Wages and hours of labor: Hours, wages, and working conditions in domestic water transportation Connecticut-Wages, hours, and working conditions of domestic em- Page 1492 1502 1503 1505 1508 Great Britain-Extension of shorter workweek in merchant marine.. 1513 1514 Employment offices: Operations of United States Employment Service, October 1936_____ 1516 1522 Relation of advisory councils to public employment services of various 1529 Trend of industrial and business employment, by States___ _ 1559 Industrial and business employment and pay rolls in principal 1563 Summary of building construction in principal cities, October 1936.. 1574 Money disbursements of wage earners and clerical workers in Rochester, Columbus, and Seattle... 1607 Changes in cost of living in the United States, September 15, 1936. 1617 1626 Recent publications of labor interest.. 1630 This Issue in Brief A decrease as compared with 1935 occurred in the number of migrants in need of manual employment who entered California during the first half of 1936. During the last half of 1935, 43,180 such persons arrived in California in cars bearing license plates of other States; the number dropped to 27,867 during the first half of 1936. The migration of these unemployed is closely correlated with seasonal agricultural developments in the State. The States which had suffered from the drought were the largest contributors of migrants. Whereas the total migration during the first half of 1936 was 36 percent less than during the last half of 1935, the number of migrants from the "dustbowl" States declined only 26 percent. In both periods white Americans were the predominating group. Page 1355. Lump-sum settlements under workmen's compensation legislation have not proved satisfactory, according to a recent investigation carried on in New York State. This form of settlement is customarily made in such cases as head injuries and back injuries, where the extent of the injury may be difficult to measure and often involves neurosis. In these cases, it has been believed that giving the claimant the full sum due him would act as a curative device. The investigation here summarized found, however, that in practice the curative benefits were slight, and that, in most cases, installment payments would have been much more helpful to the recipients. Page 1364. Injuries resulting from industrial accidents in the iron and steel industry decreased in 1935 as compared with 1934. The frequency rate declined from 19.42 to 17.14 per million man-hours, and the severity rate declined from 2.42 to 2.11 per thousand man-hours, although the total man-hours worked increased by 17 percent. The effectiveness of safety work is indicated by the experience of a select group of establishments with a frequency rate of about one-third of that of the entire group. Page 1370. Union wage scales in the building trades averaged $1.223 per hour in 1936 as compared with $1.204 in 1935; average weekly hours remained at 38.7. Details by individual trades and an analysis of other features of the collective agreements in these trades-such as provisions for overtime and for apprentices--are given in an article on page 1385. More than $26,000,000 was paid out in various types of benefits in the year 1935 by trade-unions reporting to the American Federation of Labor. These payments included benefits to members for death, illness, unemployment, old age, disability, and certain other economic hazards, but did not include strike benefits. Material changes in the benefit features of trade-unionism may be expected to follow the adoption of Federal and State social-security legislation. Page 1409. Over 299,000 persons borrowed money through cooperative credit societies during 1935, as shown in reports furnished to the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the United States Farm Credit Administration and by societies in 23 States. The total loans reported amounted to over $24,000,000, the average sum per loan being $142. These societies had aggregate resources of over $49,000,000 and had accumulated reserves of $3,000,000. Dividends totaling approximately $695,000 were paid by the societies in 14 States and the Federal societies in 29 States. Savings deposits of over $6,000,000 were reported by the societies in 7 States. Page 1420. The continued expansion in employment in the United States since the spring of 1936 raised the number of persons engaged in nonagricultural industries to an estimated total of 31,680,000 in September 1936-an increase of 1,400,000 in 12 months. From the low point of the depression in March 1933, the gain in employment in the nonagricultural industries was over 6,000,000 persons, including employers, self-employed, and employees, except those on Federal emergency work. Page 1415. In Ohio, in 1934, wage earners received 69.9 percent of all wage and salary payments; bookkeepers, stenographers, and office clerks, 17.0 percent; salespeople (other than traveling salesmen), 6.2 percent; and superintendents and managers, 6.9 percent. In manufacturing industries, the proportion received by wage earners was more than 81 percent, while in wholesale and retail trade this proportion was as low as 37 percent. Page 1505. The legislative program adopted by the Third National Conference on Labor Legislation, held in Washington, D. C., November 9-11, included State action on unemployment insurance, on the Federal child-labor amendment, and on minimum wages for women. This conference was called by the Secretary of Labor and was attended by officials of State departments of labor and representatives of organizations of workers and civic, social-welfare, and consumer groups. Page 1438. HE flight across the country of drought refugees and migrants THE "in need of manual employment" which was evident in 1935 continued during the first half of 1936. Those entering California still came in significant numbers but at a slower rate than in the fall and winter of 1935, according to recordings made by the border inspectors of the Bureau of Plant Quarantine, California Department of Agriculture. The movement during the last half of 1935 involved 43,180 persons in out-of-State cars, whereas it dropped 36 percent to 27,867 persons in the first 6 months of 1936. For the year from June 16, 1935, to June 15, 1936, a total of 71,047 such migrants entered the State. In addition, 16,315 Californians who had left the State in search of employment reentered its borders during the year. Thus 1 This study is a continuation of an article bearing the same title and covering the period June December 1935, by Paul S. Taylor and Tom Vasey, which appeared in the Monthly Labor Review for February 1936 (p. 312). The continued cooperation of A. C. Fleury, Chief of Bureau of Plant Quarantine, California Department of Agriculture, and the staff of inspectors at border stations, has made this study possible and is gratefully acknowledged. The general purpose of this and the preceding article on this subject is to measure the volume of the migration of refugees as a consequence of the drought affecting large sections of the United States, from 1933 to 1935, and which continued to burn many parts of the Great Plains area in 1936. However, as indicated in the original article, certain caution must be observed in evaluating these figures. In the first place, the figures incorporated in these articles are confined to California immigrations and necessarily ignore human dislocation resulting in migrations to other areas. Secondly, no count of persons "in need of manual employment" leaving California has been effected. Thirdly, segregation as between laborers, habitual interstate migrant workers, and drought refugees has not been entirely possible. Fourth, the border quarantine inspectors asked no questions beyond the line of their routine duties, which permitted the notation of certain rule-of-thumb racial characteristics, but prohibited age and sex classifications and the determination of employment objectives. These limitations, it should be noted, affect the scope of the analysis rather than its integrity. In classifying certain States as "drought States" the authors adhered to the practice established by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Mr. Rowell is regional labor adviser of the United States Resettlement Administration. for the entire period 87,362 drought refugees and other migrants "in need of manual employment" arrived in or returned to California. Insofar as the figures for a single year are indicative of seasonal variations it is apparent from table 1 that the movement into California is closely correlated with seasonal agricultural developments in the State. July, August, and September are the months of peak movements into California, and these movements slightly anticipate the peak labor requirements in California's central valley and areas wherever deciduous fruits, grapes, and other perennial crops are grown. A study by the State Relief Administration in California gives August, September, and October as the months of peak agricultural labor requirements both of the resident and nonresident types.3 Table 1.-Migrants "in Need of Manual Employment" Entering California by Motor Vehicle, Year Ending June 15, 1936, by Months 1 grants. Percent. California cars: Out-of-State cars: Number of mi Number of mi 71, 047 7, 162 8,057 8, 955 6, 309 6,845 5, 852 5, 435. 6, 137 2, 522 4, 012 4, 6855, 076 100 10. 1 11.4 12.6 8.9 9.6 8.2 7.6 8.6 3.6 5.7 6.6 7.1 grants.. Percent 16, 315 2, 158 1,985 1,909 1,354 1,679 1, 109 1,899 1,807 499 657 535 724 100 13. 2 12. 2 11.7 8.3 10.3 6.8 11.6 11.1 3. 1 4.0 3.3 4.4 Total: Number 87, 362 9,320 10, 042 10, 864 100 10.7 11.5 12.4 7, 663 8,524 6,961 7, 334 7,944 3, 021 4, 669 5, 220 5,800 8.8 9.8 8.0 8.4 9.1 3.5 5.3 6.01 6.6 1 Judgment of border station inspectors was relied upon in distinguishing migrants "in need of manual employment." Such persons are ordinarily easily identifiable since they travel in family groups, and are loaded with poor equipment. Data for the period June 16-Dec. 15, 1935, are taken from an earlier article of the same title for that period by Dr. Taylor. Figures do not include entrants by train or auto stage. It is of significance that the parade of California's crops closes with the cotton harvest in the upper San Joaquin Valley. That harvest begins in September, affords maximum employment in October and November, and often does not completely end until the middle of January. Since many of the drought refugees originate in cottonraising States it is probable that the cotton harvest is of great importance in determining the time of migrations and sustaining them through the months of November and December, in contrast to the marked decline in migrations during the spring months of the year. Table 1 further shows that, once the September peak was reached, the number of entrants into California dropped sharply in October and then gradually declined during the succeeding months to March, with the only important interruption occurring in February. Examination of table 2, which gives the detail of the migrations for the first 3 California Relief Administration. Division of Research and Surveys. Survey of Agricultural Labor Requirements in California, 1935. San Francisco, 1935. |