilizers, plants which purchase acid and then follow the same operations as manufacturers of complete fertilizers, and plants engaged in mixing fertilizers from purchased fertilizer materials. Representatives of the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions research staff participated in planning the survey. Collection of the data was under the immediate supervision of the Bureau's Regional Wage Analysts. The Fair Labor Standards Act became effective October 24, 1938, requiring a minimum hourly wage of 25 cents and overtime payment after 44 hours per week. Subsequent changes in the minimum affecting the fertilizer industry were as follows: Automotive Parts: Wage Structure, March-April 1950 EDITOR'S NOTE.-This is the second of two articles on wages and related practices in the automobile industry. The first article appeared in the September 1950 issue and covered passenger car and truck manufacturing establishments. A CONSIDERABLE DIFFERENCE exists between the wage structure of the automobile parts industry and that in the motor vehicle industry it feeds. The major difference is a wider dispersion of rates in the parts industry in each occupation as well as in the industry as a whole. This greater dispersion results from several factors: a large number of firms manufacturing a wide assortment of products; a wide distribution of firms geographically; much greater variation in size of establishments; and a much more pronounced use of incentive methods of pay. The difference in the wage structure between the two industries is evident in the distribution of individual workers' rates. While over 60 percent of the plant workers in the motor vehicle industry earned between $1.50 and $1.70 per hour, no such marked concentration of rates was found in automotive parts. The interquartile range of the rate distribution for the vehicle industry, for example, was only 14 cents as compared to 35 cents for the parts industry. Only a few of the workers in the vehicle industry earned less than $1.20 per hour, but about 8 percent of the parts workers earned less than that amount. However, a greater proportion of workers in the parts industry also earned $2 or more, 8.2 percent in contrast to 4.6 percent. Regions referred to include the following States: New England-Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Middle Atlantic-New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania. Great Lakes-Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin. Southwest-Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas. Mountain-Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyo ming. Pacific-California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington. • Interstate commerce is defined by Section III B of the Fair Labor Standards Act as commerce ". . . among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof." Classification of establishments in this survey was made on the basis of the firms' own opinion. Incentive pay was much more common in the parts industry, almost half of the workers being employed in plants having an incentive wage system. Since incentive pay systems tend to widen the rate distribution, this factor probably accounts for the greatest difference between the two industries. For comparable work, incentive workers typically had higher average earnings than time workers in the parts industry. Usually the difference ranged from 10 to 20 percent but there were many instances in which it materially exceeded the latter figure. The great number of firms in the parts industry and their wide variation in size also contributed to the divergency of rates. Notably in time-rated jobs and in the less skilled occupations, higher rates were generally found in large establishments. No consistent differential for occupations in which incentives were widely used or in highly skilled TABLE 1.-Percentage distribution of all plant workers in automotive parts and accessories establishments, by straight-time average hourly earnings1 and type of product, United States, March-April 1950. jobs prevailed among establishments of different sizes. Nevertheless, even for these categories of occupations, the larger firms generally paid the higher rates. The most consistent difference in wage rates existed between establishments located in large and small cities. Plants located in communities of less than 25,000 population typically had lower average rates by occupation than plants in larger cities. For the parts industry as a whole, as defined for this survey, average straight-time hourly earnings of plant workers amounted to $1.57 in MarchApril 1950. Plant workers engaged in the manufacture of bodies and body parts averaged $1.61; chassis parts, $1.60; engine parts, $1.49; and truck trailers, $1.44. The lower general level of rates for workers in the engine parts division, as compared with the body and chassis divisions, appears to reflect the greater proportion of light jobs found in engine manufacture. Average rates for comparable jobs differed very little among these three divisions. Average rates in truck trailer establishments, in contrast, were distinctly lower than the average for comparable occupations in the other divisions. Occupational Averages In general, skilled maintenance workers in the parts plants were paid about $1.75 an hour. Tool and die and patternmaker jobs averaged just under $2. Relatively unskilled laboring jobs. generally averaged beteeen $1.30 and $1.40. Average rates for semiskilled production jobs depended largely on whether incentive or time rates predominated; workers in most occupations in this group averaged between $1.45 and $1.70 an hour. Earnings in comparable occupations in the motor vehicle industry were generally higher than in automotive parts, but the amount of the difference depended on the type of work and the method of wage payment. Rates for skilled workers were generally only 5 to 8 cents higher, but the differential for unskilled workers was more often about 10 cents. The difference in the semiskilled production jobs depended largely on the predominant method of wage payment. Average straight-time earnings in the parts plants for occupations paid predominantly on an incentive basis were often as high and sometimes higher than earnings in comparable occupations in the motor vehicle industry. TABLE 2.-Average straight-time hourly earnings1 for selected occupations in automotive parts and accessories establishments by type of product, United States, March-April 1950 1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work. Related Wage Practices Data not collected. Almost a third of the workers in the automotive parts industry were employed on second or third shifts and practically all received a shift pay differential. Most common premiums were 5 cents or 5 percent additional for second shift work and 10 cents or 7.5 percent for third shift. These practices were similar to those found in the motor vehicle establishments. Paid vacations were given to all except 1 percent of the workers after 1 year's service, usually (80 percent) 1 week. About half of the workers received more than 1 week after 3 years' service and over 95 percent received two or more weeks vacation after 5 years' service. Vacation practices were similar to those in the motor vehicle branch, but methods of computing vacation pay varied considerably. Paid holidays were granted to about threefourths of the plant workers in the parts industry. The usual number was six per year. Paid holidays or extra pay in lieu of holidays were granted by all motor vehicle establishments. Nonproduction bonuses, such as Christmas, * Insufficient number of workers to justify presentation of an average. year-end or profit-sharing, were given to about one out of every six workers. These plans were not found in the vehicle industry. Insurance plans partially financed by the company were in effect in most establishments and about 80 percent of the workers were eligible for some type of coverage. Life and health insurance were the most common types, but over 40 percent of the plant employees were eligible for participation in hospitalization plans. Pension plans were in force in plants employing about 12 percent of the workers. Both insurance and pension plans were more prevalent in the motor vehicle industry. But hospitalization insurance plans were more common in the parts industry. -JAMES F. WALKER Division of Wage Statistics 1 The parts survey covered establishments with 51 or more workers primarily engaged in the manufacture of automobile bodies and body parts, chassis parts, engine parts, and truck trailers. Excluded from the study were glass, textile, and rubber products, and storage batteries. Parts plants of vehicle manufacturers were considered in the vehicle industry except those primarily manufacturing for sale. * Earning figures are straight-time average hourly earnings, excluding premium pay for overtime and night work. Local City Truck Driving: Union Scales, July 1, 19501 2 WAGE SCALES of organized local motortruck drivers and helpers advanced 3.5 percent or 5 cents an hour, between July 1, 1949, and July 1, 1950, according to an annual survey of these scales by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average union hourly scales on July 1, 1950, were $1.60 for drivers and $1.34 for helpers; the combined average was $1.56.3 Scale increases effective during the year ending July 1, 1950, were less widespread than in the preceding 12-month period. Slightly over half of the drivers and helpers had advances between July 1, 1949, and July 1, 1950, whereas four-fifths received upward adjustments in the previous year. The standard workweek declined slightly during the year, averaging 42.0 hours on July 1, 1950. The typical straight-time workweek consisted of 40 hours and prevailed for seven-tenths of the drivers and helpers included in the survey. War II in 1945; an 8 percent rise occurred in the previous year. Increases of 11, 15, and 9 percent, respectively, were achieved during the 3 years following VJ-day. These upward movements in levels of union scales during the last 5 years have accounted for nearly three-fifths of the total advance since 1939. Between July 1, 1949, and July 1, 1950, union scales for all motortruck drivers, included in the cities studied increased 5 cents an hour and for helpers 6 cents an hour. These gains amounted to 3.3 percent for drivers and 4.4 percent for helpers. Slightly over half of the unionized drivers and nearly two-thirds of the helpers had upward adjustments in their wage scales since July 1, 1949, whereas four-fifths of the drivers and helpers received higher scales in the previous 12 months. Of those receiving scale advances in the year ending July 1, 1950, about 4 of every 5 had adjustments ranging from 5 to 15 cents. The typical advance was for 5 or 10 cents an hour, although increases varying from less than 5 to more than 40 cents were provided in individual contracts. Some drivers in each of the 77 cities covered by the survey received wage increases between July 1, 1949, and July 1, 1950. The extent of these increases ranged from an average of less than 1 percent in Butte, Mont., Manchester, N. H., and Spokane, Wash., to 15 percent in Wichita. In 47 cities, the advance averaged between 5 and 10 cents an hour; in 24 cities, it amounted to less than 5 cents. Average increases for drivers in 5 cities-Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Wichita, and Youngstown-exceeded 10 cents. In 6 of the 71 cities in which union helpers were covered, the scales in effect on July 1, 1949, still prevailed. In the majority of the cities, increases averaged between 4 and 9 cents an hour, although in Cleveland, Grand Rapids, and Youngstown they exceeded 10 cents. The extent of postwar adjustments is indicated by a comparison of the union scales in effect on July 1, 1950, with those existing on July 1, 1945. On the earlier date nearly half of the drivers and almost three-fourths of the helpers had scales of under $1 an hour, and less than 1 percent of the drivers and helpers received as much as $1.5 and $1.25, respectively. In 1950, however, only 1 percent of the drivers and 5 percent of the helpers had hourly scales of less than $1, while |