TABLE 2.-AVERAGE RATE OF WAGES PER HOUR, AVERAGE HOURS AND EARNINGS, AND AVERAGE NUMBER OF CALENDAR DAYS WORKED IN ONE WEEK, 1925, BY DEPARTMENT, SEX, OCCUPATION, AND DISTRICT-Continued THE Wage Rates for Common Labor HE Bureau of Labor Statistics here presents a statement as to common labor wage rates per hour in various industries of the United States as of April 1, 1926. The initial statement of this series-as of January 1, 1926-appeared in the Labor Review for February, 1926. The study is confined to entrance rates; that is, the rates paid newly employed unskilled adult males, in important industries which require considerable numbers of common laborers. Some establishments have reported two rates, for example, one for the 10-hour day and one for the 8-hour day, or one for white and one for colored or Mexican workers; these distinctions have not been maintained in the tabulated data, although it is apparent that the lowest rates are shown for those geographic divisions where there are large numbers of colored or Mexican workers, while the highest rates are shown for localities where an 8-hour day is more or less prevalent. The number of common laborers reported for each of the several industries is shown in the following statement: The number of common laborers reported for each geographic division was as follows: New England, 4,610; Middle Atlantic, 25,619; East North Central, 28,103; West North Central, 6,444; South Atlantic, 7,281; East South Central, 5,782; West South Central, 5,431; Mountain, 3,403; and Pacific, 8,656. The weighted average rate for the several industries combined was 40.5 cents, the lowest rate reported being 15 cents and the highest rate, 62.5. The highest average rate (47 cents) appears in the automobile industry, with the petroleum-refining industry only slightly lower (46.8 cents). The lowest average rate (32.4 cents) appears in the sawmill industry. In computing these averages the various actual rates were weighted according to the number of men reported as receiving each rate. HOURLY WAGE RATES PAID COMMON LABOR, APRIL 1, 1926 HOURLY WAGE RATES PAID COMMON LABOR, APRIL 1, 1926-Continued 1 Including street railways, gas works, water works, and electric power and light plants. A Hours of Rest for Women and Children in Argentina 1 QUESTION has arisen as to the interpretation of article 7 of the woman and child labor law of Argentina (No. 11317), which provides for a two-hour rest period in the middle of the day for women and children who work in the morning and in the afternoon. When asked whether this rest period should begin at 12 noon or merely include that hour the Labor Department issued the following statement: It is not necessary that the hours of rest shall begin exactly at 12 o'clock, but it is required that 12 o'clock shall be included in the two-hour interval, which may start at 10 o'clock and end at 12, or begin at 12 and end at 2 p. m. The two-hour rest must be continuous and arranged in such a way that the hour of 12 noon will be within the rest period. It is not compulsory for the employer to give his employees a rest if they work only in the afternoon. The two-hour interval is compulsory only when part of the working time is in the morning and part in the afternoon. 'Argentina. Departamento Nacional del Trabajo. Cronica Mensual, Buenos Aires, October, 1925, pp. 1661, 1662. A résumé of this law appeared in the June, 1925, Labor Review, pp. 138, 139. T Establishment of 44-Hour Week in New South Wales HE New South Wales Industrial Gazette, published by the Department of Labor and Industry, in its issue of December, 1925, gives the text of an act establishing a 44-hour week, which passed the New South Wales Legislature in the latter part of 1925, was assented to December 16, and became effective January 4, 1926. Coal mining is exempted from the provisions of the law, and so is shipping "with respect to vessels trading beyond the limits of a port." In other industries the following limits are set: In all industries subject to the provisions of this section the number of ordinary working hours of an employee shall not exceed (1) 8 hours during any consecutive 24 hours; or (2) 44 hours per week; or (3) 88 hours in 14 consecutive days; or (4) 132 hours in 21 consecutive days; or (5) 176 hours in 28 consecutive days. In industries in which, either by common practice or agreement, a mealtime has been included within the working hours, this same amount of time is to be counted as working time within the limits of the 44-hour week. If one short day a week, or a week of less than 6 days is agreed upon in any industry, "the time worked on any day may be greater than 8 hours per day, in order to allow the abovementioned hours to be worked during the working period adopted by the award or agreement." No employee is to be required to work more than 6 out of 7 consecutive days, except where a shift system is in effect in which not more than 11 shifts are worked in 12 consecutive days. Payment for overtime is arranged for, and it is provided that the court or the board or the parties to an agreement may, "for the purpose of distributing the work available in an industry so as to relieve unemployment, or for any other purpose which appears to the court or board or to the parties in the case of an agreement, to be good and sufficient," restrict the working of overtime, or prohibit it altogether. Provision is also made to prevent a decrease in earnings consequent upon the adoption of the shorter week. Where the ordinary working hours in an industry are reduced by or under the provisions of this act, the wages specified in any award or agreement as payable upon a daily or hourly basis shall without any order of the court or variation or amendment of the award or agreement be increased to such amounts as will provide each employee working full time the same amount of wages as he would have received for working full time under the provisions of the award or agreement. Penalties are provided for any violation of the terms of the act, but it is also stipulated that "the ordinary working hours in any industry may be increased beyond those prescribed in this section if the court or board is of opinion that in the public interest such increase shall be allowed." The 44-Hour Week for Western Australian Railway Workers T1 HE Industrial Gazette of Western Australia, published by the Department of Labor, announces in its issue for the quarter ending September 30, 1925, a change in railway hours and wages. The railway workers had been employed under an award of the arbitration court which expired May 8, 1925. As it was not possible for a new award to be rendered for some time, a plea was addressed to the Government, asking for an increase in wages, for a reduction of hours from 48 to 44 a week, and for some changes in regard to the arrangements for extra payments for skilled work. The new In reply the Government agreed to an increase of 3s. 4d. in the basic wage, and consented to the other changes asked. wages and the alteration in calculating the special payments for skill were to become effective September 14, 1925, but the change in hours required some preliminary arrangements. With regard to alteration of hours per week from 48 to 44, this will be agreed to, the alteration to apply as soon as the department has had sufficient time to make necessary arrangements and adjustments in connection with staff matters, etc. When this principle was extended to the timber industry some four or five weeks elapsed before the necessary arrangements and adjustments were completed, and it is expected that approximately a similar time will be required before it can apply to the railway service. Certain adjustments may have to be made in connection with incidence of 44 hours, but this will be subject to further negotiations with the commissioner of railways. IN Union Wage Rates in Germany, December, 1925 NA recent issue of the Gewerkschafts-Zeitung 1 the German General Federation of Labor publishes hourly union wage rates as of December, 1925, for adult male and female workers in represenatative occupations in 50 localities, based on rates fixed in collective agreements. The rates current in seven representative localities are shown in the following table: HOURLY UNION WAGE RATES OF ADULT MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS IN SEVEN REPRESENTATIVE GERMAN CITIES, END OF DECEMBER, 1925 1 Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschafts-Bund. Gewerkschafts-Zeitung, Berlin, Feb. 13, 1926, pp. 93–97. .850 .980 1.160 .950 .880 .920 .750 .670 .710 .660 780 |