Workers' Wages in Construction and Maintenance

LILY MARY DAVID AND T. P. KANNINEN*

A STUDY Covering three crafts in 50 metropolitan areas in late 1965 or early 1966 indicates that union scales of skilled workers in building construction were almost uniformly higher than the average straight-time hourly earnings of such workers in maintenance activities. The three crafts were carpenters, electricians, and painters. Few individual maintenance workers in these trades were paid as much as the union scale for construction work in their area.

Differentials and Overlap

Union scales of construction carpenters were 11 to 73 percent higher than average hourly earnings of maintenance carpenters in the same area, with the difference amounting to 33 percent or more in half the cities. For the electricians, scales were 18 to 63 percent higher than average hourly earnings of maintenance electricians, with a difference of at least 39 percent in half the cities. Scales for painters in building construction were lower than the average hourly pay of maintenance painters in only one city-Richmond, Va. Elsewhere differentials in favor of union scales for painters were smaller than for maintenance electricians or carpenters; they ranged from 7 to 54 percent, with a differential of at least 27 percent in half the metropolitan areas surveyed (table 1).

*Of the Division of Wage Economics and formerly of the Division of Occupational Pay, Bureau of Labor Statistics, respectively.

1 Data vary among cities from September 1965 to May 1966. (See table 1.)

2 Differences in the relative importance of various industries as well as in the extent of unionization among cities presumably affected the size of the differential for all three trades. For example, the relative importance of employment in the service industries in New York reduced average hourly earnings for maintenance workers in that city.

In cents per hour, the construction-maintenance differentials ranged among cities from 34 cents to $2.45 for carpenters, and from 66.5 cents to $2.01 for electricians. Maintenance painters in Richmond earned 34 cents more, on the average, than the union scale for construction painters. In a majority of cities, the differentials were 85 cents to $1.30 for carpenters, $1.10 to $1.50 for electricians, and 55 cents to $1.10 for painters.

Differentials varied not only among cities but among the three trades within the same city. (See table 2.) To some extent, this lack of uniformity reflects intercity differences in the industries in which maintenance workers are concentrated and the extent of unionization of maintenance workers, as well as differences in local bargaining conditions among the three construction crafts.2

The spread between construction scales and maintenance pay varied more among cities within a region than among regions. (See chart.) For carpenters and electricians, however, differentials in favor of building scales tended to be proportionately greater in the Northeast than in other cities. Of 10 cities with the greatest differentials, the Northeast accounted for 7 in the case of carpenters,

Union Construction Scales as Percent of Straight Time Average Hourly Earnings in Maintenance Work, Selected Metropolitan Areas, Three Crafts, 1966

8 for electricians, and 5 for painters. Three cities with the greatest differentials for carpenters and painters and two for electricians were in the South. The greatest differentials occurred in New York

• The construction scale in an area consists of a single rate for the occupation-the basic (minimum) wage scale established by the union agreement. Rates in excess of the negotiated minimum, which may be paid for special qualifications or other reasons, are not included but are probably paid to relatively few workers. By contrast, the data reported for maintenance workers consist of their actual average hourly earnings, which vary among establishments and among individuals within the same establishment. The information for maintenance workers includes workers employed in both union and nonunion establishments.

City, where union scales exceeded average hourly earnings for maintenance employees in the same. trade by 50 to 73 percent; New Haven, where the range was 48 to 61 percent; Trenton, 42 to 61; Boston, 44 to 62; and Pittsburgh, 41 to 52.

An analysis of the distribution of individual maintenance workers' earnings indicates very little overlap between their pay and the union construction scales in the city in which they work." As table 3 indicates, maintenance carpenters were paid the union construction scale in 20 of the 50

metropolitan areas; in 40 of the cities, none of the maintenance electricians received the union construction rate; and in 17 of the cities, none of the painters received the union scale. Very rarely did as many as 10 percent of the maintenance workers in a metropolitan area receive the construction scale. Among the areas where at least 10 percent of the maintenance carpenters and painters earned the union scale was Chicago. The overlap was greater for painters than for carpenters or electricians.

The overlap was confined largely to trade, where some stores paid their maintenance workers the construction scale. Their payment of the construction scale may be related in part to the fact that for relatively large projects, they hire union workers temporarily or contract work out to a union contractor. Moreover, in some of the other industry divisions-for example, utilities-the pay scale for maintenance workers is governed by a job evaluation system for all blue-collar workers.

Meaning of the Differential

In evaluating these differentials, a number of distinctions between construction and maintenance work should be recognized: There are substantial differences in the number of days worked in a year,

since construction workers lose time because of weather and because of shifting from job to job as work on a project is completed. Even though newer methods of construction have reduced the exposure of building trades employees to weather, their working conditions are usually still more rigorous than those of maintenance employees. There may also be differences, especially for electricians, in the amount of skilled work actually performed in a workday. Some skilled maintenance workers frequently are not kept busy at their highest skills during many hours for which they are paid, whereas the construction workers' skills are usually utilized more constantly. Construction workers are generally faced with a greater variety of problems requiring their skills than maintenance employees. It should also be pointed out that data on union scales are limited to the central city; the information on average hourly earnings of maintenance workers pertains to all those employed throughout the metropolitan area. In some areas, there may be a difference in union scales between the central city and outlying communities. Moreover, the information for maintenance workers includes union and nonunion establishments.

Trends. Information was available on trends in earnings and union scales from 1955 to 1966 (table 4). It indicates that in all cities, the absolute

Wages in Bituminous

Coal Mines

STRAIGHT-TIME EARNINGS of production and related workers in bituminous coal mines averaged $3.30 an hour in January 1967. Earnings of nearly two-thirds of the 87,510 workers covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey 1 were within a range of $3.40 to $3.80 an hour. Workers in underground mines, 83 percent of the industry's work force, averaged $3.34 an hour, compared with $3.14 for those in surface mines (table 1). Average weekly earnings, however, were higher for surface miners by $11.50. Average weekly hours worked were 47 in surface mines, compared with 40.5 in underground mines. For both types of mines, earnings varied by location, labor-management contract status, employment size, and occupation.

A large majority of the production workers were provided 8 paid holidays a year, 2 weeks' paid vacation after 1 year of service, and health and retirement benefits.

Earnings

The nationwide average for production workers in January 1967 ($3.30 an hour) was nearly 12 percent above the average in November 1962 ($2.95), when a similar study was conducted.2 This increase was largely due to general wage increases granted under the terms of collective bargaining agreements between the United Mine Workers of America (Ind.) and members of the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association.3 The agreements, covering a large majority of the industry's workers, provided wage increases of $1 a day on each of three separate occasions-April 2, 1964, January 1, 1965, and April 1, 1966; on the latter date, inside electricians, mechanics, and continuous-mining-machine operators received an additional increase of 32 cents a day. As a result of longer workweeks in the industry, up from 37.5 hours in 1962 to 41.5 in 1967, the percent rise in average weekly earnings for production workers was about double the increase in average hourly earnings.

Earnings information was developed separately for seven States, which together accounted for 94 percent of the bituminous coal mining work force

in January 1967. Average hourly earnings for production workers in underground and surface mines combined ranged from $3.68 in Illinois to $2.87 in Virginia. Workers in West Virginia, the largest State in terms of industry employment and coal production, averaged $3.45. Averages in the remaining States were: Pennsylvania, $3.28; Ohio, $3.23; Alabama, $3.19; and Kentucky, $2.98.

Production workers in the industry, working an average of 41.5 hours, averaged $137.50 a week. Average weekly earnings for all mines in the seven States were: Illinois, $162.50; Ohio, $142.50; West Virginia, $141.50; Pennsylvania, $140; Alabama, $127; Kentucky, $124.50; and Virginia, $111.50.

Production workers in underground mines averaged $3.34 an hour-20 cents more than in surface mines. Surface miners, on the other hand, averaged $147 for a 47-hour week compared with $135.50 for underground miners who had an average workweek of 40.5 hours.

Wage relationships between underground and surface mines varied among the four States for which comparisons could be made. In Illinois and Kentucky, workers in surface mines averaged more than those in underground mines by 25 and 45 cents an hour, respectively, while workers in underground mines held an average wage advantage of 46 cents in Ohio and $1.21 in Pennsylvania.

1 The survey included establishments employing 10 workers or more and primarily engaged in producing bituminous coal or in developing bituminous coal mines (part of industry 1211 as defined in the 1957 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual and Supplements, prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Budget). The study excluded separately operated coal preparation plants, as well as other separate auxiliary units such as central offices.

The straight-time earnings presented in this article differ in concept from the gross earnings published in the Bureau's monthly hours and earnings series. The averages presented here exclude premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts. A more comprehensive account of this survey will be presented in a forthcoming bulletin which will contain an explanation of differences between the employment and earnings estimates for this survey and those presented in the monthly series.

The term production and related workers, as used in this survey, includes working foremen and all nonsupervisory workers (including leadmen and trainees) engaged in excavation, haulage. trucking, hoisting, ventilation, drainage, drilling, blasting, loading, crushing, processing, inspection, storage handling, warehousing, shipping, maintenance, repair, janitorial work, watchmen services, development (except construction performed by a separate work force), auxiliary production for plant's own use (e.g., power plant), and recordkeeping and other services closely associated with the above production operations.

For an account of the earlier study, see "Earnings in Bituminous Coal Mines, November 1962,” Monthly Labor Review, October 1963, pp. 1153–1156.

3 For additional information on the terms of these agreements, see Wage Chronology: Bituminous Coal Mines, 1933-68 (BLS Bulletin 1558, 1967).