Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, NOVEMBER, 1915, TO APRIL, 1916Source: Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vol. 2, No. 6 (JUNE, 1916), pp.34-38Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of LaborStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41823002 .

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34 MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The average full-time weekly earnings in the principal occupations in 1914 were as follows:

Bastera, coat, male $13. 33 Bastera, coat, female 9. 67 Bushelera and tailora, male 14. 56 Cutters, cloth, hand, male 21. C6 Examinera, male 16. 18 Fittera or trimmera, coat, male 17. 13 Hand sewers, coat, male 14. 04 Hand sewers, coat, female 9. 14 Hand aewera, pants, female 7. 77 Operatore, coat, male 16. 61 Operators, coat, female 11.00 Operators, pants, male 15. 37 Operators, pants, female 10. 57 Pressera, coat, male 14. 99 Pressera, pants, male 15. 08

The regular full-time hours per week in 1914 ranged in the different shops from 44 to 60, the average for most of the occupations being between 51 and 53. The average hours of cutters were approxi- mately 48£ per week.

The busiest months in the industry in the year ending with June, 1914, were July in the summer season and December and January in the winter season. The slackest months of the year were October and April. The principal cities producing men's factory-made clothing are, in order, New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Roohester, Cincinnati, and Boston.

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, NOVEMBER, 1915, TO APRIL, 1916.

According to data compiled from various sources by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of strikes and lockouts during the six months, November, 1915, to April, 1916, inclusive, was 1,069.

The following table, which has been corrected for months previous to April, 1916, as reports have come in during the latter month, shows the number of strikes and lockouts begun in each of the months of November, 1915, to April, 1916, inclusive, together with 76 strikes and lockouts reported as having occurred during the period, although the month in which thoy began was not reported. The strikes and lockouts were distributed as follows:

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MONTHLY BEVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 35

NUMBER OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS BEGINNING IN EACH MONTH, NOVEMBER, 1915, TO APRIL, 1916, INCLUSIVE.

Kind of dispute. N°b^m" D^m" J^yu' F^ra" Mareh. April.' Total.

Strikes ! 102 70 150 15« 208 262 71 1,019 Lockouts 10 88586550 Total 112 78 158 161 216 268

| 76' 1,069

i This column includes disputes that began in the month of April only. During this month 69 other disputes were reported, which either began in preceding months or the date of beginning was not given: the former have been distributed in the preceding columns, the latter added in the column entitled 4 ' month not stated. "

More detailed accounts of the disputes reported for each month from November, 1915, to March, 1916, may be found in the numbers of the Review relating to those months.

DISPUTES REPORTED DURING APRIL, 1916.

The number of strikes reported during the month of April is excep- tionally large. This seems to have been due to the great demand for labor by establishments engaged in filling war orders, resulting in a temporary shortage in all related occupations, which manufacturers have not been able to prevent because of the great decrease in immi- gration. This demand for labor has been accompanied by demands of working people for increased wages, the rapid and repeated granting of which during the past six months has resulted in new demands of laboring men that many employers deem excessive and are refusing to grant. The largest number of strikes were in the metal industries, strikes of machinists occurring in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts; and strikes of molders, black- smiths, and boiler workers in nearly all the eastern States mentioned above. Miners' strikes were confincd mainly to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Several strikes of seamen occurred at the ports along the Atlantic seaboard.

Large strikes which attracted especial attention were those at the plants of the International Harvester Co., at Chicago, one of shov- clers in Springfield and Holyoke, Mass., the subway strike in New York City, the strike at the Westinghouse plants in Pittsburgh and vicinity, and the strike at the cable works in Hastings, N. Y.

The data in the tables which follow relate to 337"strikes and lock- outs concerning which information was received by the bureau during the month of April. These include, in addition to the 262 strikes and 6 lockouts that began in April, 67 strikes and 2 lockouts whi( H were reported during the month, but began as follows: 28 strikes and 1 lockout in March, 8 strikes and 1 lockout in February, 3 strikes in

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36 MONTHLY BEVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOB STATISTICS.

January, and 28 strikes the dates of commencement of which were not reported, but most of which probably occurred in March or April. Inasmuch as strikes which start toward the end of a month frequently do not come to the attention of the bureau until after the report for the month has been prepared, it is probable that corrected figures for April will show a material increase over the number of strikes herein reported for that month.

Of the disputes reported during April, 10 strikes and 1 lockout occurred east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio and Potomac, 24 west of the Mississippi, and the remaining 362 strikes and 7 lock- outs in the territory north of the Ohio and Potomac and east of the Mississippl. More than one-half of these strikes occurred in the first four States shown in the following table :

STATES IN WHICH FIVE OR MORE STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS WERE REPORTED DURING APRIL, 1916.

State. Strikes. Lockouts. Total.

New York 62 62 Massachusetts 53 53 Pennsylvania 46 1 47 Ohio 41 5 46 New Jersey 37 87 Illinois 11 1 12 Connecticut 11 h Michigan 7 7 Rhode Island 6 6 West Virginia 6 6 Maryland 5 5 Missouri 5 5 22 other States 39 1 40 Total 329 8 837

[This and the following tables include all the disputes (337) reported in April. Of these 268, as shown in the preceding table, began in April, while 69 either began in other months or the date of beginning was not reported. 1

Five of these strikes were confined to women and 12 included both men and women. No lockouts were reported in which women were concerned. In 33 strikes and 1 lockout the sex was not stated.

The industries in which four or more strikes and lockouts were reported were as follows:

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MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 37

NUMBER OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES REPORTED DURING APRIL, 1916.

Industry. Strikes. outs" Total.

Metal trades 64 1 65 Building trades » 36 2 38 Textile workers 37 37 Seamen 18 18 Railroads 16 1 17 Clothing industries 14 ...; 14 Iron and steel mills 14 14 Mining 14 14 Longshoremen and freight handlers 11 11 Chemical workers 9 9 Glassworkers 7 7 Rubber workers 6 1 7 Baking industry 5 . . . .* 5 Granite cutters - 5 5 Lumber workers 5 5 Paper mills 5 5 Street railways 4 1 5 All others 59 2 61

Total 329 ' 8 337

Included in the above are 32 strikes and 1 lockout of machinists, 12 strikes of molders, 13 strikes of weavers, 13 of coal miners, 10 of railroad section hands, 12 of painters, and 5 of carpenters.

In 150 strikes and 5 lockouts the employees were connected with unions; in 27 strikes and 1 lockout they were not connected with unions; , and in 4 strikes they were not connected with unions at the time of striking but organized themselves into unions as a result of the strike; in the remaining strikes and lockouts it was not stated whether the strikers had union affiliations or not.

In 286 cases the causes of the strikes and lockouts were given. In 80 per cent of these the question of wages or hours or both was the leading issue. The principal causes are shown in the following table:

PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS REPORTED DURING APRIL, 1916.

Cause. Strikes. Total.

For increase of wages 154 1 155 For decrease of hours 9 9 For increase of wages and decrease of hours : 38 2 40 Against increase of hours and reduction of wages 1 1 For increase of hours 1 1 General conditions 7 7 Conditions and wages 4 4 Conditions, wages, and hours 1 1 Recognition and closed shop 15 ... 15 Recognition and wages 12 12 Recognition and hours 2 2 Recognition, wages, and hours 5 5 Discharge of employees 4 3 o Because nonunion men were employed - 7 1 8 o In regard to the agreement 6 6 Jurisdictional 2 2 Miscellaneous 10 1 11 Not reported 51 51

Total 329 8 337

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38 MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

In 164 of the strikes the number of persons involved was reportëd to be 148,137, an average of 903 per strike. In 20 strikes, in each of which the number involved was over 1,000, the strikes numbered 114,953 persons, thus leaving 31,384 involved in the remaining 144 strikes, or an average of 218 to each. In 3 lockouts the number of employees involved was reported as 1,595, or an average of 532 in each.

In 259 strikes and 7 lockouts only 1 employer was concerned in each disturbance; in 22 strikes the disturbance concerned more than 1 employer; and in 48 strikes and 1 lockout the number of employers was not stated.

Of 130 strikes reported as ending in April, 34 were won, 16 lost, 75 compromised, while in 5 the strikers returned to work under promise of the employer to arbitrate the matters in dispute. The duration of 70 of these strikes was given as follows: One week or less, 44; 1 to 2 weeks, 6; 2 to 3 weeks, 6; 3 to 4 weeks, 5; 5 to 10 weeks, 6; 3 months, 1; 4 months, 1; 2 years, 1. Omitting the last 3 men- tioned, the duration of the remaining 67 strikes was 730 days, or an average of 11 days each.

ANTHRACITE COAL WAGE AGREEMENT OF 1916.

The anthracite coal wage agreement, as arranged by the joint con- ference committee in New York City on April 30, was ratified by the miners' convention of the three anthracite districts in Pottsville, Pa., on May 4 and signed in Philadelphia on May 5. Like the 1912 agree- ment this contract will be in effect for four years. Under its pro- visions the eight-hour day is established; contract miners and others receive an advance in wages of 7 per cent, while the nine-hour wage of day men who will now work eight hours is advanced 3 per cent, which means an advance of about 15.5 per cent on such labor. The following is the agreement in full:

This agreement, made this 5th day of May, 1916, between districts 1, 7, and 9, representing the anthracite mine workers' organization, parties of the first part, and the anthracite operators, parties of the second part, covering wages and condition» of employment in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, witnesseth:

The terms and provisions of the award of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, and any subsequent agreement made in modifi- cation thereof and supplemental thereto, are hereby continued for a further period of four years ending March 31, 1920, except in the following particulars, to wit:

First, (a) The contract rates at each colliery shall be increased seven (7) per cent over and above the contract rates at each colliery, effective in April, 1912, as established by the agreement of May 20, 1912.

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