two groups of employees were similar and most commonly included 1 week of vacation pay after 1 year of service and 2 weeks after 2 years. Provisions for 3 weeks or more were not common. They were in effect for those with 10 years of service or more-in establishments accounting for about one-fifth of the office, professional, and technical employees and nearly a sixth of the service and maintenance employees.

Fewer than half of the employees were in establishments with formal provisions for any type of health or life insurance benefits. Among the

plans reported, sick leave with full pay and no waiting period was most common, applying to slightly more than a fourth of the employees. Hospitalization, surgical, and medical benefits and life insurance were the only other plans applying to as many as one-tenth of the employees.

Retirement pension benefits (other than those available under Federal social security) were provided by establishments accounting for only about 6 percent of the employees in each occupational group. -L. EARL LEWIS Division of Occupational Pay

Footwear Plant Earnings in April 1965

STRAIGHT-TIME EARNINGS of production and related workers in the footwear manufacturing industry averaged $1.77 an hour in April 1965.1 Nearly a fifth of the 173,804 workers covered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey had earnings either at or within a few cents of the Federal minimum wage ($1.25). The widely dispersed earnings of the other workers resulted from such characteristics of the industry as a wide distribution among sections of the country with differing pay levels, a wide range of worker skills utilized, and an extensive use of piece rates as a method of wage payment.

Workers in New England (nearly 35 percent of the industry's employment) averaged $1.91 an hour the same as workers in the Pacific region. Pay levels among the other regions 2 studied separately ranged from $1.83 in the Great Lakes to $1.58 in the Southwest.

Earnings of workers in plants primarily engaged in the manufacture of women's cement process (conventional-lasted) shoes, who accounted for slightly more than two-fifths of the industry's labor force, averaged $1.78 an hour. Average hourly earnings of workers in the other nine product branches studied separately ranged from $1.94 to $1.57. Earnings data were also tabulated by size of community, size of establishment, and for selected representative occupations.

A large majority of the workers had weekly work schedules of 40 hours and were employed in plants providing at least 6 paid holidays, paid vacations, and various types of health and insurance benefits.

Earnings

Average earnings in April 1965 ($1.77 an hour) were 8 percent above the average recorded in April 1962 ($1.64).3 The 1965 production-worker employment was nearly 5 percent below the level recorded in 1962.

Women (nearly three-fifths of the workers covered by the current survey) averaged $1.60 an hour. The average for men, who were predominant in the relatively high-paid cutting, lasting, and maintenance jobs, was $2.02. Differences in

average pay levels for men and women may be the result of several factors, including variations in the distribution of the sexes among establishments and among jobs with disparate pay levels.

Average hourly earnings were highest in the New England and the Pacific regions ($1.91 in each), and lowest in the Border States and the Southwest regions ($1.59 and $1.58, respectively). Workers in the Great Lakes region averaged $1.83 an hour, compared with $1.70 for workers in the Middle Atlantic region and $1.67 for those in the Middle West. Regional variations in pay levels were partly caused by differences in the product mix, but other factors, including the general differences in pay levels among regions, appeared to be more important.

Nearly a fifth of the workers earned at least $1.25 but less than $1.30 an hour. Except for this clustering at the Federal minimum wage ($1.25), individual earnings were widely dispersed, with 4.5 percent earning $3 an hour or more. The middle 50 percent of the workers earned between $1.35 and $2.03. As indicated in the following tabulation, the proportion of workers earning less than $1.30 an hour ranged from nearly 32 percent in the Southwest to less than 3 percent in the Pacific region:

1 The BLS survey covered establishments employing 50 workers or more, engaged primarily in manufacturing footwear, except houseslippers and rubber footwear (industry 3141 as defined in the 1957 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual and 1963 Supplement, U.S. Bureau of the Budget). Earnings information developed by the study excludes premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts and, thus, is not comparable with the gross average hourly earnings published in the Bureau's monthly hours and earnings series.

A more comprehensive account of the survey will be presented in a forthcoming BLS bulletin. Separate releases providing information on earnings and supplementary benefits for selected industry product branches for a number of areas and States are available upon request to the Bureau or any of its regional offices.

An article on output per man-hour in the footwear manufacturing industry, covering the 1947-64 period, will appear in the next issue of the Monthly Labor Review.

2 For definition of regions, see footnote 2 of the table.

For an account of a similar survey, see "Earnings in Footwear Manufacturing, April 1962," Monthly Labor Review, February 1963, pp. 168-170.

Among the 10 product branches, productionworker average earnings ranged from $1.94 in plants primarily manufacturing moccasin-constructed shoes (with hand-sewn plug) to $1.57 for *those in plants making misses', children's, and infants' stitchdown shoes. However, these products accounted for only 3,323 and 4,440 workers, respectively. Workers in plants primarily making women's cement-process (conventionallasted) shoes average $1.78. In this latter category (numerically the largest product-branch), regional averages ranged from $1.92 in the Pacific to about $1.55 in both the Border States and the Southwest.

The regional mix varied substantially among the product branches. New England, for example, accounted for 75 percent of the employment in plants primarily manufacturing moccasin-constructed (hand-sewn plug) shoes, compared with only 2 percent of the workers in plants making misses', children's, and infants' stitchdown shoes. Slightly more than four-tenths of the workers in plants making women's cement-process (conventional-lasted) shoes and three-tenths of those making men's Goodyear-welt dress shoes were in New England. There was also considerable variation among the industry branches with respect to size of community, size of establishment, and extent of unionization as shown in the following tabulation:

an hour in New England and 19 cents in the Great Lakes. This relationship was reversed ($1.70 to $1.65) in the Middle West, where a third of the work force in women's cement-process (conventional-lasted) shoe plants was in metropolitan areas and smaller communities accounted for virtually all workers in men's Goodyear-welt dress shoe plants.

Among the areas and States for which separate data were tabulated, average hourly earnings for production workers ranged from $1.53 in women's cement-process (conventional-lasted) shoe plants in Arkansas to $2.45 in the same industry branch in the New York area, as shown in the following tabulation:

1, 133

1.92

1,294

1.63

Missouri..

Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif..
Misses' and children's Goodyear-welt shoes:
Southeastern Pennsylvania.....

In establishments with 250 employees or more, workers averaged $1.78 an hour-4 cents more than workers in smaller plants. This relationship held in all but one of the regions-the Middle Atlantic-and the differences ranged from 5 to 15 cents an hour. In the Middle Atlantic region, workers in plants with less than 250 workers averaged 9 cents more than those in larger establishments $1.76 compared with $1.67. This is partly explained by the greater concentration of small plants in the relatively high-wage New York area.

Workers in metropolitan areas (slightly more than two-fifths of the labor force) averaged $1.86 an hour, compared with $1.71 in smaller communities. Metropolitan area average earnings were higher (ranging from 3 to 18 cents an hour) than those for nonmetropolitan areas in each of the regions where comparison was possible. The proportions of workers in metropolitan areas ranged from about one-eighth in the Southwest to ninetenths in the Pacific region.

ber ings! ber ings 1 ber ings 1 ber ings

ber ings!

shoe,

SELECTED OCCUPATIONS

Men's Goodyear-welt dress shoes: Cutters, vamp and whole machine (972 men, 241 women). Fancy stitchers (1,275 women, 10 men). Floor boys and girls (278 women, 142 men)..

Goodyear stitchers (497 men, 8 women). Pullover-machine operators (all men). Side lasters, machine (all men). Treers (179 women, 132 men).. Women's cement-process (conventionallasted) shoes:

Cutters, vamp and whole shoe, machine (1,720 men, 479 women) Fancy stitchers (3,110 women, 160

men).

3,270 1.75

Floor boys and girls (803 women, 431 men).

1,234 1.51

Pullover-machine operators (719 men,

1 woman).

Side lasters, machine (1,097 men, 7 women).

Sole attachers, cement-process (822 men, 100 women).

Treers (749 women, 668 men).

1,417

2.78 1,322 1.90 518 1. 45 720 2.64 293 3. 02 1, 104 2.50 499 2.89 922 2.31 417 2.62 2.00 512 2.43

948

Excludes premium pay for overtime and for work on weekends, holidays, and late shifts.

2 The regions used in this study are: New England-Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic-New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; Border StatesDelaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia; Southwest-Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; Great Lakes-Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Middle West-Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and Pacific-California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Because of interrelationships, it is not possible in a study of this type to isolate the influence on wage levels of any one of the industry characteristics. Some examples of these interrelationships have been included in the previous discussion. Moreover, other characteristics, such as the extent

* Includes data for regions in addition to those shown separately. Alaska and Hawaii were not included in the study.

Includes data for major product classifications in addition to those shown separately.

The term "metropolitan area" as used in this study refers to Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Budget in 1961.

NOTE: Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

of unionization and the method of wage payment, also affect wage levels.

Establishments with labor-management contracts covering a majority of their production workers accounted for slightly more than half of the industry's labor force. The proportions were

about two-fifths in the Border States and South-west, nearly half in New England and the Middle Atlantic, approximately seven-tenths in the Great --Lakes and Middle West, and a little over threefourths in the Pacific region.

- Incentive systems of wage payment were generally based on individual piecework and applied to seven-tenths of the production workers. The proportions of incentive workers among the regions ranged from nearly half in the Pacific region to about four-fifths in the Border States, the Middle West, and the Great Lakes region. Among the industry branches, incentive workers accounted for between three-fifths and four-fifths of the employment in each branch.

Earnings data were also tabulated separately for a number of occupations in each of the product branches. The accompanying table provides information for a few representative jobs in the two major branches of the industry-men's Goodyearwelt dress shoes and women's conventional-lasted, cement-process shoes. Occupational earnings varied by both location and product branch. Earnings of individuals performing similar tasks also varied within the same industry branch and area. This was particularly evident for jobs usually paid on a piecework basis; for example, individual hourly earnings of women fancy stitchers in plants making men's Goodyear-welt dress shoes in the Brockton (Mass.) area ranged from $1.30 to $4.40.

Establishment Practices

Work schedules of 40 hours a week were in effect in plants employing nine-tenths of the production workers, and this was the predominant work schedule in each of the locations and product branches studied. In the Southeastern Pennsylvania area, however, nearly half of the workers in plants making misses' and children's Goodyearwelt shoes had work schedules of 44 hours a week. Paid holidays were provided by establishments employing nearly all production workers. The most common provisions were: 5 or 6 days annually in the Middle Atlantic region, 6 days in the Border States, and 8 days in all other regions. Paid holidays typically granted in the industry were New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day,

Thanksgiving, and Christmas; other holidays frequently reported included Good Friday, Independence Day (Fourth of July), Veterans Day, and Christmas Eve. In some instances, the paid holidays granted conformed to local practices. For example, Patriot's Day (April 19), which is generally associated with New England, was granted to over nine-tenths of the workers in men's Goodyear-welt dress shoe plants in Brockton, Mass.

Paid vacations, after qualifying periods of service, were provided by plants employing almost all production workers. Typical vacation provisions in each of the selected regions were 1 week of vacation pay after 1 year of service and 2 weeks after 5 years. About three-tenths of the industry's workers were in plants providing 3 weeks of paid vacation after 15 years of service; such provisions were most frequently reported in the Great Lakes and Middle West regions, applying to about seven-tenths and eight-tenths of the workers, respectively. In the Border States, three-fourths of the workers were in plants granting 3 weeks of paid vacation after 25 years of service. Four-week paid vacation provisions were rarely found in the industry.

Life, hospitalization, and surgical insurance plans for which employers paid at least part of the cost were provided by plants employing more than four-fifths of the production workers. Sickness and accident and medical insurance were available to three-fifths of the workers; accidental death and dismemberment insurance, to approximately a third; and catastrophe insurance, to less than a tenth.

Retirement pension plans-providing regular payments for the remainder of the retiree's life, other than benefits available under Federal social security-were in effect in plants employing slightly more than two-fifths of the labor force. The proportions of workers covered by these plans, which were entirely financed by employers, were two-thirds or more in three regions (Pacific, Middle West, and Great Lakes), slightly more than two-fifths in the Border States and Southwest, three-tenths in New England, and nearly a sixth in the Middle Atlantic region.

-GEORGE L. STELLUTO Division of Occupational Pay