Silk weavers.

Lathers and carpen- Jurisdiction of certain work. Adjusted. Neither craft will per- Mar. 21 ters.

Asked 8-hour day, 30 per cent

increase, and improved working conditions.

Mar. 23

5

70

1 Not reported.

40-hour week, and adjusted wage scale.

Presidential Emergency Board for Dispute on Texas & Pacific Railroad

N March 29, 1929, the President of the United States issued a proclamation creating an emergency board to investigate a dispute between the Texas & Pacific Railroad and its conductors, trainmen, engineers, and firemen. The membership of the board is as follows: James R. Garfield, Cleveland, Ohio; Chester H. Rowell, Berkeley, Calif.; Walter C. Clephane, Washington, D. C.; William Rogers Clay, Frankfort, Ky.; and F. H. Kreismann, St. Louis, Mo.

Of the seven cases presented to the board at the opening of the session, one was withdrawn by consent of both sides and two were settled during the hearing by agreement.

The most important of the four remaining cases is the compensation of employees who suffered financial loss by reason of being compelled to vacate homes owned by them in Longview and Marshall through the removal of the terminals to Mineola, Tex., and Shreveport, La. In this case the board finds that "the loss should be borne equally by the carrier and the employees," and recommends that the claims should be settled in conference or, in case of a disagreement, by arbitration.

Pooling of cabooses in all freight service out of the new terminal at Mineola was opposed by the employees. The board finds that "the agreement as claimed by the employees is in force and that the pooling of cabooses, except in emergencies, should not be made other than by agreement between the parties."

In the assignment of passenger-engine crews to run through from Fort Worth to Texarkana, a distance of 249 miles, eliminating the break at Longview Junction, the board "is convinced that the run is excessive and should be abolished."

Application of Texas & Pacific wage schedules and the interchange of seniority rights for men in the train service of the five branch lines owned by the company was requested by the employees. The board is of the opinion that all matters in dispute between the employees on the subsidiary lines and the managers of those lines should be negotiated, using the existing rates and schedules and operating rules as a basis for any modification or changes that may be requested by the employees or their representatives or by the managers of the subsidiary lines.

The board transmitted its report to the President April 20. Following the report of the board both parties are forbidden to change existing conditions, except by mutual agreement, for a further period of 30 days.

T

Strikes and Lockouts in Canada, 1928

HE statistical record given below of strikes and lockouts in Canada from 1913 to 1929 is taken from the Canadian Labor Gazette for February, 1929 (p. 137).

In an analysis of the 1928 industrial disputes it is stated that most of the time loss in the year in question was due to 21 of these controversies, involving from 250 to 1,500 directly affected workers; that is, to employees on strike or locked out. One controversy, while directly involving only 450 employees, indirectly affected nearly 6,000 as a result of the shutdown of the establishment. One dispute alone, that of the coal miners at Wayne, Alberta, caused a loss of 51,000 days, or 21.4 per cent, of the entire time loss of the year.

Nearly 39 per cent of the disputes continued for less than 5 days and 62 per cent for less than 15 days.

In 1928 the highest percentages of time loss occurred in the following industries: Mining, 36.5 per cent; building, 32.7 per cent; clothing manufacture, 6.7 per cent; rubber manufacture, 6.4 per cent; and logging, 5.3 per cent.

Of the 101 disputes in the year under review, 46 were mainly concerned with wage changes-28 with the purpose of securing increases and 10 in opposition to proposed reductions. In 9 of these 46 controversies the workers were successful and in 18 partially so, while 4 cases were indefinite or unterminated.

In 29 of the 101 disputes the results were favorable to the workers. In 30 other cases, however, the workers met with only partial success, while 7 cases were indefinite or unterminated.

WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOR

Wages and Hours in the Motor-Vehicle Industry, 1928

SU

UMMARIES of a study in 1928 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of wages and hours of labor in the motor-vehicle industry in the United States are presented in this article. Studies were also made in 1922 and 1925 and the details of the results were published in Bulletins 348 and 438. The details of the 1928 study will be available later in bulletin form.

The 1928 data for the industry as a whole are for 153,962 wage earners of 94 representative manufacturers of passenger cars, trucks, bodies or parts in 8 States in which the industry is of sufficient importance in number of wage earners to warrant inclusion in the study. This number represents 37.4 per cent of the total number in the industry in 1925, according to the United States Census of Manufactures, and 39.6 per cent of the total in the 8 States. The data for 1925 were for 99 representative establishments and 144,362 employees, and for 1922 were for 49 establishments and 56,309 employees. The average full-time hours per week for the employees in 1928 are 49.4, as compared with 50.3 in 1925 and 50.1 in 1922. Average earnings were 75 cents per hour compared with 72.3 cents in 1925 and 65.7 cents in 1922, and average full-time earnings per week were $37.05 in 1928, $36.37 in 1925, and $32.92 in 1922.

The averages in Table 1 for 1925 and 1928 are for all of the males and of the females in each of the occupations in the industry and for a group of employees designated as "other employees."

Average full-time hours per week for male axle assemblers, as may be seen from the table, decreased from 50.3 in 1925 to 50.2 in 1928, average earnings per hour increased from 72.9 cents in 1925 to 75.5 cents in 1928, and average full-time earnings per week increased from $36.67 in 1925 to $37.90 per week in 1928.

Average full-time hours per week for males in 1925 in the various occupations ranged from 48.4 for sewing-machine operators to 53.7 for hardeners, and in 1928 from 42.4 for sewing-machine operators to 54.5 for hardeners. Averages for females in 1925 ranged from 47.8 for general painters to 51.8 for cloth and leather cutters, and in 1928 from 48.9 for paint sprayers to 52.8 for cloth and leather cutters.

Average earnings per hour for males in 1925 in the various occupations ranged from 51.2 cents for apprentices to $1.037 for dingmen, and in 1928 from 57.2 cents for apprentices to $1.128 for dingmen. Averages for females in 1925 ranged from 36.1 cents for inspectors to 57.3 cents for drill-press operators, and in 1928 from 39 cents for inspectors to 63.6 cents for lacquer rubbers.

Average full-time earnings per week for males in 1925 in the various occupations ranged from $25.60 for apprentices to $52.47 for dingmen, and in 1928 from $27.80 for apprentices to $57.53 for dingmen. Averages for females in 1925 ranged from $17.91 for inspectors to $28.54 for drill-press operators, and in 1928 from $19.77 for inspectors to $33.33 for lacquer rubbers.