Toilet Preparations About three-fifths of the workers in the toilet preparations industry were employed in the Middle Atlantic States. Their average earning$1.11 was the highest average for the industry, 32 cents higher than that of workers in the Southeast States. More than 90 percent of the plant workers in the Southeast were earning under 95 cents per hour in this industry, but this region TABLE 2.-Percentage distribution of plant workers (excluding learners and apprentices) in the perfumes, cosmetics and other toilet preparations industry by straight-time average hourly earnings,' United States and selected regions, May 1950 Average hourly earnings (in cents) Under 75.. accounted for only about 1 percent of the total workers in the industry. Minimum Rates Although over half of the plants reporting data in the drug and medicine industry employed workers at 75 cents an hour or less, these rates applied to relatively few workers. In fact, only about 6 percent of the workers earned less than 80 cents per hour at the time of the survey. The toilet preparations industry had a slightly smaller proportion of plants with workers earning 75 cents an hour or less, but a larger proportion of workers (about 11 percent) earning less than 80 cents an hour. -A. N. JARRELL Division of Wage Statistics 75 and under 80.. 1 Based on a mail questionnaire study of establishments employing 10 or more workers, whose major activity was the manufacture of one or more of the following: (1) bulk organic and inorganic medicinal chemicals and their derivatives; (2) drugs and medicines in pharmaceutical preparations such as ampuls, tablets, capsules, ointments, solutions and suspensions for human and veterinary use. Plants in this branch were asked to specify whether they were producing pharmaceuticals primarily for the professions or for the public. • Included in this group were plants whose major activity was manufacturing perfumes, cosmetics, or other toilet preparations such as hair dyes, tonics and dressings; bath salts, manicure preparations, tooth paste, tooth powder, etc. The regions used in this study include: New England-Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic-New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; Southeast-Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Great Lakes-Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Middle West-Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Pacific-California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Women Workers Employment Trends, 1900 to 1950 WOMEN in the United States are tending more and more to perform the dual function of worker and homemaker, according to the Women's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor. Nearly half (46 percent) of all women workers in 1949 were married and living with their husbands. Almost 43 percent of this group of workers were mothers of children under 18 years of age. Of another group (those widowed, divorced, or separated from their husbands) who constituted about a fifth of all women workers, 26 percent were mothers of children under 18. Working mothers constituted over a fifth of all mothers of children under 18. A striking change in the past decade has been a downward trend in the proportion of women workers in domestic service. Eighteen percent were in that field in 1940, only 10 percent in 1950. Also remarkable has been the rise in median age of employed women. In 1940, it was 31.9 years, and only 22 percent were aged 45 and over; in 1950, the median age was 36 years, and 30 percent were 45 years of age and over. More than a fourth of all women working in the spring of 1950 were in clerical occupations. Nearly a fifth were operatives or semiskilled factory workers. More than two-fifths were in service, professional, domestic service, or sales work. The remainder, in the order of numerical importance, were employed in managerial, agricultural, craft, and laborer occupations. Labor-Force Participation, 1900 to 1950 While the total labor force in the United States more than doubled in the last 50 years, the number of working women more than tripled, increasing from 5.1 million to 18.1 million. Only 18 percent of gainful workers in 1900 were women, but 29 percent of the labor force in 1950 were women. The 19.6 million women workers employed during World War II composed 36 percent of the civilian labor force. The proportion which the labor force formed of the total population was the same (55 percent) in 1900 and in 1949. A change took place, however, in the proportions of men and women who were workers. Over 30 percent of all women were in the labor force in 1949, as compared with 20 percent in 1900. The increase came largely from greater participation of those between 35 and 64 years of age. Age levels of women workers varied from those of men workers. A higher proportion of the former were under 25 years and a higher proportion of the latter were 45 years or over. However, the general age trend during the last 50 years was the same for both sexes. In 1950, considerably smaller proportions of both men and women workers were in the younger age group; considerably larger proportions were 45 years of age or older. This accentuated the age trend in the population. 1 U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau: Women as Workers (A Statistical Guide), and Facts on Older Women Workers (prepared for the Conference on Aging, August 13-15, 1950, Washington, D. C.). Washington, 1950. Bell Mission Recommendations on Philippine Labor1 LABOR RECOMMENDATIONS formed an important part of the report submitted to the President by the Economic Survey Mission to the Philippines (Bell Report). Labor improvements, which the Bell Report held to be essential, are as follows: (1) Establishment of minimum wages for agricultural and nonagricultural workers. (2) Stimulation of free-trade unions. (3) Revision of the Workmen's Compensation Act to include adequate coverage and benefits. (4) Provide a system of unemployment insurance for nonagricultural workers and a commission to propose relief program for the aged. (5) Public employment service to be made nation-wide in scope. (6) Personnel and fund increases in the Labor Department. Broadly, the report contains an analysis of the present economic difficulties facing the Philippines and recommendations for measures which, in the opinion of the Mission, the Philippine Government must take to prepare a sound foundation for economic stability. 1 Report to the President of the United States by the Economic Survey Mission to the Philippines, Washington, D. C., October 9, 1950. Emergency Procedures for Civil Service Personnel SPECIAL PERSONNEL PROCEDURES for civil service employees were established by Executive Order No. 10180 of November 13, 1950, in the interest of national defense. The President ordered that new appointments as well as promotions and transfers should be nonpermanent, in general. He further specified that nonpermanent appointees would be excluded from the operation of the Civil Service Retirement Act of 1930, as amended, unless eligible for retirement benefits because of continuity of service or by reinstatement, or otherwise. Nonpermanent appointees will be covered automatically by the retirement provisions of the Social Security Act of 1935, as amended in 1950. The Civil Service Commission was granted authority to regulate releases of employees from one agency to another, and to keep civil service examinations on a continuous open basis, to the maximum extent possible. New appointees were made subject to nonpermanent status as of December 1, 1950, for such time as the President deems it to be necessary. However, permanent appointments were authorized for presidential appointees and postmasters, for others in unusual circumstances, and for persons selected for such appointment prior to December 1, 1950. Promotions, transfers between agencies, and reemployment were ordered to be made nonpermanent as of September 1, 1950. This ruling is also to continue as long as the President finds it to be necessary. Reassignment of an employee on a permanent or nonpermanent basis is discretionary with the head of the agency concerned. Civilian Recruitment for Government Agencies 2 By an agreement (December 15, 1950) between the U. S. Department of Labor and the Civil Service Commission, Public Employment Service of the Labor Department will recruit civilian manpower for Government agencies when Civil Service examinations do not yield a sufficient supply. 1 Federal Register, vol. 15, No. 222, November 15, 1950 (p. 7745), and Public Law 734, August 1950 (p. 53). U. S. Department of Labor Press Release, BES 51-2606, December 21, 1950. Summary of Industrial Relations Activities 1 THE CONTINUING and widespread movement for increased wages was climaxed in late November by the wage agreement between U. S. Steel Corp. and the United Steelworkers of America (CIO). Similar agreements involving other important steel producers followed almost immediately. Principal Negotiations Steel. The United Steelworkers of America (CIO) concluded agreements with the Nation's two largest steel producers-U. S. Steel Corp. and Bethlehem Steel Corp.-and won union shop elections at 9 steel producing companies during November. The U. S. Steel Corp. agreement, reached on November 30 after 6 weeks of intermittent negotiations, provided for wage increases, averaging 16 cents an hour effective December 1. From a minimum of 12%1⁄2 cents an hour in the lowest wage classification the increases were graduated to 28 cents an hour in the highest. Workers in the southern mills of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co. received an additional 41⁄2 cents an hour which reduces the North-South area differentials in U. S. Steel subsidiaries to 10 cents. The expiration date of the current contract, December 31, 1951, remains unchanged. Only a few hours after the U. S. Steel agreement was approved, the Bethlehem Steel Corp. agreement, providing for similar wage increases, was reached. Agreements with Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp., Republic Steel Corp., Youngstown Sheet and Tube Corp., and Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. followed quickly, incorporating terms similar to those in the U. S. Steel agreement. While wage negotiations were proceeding in November, the National Labor Relations Board was conducting union-shop elections at operations of nine steel producing companies, in accordance with the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947. A majority of employees in each plant voted affirmatively, thus permitting the union to bargain for the union shop in these plants. In the case of Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp.-largest of U. S. Steel Corp. operating subsidiaries and largest producer involved in the elections-nearly 63,000 of the 82,000 workers eligible to vote approved the union shop by approximately 3 to 1. Other companies in which union-shop elections were held included: National Tube Co., AlleghenyLudlum Steel Corp., American Steel & Wire Co., American Bridge Co., Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., Crucible Steel Co., and Sharon Steel Corp. In late October, the NLRB conducted a representation election for employees of Weirton Steel Co. at Weirton, W. Va. The Independent Steel workers Union defeated the United Steelworkers of America (CIO) in this election by a vote of 7,291 to 3,454. All but 267 of the eligible voters cast ballots. Telephone. Approximately 17,000 Western Electric Co. employees in 43 States and 16,000 workers employed by the Michigan Bell Telephone Co. went on strike on November 9 as the result of failure to reach agreement on wages and contract duration. The strike continued and the workers engaged in intermittent picketing of telephone plants and offices until November 19, when the companies and the Communications Workers of America (CIO) agreed on new contracts. Wage increases averaging 11.3 cents an hour for installation workers, 10.3 cents an hour for warehousemen and maintenance workers, and 10.1 cents an hour for production workers at the company's Haverhill, Mass., plant are provided for in the Western Electric Co. agreements. All the agreements are 15-month contracts, expiring February 15, 1952. The Michigan Bell agreement increased wages of Detroit employees from $3 to $5 a week. Area differentials between Detroit and smaller communities were decreased by the reclassification of 63 towns. This raised wages by as much as $9 a week in some areas. Television and Radio. On November 19, agreement was reached on an initial 2-year contract by the 4 major television networks and the Television Authority. The Authority represents approximately 25,000 entertainers belonging to 5 branches of the Associated Actors and Artists of America (AFL)-Actors Equity Association, American Federation of Radio Artists, American Guild of Musical Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists and Chorus Equity Association. Minimum pay scales for entertainers and limitations on the show ing of film recordings of programs, are provided in the agreement. Among the agreement's terms were the following minimum pay ranges: (1) actors, $50 to $170 per show, depending upon the number of lines to be spoken, the length of the show, and the number of rehearsal hours required; (2) vaudeville specialty acts, $200 for a single performer to $475 for four performers; (3) sportscasters, $200 for each description of a major event or $550 a week for seven events of the same sport. The agreement also provides that no film recording of live shows can be shown a second time in any area "without the written consent of the authority." A tentative agreement was also reached by the major radio networks and the American Federation of Radio Artists. It provides for an increase of 15 to 20 percent in the minimum pay rates of 5,000 radio actors and announcers. Clothing. Approximately 60,000 members of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union (AFL) in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut were awarded a pay increase of $5 a week, effective November 20, by Sol A. Rosenblatt, impartial chairman of the women's coat and suit industry in New York. The union and the employers had referred their dispute to Mr. Rosenblatt after they failed to reach a settlement through negotiations. Hourly workers' wages were raised 14% cents an hour; piece workers' increases will be computed on a fixed percentage basis. David Dubinsky, ILGWU president, indicated that the award would serve as a guide in obtaining cost-of-living pay increases for 370,000 other members of the union in the garment trades and industries in the union's jurisdiction across the Nation. Other Developments. Approximately 1 million workers received cost-of-living wage increases, following a Bureau of Labor Statistics announcement in November that the Consumers' Price Index had risen from 172.5 to an all-time high of 174.8 between July 15 and October 15. Primarily affected were more than 600,000 workers in the automobile industry who are covered by labor agreements containing escalator clauses. These automobile workers received wage increases of 3 cents an hour, effective December 1. On November 12, the Timken Roller Bearing Co. and the United Steelworkers of America (CIO) reached agreement on a 10-percent wage increase for 16,000 workers in 6 Ohio plants. No reopening provisions are contained in the agreement which will be effective until July 1952. A reduction in the basic monthly hours of work from 225 to 210 without a change in monthly pay was recommended for 1,800 Pullman conductors by a Presidential emergency board early in November. This would effect a wage increase of approximately 10 cents an hour if accepted by the Pullman Co. and the union-the Order of Railway Conductors (Ind.). The Westinghouse Electric Corp. and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (Ind.) reached agreement on a new contract which raised wages 10 cents an hour, retroactive to September 18, for 19,000 workers in 21 plants. Effective for 1 year from November 1, it may be reopened for wage negotiations 5 months from the beginning date. Labor Union Affairs A 1-day legislative rally was held in Washington, D. C., November 28 by representatives of eight unions which were expelled from the CIO during the past year on charges of following the Communist party line instead of CIO policy. The eight unions participating were the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union; the Fur and Leather Workers; the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers; the American Communications Association; the United Public Workers; the United Electrical Workers; the Distributive, Processing and Office Workers; and the Marine Cooks and Stewards. During the conference, Harry Bridges, head of the Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, proposed that the executive boards of the participating unions meet in Washington or Chicago in the near future and prepare to work together at the top level as well as locally. He also suggested that the unions discuss plans for pooling their resources, but continue to operate as independent organizations. The legislative program adopted by the unions included: price and rent controls; "no wage freeze"; repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, the McCarran Subversive Activity Control Act, and the Magnusson port security law; an excess profits tax; and fair employment practices legislation. 1 Prepared in the Bureau's Division of Industrial Relations. Members of the Board: Judge Ernest M. Lipton, Supreme Court of Missouri, chairman; Prof. I. L. Scharfman, University of Michigan; and Angus Monroe, Dallas, Tex., attorney. A detailed account of the CIO convention which took place in November, appears on p. 8 of this issue. |