R. R. Lutz - Wage Earning and Education
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R. R. Lutz >> Wage Earning and Education
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In both technical night schools the emphasis is laid on training for
home sewing rather than on training for wage earning. The courses now
given are not planned for workers in the garment trades, but to help
women and girls who want to learn how to make, alter, and repair their
own garments.
If a trade school of the kind described in the previous section were
established it would be possible to give at night short unit courses
in machine or hand sewing to those workers who wish to extend their
experience and prepare themselves for advancement, utilizing in the
night classes the equipment of the day school. It is probable also
that special day classes could be organized during the dull season to
give beginners the opportunity to learn new processes and extend their
knowledge of trade theory.
CHAPTER XV
SUMMARY OF REPORT ON DRESSMAKING AND MILLINERY
At the time of the last census the total number of women in Cleveland
employed as milliners or dressmakers was approximately 5,000, of whom
about seven-tenths were dressmakers and about three-tenths milliners.
For the most part they were of native birth. The proportion of young
girls engaged in these occupations was relatively small, the age
distribution showing that only about one-third of the milliners and
less than one-fifth of the dressmakers were under 21 years of age.
DRESSMAKING
Four distinctive lines of work are done by those who are classified by
the census as dressmakers and seamstresses: dressmaking proper,
usually carried on in shops; alteration work in stores; general sewing
done by seamstresses at home or in the homes of customers; and the
work of the so-called dressmaking "school," in which the dressmaker
helps her customers do their general sewing.
Shop dressmaking is in the main confined to the making of afternoon
and evening gowns and fancy blouses. Nearly uniform processes of work
are maintained and the workers in the different establishments need
about the same kinds of abilities and degrees of skill. There is a
strong and increasing tendency towards specialization of the work.
Among each 100 workers in dressmaking shops about 13 are head girls,
55 are finishers or makers, 16 are helpers, eight are apprentices, and
the rest are lining makers, cutters, embroiderers, errand girls,
shoppers, and stock girls.
Alteration work constitutes a separate sewing trade and consists of
the adjustment of ready-made garments to individual peculiarities. It
furnishes employment to several hundred workers in Cleveland.
The weekly wages most commonly paid to each class of workers in
dressmaking shops may be roughly stated as follows: apprentices, $2 to
$4; helpers $6 to $9; finishers or makers $10 to $12; and drapers $18
to $20. Lining making, done in most shops by apprentices or helpers,
pays from $4 to $6 a week. In one shop a specialist on linings
received $12. Women cutters, found in two shops, and doing supervisory
work similar to that done by drapers, earned from $15 to $25.
Hemstitchers earn $10 to $14 and a guimpe maker in one shop earned
$12. Errand girls were found at $3 and $6; stock girls at $8, $12, and
$13; and shoppers at from $3.50 to $10.
Beginners in alteration departments are started at from $5 to $7.
Regular alteration hands earn from $7 to $18, the average being $9 or
$10. Fitters earn about the same as drapers in dressmaking shops,
averaging from $15 to $18, with a range of from $10 to $25.
As a rule comparatively little time is lost through irregularity of
employment. Workers average from 10 to 11 months' work out of the
year. Establishments usually close during the month of August and for
one or two weeks in the spring. Workers in alteration department
average 11 months of work. Dress alteration work is steady, while suit
and coat alteration is irregular.
Apprenticeship in dressmaking comprehends a trying-out period of from
six months to a year. Most shops take apprentices, the proportion in
the trade being one to every 12 workers; and an effort is made to keep
these new workers if they are at all satisfactory. There is no
standardized apprenticeship wage. Girls may serve without pay for six
months, or may start at from 50 cents to $4 a week. At the end of six
months they may be earning from $1.50 to $6. The lack of any wage
standard in apprenticeship probably accounts for the fact that it is
difficult to get girls to enter this trade.
MILLINERY
Millinery requires the handling of small pieces of the most varied
sorts of material, most of it perishable. The materials must be
measured, cut, turned, twisted, and draped into innumerable designs
and color combinations, and sewed with various kinds of stitching.
The main processes are making, trimming, and designing. Making
consists in fashioning a specified shape from wire or buckram and
covering it with such materials as straw or velvet. The covering may
be put on plain, or may be shirred or draped. Trimming consists in
placing and sewing on all sorts of decorative materials. A combination
of the two processes of making and trimming, known as copying,
consists in making a hat from the beginning exactly like a specified
model. Designing is the creation of original models.
The increase in the use of the factory-made hat has decreased the
number of workers in custom millinery, and has also had an effect in
diverting business from small retail shops to millinery departments in
stores. The number of millinery workers constantly fluctuates, not
only from season to season, but from year to year. According to a
close estimate not more than 2,000 workers were actually engaged in
millinery occupations during the busiest part of 1915. Between 1,200
and 1,400 were in retail shops; about 300 were in millinery
departments in stores; and about 300 more were in wholesale houses.
The data collected indicate that the wages of workers in retail shops
are lower in general than the wages of workers in millinery
departments in stores and in wholesale houses. Makers in retail shops
earn from $3 to $16 a week, the average being about $8. Trimmers earn
from $10 to $40, with an average of about $18. Out of 45 retail
shops, only 22 paid as high as $10 to any maker; 15 paid as high as
$12; six paid as high as $15; and only one paid over $15.
In millinery departments in stores, trimmers, who are generally
designers, earn from $15 to $50 a week or more. The rate most commonly
received is $25. Makers are started at from $4 to $6 and may advance
to $15, with an average of about $10.
In wholesale houses designers earn from $25 to $60, or more. Makers
start at about $5, and the usual range is from $10 to $15. Those
employed in straight copying may earn between $15 and $20. The 1914
report of the Industrial Commission of Ohio presents data showing that
of the women 18 years of age and over employed in wholesale houses 37
per cent receive under $8, about 22 per cent receive between $8 and
$12, while 41 per cent receive $12 and over. The girls under 18 years
of age were, with one exception, receiving less than $4 per week.
Employment in retail shops averages about 32 weeks during the year; in
the millinery departments of stores from 32 to 42 weeks; and in
wholesale houses about 40 weeks. The proportion of workers employed
the year round is very small. The majority of millinery workers are
faced with the problem of tiding themselves over two dull seasons,
aggregating from 12 to 28 weeks each year.
The millinery apprenticeship period lasts for two seasons of 12 weeks
each. Almost all retail shops take apprentices in large numbers, there
being one apprentice to every three or four workers in the trade. Few
apprentices are found in stores and wholesale houses. The
apprenticeship wage is extremely low. The usual rate is $1 a week
during the first season and from $1.50 to $2 during the second.
THE PROBLEM OF TRAINING
The needs of girls who are soon to leave school and go to work can
best be met by a modification of the junior high school course and by
the establishment of a one-year trade school for girls. Before a
re-organization of the junior high school work is made to meet the
needs of these girls an effort should be made to reduce retardation so
that more girls will reach the junior high school before the end of
the compulsory attendance period. The present courses should be
reorganized so as to give basic preparation for wage earning and
should be as concrete and real as a thorough understanding of the
requirements of the gainful occupations can make them. Thorough sewing
courses planned from the standpoint of the sewing trades should be
offered, extending over two years. The program suggested closely
resembles that recommended for the garment trades.
It is also recommended that a one-year trade school be established for
preparing girls to enter employment in dressmaking and millinery. The
history of trade schools for girls, both private and public, indicates
that such a school, if properly conducted, would be highly successful
in Cleveland.
The classes in sewing and millinery in the evening technical high
schools do not offer trade-extension training for workers and it is
not likely that they could be easily reorganized to furnish such
training. It is recommended that if a trade school is established in
Cleveland, short unit courses in sewing and related subjects, such as
design, be given in evening classes.
CHAPTER XVI
SUMMARY OF REPORT ON THE METAL TRADES
Approximately one-half of the total number of persons in Cleveland
engaged in manufacturing are found in the metal industries. When the
last federal census was taken nearly one-seventh of the entire male
population was employed in establishments engaged in the manufacture
of crude or finished metal products. Pittsburgh only, among the 10
largest cities in the country, has a higher proportion of its
industrial population working in such establishments. In relation to
its total population, Cleveland has twice as many people working in
these industries as Chicago, three times as many as Philadelphia, and
four times as many as New York. It is estimated that at the present
time the number of wage earners in the city engaged in this kind of
work is between 70,000 and 80,000.
The report deals with the three leading industries of the
city,--foundry and machine shop products, automobile manufacturing,
and steel works and rolling mills. The study of this last group also
includes several related industries, such as blast furnaces, wire
mills, nail mills, and bolt, nut, and rivet factories. About
three-fourths of the total number of wage earners in the city engaged
in the manufacture of metal products are found in these three
industries.
The field investigations consisted of personal visits to the
manufacturing establishments for the purpose of securing first hand
data as to industrial conditions, and conferences with employers,
superintendents, foremen, and workmen as to the need and possibilities
of training for metal working occupations. In all, 60 establishments,
employing approximately 35,000 men, were visited. The conclusions as
to vocational training were based on an analysis of educational needs
in the various metal industries, together with an extended study of
the social and economic factors which condition the training of all
workers. Particular attention was given to the administrative problems
involved in such training in public schools.
FOUNDRY AND MACHINE SHOP PRODUCTS
According to the United States Census, foundries and factories making
machine shop products gave employment in 1909 to nearly 18,000
Cleveland wage-earners. This industrial group ranks first in the city,
employing more than twice as many workers as the next largest
industry,--automobile manufacturing,--and approximately two-fifths of
the total working force in all metal industries. Its growth during the
previous five years, from the standpoint of number of workers
employed, showed an increase of about 33 per cent, and it is
estimated that the total number of wage-earners in 1914 was
approximately 25,000. At the present time, due to the impetus given to
this branch of manufacturing by the European war, the working force is
undoubtedly in excess of this figure.
The report gives extended consideration to the machinist's trade,
which constitutes by far the largest body of skilled workers in the
city. This trade has been affected more than any other by the progress
of invention and the modern tendency towards specialization. In many
establishments the all-round machinist, competent to do independent
work and operate the wide variety of machine tools now used in the
trade, had practically disappeared. In his place are found
"specialist" machine hands who have learned the operation of a single
machine tool, but have no general knowledge of the trade, and who if
called on to perform work requiring the use of a machine tool
different from the one on which they are employed are unable to do so.
There are hundreds of drill press hands who cannot operate a milling
machine, lathe hands who know nothing of planer work, and so on. The
subdivision of these occupations follows closely the advance in
invention, so that employers advertising for help frequently specify
not only the machine tool to be used but add the name of the firm
which manufactures that particular type of machine, with the result
that there are about as many kinds of machinists as there are
manufacturers of machine tools. Table 18 shows the estimated number
of men employed, with their distribution in the various branches of
the trade.
TABLE 18.--PROPORTIONS AND ESTIMATED NUMBERS EMPLOYED IN MACHINE TOOL
OCCUPATIONS, 1915
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+
| | Estimated |
Workers | Per cent | number |
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+
Lathe hands | 18.8 | 3,384 |
Drill press operators | 17.9 | 3,222 |
Bench hands | 13.4 | 2,412 |
Machinists | 12.7 | 2,286 |
Screw machine operators | 9.4 | 1,692 |
Milling machine operators | 8.6 | 1,548 |
Tool makers | 8.3 | 1,494 |
Grinding machine operators | 6.2 | 1,116 |
Planer hands | 2.2 | 396 |
Turret lathe operators | 1.8 | 324 |
Gear cutter operators | .7 | 126 |
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+
Total | 100.0 | 18,000 |
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+
Specialization has operated to lower standards of skill and keep down
wages. The average wage of the "all-round" machinist is very nearly
the lowest found among the skilled trades. The union scale is but 14
cents an hour above that paid unskilled labor, while the average
earnings of machine operators range from four to 12 cents above
laborers' wages. Only among the highly skilled tool makers do the
wages approach those received by skilled labor in most other
industries. Table 19 shows the average, highest, and lowest rates per
hour for all branches of the machine trades in the establishments from
which data were collected during the survey, with the per cent
employed on piece work and day work.
TABLE 19.--AVERAGE, HIGHEST, AND LOWEST EARNINGS, IN CENTS PER HOUR,
AND PER CENT EMPLOYED ON PIECE WORK AND DAY WORK, 1915
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+
| | | |Per cent|Per cent|
| | | |on piece| on day |
Workers |Lowest |Average|Highest| work | work |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+
Tool makers | 25.0 | 39.0 | 50.0 | .. | 100 |
Machinists | 25.0 | 33.2 | 50.0 | .. | 100 |
Planer hands | 20.0 | 32.2 | 42.0 | .. | 100 |
Grinding machine operators | 20.0 | 32.0 | 50.0 | 70 | 30 |
Bench hands | 17.5 | 29.6 | 45.0 | 48 | 52 |
Screw machine operators | 17.5 | 29.5 | 63.8 | 79 | 21 |
Lathe hands | 19.0 | 29.1 | 40.0 | 40 | 60 |
Turret lathe operators | 25.0 | 29.0 | 47.5 | 80 | 20 |
Gear cutter operators | 20.0 | 26.7 | 40.0 | 96 | 4 |
Milling machine operators | 15.0 | 25.9 | 40.0 | 53 | 47 |
Drill press operators | 15.0 | 23.5 | 35.0 | 35 | 65 |
Machinists' helpers | 20.0 | 22.2 | 25.0 | .. | 100 |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+
On the basis of weekly or yearly earnings, the trade makes a better
showing. Work is steady throughout the year, and the time lost through
unemployment on account of seasonal changes is slight. Also, as the
usual working day is from nine to 10 hours, that is, from one to two
hours longer than in the higher paid building trades, the difference
in daily wages is really less marked than a comparison of hourly rates
would seem to indicate.
Little attempt has been made to adapt the apprentice system to modern
conditions. The term of service and rates of pay have changed but
slightly over a long period of years. As a result only a small
proportion of the boys who begin as apprentices finish the
apprenticeship term of three or four years. Employers attribute this
to the relatively high wages paid for machine operating, and the
slight advantage, from a wage standpoint, of the "all-round" man over
the machine operator. After a year or two the apprentice finds that he
can double his pay by taking a job as operator, and the inducement for
learning the trade thoroughly is too small to hold him. The report
gives a comparison of the earnings of an apprentice and a machine
operator, both starting at the same age, the first becoming a
journeyman machinist at the end of three years and the second
specializing on a particular machine. Assuming that both boys go to
work at the age of 16 their total earnings up to the age of 25 years
will be approximately equal. The lack of thoroughly trained workmen is
beginning to be felt, but the efforts made by industrial
establishments to meet it have small prospects of success unless the
economic factors of the problem are given greater consideration.
Inasmuch as no regular apprenticeship period is served for machine
operating, a special effort was made to secure data relating to the
time usually required for the worker to learn the operation of each
tool well enough to earn average wages. In this matter the individual
opinions of foremen and superintendents differed widely, but when the
reports from all the establishments visited were compared, a
sufficient degree of uniformity was found to serve as a basis for
estimating the amount of experience workers of average intelligence
would need, under normal shop conditions, in order to become fairly
proficient.
There was practical unanimity in fixing the period at four years for
tool makers and three to four years for machinists. Higher estimates
were received from the superintendents of plants doing a jobbing
business or manufacturing high grade machine tools than from the
specialized shops making a single product. The superintendents of
automobile manufacturing plants, where the standard of quality in
production is necessarily high, gave the lowest estimates of all.
Table 20 shows the estimated time required to learn the various types
of machine work.
TABLE 20.--ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED TO LEARN MACHINE TOOL WORK
------------------------------------+----------------------+
Workers | Time required |
------------------------------------+----------------------+
Grinding machine operators | 12 to 15 months |
Lathe hands | 6 to 9 months |
Planer hands | 6 months |
Gear cutter operators | 6 months |
Turret lathe operators | 4 to 6 months |
Screw machine operators | 3 to 6 months |
Bench hands | 3 to 6 months |
Milling machine operators | 2 to 4 months |
Drilling machine operators | 2 weeks to 4 months |
------------------------------------+----------------------+
The weakness of specialization, with its constant tendency towards the
substitution of semi-skilled operatives for trained workmen, lies in
its failure to provide a body of workers from whom to recruit the
large directive force needed in any scheme of production based on
semi-skilled labor. This condition is regarded by many employers with
grave concern, and in a few plants apprentice schools designed
primarily to train future foremen have been established.
Practically all the foremen in the shops visited had received an
all-round training as machinists, and there are few opportunities for
promotion open to men who have not a general knowledge of the trade.
On the other hand, such general knowledge is only one of the
requisites for advancement. Others are initiative, resourcefulness,
tact, self-control, ability to get along with men, and a disposition
to subordinate personal interests to the interests of the business. To
these should be added the quality of patience, for there must be
vacancies before there can be promotions, and vacancies among the
better positions are not frequent. Ten of the establishments visited,
employing a total working force of over 5,000 men, reported but eight
vacancies among foremen's positions over a period of one year. These
same establishments had in their employ a total of 618 all-round
machinists and tool makers. Assuming that only the machinists and tool
makers were eligible for promotion, the mathematical chance per man of
becoming a foreman during the year was about one in 77.
Other occupations studied in detail were pattern making, molding, core
making, blacksmithing, and boiler making. Pattern making offers the
most interesting work and the highest wages among the metal trades,
but the total number of American born pattern makers in the city does
not exceed seven or eight hundred, so the field of employment is
relatively limited. Molding and core making, in which between 4,000
and 5,000 men are engaged, have practically become foreign trades.
Less than 20 per cent of the molders in the city were born in this
country. These trades offer few opportunities for employment to boys
of native birth. Somewhat similar conditions exist in the
blacksmithing trade. Changed methods of production have largely done
away with the old-time blacksmith, who survives only in horse-shoeing
and repair shops. The proportion of native blacksmiths is steadily
declining, and it is unlikely that any considerable number of boys
from the public schools will enter the trade. The boiler making trade
employs relatively few men, the total number of native born boiler
makers at the time of the last census being less than 600. The trade
seems to be at a standstill. The increase during the previous decade
was less than five per cent against a total population increase of 46
per cent. The average earnings per hour for these trades in the
establishments visited by members of the Survey Staff are shown in
Table 21.
TABLE 21.--AVERAGE EARNINGS PER HOUR IN PATTERN MAKING, MOLDING, CORE
MAKING, BLACKSMITHING, AND BOILER MAKING
Average earnings
Workers Per Hour
Pattern makers .44
Skilled molders .39
Semi-skilled molders .27
Skilled core makers .39
Semi-skilled core makers .27
Blacksmiths .33
Boiler makers .32
The findings and recommendations as to training emphasize the fact
that the vast majority of boys who become workers in the metal trades
leave school by the time they are 15 with at most a common school
education, so that any vocational training before they go to work must
be given between the ages of 12 and 15 and before the end of the
eighth grade. The report points out the impossibility of effective
vocational instruction in elementary schools on account of the
prohibitive cost per pupil for both equipment and teaching, and
endorses the recently adopted junior high school plan. This form of
organization has the great advantage of concentrating in large groups
the boys who are old enough to make a beginning in prevocational
training, and through the departmental system of teaching offers
facilities for differentiation of courses to meet their varying needs.
Whatever their cultural value, the present manual training courses in
woodwork have little relation to the requirements of any metal working
trade, except pattern making, in which some of the same tools are
used. No manual training work in metal is offered in the elementary
and junior high schools.
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