Слике страница
PDF
ePub

As now published, the Austrian reports on strikes and lockouts contain a series of six tables, showing: Strikes for the current year according to geographical distribution; strikes according to industries; a general summary of strikes; comparative summary of strikes for a series of years beginning with 1896; details for each individual strike during the current year, and details for each individual lockout. The tables are preceded by an explanatory and descriptive analysis, with charts showing fluctuations. Appendixes contain brief reviews of industrial and labor conditions, statistics of trade unions, and notes relating to the strikes and lockouts reported.

The statistics relate to the Crown lands represented in the Imperial Austrian Parliament, namely, Bohemia, Bukowina, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Küstenland, Moravia, Styria, Galicia, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Silesia, Carinthia, Salzburg, Carniola, and Dalmatia.

In Belgium, statistics of strikes have been collected and published monthly by the Belgian bureau of labor since January, 1896, in accordance with the law of April 12, 1895, which created this bureau and which requires the publication of this information. The collection of the statistics of strikes and lockouts is regulated by a ministerial circular of November 22, 1895, which requires that whenever a strike or lockout occurs, the bureau of labor is to be notified immediately by the heads of the communes. These officials must send a statement of the name and business of the establishment, the number of strikers, and their demands. The labor office then sends copies of the schedule of inquiries to the communal officials, who at the close of the strike must fill out one schedule for each establishment involved. The usual methods of verifying the data in the schedules and securing information as to strikes not reported by the officials, by making use of labor journals, reports of correspondence, etc., are followed. If necessary, agents of the bureau are sent to the scene of the strike for the purpose of gathering information. The "correspondents" of the bureau, who are agents permanently located at the large industrial centers, are made use of in securing data regarding strikes possessing unusual features. When the schedules reach the bureau of labor, they are combined in making up the reports of the general, or "group" strikes, as the strikes in which more than one establishment is involved are designated. In this manner the central office exercises complete control over the classification of the disputes into general or single strikes.

The official definition of a strike reads: "The cessation of work by several workmen at the same time, with the clearly defined purpose of imposing certain requirements on the proprietor or directors of the establishment." A lockout occurs when "the proprietors or directors of an establishment dismiss their workmen and decide not

defined requirements." These definitions would not include sympathetic strikes or lockouts, but, because of the importance of this class of disputes, they are included in the Belgian statistics.

In 1903 the Belgian labor bureau published a compilation of statistics of strikes and lockouts covering the years 1896 to 1900, (") consisting of an analysis, details in tabular form for each strike, and summary tables showing the results of strikes and lockouts by industries, by causes, and by methods of settlement; the duration by causes; and the monthly distribution by industries. This report, together with annual summaries which appeared in the monthly Revue du Travail of that office since 1901, constitutes the source from which the Belgian statistics in the present report have been obtained. These statistics cover the years 1896 to 1904. In 1907 a summary of strikes and lockouts of the year 1906 was published, but as no such summary for 1905 was given in any of the bulletins or other publications of the Belgian labor bureau the data for 1905 and 1906 have been omitted from the present compilation.

Canada has published strike and lockout reports since October, 1900, in the monthly Labor Gazette issued by the Canadian department of labor. These consist of brief descriptive accounts of individual trade disputes in text and tabular form and annual summaries with comparative statements of strikes and lockouts of each year since 1901. The annual summaries have been mostly used in the present report, which covers strikes and lockouts in Canada during the years 1901 to 1905.

In Denmark statistics of strikes and lockouts have been collected since the beginning of the year 1897, in compliance with a law passed December 16, 1895. The information relates to all strikes and lockouts resulting in a suspension of work and is obtained by means of schedules of inquiry sent to the employees and employers concerned, and returned by them. The statistics have been published in brief form each year in the statistical yearbook of Denmark. In 1901 the data for the three years 1897, 1898, and 1899 were published collectively in a more detailed form in a report of the Danish statistical bureau. () This report contains an analysis and summary of the strikes and lockouts, copies of the schedules of inquiry, and details of each individual strike and lockout occurring in 1897, 1898, and 1899. The principal facts shown are the number, time, duration, causes, and results of strikes and lockouts, the number and location of establishments involved, the number and occupations of persons affected, wage loss, assistance received, and cases of arbitration. In the present compilation the data for the years 1897 to 1905

a Statistique des Grèves en Belgique 1896-1900, Office du Travail.

b Strejker og Lock'outs i Danmark 1897-1899. Statistiske Meddelelser, fjerde

obtained from these different sources have been combined in the same tables wherever this was practicable. Some of the facts can be shown only for the years 1897 to 1899.

Statistics of strikes and lockouts in Finland are contained in a publication issued in 1907 by the department of industry of that country. This report, which is the first of a series devoted to a general review of the labor situation in Finland, gives the principal facts concerning each strike and lockout occurring during the years 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, respectively, the data being arranged in chronological order. Owing to the varied character of the information presented and the absence, in many cases, of essential facts, no attempt at tabulation of the material has been made; hence the data concerning this country have not been included in the present compilation.

In France the collection and publication of statistics of strikes was begun by the French bureau of labor immediately upon its organization, October 1, 1891. Since 1860 efforts have been made by the ministry of commerce and industry to obtain reports of strikes from the prefects of the departments. In 1885 a circular calling for such reports and specifying the points to be covered was sent to each of the prefects, but the returns received were very incomplete and were not published, except that the statistics contained in the report of the French bureau of labor for the years 1890 and 1891, published in 1892, (") were compiled largely from the data thus obtained. Subsequent ministerial orders concerning the reporting of strikes and lockouts were issued November 20, 1892, December 10, 1895, and December 15, 1905. At the present time the prefects of the departments are required to collect the original data concerning strikes and lockouts occurring within their jurisdiction and to report within one month to the national labor bureau on schedules provided by the latter. In general, one schedule is prepared for each strike, although in extensive general strikes a separate schedule is sometimes prepared for each establishment. In the labor bureau the material is subjected to a careful revision, and by using information secured from newspapers and other unofficial sources an attempt is made to secure completeness.

A feature which is carried out more fully in the French reports than in the reports for other countries is the effort to show the condition of the industry in the locality where the dispute has occurred. This is done by making an investigation of the industry in that locality in regard to the number of persons and the number of establishments affected by the dispute, while data regarding the rates of wages and the hours of labor before and after the strike are collected, regardless of whether wages and hours of labor were causes of the dispute.

In the schedule of inquiry the average number of persons on strike during each quarter of the period of the strike's duration is asked for, and in the tabulated statement of strikes both the average number and the greatest number of strikers during the strike is given. In addition the number of men, women, and children is reported.

The scope of the strike reports has not changed materially since they first began to be published. They cover strikes in all industries, including agriculture, forestry, and mining. Beginning with the report for 1893 (") they also contain information relating to the results obtained with regard to the application of the law of December 27, 1892, concerning conciliation and arbitration.

The French reports on strikes, conciliation, and arbitration, as now published, contain, in addition to an introduction and analysis, detailed tables showing for each year the facts collected for each strike and lockout arranged by industries; a detailed table showing for each occupation the causes and results of strikes; summary tables showing the results of strikes by industries, by causes, and by months; the number, duration, and results of strikes according to the number of persons taking part; the number and results of strikes according to their duration; tables, maps, and charts showing the distribution of strikes by departments; the proportion of strikes to the total working population, and detailed accounts of all cases where the law regarding conciliation and arbitration in trade disputes was applied. The report for 1899 contains a series of eight tables giving a recapitulation of strikes and lockouts during the ten years from 1890 to 1899. The reports thus far published cover labor disputes occurring during the years 1890 to 1905, inclusive.

The German Government did not begin the publication of statistics of strikes and lockouts until 1899. The reports cover disputes in all the States comprising the German Empire. They relate to disputes in industrial occupations; that is, in all industries exclusive of agriculture and forestry and the State and communal services. The returns are published quarterly in summary form in the quarterly journal of the imperial statistical bureau () and the detailed statistics, summary, and analysis are published for the year in the form of an annual report. ()

The data regarding strikes and lockouts are collected for the whole Empire under authority of the decree of the Federal council of June 10, 1898. This decree does not define a strike, but merely directs that information shall be collected in regard to every collective cessation of work by several workers in trade or industry and every cola Statistique des Grèves et des Recours à la Conciliation et à l'Arbitrage survenues pendant l'année 1893.

b Vierteljahrshefte zur Statistik des Deutschen Reichs.

с

e Streiks und Aussperrungen im Jahre 1905. Bearbeitet im Kaiserlichen Statis

lective exclusion of several workers from work in trade or industry. The regulations further specified that the duty of furnishing the information rests upon the local police officials unless other officials are selected for this purpose by the governments of the States. The police fill out a schedule blank at the close of each strike or lockout in their district, and immediately send the schedule to the higher administrative officials of the State. They also send a list of strikes. and lockouts which have begun, but are not yet concluded in the quarterly period. The higher State officials, with the assistance of the factory inspectors, subject the material to a thorough examination, indicate which strikes are general or group strikes in more than one police district, and at the close of the quarter forward the material to the imperial statistical office. In this office a careful verification of the facts stated in the schedules is made, and an effort is made to guard against omissions by comparing the data in the schedules with those secured from their file of labor newspapers, which is scanned for the purpose of obtaining references to the strikes, lockouts, or other data which may have escaped the observation of the police officials.

The definition of a strike as stated in the decree of the Federal council is enlarged in the instructions to those collecting the data, in which it is specified that a strike is any collective cessation of work by several workers in trade or industry which has for its object the obtaining of specific demands from the employer. A lockout is any collective exclusion from work of several workers in trade or industry which has for its purpose the obtaining of specific demands from the workmen. Beyond the designation "several" no definite number of persons is given as the minimum necessary for classing a dispute as a strike or lockout. Under certain circumstances, therefore, two persons may be the total number involved in a strike or lockout, and these two persons may be in two establishments. In addition to these, sympathetic strikes and lockouts are also reported, though the definitions given above would not include such disputes.

The reports as now published contain an analysis and summary tables of the strikes and lockouts, copies of the schedules of inquiry, and tables showing in detail, by locality and industry for each dispute, the duration, number of establishments affected and their employees, number of strikers and others thrown out of employment, causes, results, manner of settlement, etc. The reports thus far published cover the years 1899 to 1905.

In Great Britain statistics covering labor disputes for the United Kingdom have been published since 1888 in the form of annual reports by the labor department of the British Board of Trade. (a) The report for 1888 is not so comprehensive as those for subsequent years, and the data for that year have not, therefore, been used in

« ПретходнаНастави »