OPERATIONS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES, 1916 AND 1917-Concluded. An extended report on the street railway employment in the United States is now in press and will soon be issued as Bulletin No. 204 of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. This report comprises a study, by special agents of the bureau, of 101 companies in 81 representative cities of the United States, and also data collected by correspondence covering over 300 companies, most of which were in smaller cities than those visited by the agents. The reports of the special agents show that in the 81 cities visited 10 per cent of the regular motormen on surface street railway lines in the larger cities of the United States in 1914 earned under 24 cents per hour, 24 per cent earned under 26 cents, 43 per cent under 28 cents, 61 per cent under 30 cents, 85 per cent under 32 cents, and 98 per cent under 34 cents. Nearly all companies have a sliding scale of wages for motormen and conductors, based on length of service. The annual increase generally is about 1 cent an hour, and some companies continue such increases for 10 or more years. As a rule, conductors are paid the same rate of wages as the motormen. The years of service for conductors, however, do not average so high as for motormen. Of the regular conductors working for the 101 companies specially studied, 13 per cent earned under 24 cents per hour, 33 per cent earned under 26 cents, 51 per cent under 28 cents, 67 per cent under 30 cents, 88 per cent under 32 cents, and 99 per cent under 34 cents. "Extra" motormen and conductors are those having no regular runs, and generally are men new in service who take the place of regular men who are absent, or take such irregular service as the company may have to offer. Their wage rates are lower than the rates of regular men who have been in service a longer time. The wage rates of both groups of cities were classified in 1 cent groups. The median rates in the cities visited by the bureau's agents were found to be as follows: Motormen, regular surface, 28 and under 29 cents per hour. Motormen, extra, surface, 25 and under 26 cents per hour. Motormen, regular, elevated and subway, 35 and under 36 cents per hour. Motormen, extra, elevated and subway, 30 and under 31 cents per hour. Conductors, regular, surface, 27 and under 28 cents per hour. Conductors, extra, surface, 24 and under 25 cents per hour. Conductors, regular, elevated and subway, 26 and under 27 cents per hour. Conductors, extra, elevated and subway, 25 and under 26 cents per hour. Gripmen, regular, surface, 31 and under 32 cents per hour. Gripmen, extra, surface, 25 and under 26 cents per hour. Guards, regular, elevated and subway, 23 and under 24 cents per hour. In the group of cities for which data were obtained by correspondence the median rates were: Motormen, regular and extra, surface, 25 and under 26 cents per hour. Conductors, regular and extra, surface, 25 and under 26 cents per hour. In this second group the regular and extra men were not reported separately. Some companies pay certain men for more hours than they actually worked. This applies mainly to men working short hours, and is necessary to make the positions acceptable to the men. In addition to the constant desire, if not demand, for a higher wage rate, the extra man complains of the irregularity and uncertainty of the work given him and the length of time he must wait to get a regular run. A few companies guarantee a minimum earning to their extra trainmen. The chief complaint of the regular man is the length of service required per day, and more especially the long hours over which the work may be spread by one or more periods off duty in his day's work. One of the great problems that confronts the street railway company is so to arrange its car service as to accommodate the variation in traffic from hour to hour and from day to day. To meet the demands of the public the company must run a different number of cars at different hours of the day. At the same time the manager must consider the call of his stockholders for dividends, which necessitates keeping down the number of cars in service. A regular run is a regular established scheduled day's work, assigned to a regular man, which he is expected to make day after day regularly. The schedule frequently varies on Saturday and more often on Sunday. Of a total of 30,438 Monday to Friday regular runs on surface lines, 3 per cent were runs of under 8 hours on duty, 5 per cent of 8 and under 8 hours, 11 per cent of 8 and under 9 hours, 19 per cent of 9 and under 9 hours, 23 per cent of 9 and under 10 hours, 22 per cent of 10 and under 103 hours, 9 per cent of 10 and under 11 hours, 4 per cent of 11 and under 11 hours, 2 per cent of 111⁄2 and under 12 hours, and 2 per cent of 12 hours or over. Because of the breaks (times off duty) in the day's work the time between the beginning and the ending of the day's work frequently far exceeds the time on duty. In the same 30,438 regular Monday to Friday runs on surface lines, the outside time of 1 per cent of the runs was 8 and under 8 hours; of 3 per cent, 8 and under 9 hours; of 6 per cent, 9 and under 9 hours; of 7 per cent, 91 and under 10 hours; of 7 per cent, 10 and under 10 hours; of 5 per cent, 101 and under 11 hours; of 6 per cent, 11 and under 113 hours; of 8 per cent, 113 and under 12 hours; of 10 per cent, 12 and under 12 hours; of 10 per cent, 12 and under 13 hours; of 10 per cent, 13 and under 13 hours; of 11 per cent, 13 and under 14 hours; of 5 per cent, 14 and under 14 hours; of 3 per cent, 14 and under 15 hours; and of 7 per cent of the runs, 15 hours or over. In 1 per cent of all runs the outside time was 18 hours and over. Street railway operation as an industry knows no rest day. The roads are in operation seven days a week. Individual employees do not all work every day, however, but are absent because of one cause or another. Occasionally a road makes provision for regular days off, but the general rule is that men are allowed time off duty on request. Out of a total of 31,166 regular motormen, including 43 horse-car drivers for whom information is available, 15,281, or 49 per cent, worked seven days in the week. Of 9,294 extra motormen, including 4 horse-car drivers, 4,295, or 46 per cent, worked seven days in the week. The report also shows similar figures for conductors and guards. An important factor bearing much on efficiency is the change in the labor force during the year, commonly known as the "turnover." The change in personnel varies materially in different companies. Of 96 companies reporting the per cent of turnover of motormen, the turnover was under 10 per cent in 13 companies, 10 and under 20 per cent in 19 companies, 20 and under 30 per cent in 15 companies, 30 and under 40 per cent in 13 companies, 40 and under 50 per cent in 14 companies, 50 and under 70 per cent in 11 companies, 70 and under 100 per cent in 6 companies, and in 5 companies it was 100 per cent or over. The turnover for conductors was even greater; in 12 out of 96 companies it was 100 per cent or over. In many companies applicants for positions must pass a physical examination, often quite as rigid as that required for life insurance. From this extreme requirement there is a decline to the other extreme, which consists of a simple eye test. The prevailing minimum age requirement for entrance is 21 years, although some companies take on men of lower age. Inexperienced men, who are old or even middle aged, can not get positions as motormen and conductors. The maximum entrance age varies from 28 years, allowed by one company, to 50 years, allowed by four companies. All motormen and conductors must pass the probationary learners' period, ranging from 7 days to 2 months. From 10 to 15 days' experience is the prevailing time required for a man to learn his job sufficiently to be given charge of a car. Generally, motormen and conductors are allowed to have seats, although the provision is far from universal. Inclosed or partly inclosed vestibules are now provided by most companies. CONCILIATION WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, JUNE 16 TO JULY 15, 1917. Under the organic act of the department, which gives the Secretary of Labor the authority to mediate in labor disputes through the appointment, in his discretion, of commissioners of conciliation, the Secretary exercised his good offices between June 16 and July 15, 1917, in 72 labor disputes. The companies involved, the number of employees affected, and the results secured, so far as information is available, were as follows: STATEMENT SHOWING NUMBER OF LABOR DISPUTES HANDLED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, THROUGH ITS COMMISSIONERS OF CONCILIATION, JUNE 15 TO JULY 15, 1917. Name. Strike, Dentists' Supply Co., York, Pa. Controversy, Southern R. R. Co. and its maintenance of way employees. Strike, Gulf Refining Co., Port Arthur, Tex. Strike, Texas Oil & Refining Co., Port Arthur, Tex. Strike of drop forge employees, Champion Machine & Forg- Strike of drop forge employees, Columbian Hardware Co, Controversy between International & Great Northern Ry. Strike at the plants of the United Alloy Steel Co., Gilliam Threatened strike of printers, Springfield, Mass.. Labor dispute between electrical workers and miners, Butte, Threatened strike of freight handlers, Chicago... Threatened strike of shopmen, Boston & Maine Railroad, Controversy between General Electric Co. and its electrical 7,200 workers, Pittsfield, Mass. Strike, Washington Iron Works, Seattle, Wash. Threatened strike, Dayton Street Ry. Co., Dayton, Ohio... 67 200 Adjusted. Do. Pending. Adjusted. Unable to adjust. Pending. Threatened strike of electrical workers, Atlanta, Ga. Do. Strike of retail clerks, Memphis, Tenn.. Threatened strike, Schaum & Uhlinger, Philadelphia. Strike of riveters, chippers, holders on heater, and passer boys, Wm. Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia. General strike of molders, Penn Plant, Seaboard Plant, American Plant, Atlantic Plant, Eagan Rogers, Chester Strike of copper miners, Arizona.. Controversy between Bell Telephone Co. and its operators, Threatened strike, Smith Mills, Marshfield, Oreg... Controversy between the Great Northern Ry, and its maintenance of way employees, St. Paul, Minn. Adjusted. Pending. Do. Adjusted. Unable to adjust Do. Do. Unable to adjust. Strike at jewelry works, Goldsmith, Stern & Co., New York. Controversy between Chattanooga Ry. & Light Co. and its employees, Chattanooga, Tenn. Strike of raincoat makers, Kling Bros., Rosenwald & Weil, 45 Pending. Unable to adjust. Threatened strike, American British Manufacturing Co., Adjusted. Do. Do. Do. Pending. Do. Do. Do. Route, Indianapolis, Ind. Controversy, James McKay Co., McKees Rocks, Pa...... Adjusted. 1 All other employees. |