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https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 155 U. S. Department of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Washington News Letter No. 10. January 13, 1922. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Kansas. Hearings on the hours, wages and working conditions of women wageearners, which were to have been held in selected cities throughout the State December 5 to January 11, have been indefinitely postponed. lulassachusetts. Opinion of Attorney General on Meaning of Words "in laboring." The question of the definition of the words "in laboring" in the law limiting the hours of work of women and children, has been recently referred to the Attorney General for an opinion. His reply states that each case must be considered upon its own facts, which are to be decided by the standard therein laid down. He states that "if the duties discharged by a woman employed in one of the enumerated industries are discharged during regular hours, are of routine character, are of a grade substantially similar to those ordinarily performed by female employees in the business enumerated, and do not involve judgment and discretion, a finding that the female employee is engaged 'in laboring' within the meaning of the act would probably be warranted even though the labor performed was largely mental and only incidentally manual. If, however, the position and duties be common to businesses not included in the act as well as to businesses within it, a finding that such female employee is not engaged 'in laboring' may well be made, since it is not to be presumed that the Legislature intended to include some members of the class because they were in selected industries, while excluding other members of the same class simply because they work in other industries. On the latter ground a finding that female accounting clerks, bookkeepers and stenographers are not employed 'in laboring' might be supported." This question has long been a confusing one and various opinions have been given as to the meaning of the words "in laboring." A decision of one of the courts held that a cashier employed in a mercantile establishment is employed "in laboring" within the intent of the law. In the case of such workers as stenographers, typewriters and bookkeepers, the matter has not been decided by the courts and the opinion of the counsel of the Department of Labor and Industries is that such employees are not covered. Mandatory Minimum Wage Law Asked. The petition of the Department of Labor and Industries for the enactment of legislation making the minimum wage law mandatory is receiving the active support of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts. According to a statement in the press the League "bases its action on an investigation and survey of conditions existing among the 244,000 women and girls working in manufacturing and mercantile establishments in the State. The survey in brief established that, while the law had benefited more than 70,000 women and girls, many thousands are working for less than a living wage, and it https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2is felt that a mandatory provision will go far to remedy this situation." A number of employers also have asked that this change in the law be made. time has proved The penalty of advertising applied this year for the first of the decrees the with comply ineffective, and in general employers who n competitio unfair to subjected Minimum Wage Commission feel that they are from firms that refuse to comply. Greater Uniformity in Minimum Wage Rates. and recommenda:Ls a means of securing greater uniformity in the rates for a confertions of the wage boards, the Minimum Wage Commission arranged which are ence between representatives of the public on the various boards 7 As a result of this conference the following recoMmenda being reconvened. the various of chairmen the ng tions were presented by a committee representi boards: Regarding a fair basis for the cost of living budget in 1. That the fact that a girl lives at home is not to be considered fixing a minimum rate. Regarding the financial condition of the industry as the 2. That the minimum should not be reduced below the standard fixed established by cost of living except under serious and unusual conditions recommends a minevidence presented by the employers, and in case any bo.erd public imum rate below the cost of living, that the representatives of the is presented petition a on the board should be responsible for seeing that for reconvening the board at an early date. Regarding the wage board procedure • 3. That the wage board should follow as closely as may be possible the on Organizati order of business recommended by the Commission in the nules of and Procedure and the Handbook of Information for Wage Board Members. Time for completing work 4. That the reconvened wage boards should submit their determinations within two months from the date Of their first meeting, if possible. Regarding date for decree to become effective 5. That not more than three months should intervene between the date of the wage board's determinations and the date the decree should become effective. Regarding cost of living budget 6. That the following items should be included in the cost of living budget, in the order and under the terminology specified: 8. Vacation. 1. Board and lodging. 9. Recreation. 2. Clothing. Reserve for emergency. 103. Laundry. 11. Mutual association dues. 4. Doctor, dentist and oculist. 12. Insurance. 5. Carfares, 6. Church. 7. Self-improvement. (Including newspapers, etc.) New Wage Board for Paper Box Occupation. In response to petitions from employers in the occupation for a revision of the paper box occupation decree r the Minimum Wage Commission has formed a new board for this occupation. The present decree provides a minimum rate of 015.50 for experienced employees with special rates of 011.00 and 09.00 for learners and apprentices. This decree has been in effect since July 1, 1920. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3Unemployment Among Women in Massachusetts. work has been A sub-committee of the Governor's committee to promote tts Massachuse in women among nt appointed to study the extent of unemployme of League the of Slattery and the means for reducing it. Mrs. Frances of Labor and IndusCatholic Women and General Sweetser of the Department tries are members of this committee. large number of Both State and private employment offices report a which are being office employees out of work. Among the remedial measures and girls and considered are more extensive industrial training for women State. the of resources further coordination of the employment New Branch of the Public Employment Office Opened. has reA mercantile branch of the Boston Public Employment Office give to intended cently been opened by the Commonwealth. This branch is employees. special attention to the placement of mercantile and office of the city, and The office is centrally located in the business section service to a will make possible the extension of the public employment agency. public any field which has not been adequately covered by DepartThe new office will be operated jointly by the Massachusetts of Service ment of Labor and Industries and the United States Employment contribute the Federal Department of Labor. The Federal Government will toward the expenses of operation and supply part of the clerical assistance. of The office will also serve as headquarters for the New England director as office the use to planned the Industrial Survey Bulletin. It is further will be fees No an employment clearing house of the New England district. charged for services rendered either to employers or to applicants for employment. Lighting Code for industrial Establishments. The Department is publishing the recommendations for a lighting code submitted by the committee which was appointed to recommend rules and reguThe committee has lations for the lighting of industrial establishments. the present time at tory recommended that the code be published as recommenda to give employers an opportunity to try it out, and to enable the Department to secure more information as to the lighting intensities required for specific industrial processes. A public hearing on the adoption of a mandatory code will be held later in the year. The code suggested differs but little in its main provisions from the standard code approved by the American Engineering Standards Committee. Reorganization to Affect Department of Labor and Industries. State departments with sweeping changes in of Further reorganizations are recommended in the report of the tion the present plan of administra which has been investigating Efficiency Special Commission on Economy and of the Commission has just report the work of the State departments. The recommends that the Commission been submitted to the General Court. The thirty existing administrative divisions be reduced to fifteen, and that the directors of the nine major departments form an advisory cabinet for the Governor. Among the changes recommended is the consolidation of the present Department of Labor and Industries and the Industrial Accident Board in a new department to be known as the Department of Labor and Industries. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -4New York. legislature proalready introduced in the law or lab the to s ent ndm Ame mission of three the Governor of a wage com vide for (1) the appointment by minors; (2) and ine living wages for women members, one a woman, to determ f to be chosen reo the wage commission, members en and minors, the establishment of a minimum wom of fixing minimum wages for by the Governor, for'the'purpose in a mill or eight-hour day for any person and appropriating 0200,000; (3) an airs, or in case loyees making necessary rep emp and en chm wat ept exc y, factor the rate of overtime a day permitted at of rs hou ee thr h , wit ncy of emerge time and one-half. North Dakota. public, employers of representatives of the As a result of conferences rates for five industo 21, new minimum wage and employees, held December 8 Compensation Bureau. approved by the Workmen's tries have been recommended and in the newspapers befor four successive weeks hed lis pub be t mus ers ord The Board. The date the orders adopted by the and d hel is g rin hea al fin the fore n changed to for January 25 but has bee set st fir was g rin hea al to have been for the fin of the orders was found on ati lic pub st fir the e aus February 3 bec as follows: . The revised rates are made in an unofficial newspaper mbermaids counter girls, 014.90; cha and s sse tre Wai : ing eep sek Public hou 011.90 and 013.60 tices in the first group, and kitchen help, 014.20. Appren pectively. Apprentice& s of apprenticeship res for the first and second period second periods of 012.90 for the first and and .20 011 up, gro ond sec the in eship term four imum length of apprentic Ylax . ely tiv pec res ip esh apprentic When lodging and iods of two months each. months divided into two equal per e for waitresses wag loyer, the minimum weekly board are furnished by the emp p, 05.95; when hel chambermaids and kitchen and counter girls is 06.80, for counter girls is 08.90; imum for waitresses and board only is furnished the min y is furnished, the 08.25; when lodging onl p, hel n che kit and ids rma mbe for cha chambermaids and nter girls is 012.75; for minimum for waitresses and cou in each week. When ls considered to be 21 mea kitchen help, 012.05. Board is 35 cents per mal e, as part payment of a wag leffs than 21 meals are furnished in towns of less k furnished. Hours of wor must be allowed for each meal not 28 days a month. to 9 a day, 58 a week, and than 500 population are limited ment shall be exemployees in any establish the of t cen per 75 n s tha les Not tices or 25 per cent shall be appren perienced workers and not more than learners. per recommended is approximately a 15 The reduction in wages as hereby e of June 15, issued by the Bureau under dat cent reduction from the last orders 1920. iod of enced employees, 014.50; first per Mercantile employment: Experi rth ; fou .20 , period, 010.40; third period 011 apprenticeship, 09.60; second into d ide r of apprenticeship term one yea div period, 012.00. Maximum length conrs each. Thirty-six to forty-eight hou four equal periods of three months rs hou ns under 500 population the maximum stitute a full week's work; in tow in any ees loy emp the of t cen per s than 75 are 9 a day and 54 a week. Not les ll be ed and not more than 25 per cent sha establishment shall be experienc apprentices or learners. First period erienced workers, 014.00. Manufacturing employment: Exp ment, 09.00; ish or candy manufacturing establ m of apprenticeship in any biscuit Length of apprenticeship ter iod, 012.00. •second period, 010.50; third per https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis _5or piece rates, nine months in such an establishment for women workers by time period of apprenticedivided into three periods of three months each. First t, 09.00; second ishmen establ feeding ship in any book-binding or job-press . Length of ap013.00 , period period, 010.50, third period, 012.00; fourth t, one year ishmen establ such in prenticeship term for time or piece workers to forty-eight Forty divided into four equal periods of three months each. the employees of cent hours constitute a full week's work. At least 60 per not more and s, worker in any manufacturing establishment shall be experienced . Bureau of the than 40 per cent apprentices except by special permit , or 013.50 where launLaundry employment: Experienced workers, 014.00 ip, 011.00; second ticesh appren of dry privileges are allowed. First period months divided five term ip Maximum length of apprenticesh period, 012.50. , and during tively respec into periods of three months, and two months each laundry privileges. the apprenticeship term no deduction shall be made for Not less week's work. Thirty-eight to forty-eight hours constitute a full shall be paid at not than 75 per cent of the employees in any establishment s and not more than 25 less than the minimum wage rate for experienced worker m wage rate for experiminimu the than per cent at a weekly wage rate of less enced workers. and over, 014.00; Telephone employment: In towns of 1,800 population Where months. elsewhere, $12.00. Maximum length of apprenticeship term 9 first month is the minimum wage is $14.00, the apprenticeship wage for the four months, $12.50, 010.00; for the next four months, 011.50; for the next for the first month where the minimum wage is 012.00, the apprenticeship wage four months, next the for and is 09.00; for the next four months, $10.00, rural telein and tion 011.00. In towns or cities of less than 500 popula of number maximum phone exchanges, arrangements of operators' schedules, d at arrive be hours per day, and the maximum number of days per month shall ent such agreem by mutual agreement between the employer and the employees, es can not employe and rs employe the to be made known to the Bureau. When ent of the Departm m Wage Minimu agree, the matter shall be referred to the exchanges one teleph all In Workmen's Compensation Bureau for adjustment. at not less paid be shall cent employing six or more workers, at least 65 per 35 per than more not and s, than the minimum wage rate for experienced worker rate. wage minimum cent shall be paid a weekly wage rate of less than the United States. Reclassification Bill Passed by the House. 65, the The House of Representatives has passed by a vote of 244 to a strictly e on Civil Servic l Federa the of Lehlbach Bill for reclassification c proviwith specifi and d, define merit basis, with duties and salary rates of sex. sion for equal pay for equal work, irrespective Federal Personnel Board Created by the President. A Federal Personnel Board under the supervision of the United States order dated December 23, 1921, Civil Service Commission has been created in an , by direction of the Presiissued by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget d of representatives of compose be to is which dent. The purpose of the Board, t, with the President each government department and independent establishmen to develop in the of the Civil Service Commission as ex-officio chairman, is https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -6Federal Government "a more effective and economical system of employment and personnel management, and to promote the general welfare of the employees of the National Government... The duties of the Board shall be to formulate policies and plans designed to place the personnel administration of the Federal Government abreast of the best practice in private service, with due regard to the peculiarities of the public service." President Bartlett of the Civil Service Commission states "that there is no purpose in this Executive Order to conflict, but rather a purpose to occupy whatever territory is left unoccupied by statute and to do unitedly and systematically the things which are now done separately, and without coordination or not done at all." 7omen Postmasters Lose No Rights by Marriage. The following statement was issued by the Post Office Department: Postmaster General Hays has decided that a woman postal employee does not change her status nor lose any rights in the service by marriage. Heretofore when an unmarried woman, holding the position of postmaster, married she wasobliged to secure a new appointment; execute a new bond; or pass the required civil service examination in competition with other candidates seeking the office, if she had not previously taken such an examination. When the competition was keen, it has happened that the woman was below three of the other candidates and lost the office. Under the new ruling this can not happen as the woman postmaster will continue to hold the office without a reappointment or another examination. Similar controversies have arisen all over the country when women are employed.in the public service, particularly in schools, where it has frequently been held that women who marry forfeit their positions as teachers. The ruling of Postmaster General Hays will set a precedent in the Federal service and will no doubt have an important effect in establishing for women the full rights of citizenship intended to be conferred by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. There is no law relating to the status of a woman who marries while holding the office of postmaster, but the practice which has been revoked by Postmaster General Hays has been in effect as a regulation for several years. Mrs. Helen H. Gardener, a member of the Civil Service Commission, brought the matter to the attention of the Post Office Department when the examination papers in this kind of a case came before her. Mrs. Gardener refers to the old order as an "archaic situation," and her letter adds: "I deem it exceedinfly important, both in the interest of the service and in the inter3st of the development of women, not to mention the interest of the Post Office Department, to work out some ruling which will correct this obviously unjust condition." The .subject was referred to the Solicitor of the Post Office Department who rendered quite an elaborate opinion closing with the following: "Seeing no adequate legal reason why the marriage of postmasters, or of other women employees should, of itself, affect tha tenure of office, and because of the fact that the requirement of reappointment and rebonding is very likely to result in injustice in a majority of cases, as well as cause useless multiplication of work in the Department, and because of the further fact that a regulation of this kind is objectionable because it is against public policy as being a restriction upon marriage, I have to advise you that in my opinion https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -7t's present there is no legal requirement, other than the Departmen of rebonding and ment reappoint regulations on the subject, for the their during marry who women postmasters or of other women employees authority to terms of office, and that the Postmaster General has desirrevoke the regulations in question should he deem such course able." PERS,D172TEL. Florida. Mr. Lewis W. Zim has been appointed State labor inspector to succeed Mr. J. C. Privett. PUBLICATIONS. U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Personnel research agencies. A guide to organized research in employment management, industrial relations, training, and working conditions. November, 1921. 207 p. (Bulletin 299) U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. 73 p. 1922. Iowa women in industry. (Bulletin 19) Standards for the employment of women in industry. (Bulletin 3) 15, 1921. 8 p. State laws affecting working women. (Bulletin 16) 10 charts. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1921. Ed. 3, October 51 p., 6 col. caps, 4 169 U. S. Department of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Was March 8, 1922. News Letter No. 11. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. District of Columbia. compensation for workers in private The Fitzgerald Bill to provide accident reported out of committee to tho House employ in the District of Columbia has been e support of labor organizations and of Representatives. This bill has the activ lation. The bill as reported covers the American Association for Labor Legis domestic service. Kansas. were held in various towns Hearings on the wages and hours of work of women s as a result of the hearings order ative throughout the State during February. r.:ent ved state that weekly recei far ts so may be issued by the first of April. Repor ng from 360.00 to rangi ing budgets wages ranging from 6.50 to 09.50 and cloth The state-wide yers. hearings by emplo 0157.00 a year have been advocated at the ions during Relat Court of Industrial survey made by the Women's Division of the 3 and the 016.9 at of living per week June and July, 1921, places the average cost yearly cost of clothing at $172.12. Kentucky. to amend the ten-hour law to permit A bill has been passed by the Senate unlimited hours for three weeks at a time. women in the canning industry to work the Consumers' League of Kentucky. This is being vigorously opposed by Massachusetts. Minimum Wage. um wage law is being made. Two bills asking for minim An attempt to repeal the duced and a third bill would abolish the Minithe repeal of the law have been intro Conciliation and Arbitration and establish in mum Wage Commission and the Board of ions similar to the Kansas court. The Departtheir place a court of industrial relat that the minimum wage law be made mandatory. ment of Labor and Industries has asked sionally approved the determinations of The Minim= Wage Commission has provi ing and Rain Coat Wage Board the Women's Clothing Wage Board and the Wien's Cloth Public hearings for both which were reconvened for the purpose of revising rates. persons will be held occupations for employers and employees and other interested March 11. wage rates for women In the Women's Clothing occupation the following minimum rs, were recommended: employees of ordinary ability, whether time or piece rate worke learners and apprentices For experienced employees, not less than $14.00 a week; for week; for all others who have reached the age of 18 years, not less than 311.00 a yee is one who has emplo not less than '39.00. The board ruled that an experienced clothing industry reached the age of 18 years and has been employed in the women's minations become for at least 34 years. The board recommends that the new deter effective April 1, 1922. recommended the followIn the Men's Clothing and Raincoat occupation the board ty, whether time or ing minimum wage rates for women employees of ordinary abili women irrespective of age, piece rate workers: For experienced workers, that is, for 014.75 a week. The remainwho have worked for at least one year in the occupation, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2ing rates are the same as those recommended by the first reconvened Men's Clothing and Raincoat Wage Doard and entered by the Commission in 1919, namely: For learners and apprentices with three months' experience, not less than el0.00 a week; for all others not less than 07.00 a week. The board recommends that the new rates become effective May 1, 1922, Le-4is1ation. The report of the Commission on Economy and Efficiency and State Administration providing for further consolidation of the State departments makes no provision for representation of women's interests in the Department of Labor and Industries. Women's orguniz-tions of the State, therefore, have presented an amendment to the bill submitted to the legislature which provides that in the new Department of Labor and Industries (which will include the activities of the present department and those of the Department of Industrial Accidents) there shall be an assistant commissioner who shall be a woman and who shall have immediate supervision over all matters relating specifically to women and children, and who shall serve as a member of the advisory board in the department. The bill as submitted authorizes the commissioner of labor and industries to organize his associate corcissioners into an advisory board. The amendment also provides that the present assistant commissioner shall serve as assistant commissioner of the new department until the expiration of her present term. A bill has been introduced providing that the commissioner of labor and industries "nay employ temporarily, from time to time, such experts as may be necessary to assist the Department in the performance of any duty imposed upon it by law..." This was recommended by the Department of Labor and Industries because in connection with certain lines of work such as that dealing with industrial health and with safety codes it is necessary to secure the assistance of specialists and it is not possible to obtain them from the Civil Service lists. The Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation of Labor has had introduced bills to provide two additional inspectors for the preventing of accidents and industrial diseases; to give control of free and private employment offices to the Department of Labor and Industries; to extend the requirements for accommodations for injured and sick employees to mercantile establishments, restaurants and hotels; and to provide one day's rest in seven for hotel and restaurant workers. This last bill has been reported "leave to withdraw." Four measures to remove civil disabilities from women have been introduced by the Massachusetts League of ':lomen Voters. One of these provides for jury service for women. In addition to the general exemptions which apply to men, special provision is made for women with children under 10 years of age, and women who are caring for the sick either in the home or in institutions. The fairer guardianship bill would give the mother the same right as the father in appointing a guardian for minor children. Another bill would permit married women to have, for the purpose of registration and voting, a separate residence from that of their husbands. This is intended to provide for women whose husbands register from a club or a place of business apart from the family residence, as well as for women who are living apart from their husbands. The fourth bill would permit a woman whose husband is a naturalized voter to vote on establishing the fact that her husband is a voter without presenting the naturalization papers. Industrial Conference Called. A conference on industrial conditions was announced by the Consumers' League of Massachusetts for March 7. The afternoon session was to be devoted to the lighting of industrial establishments, posture of workers, and efficiency in the management of industry. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3New York. A bill has been introduced in the legislature to add a new section to the labor law creating a bureau of women in industry in the Department of Labor, in charge of a chief, with not less than six investigators, all of whom shall be women and at least one of whom shall be a duly licensed physician. The bureau is to investigate and report concerning the conditions of women and minors in industry and make recommendations to the commissioner for the betterment of such working conditions by legislation or otherwise. The Division of Women in Industry of the Department of Labor has recently made a study to ascertain to what extent women were working in newspaper offices at night and if the law as it stood from 1913 to 1921, prohibiting night work had actually been a handicap to any considerable group of women in these occupations. The Division was in touch with 98 papers representing 45 cities; information was secured from 59 of these or about 70 per cent of the total number. Of the 55 up-state newspapers hedd from, 29 employed women and 26 did not. In the 29 newspapers there were 68 women working - 33 as proof readers, 33 as linotypists and 2 as hand compositors, all on day shifts. In Greater New York of 14 newspapers 10 employed women and 4 did not; the 10 newspapers employed 35 women, 17 proof-readers, 13 linotypists, 1 monotypist and 4 hand compositors. Of these 35 women 8 only were employed between 10 p.n., and 7 a.m. "In other words the recent amendment affects at the present time only b women--6 as proof-readers, 1 as a linotypist and 1 as a monotypist. This is excepting the 10 women who work one night each week until 12:30 a.m.---2 of these are proof-readers, 4 are linotypists and 4 hand compositors." The Division of Women in Industry concludes: "As far as could be ascertained the passing of this law has added three women to the number of women employed as proof-readors, linotypists and monotypists in newspaper offices in New York City. The remaining 5 now employed on the night shift worked on the day shift during the prohibitory night work period. Judging from the statements of the union men and foremen, women in newspaper offices are restricted to a large extent in their opportunities for employment in these occupations, by the prejudice agninst them. Highly skilled, highly organized, mature women as they are, this group still suffers from the limitation of opportunity which has its roots deep down in class custom and social history." Pennsylvania. The following petitions to the Industrial Board made during January and February were all denied: (1) To employ 3 women 7 days each week (two petitions); (2) To employ women under twenty-one years of age after 9 p.m4 as ushers in moving picture theaters; (3) To reduce lunch period from 45 to 30 minutes when working hours were in excess of 8 per day. Rhode Island. The Consumers' League is urging the passage of a bill abolishing night work for women between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Tennessee. An opinion of the Attorney General just rendered definitely declares hotels and hospitals within the terms of the law limiting the hours of work of women to 10i a day and 57 a week. The Attorney General states after careful definitions of the terms "domestic," "hospital," and "to nurse" and a discussion of the requirements for nurses, "I an therefore clearly of the opinion, and so advise you that this proviso 'That domestic service and agricultural pursuits are hereby excluded', does not exclude hotels and hospitals from the terms of the original Act, and that any hotel or hospital violating the terms of this Act by requiring longer service of their employees will be amenable to the provisions of both acts." https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis O.Pi-k Oa Washineton, Orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission effective during December and January are as follows: Order No. 25 establishes in the Laundry and Dye Works Industry a minimum wage of 013,20 and a 6-day week; Order No. 26 establishes for minors in any mercantile, manufacturing, printing, laundering, or dye works establishments, sign-painting, machine or repair shop) or parcel delivery service or any other industry other than public housekeeping a minimum wage rate of 09.00, an 8-hour day, a 6-day week, and prohibits work between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.; provides for an increase for minors in any occupation of 0..00 per week after every six months of service until the minimum wage of 013,20 is reached, and prohibits the employment of any female under 18 years of age in certain specified occupations; Order No. 27 establishes a minimum wage of 013.20 for a 6-day week in the telephone and telegraph industry, or any public occupation other than public housekeeping, laundry, dry-cleaning and dye works, mercantile and manufacturing; Order No. 28 establishes a minimum wage of 013.20 for a 6-day week in mercantile establishments; Order No, 29 establishes a minimum wage of 013.20 in any manufacturing establishment ;. regulates apprenticeship terms and rates; limits the number of apprentices to 25 per cent of the total number of women employed; and fixes the average weekly wage for women employed at piece rates at 013,20; Order No. 30 regulates working conditions. NOES. A conference of working women, delegated representatives from many trades and occupations throughout the country, met in Washington February 25, 1922, at the call of the National Women's Trade Union League, to discuss and take action on the blanket legislation, Federal and State, proposed by the National Woman's Party to secure equal rights for women. After careful consideration the conference reached the conclusion that "we, trade union women...must oppose any blanket legislation on this subject, either by constitutional amendment or statute, state or federal," The declaration, which was unanimously adopted, continues as follows: We advocate and work for the removal of civil and legal discriminations against women. Working women have always fought for equality, political and economic, and we shall continue to do so but we believe this should be done by separate, specific laws in order that positive gains that have been made shall not be lost by attempts at blanket legislation. We therefore declare our oppoeition to the blanket amendment to the federal constitution proposed by the National Woman's Party and also to the blanket bills which are being urged by the National Woman's Party in the various state lecislatures. We take this position for the following reasons: (1) We distinguish between "equal rights" in theory and equal rights in fact, particularly as applied to industrial conditions and labor laws affecting women. As stated by an eminent legal authority, "these restrictive laws have not been enacted for the purpose of interfering with the civil and legal rights of women and children, but for the purpose of safe-guarding them against hardships, wrongs, and evils which have developed in our modern industrial life." https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -5(2) Many of the best legal authorities in the United States tell us that the language of the blanket legislation proposed by the National Womants Party, both federal and state, might be construed as invalidating labor laws which apply to women and not to men, such as laws regulating the hours of employment, providing seats in stores, factories, elevators, etc., establishing minimum wage commissions, prohibiting night work, and prohibiting the employment of women immediately before and after confinement. (3) It has taken years to establish by Supreme Court decision the constitutionality of present labor laws for women, and court decisions in some cases are still pending. During the period of litigation women workers have been deprived of the benefits of the laws. Millions of dollars in wages withheld, and untold hardships by reason of longer hours, are only a part of the price working women have had to pay for litigation. We do not wish to repeat this struggle. We wish to extend our efforts upon our constructive program for the improvement and extension of industrial standards for women, and not to be forced to exhaust our resources In defense of what we have won. (4) Working women, especially married women and wage-earning mothers, may be affected by other possibilities of the blanket legislation as well as by its effect upon industrial laws. Competent authorities advise us that much of the legal protection women now have would be taken away, and under the so-called equality proposed in the blanket legislation, delinquent husbands; for example, would be relieved from supporting their wives. It is quite impossible, lawyers tell us, to determine the farreaching and possibly disastrous effect of the proposed amendment. (5) Blanket legislation, whether state or federal, is not the best means of attaining the desirable ends of the proposed measures. Everything sought by the blanket legislation can be obtained by separate laws, either federal or state. Disabilities or inequalities of one kind existing in one state frequently do not exist in the next state. The conditions should be studied and the remedy applied where it is needed, without forcing the sacrifice of one group to another. Lest we substitute new disabilities for old, we call upon the National Woman's Party to discontinue its efforts for blanket legislation, federal or state, as a means of removing civil and legal discriminations against women. For specific legislation to correct discriminations we give our heartiest cooperation. Following the conference this declaration was delivered to President Harding by a committee from the National Women's Trade Union League asking support for the working women's position in favor of specific measures to remove specific discriminations against women. The blanket bill drafted by the National Womants Party has been introduced in the legislatures of Massachusetts, Now Jersey and Maryland and has passed the Maryland House of Representatives. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis eras -6- Kansas. Division of Miss k;nes E. Hannigan has been appointed inspector in the Women and Children. North Dakota. of the Linimum Miss Hazel Farkasch has resigned her position as secretary gone to her home in Wage Department of the Workmen's Compensation Bureau and has Wisconsin. NEU PIELICATIONS, Kansas Court of Industrial aelations. Women's Division. Cost of living survey of wage-earning women of the State of Kansas. 42 p. Topeka, 1922. Massachusetts. Department of Labor and Industries. Labor and Manual of the labor laws enforced by the Department of 110 p. Boston, 1921. Industries. Minnesota. Minimum Wage Commission. Second biennial report... April 1, 1918, to January 15, 1921. 95 p. 1922? U. S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau. 65 p., 1 pl. 1922. Negro women in industry. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Bulletin 20) 173 U. S. Department of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Washington April 6, 1922. News Letter No. 12. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. District of Columbia. The Minimum Wage Board has given out the following synopsis of its fourth annual report which will be ready shortly for distribution: In every industry covered by a wage order the establishment of a wage rate brought about a substantial increase in wages. Moreover, in each industry there has followed a gradual increase in the proportion of persons paid more than the minimum wage, until in the latter part of 1921 approximately 51 per cent of the minimum women and minors employed in these industries were receiving more than the to rates fixed by law. This shows conclusively that there has been no tendency ng bargaini Their minimum. legal the to keep experienced and efficient women down behalf. their in power has not been impaired by State action s to substiFurthermore, there has been no tendency on the part of employer for older minimum the below tute minors and other inexperienced workers at rates experienced workers. employed. The figures show a steady decrease in the proportion of learners per cent 24 from In the mercantile industry the proportion of learners dropped ly Apparent just after the order took effect to 11 per cent 2 years later. pay are of employers realize that efficient experienced workers at higher rates lower wages. cheaper in tho long run than inexperienced workers secured at of women number the in n reductio a The minimum wage law has not caused employed. Massachusetts. Minimum Wage. ure asking (1) that the minimum wage law be legislat the before Three bills have resulted made mandatory, (2) that it be repealed, and (3) that it be modified appointment of a in the recommendation by the Committee on Social Welfare of the recess committee to investigate the operation of the present law. of The Minimum Wage Commission has provisionally approved the determinations women's r, underwea muslin ngs, the following wage boards: Brush, mon's furnishi clothing, men's clothing and raincoat, paper box and retail store. With the ex. ception of the board for the paper box industry all of these are reconvened boards. to The paper box board is the third formed for the occupation and is the second submit a report. The new determinations, if finally approved, will moan in each case a revision of the minimum rates now in effect. In the case of the brush, recomretail store, muslin underwear, and men's furnishings wag boards the change the and boards clothing mended represents an increase over the existing rates. The living of cost the paper box board whose determinations were entered at a time when was approximately at the peak have recommended reductions from the existing rates. an The new rates recommended are as follows: For the brush industry, 30 cents an cents hour for experienced workers in place of the present minimum rate of 151hour; for retail stores, 014.00 a week in place of the present minimum rate of in 08,50; for the men's furnishings and muslin underwear occupations, 013.75 a week 014.00 place of the existing minimum of 09.00; for the women's clothing occupations, occupaa week in place of 015.25 as at present; for the men's clothing and raincoat s, factorie box paper the for tion, 014.75 in the place of the present 015.00 minimum; 013.50 in place of the present 015.50. wage Public hearings on the determinations of the brush and men's furnishings store retail boards were held on March 18. Hearings on the determinations of the https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ••• and muslin underwear wage boards will be hold on April 7 and on the determinations of the women's clothing men's clothing and raincoat and paper box wage boards will be held on April 8. The petition asking for the abolition of the Minimum Wage Commission and the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration and for the establishment in their place of a court of industrial relations has been reported "leave to withdraw" and this report has been accepted in both branches of the legislature. Forty-eight hour law. An attempt to repeal the 48-hour law and restore the 54-hour weekly ltmit for women and minors was made this year. The proposal was vigorously opposed by organized labor. The Committee on Social Welfare in charge of the measure has voted unanimously "leave to withdraw" on the petition. It is expected that this report will be accepted by both branches of the legislature. Department of Labor and Industries Authorized to Appoint Experts. The recommendation presented to the legislature by the Department of Labor and Industries asking for authorization to appoint experts to whom the Civil Service regulations should not apply has been amended to provide that such appointments shall be for periods not exceeding 90 days. The measure has been enacted in this form. Additional Inspectors for the Department of Labor and Industries. The iptition of the Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation of Labor for the appointment of two additional inspectors in the Departmant of Labor and Industries was reported "leave to withdraw" by the Committee on State Administration and this report has been accepted by both branches of the legislature. Homestead Commission. The petition of the Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation of Labor for the establishment of a homestead commission in the Department of Labor and Industries and for the purchase of land by the commonwealth for the erection of homes for working people has been reported "next annual session" by the Committee on State Administration. Unemployment Insurance. A bill regarding unemployment insurance as originally presented called for establishing a plan of unemployment insurance to be administered by the Industrial Accident Department. A substitute measure has been reported providing for the appointment of a commission of 11 members to study the subject in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Industries and other State departments interested in the problem. This recommendation has been reported favorably by the Committee on Social Welfare. Accommodations for Sick and Injured Employees. to extend the accommodations for sick and injured petition seeking The employees to mercantile establishments has been reported "next annual session" by the Committee on Labor and Industry and this report has been accepted by both branches of the legislature. Course in Industrial Lighting for Factory Inspectors. Through the courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a short intensive course in industrial lighting has been given for the benefit of industrial inspectors in the Department of Labor and Industries. The purpose of the course https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3new lighting was to provide better equipment for the inspectors in applying the published by been has code code when it goes into operation, A tentative lighting question the on hearing the Department and is now available for distribution. A of adopting a mandatory code will be held on May 16, Minnesota. investigations of hotels The Division of Women and Children is making special of the legislature. and restaurants in order to present figures at the next session may be employed in There is no law in the State limiting the number of hours women hours of women hotels and none outside of the four largest cities limiting the conducted by the being y constantl are employed in restaurants. Wage investigations Division of Women and Children. New Jersey. in laundries, factories and The bill on the limitation of night work for women to be reported out of failed bakeries passed the Assembly by a vote of 44 to 13 but Consumers League reports that the Senate Committee to which it was referred. The Democratic platforms and the measure was endorsed in both the Republican and the was recommended by the Governor. Ohio. course in industrial On March 6, the Western Reserve University initiated a n, ventilation, sanitatio cover will nursing under Miss Mildred Chadsey. Lectures About fifty etc. , questions home labor turnover, absenteeism, shop committees, , president Ellsworth Gertrude Mrs. nurses have already registered for the course. about bringing in active of the Cleveland Industrial Nurses' Association has been no. 4, 68, v. Review, Hospital this addition to the curriculum. (Trained Nurse and April 1922, p. 342.) Pennsylvania. Public hearings will be held on a tentative draft of the proposed laundries code on April 21 in Pittsburgh and on April 18 in Philadelphia. The code consists of rules on washing machines, extractors, drying tumblers and shakers, ironers, ventilation and floor drainage, and personal sanitation. Copies of the proposed code are available for distribution, The Master Dyers' Association of Philadelphia has submitted to the Industrial Board a code on the safeguarding of machinery used in the various branches of the dyeing and finishing of textiles. The Board voted to accept this code for first and second readings and to submit it for public hearings before final adoption. This is the first time that an association of Pennsylvania has formulated a code at its own expense and presented it for state-wide adoption. The code is illustrated and at present consists of seven parts: (1) General instructions pertaining to guards; (2) Dyeing of loose fibres; (3) Slubbing and cop dyeing; (4) Dyeing of yarns; (5) Piece dyeing; (6) Hosiery dyeing; (7) Silk dyeing. Rhode Island, A bill to limit the hours of work of women and children under 16 years of age to 48 a week has passed the House and is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing was held March 27 on the bill to prohibit night work for women, The bill has not yet been reported out of committee. Virginia. The 9-hour bill sponsored by the League of Women Voters passed the Senate and was favorably reported out of the House Committee by a unanimous vote. The League reports, however, that the bill failed to reach a vote in the House in the last https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis days of the session because of a rule which allows a bill that has opposition continually to be passed over until the calendar is cleared of bills without opposition. A Women's Division has been created in the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. For this work an appropriation of 02,575 was made, 01,800 of which is to be used for salary. Czechoslovak Republic. The Washington conventions concerning hours of employment and the employment of women during the night were ratified in February 1921. (Ceske-Slovo, 11 January 1922; Industrial and Labour Information) v. 1, no. 7, 17 February 1922, p. 4.) England. Reorganization of the Inspectorate. The men's and women's sides of the Inspectorate, which have hitherto been separately organised and worked apart, will be amalgamated into a single organisation. Women inspectors will be regarded as eligible for all posts. While the complete fusion, which is the ultimate aim, can only be brought about gradually, the main principles on which the organisation will be based will be put into effect from the commencement. The immediate changes will be as follows: The post of Principal Lady Inspector will be abolished, and a woman Deputy Chief Inspector will be appointed, with special duties in regard to the women Inspectors. Women Divisional and District Inspectors will also be appointed. The independent organisation of the women inspectorate in the Divisions will disappear. In Divisions under a man Superintending Inspector, a woman will be appointed as an additional Deputy Superintending Inspector (the post of Senior Lady Inspector being abolished), but she will have special duties in regard to the women's work in the Division, and special arrangements will be made to keep her in touch with the women inspectors. All instructions to occupiers will go from the District Inspector's office. Men junior Inspectors may be attached to Districts under women District Inspectors and vice versa. • . The medical staff is to be increased from three to five, one of whom will be a woman. (Great Britain, Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops. Annual report, 1920. p. 9-10.) Women's Employment. light exception of leather tanning works, where women are found still With the working at graining, glazing, staking, polishing, and even on buffing machines (although before the war they were only employed in hand ironing, trimming, and seasoning), there is as yet no fulfillment of the expectations that after the war a body of industries and operations offering a hopeful field of fresh employment would On the lie open to women where their war experience could be turned to account. contrary, an automatically operating force has closed all these expected new avenues, and in various occupations hitherto regarded as peculiarly women's their presence seems, in certain directions, to be threatened. In this connection, a report from Miss Esereet that there has been started in the Midlands what is, she believes, the first instance of an engineering works managed and staffed solely by women, has significance and interest far beyond its present size, in view of the part played by women in the manufacture of munitions of war. "Wcmen were employed on lathe and drill, in repetition jobs long before the war; it will be interesting now to see them make good in skilled work." (Great Britain, Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, Annual Report, 1920. p. 15-16.) Employment of Married Women. A report on the employment of married women prepared by the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations at the request of the Executive Committee https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -5of the Labour Party was adopted by that committee February 7, 1922. The report states that the Labour Party had already definitely declared itself against any quesdiscrimination against workers on the ground of sex or marriage, but that the tion which has arisen now is fundamentally an economic one and not a sex one. The special instances which have just now focused public attention on this question are those of the dismissal of Dr. Miall Smith, one of the medical officers of the Metropolitan Borough Council of St. Pancras, and three women doctors in similar posts under the Glasgow Corporation, Also school cleaners and charwomen have been dismissed by the same authorities for the same XIV= reason, namely) that they were married women whan-husbands were able to support them. The Labour Party holds that this course is a dangerous one both on the ground of principle and because of the hardship which may be created in individual cases. On the ground of principle it is bad because it means: (1) An inquiry into the family affairs of every woman employed, into the man's wages, and usually into the relation of husband and wife as well; (2) Such a system would be a bar against the employment of married women and reduce employment to the level of relief work, and it would certainly tend to prevent the best person for the job being selected, and this is especially clear in the case of women doctors; (3) Even if the inquisitorial system is accepted the uncertainty of the husband's employment makes the principle work badly. This is especially so in the case of such workers as school and office cleaners. As one woman put it "nobody is a school cleaner for fun", (4) The St. Pancras Borough Council showed the absurdity of this proposal from the other side when they dismissed Dr. Miall Smith because she had a husband who could support her. They stated that married applicants for the job would be considered if they had husbands who were dependent upon them and further, that a single woman who applied for the post must agree to resign on marriage unless she married a man who was incapable of undertaking her support; (5) It is impossible to apply the principle justly for it can not be extended to those who are their own employers, e.g., dressmakers, washerwomen, etc., nor could it be applied to artists. If two artists are husband and wife, neither can be prevented from receiving payment for their pictures, fees for concerts, or salaries as stage-players. The report concludes that "the difficulties that have arisen today are due to widespread unemployment and failure to protect its victims. They can only be properly net by a scheme of widows' and mothers' pensions for all women who have dependent children and no breadwinner) by invalidity pensions, and by the prevention of unemployment, or failing that the maintenance of the unemployed." (Labour Woman, v. 10, no. 3, March 1922. p% 35-37.) Women and Unemployment. A national conference of unemployed women was announced to be held March 6, 1922) under the chairmanship of Miss Margaret Bondfield, The speakers were to be unemployed women representing all the different trades and professions in which, unemployment is prevalent, It was planned to appoint a deputation to place their case before the Prime Minister. (Labour News, February 23, 1922.) The number of unemployed women and girls on March 6 was 352,878. (Local Government Chronicle, March 18, 1922. Training for Women. Under the scheme for the training of women in homecrafts and allied subjects established by the Central Committee on Women's Training and Employment, which is assisted by the Government) 2,568 women are at present in training, the number of courses in operation being 61. (Local Government Chronicle) March 4, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -6Maternity Benefit, It was recently suggested in the House that maternity benefit on a husband's insurance should not be paid on the confinement of le'.s wife if he is not the father of the child, Sir Alfred Mond replied that maternity benefit is payable 'in respect of the confinement of the wife of an insured person irrespective of any question as to the paternity of the child. He could not contemplate the introduction ef legislation which would necessitate inquiries being made as to the paternity of all children born to the wives of insured persons. The point of maternity benefit we should have thought, was maternity, and not paternity, benefit anyway, (Woman's Leader, v. 14, no, 5, March 3, 1922,) Police Women, The Geddes Committee on National Expenditure has recommended that the Metropolitan Policewomen Patrols be abolished. The National Council of Women has protested against this, Statistics prove, they say, that the patrols have reduced the number of offences which come before the courts, that they have thereby saved a considerable public expenditure, and that it is true economy to retain them. Protest has been made also by the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene. "We believe," their memorandum to the Home Office states, "that the work of the Women Police is not only desirable but absolutely necessary in a vast city like London, and we feel that even if it meant, for reasons of economy, having a few less male police, we would prefer to see a number of women police retaine d in order to continue the valuable preventive work which is, in our opinion , a real economy to the State." (Woman's Leader, v, 14, no. 5, March 3, 1922.) Representation of Women in the League of Nations, At a recent meeting in London of the Council for the Representation of Women in the League of Nations, the following resolution was proposed and passed: That in view of the present difficulty, amounting almost to impossibility of securing the inclusion of women as full delegates to the general conference of representatives or as members of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, this Council urges: (a) That the composition of the general conferences shall be six representatives (instead of four) of each of the states-member s, two of whom shall be women representing respectively the Government and the workpeople, (b) That the Governing Body of the Labour Office shall include not fewer than six women. (c) That on all conferences and commissions appointed by the Labour organizations a due proportion of women shall be include d, and in no case fewer than onefourth. (d) That the duly authorized technical advisers shall be given the right of speech at meetings. (Manchester Guardian) March 2, 1922,) Equal Franchise, A bill to extend the suffrage to women on the same terms as men has been introduced and read the first time. Women Students Barred from The London Hospital has decided to take London Hospital. no more women stvdents, not because women have proved unsatisfactory students but because of the difficulties of educating them with men. The London correspondent of the Journal of the American Medical Association says that the discussion occasioned by this decision has however) "brought to light evidence to the contrary. Dr, W. J. Fenton, dean of Charing Cross Hospital) has never found any difficulties. At Edinburgh University where there are about 400 women medical students, no difficu lty is found in instructing them in the same c1asse4ts men. The situation is the same in many provincial Scotch and Irish https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis expressed with the medical schools... But at Dundee and Manchester, sympathy is Medical AssoAmerican the of views entertained at the Lcndon liespntal." (Journal ciation, v. 78, no. 12, Maech 25, 1922. p, 907.) suppert pons out that Royal Free Hospital, Gray's Inn Road, in an appeal for years. (Manchester fifty women medical students have been welcome there for nearly Guardian, March 8, 1922.) Finland. democrats for the A majority in Parliament rejected the motion of the social work in industry, the ratification of the Draft Conventions concerning hours of employment of women during employment of women before and after childbirth, and the Conventions were that the night. The chief reasons given for not ratifying the the hours of work limiting only a few countries had ratified the Draft Conventions n concernConventio the while some (among them Sweden) have rejected it. Further, a burden great too be ing the employment of women before and after childbirth would night the g on the projected motherhood insurance, while the Convention concernin on competiti work of women would place women in an unfavorable position as rPgards l Industria 1922; in the labor market. (Social Demokraten Stockholm), 9 February and Labour Information, v. 1, no. 8, 24 February 1922, p. 5.) France. compenIn 1908 a bill was introduced providing for the extension of accident carwas bill This sation legislation to include domestic servants of all kinds. the Senate in ried by the Chamber of Deputies on 25 June 1913, but the discussion second was postponed owing to the war and did not begin until 9 February 1922. The to the paragraph of Section 2 raised certain difficulties of interpretation owing bill character of the gifts mentioned. Section 2 was not nue7'..sat carried and the Indus1922; February 10 Officiel, was referred back to the Commission. (Journal trial and Labour Information, v. 1, no. 8, 24 February 1922, p. 43.) Saar Territory. The Saar Basin Governing Commission, in a communication to the Secretary obbeen General cf the League of Nations stated that the 8-hour day has always prepare served since the Governing Commission came into power and that it hopes to (Industrial a legislative text to transform the relevant military order into law. 7.) p. 1922, and Labour Information, v. 1, no. 9, 3 March Switzerland, The Federal Council is authorized by Federal Order to ratify the Draft Convention concerning the employment of women during the ni.ght as soon as the Employment of Young FPrsons and Women in Factories and Workshops Act comes into force. (Industrial and Labour Information, v. 1, no, 91 3 March 1922, p. 7.) NOTES The blanket bill for equal rights for women, for which campaigns have been conducted in a number of States, failed of enactment in any State in 1922 sessions of the legislatures. In Maryland the bill passed the House but was reported unfavorably by the Senate committee, When this report was made to the Senate a motion to adept the bill was followed by a motion to table which passed by a vote of 17 to 9# In Mississippi the bill received an unfavorable vote of 16 to 20 n the Senate. In other States in which campaigns were conducted the bill either was not introduced in the legislatures or failed to come to a vote. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -8. This bill is sponsored by the National Woman's Party and is opposed by the American Federation of Labor, the National Women's Trade Union League, and the Consumers' League on the ground that it may endanger existing labor laws for women. For the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 19221 the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor has been given five new positions over 02000 and an appropriation of 3100,000 which is an increase of 025,000 over the present allotment. PERSONNEL. Indiana, Miss Sarah Louise Proctor of Union City and Miss Edith Venn of Indianapolis, have recently been appointed assistants in the Department of Women and Children of the Industrial Board and assigned to field duty. NEW PUBLICATIONS. California. Laws, statutes etc. Labor laws of the State of California: 1921. Sacramento, 1922, 292 10. Prepared by the California State Library for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumers' League of New York. Behind the scenes in a hotel. Less than a living wage, New York, February 1922, 47 p. New York, December 1921. Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, Social Service. Research Department. The wage question, February 1922. 32 p, 9 p. Commission on the Church and (Bulletin 1) Lauder, A. Estelle. Trailing behind, or how Pennsylvania compares with other States in protective legislation for working women and children, Philadelphia, 1922, 35 p, 4 col. maps. Prepared for the Joint Legislative Committee consisting of the East Central Field Committee of the Y,W.C.A., the Women's Trade Union League, and the Consumers' League of Eastern Pennsylvania, U, S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. National war labor bo'Ard, A history of its formation and activities, together with its awards and the documents of importance in the record of its development. Washington, 1922. 334 p. (Bulletin 287) Labor legislation of 1920, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Washington, 1922. 152 pi (Bulletin 292) 182 U. S. Departtent of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Washington May 16, 1922. News Letter No. 13. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. California. The State Industrial Welfare Commission, after a five months' investigation, has fixed a $15 weekly minimum wage for women and minors engaged in the general manufacturing, fruit and vegetable packing and canning and fish , canning industries, and in unclassified occupations. This is a decrease of $1 a week from the present minimum of 016. The latter wage, however, still holds for mercantile industries, laundry, hotel and restaurant workers, there having been no request for a wage reduction from employers in these lines. The California Manufacturers' Association asked the minimum wage for women be reduced to a2 weekly, but the long investigation showed that with'present reductions in living costs the minimum living wage in Californiais 014.93 weekly. (Christian Science Monitor, April 14, 1922.) District of Columbia. On request of the Merchants and Manufacturers' Association for a reduction • of the minimum wage for women employed in the mercantile industry, the Minimum Wage Board, by a vote of 2-1, has agreed to consider a revision. The represenh dissenting vote on the ground that there was v of the employees cast te tatie The Board the merchants have asked." reduction the warrant to evidence "no considboard which conference same the possible as nearly hopes to assemble as 1919. in industry for this ered the YL!LL Indiana. During the year ending September 30, 1921, of a total of 502 plants employing 10,705 unmen, 70 per cent, employing more than 86 per cent of the women, worked on a daily schedule in excess of 8 hours, and 24 per cent'of the firms, employing 18 per cent of the women, worked on a daily schedule of 10 hours or more. These are the hours of work for women during an almost unparallAled tire of unemployment when production was at an extremely low point. Furthermore, no account is and no here taken of overtime to which there is no legal limit nI.ian other firms seven in the that days work seven restaurants or hotels, and only week, are included in the total of 502 plants. (Indiana Industrial Board. Department of Women and Children. Report 1920/21.) Kansas. Suggested orders relating to four occupations have been made public by the Court of Industrial Relations to be used as a basis of ..18•11j a final heara only and subject to the final ing set for May 9. They are therefore tenttive Judge McDermott's hearing and to the consideration of the court thereafter. judges of the court letter transmitting these suggested orders to the othPr states that the minimum wage suggested in the recommendations submitted by Miss McFarland, Director of Women's Work, "is somewhat higher than the amount sugm which I have prepared and herewith submit, and no doubt regested in the fors flects the minimum cost of living at the date of the investigation. However, inasmuch as the order could not become effective for more than sixty days, and its operation is to cover a future period, in view of a slightly declining cost ng, I have recommended in these suggestions a slightly reduced mmum of wage from that recommended by the director." The suggested orders provide as follows: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2 Laundry occupation: 9-hour day, 49-hour week; the 9 hours to come within 10 consecutive hours except in case of a breakdown of machinery when the spread may be 12 hours; not more than 6 hours without relief for meals; al- hours overtime per week with pay at the rate of time and ono-half; one hour for lunch unless both employer and employee prefer a shorter period, but never less than hour; a minimum wage of 011.00, after six months' apprenticeship with a wage of 07.50 for the first 3 months, and 09.00 for the second 3 months; guarantee of a full week's pay, provided the employee avails herself of the full working time offered and that the worker's service is subject to the demand of the employer at least 5 days per week. Manufacturing occupation: 9-hour day, 4*hour week, the day divided into 2 periods, with not more than 5 hours without relief for meals, for which not less than 45 minutes shall be allowed, except as a result of special investigation by the Court; 6-day week; no overtime, except in case of emergency and then not to exceed 4i hours per week to be paid for at the rate of time and one-half for the period of time in excess of the normal week and to be reported at the end of each month to the Court; seasonal occupations handling perishable food products permitted to work the full amount of overtime allowed per week, without penalty, for 6 weeks during the peak season or 2 periods of 3 weeks each duringl year; a minimum wage of $11.00 after six months' apprenticeship with a wage of $7.50 for the first 3 months, and 09.00 for the second 3 months; in garment factories and other industries operating on a piece-work basis, where the learner is handling materials subject to possible injury and loss and average speed must be developed, a minimum of 36.50 may be paid for the first month of the learning period; the learning period in millinery work rooms and dressmaking establishments to be 1 year divided into 4 periods of 3 months each, with $6.50 to be paid for the first period, 07.50 for the second and $9,C0 for the third; substandard workers may be employed at a rate less than the minimum, such rate to be fixed by the court; the weekly rate for women or minors employed at piece rates to be not less than the minimum established for each class of workers provided that the employee has availed herself of all work offered and that her service is subject to the demand of the employer at least 5 days a week. Mercantile occupation: 9-hour day within 10 consecutive hours except 1 day of the week when 10 hours may be worked during 12 consecutive hours; 6-day week; employment after 9 p.m. and for more than 5 hours without relief for meals prohibited; 1 hour allowed for meals; minimum wage of 010.50 after apprenticeship of 1 year divided into 3 periods, with wage of 37.50 for the first 2 months, $8.00 for the next four months, and $9.00 for the last six months; minors under 18 years of ago to receive as apprentices 36.00, $8.00 and $9.00 for the same periods. Public housekeeping: 8-hour day, 46-hour week, 6-day week; work between 12 p.m. and 6 a.m. prohibited; in establishments where service is continuous the 8 hours must be worked in one continuous shift, or in two shifts with 4 hours between; where service is not continuous employee must be on duty during the period of serving each of 3 regular meals, and the 8 hours may be arranged in a broken shift of 3 divisions within 14 consecutive hours provided that 4 hours is allowed between the second and third divisions; not more than 5 hours permitted without relief for meals, such relief to be at least +-; hour which must fall within the total spread of hours allowed. Massachusetts. Minimum Wage. Minimum wage decrees for women employed in five occupations have been approved by the Minimum Wage Commission. These orders provide in the paper box occupation a minimum rate of $13.50, effective May 15; in women's clothj.ng 014.00, effective July 1; in retail stores, $14.00, effective June 1; and in men's https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3furnishings and muslin underwear, 013.75, effective June 1. Two of those, paper box and women's clothing, are a reduction from the existing minimum rates of 0.5.50 and 015.25 respectively, while the other three are an increas e from 08.50 in retail stores, and 0.00 in men's furnishings and muslin underwe ar. A minimum rate of 013.50 for women in laundries has been recommended by the reconvened wage board for that occupation and provisionally approved by the Minimum Wage Commission. A public hearing will be held May 19. Investigation of Minimum Wage Lay. The House Ways and Means Committee has reported a resolve in the House providing for the appointment of a special commission to investigate problems relating to unemployment and to the operation of the minimum wage law. The commission is to consist of two members of the Senate, four members of the House and three other persons to be appointed by the Governor. It will report to the General Court not later than the first Wednesday in January, 1923. The resolve is based on two resolves which are before the Committee on Social Welfare, one providing for the investigation of unemployment insurance and the other for the investigation of the minimum wage. Wages of Women in the Manufacture of Druggist's Compounds. Unpublished matter on women's wages includes a report of the women employed in the manufacture of druggist's compounds, based on investigation made by the Commission in 1920. The figures show more than nine-tenths of the women with rates for full-time employment, less than 015 a week, and approximately six -sevenths with rates below 013 a week. Vacations for Scrub Women. Scrub women in the State House employ will receive two weeks' vacation with pay under a bill which has recently been signed by the Governor. Cost of Living Survey. An investigation of the cost of living for working girls and women in the various sections of the State is being made by the Women's Trade Union League. This is being made to show the need for minimum wage legisla tion, and to help in preventing the repeal of the Minimum Wage Law. Representation of Women on Accident BoariDe nied. Petition was filed by representatives of women's organizations to provide that one member of the Industrial Accident Board might be a woman. This measure came before the Committee on State Administration and has been adversely reported on. Women Guardians. Mothers will have the same rights as fathers in appointing testamentary guardians for their minor children under a measure just enacted by the General Court which gives to the last surviving parent the right to appoint ouch guardians. This measure is one of those introduced by the Massach usetts League of Women Voters, Jury Service for Women. The Judiciary Committee has recommended that a recess committee be appointed to investigate the question of jury service for women. This report is submitted in place of the bill introduced by the League of Women Voters providing that women may serve on juries. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis al Women in Public Office. Following the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts that no aleendment to the Coestitution is necessary to permit women o hold any elective or appointive office in the State and that the General Court has authority to enact legislation, a bill making women eligible to hold elective or appoint ive office, has been passed in connection with the Civil Service. Department heads retain the right to request men candidates, and the Civil Service Commission may as at present, limit examinations to men. The measure becomes effective in 90 days. This will make it possible for women to be candidates for the legislature this year. Safety Conference. The Department of Labor and Industries in cooperation with the Massachu setts Safety Council and the State Department of Public Safety conducted a safety conference on April 4 and 5. The work of the inspection force, cooperation between the Department of Labor and safety engineers, and the proposed lighting code for Massachusetts were among the subjects discussed. New York. ' The 1922 legislature passed no amendments affecting the employment of women, except those to the Workmen's Compensation Law. Numerous bills, includi ng one changing the weekly hours from 54 to 48 and one creating a minimum wage commission, were introduced but were not reported out of committee. A bill which would have amended the present law governing the employment of waitresses, extending their closing hour from 10 to 12 at night, passed the Assembly, was amended slightly in the Senate and defeated. The following day, however, another vote was taken and the bill was passed. It was then hurried back to the Assembly for adoptio n in the amended form to find that that body had adjourned until next session . The amendments to the workmen's compensation act are very signifi cant. The Knight bill which amended the workmen's compensation law general ly, clarified the old law which eight years of administration and many court decisions had made neces.. sary. In addition to this there were some important substantive changes , among them that which eliminates tne 60-day limitation for medical treatment of injured workmen, and the requirement that the employer furnish his injured employee medical care and treatment for as long a time as the nature of the injury require s. No provision had ever been made in the law for the payment of compens the ation for loss of hearing; the new law, however, allows 150 weeks' compensation for loss of hearing. The list of occupationel diseases is enlarged by the addition of zinc poisoning and formaldehyde posoning. Another important amendment is that which provides that notwithstanding the general provisions of marime law, employera and employees engaged in maritime work may elect to come under the colTe:Icazjon law. The United States Supreme Court held that longshere work and other fcrms of maritime employment did not come under the workmen's compeneat4.en law. Th4.s amendment will affect not only shipping employees but also the employees on the state canal. The State Fund Bill. The State Fund Bill, which limited insurance under the workmen's compensation law to the state insurance fund or to self-insuring employers, was voted down in both Houses. The Equalizing Bills. None of the separate bills introduced by the League of Women Voters to secure civil equalities for women was passed. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -50hio. University Courses for Waitresses. in offering Toledo University is cooperating with the Toledo Waitresses Union ourses for members of that union. Y.W.C.A. Industrial Clubs. problems to The Industrial clubs of the Y.W.C.A. are making studies of special unemstudying is instance be presented at their state meeting. An Akron group for ployment, a Toledo group workers' education. Pennsylvania. Activities of Women's Advisory Council. to A survey of personnel departments in industrial plants employing women is its through industry in children and women be undertaken by the advisory council on chairthe is Philadelphia of Paddock committee on personnel of which Miss Laura B. man. This study will be made in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Industry. A complete list of facilities outside of the State Employment Service for secul.ing work for women is another survey which will be conducted soon with Miss Esther M. Smith, chairman of the committee on employment, Wilkensburg, in charge. As an assistance to the Advisory Council, the Industrial Committee of the Harrisburg Civic Club intends to make a survey of conditions surrounding the employment of women and children in Harrisburg. Rulings of the Industrial Board. The Industrial Board at its meeting April 11 rendered, among others, the following ruling: Messrs. Moyer and Martin, Philadelphia, were denied permission to employ 2 women from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m., packing crullers; Pennsylvania State Telephone Traffic Association, Harrisburg, was denied permission for three women working six hours each day to work the seventh day or a total of 42 hours per week; Jersey Cereal Food Company, Cereal, was denied permission to operate two 8-hour shifts for women employees 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Buck Hill Falls Inn, Buck Hill Falls, was denied permission to estab3ish seven-day week employment for women employees; employees of Individual Drinking Cup Company, Easton, were denied permission to reduce the lunch period to 30 minutes; Elm Converting Co., Philadelphia, was denied permission to employ women from 10 p.m. to 12 p.m., 30 days on account of lost production caused by moving, Rhode Island. The 48-hour bill which passed the House was not reported by the Senate committee. Bills for a minimum wage commission and to restrict night work were defeated. United States, A bill introduced April 25 in the United States Senate by Senator Moses of New Hempsnre and referred to the Committee on Edr.cation and Labor, provides "That, beginning Januery 1, 1023, eight hours shall, in contracts for labor and service, be deemed a de.y's work in any mine, quarry, mill, tannery, workshop, factory, or manufacturing establishment situated in the U.Lited States and enThe gaged in the production of wares which enter into interstate commerce." imprisor 01,000, for penalty violation is not less than 0.00 and not more than onment not to exceed one year, or both. The Boston Herald of May 2, in a story concerning this bill says that "in order to overcome any possible constitutional objections, the language of the bill is that of the Ademnon law, which has already successfully passed the https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -6scrutiny of the courts." The Herald says also that this bill is similar to the one introduced by Senator Moses in the 66th Congress which was buried in the Committee on Education and Labor. Australia. The Federal Ministry of Australia has decided to create an industrial hygiene branch of the Department of Health. (Labour Gazette, Canada, March, 1922.) Bulgaria, Labour Legislation. The Bulgarian Government has ratified the following conventions adopted by the International Labour Conference at Washington in 1919: (1) Concerning the employment of women during the night. (2) Concerning the night work of young persons employed in industry; (3) Concerning the employment of women before and after childbirth; (4) Fixing the minimum age for the admission of children to industrial employment; (5) Concerning unemployment; (6) Limiting the hours of work to 8 in the day and 48 in the week. (International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, 15 March 1922.) Political Rights of Women. A bill dealing with the political rights of women has been submitted to the Sobranje by the Communists. (Manchester Guardian, March 27, 1922.) Canada. Ontario. During February and March the Minimum Wage Board issued five new orders completing a series which will govern the minimum wages to be paid to saleswomen and other employees in all retail stores throughout Ontario. Orders previously issued fixed a minimum of 012.50 in retail stores in Toronto and of 312.00 in citieS of Ontario having a population of over 50,000, The new orders extend the 312.00 minimum to cities having 30,000 to 50,000•popvlation, fix a minimum of- 311.00 in cities of 10,000 to 30,000 population, 010,00 in ci'Aes and towns of 4,000 to 10,000, 09.00 in towns and villages of 1,000 to 4,000 and $00 in the renainder of the Province. The new orders became effective April 17, 1922. (Labour Gazette, Canada, March, 1922.) Regulations governing minimum wages for telephone operators were issued during March and become effective May 15. These regulations establish rates ranging from $12.50 to $7.00 according to the status of the employees and the population of the communities served. No rates are fixed for exchanges having less than 200 subscribers. (Labour Gazette, Canada, April, 1922.) The Ontario Minimum Wage Board recently concluded an inquiry into the minimum wages paid to women in the textile industry in Toronto, with a view to fixing a minimum scale. Arrangements have now been made to hold a similar inquiry in Hamilton. (Labour Gazette, Canada, March, 1922.) Czechoslovak. Republic. In the flint glass industry in Teplitz, Czech women are employed as packers, sorters and wrappers. Formerly they worked as cutters, but this has been done away with. The wages of women are 20 per cent lower than those of men doing the same class of work. The unions admit to membership all male and female workers of Czech nationality regardless of ability. Even the manager of the plant must be a member of the union, and at one factory a manager was found to be vice president of the union. (Clarke, W. P., Europe's Flint Glass Industry: 1920-21.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -7England. Women Police. The prospect with regard to the retention of women police is not very rosy, but it is felt by friends in the House that an effort can still be made to ask the Government at least to postpone their disbandment until the House has had time further to consider the question and to express its opinion. (Woman's Leader, April 14, 1922.) National Conference of Labor Women. The national conference of labor women, convened by the Labor Party with the cooperation of the standing joint committee of industrial women's organizations is holding its 4th annual gathering May 9-10 in the Town Hall, Leamington Spa. The standing joint committee represents not only the women of the Labor Party, but women members of the Co-Operative Guild and the Co-Operative Union, and women connected with the Trade Union movement, its prime object being to'look•after women's interests nationally and internationally. It includes over 1,000,000 definitely organized women representing practically every trade union which has any large proportion of women among its members, either directly, or through such national bodies as the Labor Party and Trade Union Congress; it is connected with the International Federation of Working Women, founded at Geneva last year. (Christian Science Monitor, May 9, 1922.) Germany. Unequal Pay. In a glass factory at Weiswasser, where electric bulbs are made on an extensive scale, men who are employed at grinding are paid an average of 280 marks ($66.64) per week, while women doing the same work receive 2 marks and 85 pfennigs to 3 marks and 35 pfennigs (68 to 80 cents) an hour. (Clarke, W. P.,Europels Flint Glass Industry: 1920-21.) India, Women's Strike. The first union in India composed exclusively of women (the Reeling and Lule Workers of the New China Mill at Sewn, Bombay) recently obtained certain concessions from their employers after a week's strike. The women demanded a 10-hour working day (alleging that they were made to work for 12 hours without evena fixed interval), a complete holiday or double wages on Sundays and an increase in pay. They secured an increase, giving a rate of 4 annas for 12 doffs instead of 13, and it was agreed that there should be no victimization. (Woman's Leader, March 31, 1922.) Italy. Legislation. The bill for the ratification of the Draft Conventions concerning unemployment, employment of women before and after childbirth, employment of women during the night, and the night work of young persons employed in industry which was adoptea by the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy on 6 August 1921, was pas;sed by the Senate during its sitting of 31 March 1922. (International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, 12 April 1922.) Medical Inspection of Labour. The municipality of Padua has recently established a section for the medical inspection of labour in the Health Department whose duty it will be to supervise labcur both in factories and at home and to treat occupational diseases. The section will also assist young workers of both sexes in choosing a trade suited to their pnysical capacities. (Italian Press; Industrial and Labour Information, 14 April 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -8Latvia. Through an act concerning health insurance adopted January 14, 1922, working women are allowed an unemployment benefit equal to the amount of their wages for the 12 weeks following childbirth. (Industrial and Labour Information, 7 April 1922.) Netherlands. The Government intends to proceed at once to ratify the Draft Conventions concernirg employment during the night, the minimum age for the admission of children to industrial employment and the night work of young persons employed in industry. With regard to the other Draft Conventions (1) limiting the hours of work, (2) concerning unemployment and (3) concerning the employment of women before and after childbirth the Government states that ratification will not be possible in the near future since before ratification it is desired to make the necessary am3ndi2ents to existing legislation in order to bring it into harmony with the provisions of the Conventions. Moreover, the Government does not consider ratification of the Hours Convention to be desirable as long as there exists no guarantee that other countries which are competitors of the Netherlands will also ratify the Convention. (International Labour Office. Official Bulletin, 5 April 1922.) Poland. On 14 February 1922, the Polish Diet amended the 8-hour act of 18 December 1919 as applying to commerce. Section 2, para. 3 of the act has been repealed, and a new clause introduced which allows shops to remain open for the sale of merchandise for 10 hours a day, without being compelled to close during the lunch hour. Pharmacies and restaurants do not come under these provisions. (Industrial and Labour Information, 17 March 1922.) Portuval. The Council of the General Confederation of Labour has decided to organize a propaganda campaign throughout Portugal with a view to securing the observance of the 8-hour day in commerce and industry. (A Batalha, Lisbon, 16 February 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 10 March 1922.) Russia. The Labour Protection Section of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions has recently issued a circular letter concerning the necessity of reselecting and strengthening the factory inspection staff, as the present organization of the department is considered inadequate to deal with the changed labour conditions obtaining in Russia since the introduction of the new economic policy. At present 65 per cent of the inspectors are manual workers, while the remaining 35 per ceht are clerks, teachers and intellectuals; metal workers form 27 per cent of the whole staff. Politically, the staff is divided as follows: Communists and adherents, 65.1 per cent; various political parties, 2.8 per cent; non-party, 32.1 per cent. Women inspectors form only 5 per cent of the total staff excluding the Ukraine. It is considered that the number of women inspectors should be considerably increased. As regards age, 70 per cent of the present staff are between 25 and 39 years of age. The majority have had considerable experience in their work, as about 70 per cent have been employed as inspectors for periods varying from 1 to 3 years. The standard of education is extremely low, as nearly 60 per cent of the staff have received no education other than that which is provided by village schools, while many are practically illiterate. However, the number of workers elected who have had at least an elementary education has increased steadily. (Trud, Organ of the AllRussian Central Trade Union Council, 7 March 1922; Industrial and Labour Information. Russian Supplement, 13 April 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -9South Africa. The Union House of Assembly rejected the Woman's Enfranchisement Bill on the second reading last week by 55 votes to 51. (Woman's Leader, March 31, 1922.) Switzerland. HoUts of Employment for State Employees. The Council of State of the Canton of Solothurn has decided to increase weekly hours of employment from 44 to 47 for all persons in state employment, to return, that is, to the hours of work in force before the introduction of the Saturday afternoon holiday. Saturday afternoon will continue to be a holiday, but the staff will work an hour extra daily from Monday to Friday as from 15 March. (Journal de Geneve, 5 March 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 17 March 1922.) Draft Conventions. By virtue of the decisions of the Federal Chambers, the Federal Council is now vested with full powers in accordance with Swiss public law to proceed to the ratification of the Draft Conventions concerning unemployment, the minimum age for the admission of children to industrial employment, the employment of women during the night and the night work of young persons in industry. It now remains for the Federal Council to decide when it will notify the formal ratifications of these Conventions. Before proceeding to ratification, however, Switzerland must adapt its legislation to the provisions of the Conventions in question. It is for this purpose that the Federal Bill concerning the employment of young persons and women in workshops has been adopted by Parliament. This bill has now been sent, in accordance with the procedure adopted for all Swiss legislative enactments, to a drafting committee which, after completing its work, will send the bill to Parliament for the final vote, probably during the next session. As no opposition has been encountered up to the present, the final adoption of the bill may be considered to be assured. It will then be published in the Federal Gazette and the period of three months during which a referendum may be demanded will begin from the date of such publication. If no referendum is called for, the act will enter into force definitely on the expiry of the period of three months, and the necessary executive measure will then be taken, (International Labour Office. Official Bulletin, 8 March, 1922.) NOTES. League of Nations. The International Labour Office sums up the results from the International Labour Conference as follows: 38 ratifications have been registered up to date by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Since the Washington Conference 10 states have ratified the Berne White Phosphorus Convention. Eighty-four Acts or other measures for the ratification of the Conventions have been adopted and 117 bills or other measures have been adopted, introduced, drafted or prepared. (International Labour Office. Note upon the measures taken to give effect to the Draft Conventions and recommendations adopted by the International Labour Conference. Geneva, March 1922.) Association of Governmental Labor Officials. The ninth annual convention of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada will be held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, May 22-26. At the opening session Monday evening addresses will be delivered by Governor Sproul and Secretary James J. Davis of the United States Department of Labor. Subjects for https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -10- discussion at the business sessions will include child welfare, Miss Grace Abbott presiding; inspection, safety, and sanitation, Fred M. Wilcox presiding; employment, Seaman F. Northrup presiding; mediation and conciliation, C. B. Connelly presiding; minimum wage and hours of labor, Miss Mary Anderson presiding; and rehabilitation and medical supervision, F. D. Patterson presiding. Compensation legislation will be the subject of addresses by Mrs. Rosalie Loew Whitney, Robert E. Lee and Ethelbert Stewart at the session of Thursday morning when the president, Frank E. Wood, will preside. In addition to the regular sessions there will be a series of group conferences which will be held in the Senate Caucus Room of the State Capitcl. The convention sessions will be held in the Hall of the House of Representatives. Other Meetings. The American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons will meet in St. Louis, May 22-23. The National Conference of Social Work is scheduled to meet in Providence, June 22-29. The National Conference on Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons Disabled in Industry or Otherwise will be held in St. Louis, May 15-17. Bryn Mawr Summer School. The Bryn Mawr summer school for women workers in industry this year will have 100 students. The school term will run from June 14 to August 10. PERSONNEL. Virginia.. Mrs. Ethel L. Scott has been appointed director of the women's and children's division of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. The present Commissioner of Labor is Mr. John Hopkins Hall, Jr. Mr, Howard T. Colvin has resigned as Assistant Commissioner of Labor. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -11- NEW PUBLICATIONS. District of Columbia. Minimum Wage Board. Fourth annual report, 1921. Washington, 1922. 46 p. Indiana. Industrial Board. De artment of Women and Children. Report for the year ending September 30, 1921. Indianapolis, 1922. Reprinted from year book. 20 P. ,New York. Department of Labor. Bureau of Research and Codes. Division of Women in Industry. Women who -work. 1922. 40 p., illus. 1. Number and occupation - 2, Some industrial facts concerning them. 3. Lays governing their employment. Nova Scotia. Factories Inuector. Annual report for the year ended 30th September 1922. Halifax, 1922. Saskatchewan. Bureau of Labor and Industries. First annual report for the twelve months ended April 30, 1921. 49 p. 31 P. Regina, 1921. Tennessee, Bureau of Workshop and Factory Inspection. Woman and Child Labor Division. Synopsis of laws regulating conditions under which women and children work and standards recommended. Nashville, n.d. 12 p. (Special Bulletin 1) U. S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics.. Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1919-1920. 477 P. Clark and Martin C. Frincke, Jr. Washington, 1922. By Lindley D. (Bulletin 290) Wages and hours of labor in the slaughtering and meat packing industry, 1921. Washington, 1922. 93 p. (Bulletin 294) U. S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau. Preliminary report; Hours, 1-1cres and working conditions for women in industry in South Carolina. 10 p., mimeographed. Women in Rhode Island industries. tions. Washington, 1922. 73 p. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis A study of hours, wages and working condi(Bulletin 21) U. S. Department of Labor WC72NISB7J17MU Washington News Letter No. 14. June 22, 1922. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING UNEN IN INDUSTRY. California. On the basis of a decision reached on April 11 the Industrial Welfare Commission has issued an order effective July 12 for the needle trades industry heretofore included in the order regulating the general manufacturing The needle trades order applies to all factories manufactuindustry. household ring wearing apparel (except hand-made hats), tents, awnings, bags, d experience for wage minimum The furnishings, felt goods and leather goods. months. 6 of period workers will be $15.00 a week with an apprenticeship to The Industrial Welfare Commission at a meeting held May 23 decided manuthe in orders defer until July 10 the completion of the amendment of its industries, facturing industry, the fish and the fruit and vegetable canning postthe fruit packing industry and unclassified occupations. The reason for labor and ponement is that the attorney for the representatives of organized needle the in wage minimum the women affected by the recent reduction in the rehearing a for Commission trades industry has filed a petition against the on the establishment of a $15.00 minimum wage. if the The Commission would have denied the petition for rehearing represenapplication had not come at a time when there was no quorum, two The next step will be a tatives of the Commission being out of the state, The Commission is unwilling to jeopardize the enreview by the courts. and forcement of all of its orders in the other manufacturing industries amendthe completing therefore will await the decision of the court before ment of its orders. District of Columbia. Minimum Wage. vote of the Minimum Wage Board to majority the In accordance with a reduction in the minimum rate for consider the request of the employers in the mercantile industry, the conference has been convened and two sessions held. The merchants have asked for a rate of 015.25 per week instead of the The budgets which they have submitted and which'totals prevailing 0.6.50. $15.10 reduces the allotonte per week for clothing from 04.00 to 43.00, for lunches from 01.68 to 01,40, for sundries from 03,10 to 02.70, and increases Certain .tems included the amount for room and board from $7.62 to 08.00. in the budget whichswas the basis for the 016.50 minimum have been omitted cleaning and repairirg suit and skirt, allowance for organization fee and savings - and the nuyber of articles, shoes for instance, in some cases reThe conferencsi however, by a 6 to 4 vote, has already decided to duced. retain the item for repairing and cleaning clothes, and also by a vote of 6 to 2 refused to reduce the amount allowed for laundry from 75 to 50 cents. The biggest cut in the budget presented by the employers is in clothing. Discussion of clothing costs is scheduled for the next meeting of the conference committee on June 23, Workmen's Compensation. The Fitzgerald bill providing compensation for workers in private employment in the District of Columbia came up for a four-hour debate in the No vote was reached and the bill has now House of Representatives June 12. become unfinished business on the District calendar. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis camINIO Kansas. Final orders were issued by the Court of Industrial Relations'May 20 fixing the minimum wage for women in laundries and faotories at :i )11.00 a week According to press reports this and in mercantile establicr_ments at 0.0.50. Director of Women's Work and the minimum was decided upon over the protest of women's organizations of the state who maintain that the figure is too low. It is further reported in the press that the Associated Industries acting for the laundrymen of the state are preparing to br5.ng suit to prevent the new minimum wage and maximum hour schedules for womon workers going into effect. The orders issued by the Industrial Court are to become effective July 15. Massachusetts. Minimum Wage Inspections. Commission A report of the inspections made in 1921 by the Minimum Wage This inform. mimeographed under the various wage decreesis available in investioccupations cludes tables showing the wage situation in the various or report gated. It represents data that is not printed in the annual Ccpies will he sent on request to persons other reports of the Commission. interested. This is in accordance with the policy adopted by the Commission not to publish any of the figures shoving wage figures collected in the -investigations and inspections. Information, however, is available on request. Reorganization of State Departments. In place of the sweeping reorganization of state departments recommended by the recess Committee on Economy and Efficiency, the Committee on State Administration has reported a bill for the establishment of a new Department of Administration and Finance. This department would have authority to inIf this departvestigate the existing departments and recommend changes. proposed by organization ment is established it is probable that the further another action the recess Committee will be referred to the department for for a that year. Among the changes recommended in the original report was new Department of Labor and Industries comprising the present Department of Labor and Industries and the Department of Industrial Accidents. The proposed plan carried no provision for a woman member as required in the organization under the present law. New York. The New York Women's Trade Union League is making plans toward a clubhouse for working vomen. A committee of 100, of which Mrs. Willard Straight is chairman, is helping the League to raise a fund of 50,000 for this purpose. Pennsylvania. Hearings will be held before the Industrial Board in Philadelphia June 27 on the code for the textile-dyeirg and finishing industry submitted by the Pennsylvania Dyers' Asscc;atir,n and on the revised code relating to the lighting of factories and meio.7.&ile establishments. The laundries code in process of preparation for over a year was adopted by the Industrial Boar..4, ;,:ay Regulations gmecioing industrial home work submitted for a final public hearing in Philadelphia on !lity 4 were adopted by the Industrial Board May 9, to become effective September 1. The Pittsburgh headquarters of the Department of Labor and Industry moved on June 1 to the third floor of the Fulton Building, corner of Federal Street and Duquesne Way. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3Wisconsin. Home Work. The amended Home Work Law provides that any employer who wishes to employ any home workers must have ism two kinds of licenses: (1) A permit from the Industrial Commission, permitting h3m to engage in home work manufacture, and (2) a license issued by the La1 health offieee of che community in which the home worker resides. A separate license is required for each of the premises at which home work manufacture is to be carried on and the persons who are to do the mark home work must be named herein, A fee of to be paid by the employer must be paid to the local hcalh department for each license issued. The Minimum Wage Law applies to heme work as well as to factories. The Child Labor Law also applies to home work. A permit to engage in home work is therefore conditional upon compliance with these laws. Before an application for a permit to engage in home work is granted by .the Commission an investigation is made by the Women's Department as to the adequacy of the rates paid, etc, The Derart:eient is at present making a number of these investigations. The bulk of the home work in the state is done in the city of Milwaukee. Pea Canneries. There are now 116 pea canning factories located in Wisconsin. As the season is so short, the entire force of the Women's Department will be busy inspecting these canneries the latter part of June and the first part of July. Material revisions were made this year in the concessions granted canneries for the employment of women in emergencies. Last season cnly a small percentage of the canneries took advantage of the full concessions allowed by the Commissi on ruling; 43N of the canneries have their work so organize d that they never exceed 10 hours per day. This year the number of days on which any cannery may employ women over 17 years of age in excess of 10 hours has been reduced from 12 to 10 and the maximum number of hours per week has been reduced from 70 to 66. There vas no opposition on the part of the canners to these changes in the concessions granted them. Catholic Women Will Aid Women Workers. The following resolutions were passed by the Wisconsin State Council of Catholic Women's Organizations at the seventh annual conference held in Fond du Lac May 10-11, 1922: That the State Council of Catholic Women's Organizations develop an industrial program for the coming year which will reach out into every affiliated group through its study cluus, to the end that our membors may become familiar with the social and industrial movemerts making for the primery and essential welfare of our toiling sistels erepioyed in industry: That the State Council of Cetholie Women's Organizations endorse the work of such organizatiLeis os the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, the National Consumers' Looe;u0, Najoani Women's Trade Union League and others in their campaigns for legie7aLee action in behalf of the women vage earners, and that we pledge our unIted support in any measure wherein our cooperation in these lines may be helpful; That the State Council of Catholic Women's Organizations instruct its committee on 1egic7.ation to a policy of vac,chful waiting on the Blanket Equality Bill now on the WLscollsin statutes to the end that, at the first suspicion of unfavorable action which seems to jeopardi ze tha interests of working women the weight of our influence will be exerted toward safeguarding such laws as will protect their welfare; https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis A -4That the President of the State Council of Catholic Women's Organizations appoint a representative in Madison who could, in the event of legislation affecting women and children, be authorized to act for the State Council. United States, On Hay 31, 1022, Mr. Raker of California introduced in the House of Representatives a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution of the United States to the effect that Congress shall have power to regulate throughout the United States the employment of women and children under 18 years of age. Argentine Republic. The Federal Government of the Argentine Republic had already enacted legislation relating to the employment of won= and children and to industrial accidents, but under the constitution it is left to each Province individually to adopt these measures as a whole or in part to suit the conditions prevailing in the different districts, Up to the end of 1915 the Province of Salta had adopted only the regulations concerning the notification of accidents, but on 7 May 1921 ae labour code incorporating the majority of these previsions and further dealing with hours of work, the minimum wage, contracts of work, etc., was adopted by the Legislature of this Province on the proposal of the Executive, under the title of Guemes Act. The principal protective measures embodied in the new Act are: the prohibition of the employment of children under 12 years of age in industrial occupations; of women and young persons under 16 years of age on night work between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. with the exception of adult women engaged in domestic service, in sick nursing, and in public places of entertainment; of women and young persons under 18 years of age for more than 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week, or in dangerous and unhealthy trades; and of women during a period of 14 days before their confinement. In the last mentioned case employers are required to keep the women's posts open during a period of 20 days before and 30 days after childbirth; they must also maintain suitable rooms where nursing pothers can feed their children at regular intervals during working hours. Sufficient seating accommodations must be provided, and all women and young persons under 18 years of age are entitled to a rest interval of 2 hours in the middle of the day. A nominal 8-hour day with a minimum rest interval of 2 hours is provided for in state undertakings and in factories, workshops, commercial undertakings, and the building industry. It is expressly stipulated that overtime may only be worked with the consent of the employee. A 9-hour day is in force for agricultural work, but here and in all other out-of-door occupations work must be suspended from 11 aem. to 2 p.m, during the summer months. Any exceptions require authorization by the Provincial Labour Department. The payment of a fixed minimum daily wage to adult unr::..ers is compulsory. This varies according to the district. By far the most important part of the code consists of a detailed workmen's compensation law, which brings occupational diseases within the scope of compensation much more widely than in the former act. Persons engaged in domestic service, in industry net involving the use of power in any form and in agriculture or forestry apart from the transporting and use of mechanical power, are excluded from the scope of the Act, (International Labour Review, April 1922) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Canada. Summary of Minimum Wage Legislation of 1921. Amendments were made in the Minimum Wage Acts of Ontario and British Columbia and to those sections of the Alberta Factories Act which define the The Ontario Minimum Wage Board Was powers of the minimum rage committee. given power to suspend temporarily, or to vary, any of its ordcrs upon petition of employers or employees, and to make different orders for the same The first orders industry in different localities where conditions vary. of the Ontario Board were issued during the year. These orders govern the wages of female employees in laundries and dye works, retail stores, and certain classes of industrial establishments in Toronto. (The last order was extended early in 1922 to cover all such establishments throughout the province.) The Factories, Shops and Office Building Act as noted above secured the cooperation of factory inspectors in regard to the posting in factories of the orders of the Minimum Wage Board. Amendments to the British Columbia Minimum Wage Act made new provisions governing the wages of inexperienced workers, and the issue of special licenses. The board was also, by another Act, placed in charge of the administration of the Mothers' Pensions Act. New regulations in relation to learners and inexperienced workers in various industrial establishments were under consideration of the board as the year closed. The Alberta Factories Act of 1917 was amended rith regard to the powers of the Advisory Committee on minimum wages, the committee being empowered to recommend, but not to "determine," the minimum rates of wages to be paid to, and the maximum hours of labour to be worked by female employees as classified according to locality and occupation. The compittee may also make recommendations regarding apprentices, who will be similarly classified, their rages, hours of work, terms of indenture and, if advisable, conditions of apprenticeship. - Orders in Council appointing this committee were issued, but these were subsequently cancelled. Orders were issued by the Manitoba Minimum Wage Board standardizing the regulations previously made regarding rates of rages for female employees in various industries. The Minimum Wage Board of Saskatchewan issued with some minor amendments the previous order regulating wages in shops, millinery and dressmaking establishments, laundries and factories, mail order houses, and hotels and rebtaurants. By the Yukon Territory ordinance rages earned during any month by persons engaged in mining operations in the territory, including workers in stores and offices as well as miners, must be paid not later than the 14hday of the following month. (Canada Department of 1921. Labour. Labour Legislation in Canada: Ottawa, 1922) Number of Accidents in Nova Scotia Reduced. The proprietors of the large mills are asking for a more careful and systematic inspection of all sawmills, having in view a reduction in compensation costs. In all the mills there was evident a general desire to discuss the subject of accidents and the means for of their prevention... The number record accidents reported during the year was 1,326, of which 9 were fatal. The for last year was 1,703 including 16 which were fatal -- a reduction of 377 in i favor of the past year in the total number of accidents and a decrease of 7n innumber fatalities. The Among the number injured there were 17 females. jured last year was 39. (Nova Scotia Factories Inspector. Report 1920/21.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -.6Ontario To Have New Minimum Wage Rates. A summary of proposed orders affecting women workers in textile factories was announced by the Minimum Wage Board in May and a public hearing held in Toronto June 1. The rates are as follows: In Toronto i experienced adults over 18 years of age, $12.50 per week, inexperienced adults over 18, 6 months at 010; 6 months at )11, under 18, 6 months at c8; 6 at 0 and 6 at' 0. Other cities over 30,000 population, experienced adults over 18, 011.50; inexperienced adults over 18, 6 months at 0.50, and 6 at 0.0.50; girls under 18, 6 months at 8, 6 at 0, and 6 at‘ ,10. Cities and towns between 5,000 and 30,000 population, experienced adults over 18, 0.1; inexperienced adults over 18, 6 mnths at 0, and 6 at $10, girls under 18, 6 months at 0, 6 at c8.50; 0; 6 at 10. All the rest of the province, experienced adults over 18, inexperienced adults over'18, 6 months at 031 and 6 at 0, girls under 18, 6 months at cies, 6 at 0.50, and 6 at O. These rates do not affect office workers. (Daily News Record, N. Y. May 26, 1922) Minimum Wage Act of Saskatchewan Amended. By action of the legislature of 1921-22 the authority of the Minimum 'itige Board in regard to the fixing of "reasonable hours and proper sanitary conditions and requirements," was, by an amendment to the Minimum Wage Act, made subject to the provisions of the Public Health Act, as already required. (Labour Gazette, Canada, March, 1922) Saskatchewan Attempts To Meet Domestic Servant Shortage. The domestic servant shortage received the attention of the Bureau of Labour and Industries, and 163 girls were selected overseas by a special representative of the Bureau and directed to situations in the province under an assisted passage scheme inaugurated during the summer of 1919, The assisted passage scheme briefly is as follows: The prospective employer deposits the sum of 05 with the Government which is used as part payment of the transportation of a girl selected in Great Britain. The girl is required to enter intc an agreement whereby she pledges herself to accept domestic employment in the province, and to repay the amount advanced to her in monthly payments of not less than 0. Practically every girl brought to the province has adapted herself to her new situation and surroundings and proved a great asset, especially on the farm. The gir13, upon arriving at Regina, are taken to the Canadian Women's Hostel, 1839 Leen() areet, where they are maintained for a period of 24 hours before being sent :ward to their employers. During this time they are interviewed by a rep:eeentutive of the employment service, their qualifications noted and allotted suitable positions selected from the orders received by the Bureau. The hostel has all the comforts of a well appointed hone and is in charge of a capable matron and everything is done to make the girls comfortable, The girls are encouraged to make use of the hostel when passing through the city, and accommodation is always available at a moderate cost. The Government of Saskatchewan assists in the maintenance of the hostel by contributing an annual grant equal to the cost of rent, heat, light and water. (Saskatchewan Bureau of Labour and Industries. 1st Annual Report, 1920/21.) Chile. Bill Concerning Labour Agreements. The Joint Commission of Social Legislation has concluded the examination of the Bill on Labour Agreements which had been read a first time, The bill limits the working day to 8 hours and provides that wages must be determined and paid in legal currency. It excludes from its provisions agriculture and https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis _7domestic service and also commercial and industrial undertakings employing less than 10 workers. The clauses relating to the work of women and children provide that persons over 18 years of age are free to take up employment while those between 14 and 18 must obtain permissibn of their parents or guardians Children under 14 and in no case may they work more than 6 hours a day. years are forbidden any kind of employment even as apprentices, and persons under 16 years may not be engaged in night work. Women may not be employed underground or in work which is considered too heavy for them, or which exThey shall be entitled to 40 days' poses them to physical or moral risks. leave for the period of confinement and in addition must be given facilities for nursing their children. Another clause in the bill provides that a General Labour Board shall be established in the Ministry of the Interior, whose duty it will be to lay down the regulations relating to safety and hygiene. (El Mercurio, 1 and 3 February 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 19 May 1922) Progressive Feminist Party. A new political body has been formed under the name of the Progressive Feminist Party with the purpose of getting all the rights claimed by women. The platform is as follows: (1) the right to the municipal and parliamentary vote and to eligibility to office; (2) the publishing of a list of women candidates of the party for public offices; (3) the founding of a ministry of public welfare and education, headed by a woman executive, to protect women and children and to improve living conditions. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, June 1922) Cuba. The Secretary of Agriculture has issued a decree establishing The Free School of Agriculture for Women. Evening classes for women have been opened in The Emigrants' House in Habana. They include general instruction and lectures on psychology, child hygiene, and domestic science. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, June 1922) Paraguay. A vocational school for women has been opened in Asuncion. Pan American Union, June 1922) (Bulletin, Peru. Agricultural workers in the Peruvian valleys have demanded that agreements should be drawn up in order to secure for them more stable conditions of labour and higher rates of wages. The Minister of Public Works and Agriculture has consequently undertaken to examine the possibility of fixing a minimum scale of wages for each valley based on cost of living, and varying according to the sale price of exported produce. (Communication from the Pan American Union, 7 March 1922; Industrial and Labour information, 28 April 1922) Uruguay. At the petition of the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture of nntes, in the Department of Canelones, The National Council of Primary and Normal Instruction has granted the Use of a school building and supplies for a winter course for adult farm laborers from May to September. The Society makes itself responsible for 40 pesos a month. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, June 1922) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org ofr Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ai8a1 NOTES Association of Governmental Labor Officials. At the annual meeting of the Aoseciation of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada, held in Harrisburg May 25-26, the following officers were elected for the coming year: President, C. B. Connolley of Pennsylvania; sectetary-treasurer, Miss Louise Schutz of Minnesota; vice presidents, John S. E. Davie of New Hampshire; Mrs. Delphine Johnson of Washington; Lewis T. Bryant of New Jersey; Mrs. E. L. Scott of Virginia; and H. C. Hudson of Ontario. National Women's Trade Union League. At the biennial convention of the National Women's Trade Union League, held in Waukegan, Ill., June 5-10, Mrs. Maud Swartz of New York was elected president to succeed Mrs. Raymond Robins for 15 years president of the League. Mrs. Robins refused to consider re-nomination. Mrs. Swartz, who is a member of the Typographical Union, has been secretary of the New York Women's Trade Union League and of the International Congress of Working Women, of which she is now vice-president for the United States, Miss Rose Schneiderman was re-elected vice-president and Miss Elizabeth Christman secretary-treasurer. Members of the executive board are Mrs. Raymond Robins, Agnes Nestor, Pauline Newman, Julia O'Connor, Sarah Green, and Ethel Smith. Among the resolutions adopted by the convention was one signed by all the delegates and forwarded to the American Federation of Labor, urging the Federation to issue local charters to groups of women in trades in which the existing international union will not admit them to membership. Another resolution'Of importance pointed to the fact that of the 8,000,000 wage-earning women, 2,000,000 are employed in domestic service, while more than 20,000,000 working in thoir own homes receive no official recogniticn for their work which is' nevertheless of economic value. The resolution asked that Congress direct an inquiry into the economic status and labor conditions of both these groups of women, that an appropriation be granted, and that the investigation be carried out by the Women's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor. In speaking to the convention Miss Mary Anderson, Director of the Women's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, said in part: "No Government department has a mandatory power, so that the standards and policies which we enunciate if put into operation will have to be at the request of State governments and departments in the State which have law-enforcing powers. The Women's Bureau is charged with the duty of formulating standards and policies for the effective empleye:ent of women workers. Also to investigate the conditions under which women are now employed. There are three major questions which enter into the effective emploment of women, - working conditions, hours of work, and the earnings. In the four years the Bureau has been established it has made investigations in ten States to obtain information on these three major questions. The information which we have gathered tells us that while there are forward-looking employers who have splendid working conditions and have feund the benefits of the shorter work day and also the benefits of a more adequate living wage, there are those who are called the laggards in industry who need a compelling force in order to bring them up to better standards. This is necessary first for the individual worker herself and second, for the community as a whole. There is contentment, safety and health to the workers and the community in the better standards but there is absolutely no security and tremendous inefficiency in conditions which take much out of a workers' life and give very little return. No industrial foundation for and the safety of the country can be built that way and in order that communities in standards citizens may not suffer, it is necessary to have laws for the better industry," https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis International Council of Women. Press reports state that the executive session of the International Council of Women meeting at the Hague, representing 28 countries, has accepted the invitation of the National Council of Women of the United States to hold the 1925 quinquennial meeting at Washington, D.C. This will be the first meeting of the International Council in the United States since the organization was formed in 1888. National Congress of Mothers. The National Congress of Mothers through its legislative committee is calling on all women's and civic organizations to unite in an effort to "return in 1922 a human welfare congress." Attention is to be concentrated on issues known as the Six P's - peace, prohibition, protection of women in industry, physic al education, protection of the home, and public schools. NEW PUBLICATIONS. Bureau of Social Hygiene Housing conditions of employed women in the Borough of Manhattan. A study made by the Bureau of Social Hygiene with the cooperation of an advisory committee. New York, 1922. 163 p. Bureau of Vocational Information Women in chemistry. A study of professional opportunities. 272 p. Clark, W. Irving Health service in industry. New York, 1922. New York, 1922. 168 p., illus. Cooper, John M. Mint and cumnin. 16 p. Reprinted from the Catholic Charities Review, February, 1922. A concise statement of the case of the wage-earning woman and an appeal to organizations of Catholic women for greater participati on in the work under way to bring industrial justice to women. Dearden, W. F. Health problems affecting industry. p. 46-48. Welfare Work, v. 3, no. 27, March, 1922. Desing, Robert. "We didn't have space for a lunchroom." So this company established small cafeterias in each floor of the factory. Using paper dishes and employing the workmen to help serve"the food at noon cuts costs, too. Factory, v. 28, no. 3, March 1922. p. 300-302, illus. From the experience of Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company. Emmons, Arthur B. How to sit comfortably at work. Safety, v. 9, no. 4, April, 1922. p. 87-91. Great Britain. Industrial Fatigue Research Board. An analysis of the individual differences in the output of silk-weavers. London, 1922. 38 p. (Report 17, Textile Ser. no. 4) Hastings, Albert Baird Physiology of fatigue. Physico-chemical manifestations of fatigue in the blood. Washington, 1921. 42 p. (U.S. Public Health Service Bulletin 117) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -10Hilles, Edith Feeble-minded women in New York industries. A successful experiment by which dependent subnormal girls were rendered self-supporting, Nationts Health, v. 4, no. 5, May 1922. D. 287-280. Howse. , Edith H. Work of the telephonist. Woman's Leader, v. 14, no. 12, April 21, 1022. p. 92 International Labour Cffice Eote upon the measures taken to give effect to the Draft Conventions and recommendations adopted by the International Labour Conference. Geneva, Narch, 1922. Reprinted from the Official Bulletin v. 5, no. 8, and revised to date 1. List of acts, bills and other measures adopted, introduced, drafted or in preparation to E;ive effect to the decisions of the International Labour Conference, - 2. Tabular summary showing at a glance the chief results obtained up to date and in particular the ratifications registered. Johnson, Ethel M. 1.!assachusetts minimum wage. Survey, v. 48, no. 7, May 13, 1922, p, 242-243. Journal of Personnel Research v. 1, no. 1, April 1922. Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, Md. Official organ of the Personnel Research Federation. To contain orie,inal articles by workers in the biological and medical sciences, psychologists, psychiatrists, engineers and economiets, who are making important contributions to our knowledge about human beings at work. Kefauver, Christine R. The place of the nurse in industry. Trained Nurse and Hospital Review, v. 68, no. 4, April 1922, p. 314-316, illus; no. 5, Mhy 1922, p. 424-428, Ley, Rubie 1,eport of salaries paid women in bookselling. Publishers' Weekly, v, 101, no. 9, March 4, 1922. p. 539. Report of an investigation of 15 shcps in New York City. Louisiana. Commissioner of Labor and Industrial Statistics. . llth Biennial Report, 1921-22. New Orleans, 1922, 193 p. Massa_chusetts. Attorney General. Abstracts from opinions of the Attorney-General with respect to the labor laws enforced by the Department of Labor and Industries. Boston, February 1922. 15 p. Mayers, Lewis The federal service. A study of the system of personnel administration of the United States Government. D. Appleton and Company, New York and London, 1922, 607 p. (Institute for Government Research. Studies in Administration) Nevada. Commissioner of Labor. 3d Biennial Report, 1919-1920. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Carson City, 1921. 122 P. -1114elman, Pauline M. p.18-19. Difficulties with sister. Labor Age, V. 11, no. 4. April, 1922. of the and workers women organizing A discussion of the difficulties of attitude of trade unions toward them. New York Consumers' League. 1, Annual report, 1921/22. Bulletin, Consumers' League of New York, v. no. 6, June 1922. p. 1-3. New York. Department of Labor. factories and Industrial code rules (as amended) relating to lighting of 18) (Bulletin p. 12 1922. 1, May mercantile establishments, effective Division of Women in Industry. Abstract of lays governing the employment of women in New York State: 1922. 8 p. Laws ) statutes, etc. New York labor laws enacted in 1922. Albany, May 1922. (New York. Department of Labor. Special Bulletin 111.) Ohio Council on Women and Children in Industry. Women's wages and the cost of living. Toledo, 1922? 19 p. Pennsylvania. Department of Labor and Industry. Labor and industry. Monthly bulletin. v. 1, no. 1, May 1922. Reed, Ruth Negro women of Gainesville, Ga. December, 1921. 61 p. (Bulletin, University of Georgia, v.221 no. 1; Phelps-Stokes Fellowship Studies no.6) Bibliography, p. 59-60; special bibliography, p. 60-61. Tennessee. Bureau of Workshop and Factory Inspection. 9th Annual report, 1921. Nashville, 1922. 104 p. U. S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Comparison of workmen's compensation insurance and administration. Carl Hookstadt, Washington, April 1922. 194 p. (Bulletin 301) By Occupation hazards and diagnostic signs. A guide to impairments to be looked for in hazardous occupations. By Louis I. Dublin and Philip Leiboff. Washington, April 1922. 31 p. (Bulletin 306) Wages and hours of labor in the petroleum industry: 1920. April 1922. 153 p. (Bulletin 297) Washington, Women's Bureau. Women in Georgia industries. A study of hours, wages, and working conditions. Washington, 1922. 89 p. (Bulletin 22) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1E;r7 U. S. Department of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Washingt n July 26, 1922. News Letter No, 1 7, Ors....e_ ACTIVITIE ECTING •LEN 4 INDUSTRY, California. The State Feder ion of Labor, on behalf of e Ga ent Workers' Union, has secured an i unc ion against the'Industr al Wel are Commission to prevent the reduced IS um rate of 0.5.00 goin into ef cot on July 12 as ordered by the Commission, or until the case "c• be t/led on its merit". Press accounts say that the application for injunct che:rges that the Industrial Welfare Commission reduced the existing minimum that was inadequate, provided a wage that was not sufficient for the needs of the workers, failed to hold proper public hearings on'the question, held conference's at which employers and employees were not equally represented, disregarded the actual cost of living, held secret meetings on the wage, worked on a theoretical basis, failed to provide for medical care, amusements or saving, and did not provide car fare between the "cheap" rooming houses and "cheap" eating places. Ten thousand garment workers are said to be affected by the decision of the Commission. get District of Columbia. The petition of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association for a reduction in the minimum wage rate in mercantile establishments in the District of Columbia has been denied, the three representatives of the public on the conference board voting unanimously with the employees to sustain their contention that the cost of living had not diminished since 1919 sufficiently to justify any reduction in wages. The first motion of the employers at the final hearing June 30 was for a minimum of L15,25, When this was Voted down, the employer member of the Minimum Wage Board then moved for /1.5.50. This motion, too, was defeated and a motion of the employees to retain the rate of ,e16,50 carried. It has been said that this is the first instance where a public tribunal has denied a petition for a wage reduction. The District of Columbia law provides that the minimum wage shall The be adequate to meet the cost of living for a self-supporting woman. employees argued that whatever decline had occurred in the cost of clothing since July 1919) when the rate of ;16.50 was fixed, had been offset by increased cost of room and board, carfare, doctors' and dentists' service, and other essentials. They rested their case chiefly upon the testimony of cost cf living investigations made for the Minimum Wage Board by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor and on minimum health standards as described by the United States Public Health Service. In addition to a reduction in the wage rate the employers also asked to have the apprenticeship term lengthened to 12 months. Decision on this question, however, has been postponed until fall as the Employers' representatives failed to present testimony to show why their request should be granted. Georgia. The hour bill before this session of the legislature has been referred back to committee and will probably be amended to provide a 10-hour day and a 54-hour week. The original provision was for a 9-nour day. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis orw4,10. Kansas, The Associated Industries, through individual members, has filed suit to test the scope and limitations of the law under which minimum wage awards for women workers were made by the Court of Industrial Relations. Not only is the question as to a reasonable wage Involved, but the right of the court to interfere in any manner with established wages. If the contention of the Associated Industries should be upheld the Court of Industrial Relations would be permitted to open minimum wage controversies only whore there is a showing of immoral or unwholesome living conditions. In discussing this test case the Secretary of the Associated Industries says: "We are in absolute good faith in this matter. We lent our utt6St cooperation to make the wage hearing a success and tc date have spent (;12,000 in real money - aside from a great dcal of time and effort - in perfecting a complete record in the case. Legal authority cf the Court to fix this wage or to take up the question is the basis of contention in the friendly test suit." (Topeka Journal, July 15, 1922.) Massachusetts. Investigation of Textile Industry. The Department of Labor and Industries, under an order adopted by the General Court June la, is required to use all possible effort to bring about an amicable settlement of the textilo strike and to investigate wage and business conditions in the industry in Massachusetts and the southern states fcr the purpose of ascertaining whether the recent reduction in wages was justified. Zinimum Wage. A new decree fnr the laundry occupation establishing a minimum wage of 0.3.50 went into effect July 1, 192, :his supersedes the former rate of Ye.CC in effect since September, 1915. The new decree fixet the. learning period at 5 months with rates for experienced workers from 0.1.00 to 0.3.00 a week according to their length of employment. This is the sixth decree revised by the - inimum Wage Commission during the present year. Legislation Affecting Women. The request for repeal of the .18-hour 1,w and return to the 54-hour limit was overwhelmingly defeated, the legislature refusing even to consider the substitute proposal for an investigation of the subject. A measure was enactea authorizing separate residence for the purpose of registering and voting in the case of married women who are living apart from their husbands. In place of the bills relative to jury service and equal rights, a resolve was introduced providing for a recess commission to investigate both matters and report to the next General Court. This resolve was defeated so no action has been taken by the legislature on either subject. Other measures enacted are the fairer guardianship bill, a bill increasing the retireMnt allowance for scrubwomen in the State House service to 000 a year, and a bill requiring that one of the members of the Industrial Accident Board must be a woman. The position carries a salary of ;5,000 and the appointment is made for a five..year term. Power Punch Press Code. The committee appointed by the Department of Labor to formulate a Ll'et el rulPs for plver punch presses has submitted a set of - rerWiatiens. Jiany wl2en and girls are employed on these machines and the adequate pr/Wetion of empl1Fees is of distinct interest to wamen. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3New York. Compensation Department for Women. A compensation service department for working women has been established by the Womonls Trade Union League of New York. This department will help women to get their rights under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Campaign Against Carelessness. In an active campaign conducted by the Department of Labor against window cleaners to protect them from their own carelessness, it has been found necessary to resort to criminal proceedings and recently a window cleaner was jailed for failure to use a safety device while at work aa a high building in New York City. The Industrial Code has provisions that require the property owners of factory buildings to provide safety devices for windows which are cleaned from the outside, and the men doing this work are also required to use the devices. Notwithstanding this fact at least 24 men have been killed and 75 or more inIn most instances these jured in New York City alone during the past 5 years. accidents have happened because the men themselves failed to do that the labor law requires, that is, use safety belts. "It takes too long to put the belt on", they say. Ohio. Plans are under nay for introducing in the next session of the legislature The Consumers' League of the Minimum Wage Bill which failed to pass last year. Ohio and other Cleveland organizations which belong to the Ohio Council for Women and Children in Industry and which favor minimum wage legislation are acting as a committee for the Council on such legislation and will conduct an educational campaign during the year. Despite attacks on the Y. W. C. A. by the Ohio Manufacturers' Association, tho Industrial Conference of the Ohio and West Virginia Field Federation of the Y. W. C. A., held in Oberlin in Juno, again determined to concentrate on securing minimum wage legislation for Ohio women and in order that the public may have accurate information as many members as possible will keep accounts on the actual cost of living and others will give estimated budgets. The committee which will conduct the campaign*for the Minimum Wage Bill expects to start its activities in the primaries by questioning every candidate for the legislature as to his stand on this question and by giving the widest possible publicity to the answers. Tennessee. Organized Labor Wants Protective Legislation for Women. Press reports state that legislation favored by labor organizations of Tennessee includes a minimum wage law to insure a fair standard of living for women and children; an 8-hour law for women and children; complete protection for women in industry with equal pay for equal work; a mothers' pensions law; an amendment to the employees' compensation act to provide more compensation for injuries and a commission for the administration of the law; and an industrial bureau to administer all labor laws. Women's Clubs to Support Uinimum Wage Bill, The 26th annual convention of the Tennessee Federation of Womenls Clubs, held in May, resolved to support a minimum wage bill and to work for full representation of women on all commissions dealing with women and children. (Nashville Tennessean, June 4, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -4Wisconsin. Working conditions and wages of about 4,000 women engaged in home work for the industries of the state will be investigated by an advisory committee Nearly 3,000 of these women work in appointed by the Industrial Commission. J. J. Handley, Secretary Milwaukee. Members of the committee are as follows: of tho State Federation of Labor; Dr. R.E. Hoyt, State Board of Health; Theodore Clough, Phoenix Hosiery Co.; Maud Swett, Director, Women's Department of the of Industrial Commission; Dr. T. F. Thompson, Chief, of the Sanitation Division the Milwaukee Board of Health; Dr. Gustav Windesheim, Kenosha Public Health Officer; and E. E. Witte, Director of the State Legislative Records Library. United States. The bill providing for independent citizenship of married women, fostered by the National League of Women Voters and introduced by Representative Cable of Ohio, passed the House June 20 by a vote of 206 to 9. The bill now goes to the Senate where a similar bill already has boon introduced by Senator Curtis of Kansas. Canada. Ontario. A schedule of minimum wages to be paid to the girls employed in the textile trades in'Ontario, ranging from 0.2.50 a week for experienced workers in Toronto, to 0_0.00 a week in the smaller centers, has been issued by the Minimum Wage Board to go into effect at once. (New York Call, June 10, 1922,) Saskatchewan. The Minimum Wage Board in an order effective June 30, 1922, has established for women working in hotels, restaUrants and refreshment rooms a minimum wage of 414.00 for a 6-day week, and 0.6.50 for a 7-day week, except for kitchen employees whose minimum is set at 412.00 for a 6-day week, and 0.4.50 for a 7-day week. The rate for learners, except Ititchen employees, is not less than 412.00 for a 6-day week, and 414.50 for a 7-day week for the first throe months. An experienced employee is one who has boon employed in the industry three months or more. Not more than 45.25 shall be deducted when 21 meals a week are furnished by the employer, and tot more than t;2.50 for a full week's lodging of 7 days. The hours are fixed at 10 per day and 50 per week for a 6-day week or 56 for a 7-day week. No work is permitted between 12:30 a.m, and 7 a.m. No girl under 16 years of age shall be employed nor shall a woman under 18 be employed after 8 p.m. Bk4aria. According to press reports a law effective May 1, 1922, requires that women between the ages of 16 and 20 of the bourgeois class must work four month's in the year gratis for the government. Chile Under the auspices of "El Mercurio," a leading paper of Santiago, a Workmen's Athenaeum has been started in that city. In it are united the cultural socities of the working class, one of its principal purposes being to aid and promote education among workers. The Athenaeum proposes the formation of free evening courses in vocal and instrumental music and decimation; public presentation of literary productions by 7orking-class authors and assistance to such authors, and the popularization of art in every possible way. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, July, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Czechoslovakia. The government has brought in a bill which, among other reforms, places women teachers on an equal footing with mon with regard to appointments and salaries, and permits them to teach in all the classes of boys' schools. (Woman's Leader, June 9, 1922.) En0.and. Schoolmasters Oppose Equal Pay for Equal Work. 'Tho National Association of Schoolmasters recently went on record as opposed to equal pay for equal work. Not only are they opposed to it, but they demand separate consideration for men teachers, and they agreed that in the future no schoolmaster belonging to an organization whose policy is opposed to separate The Woman's consideration shall be eligible for membership in the Association. to us, shock as a comes Loader (Juno 16, 1922) says: "This pettiness, always schoolimagined though by this time we ought to have realized it, but we always masters must be well educated, and therefore necessarily progressive and broadminded." Wage Revisions of the Co-operative Wholesale Society. In proceedings botweon the Co-oporativo Wholesale Society and several trade unions in regard to wage revisions, the C.W.S. has proposed a reduction according to the sliding scale (operating for males and females from 14 to 21 years of ago) to the following rates for adults; clorks and salesmen (men), 55s., women 36s.; warehouse workers and packers (men) 50 s., women, 32 s.; porters, cleaners, doorkeepers, hoist attendants and general workers (man), 47 s., women, 30 s. It was suggested that decreases should proceed from this point at the rate, in the case of mon, by amounts varying from is. 6d, to is. 4d, for every five point fall in the official figures fall, The various unions are not in favor of the suggestions and they object to the sliding scales, (Co-operative News, 22 April 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 12 May 1922). Esthonia. Agricultural workers are divided into three grades for purposes of wage payments; the first grade includes adult workers from 18 to 55 years of ago; the second includes young persons from 16 to 18 years of age and older persons from 55 to 60 years of ago; while the third grade includes children from 12 to 16 years of ago and those over 60. The minimum wages apply to the first grade; men second grade workers receive 75 per cont and mon third grade workors 50 per cent of the minimum wages. The percentages for women are lower; women workers of the first grade receive 75 per cont, thoso of the second grade 50 per cent, and those of the third 25 per cent of the minimum; the Act does, indeed, include a clause which states that women shall receive the same wage as men when producing the same output as mon just as it includes a statement that second grade workers shall receive Position first grade wages if their output is a first grade output. (Martna) W. 1922.) of agricultural labourer in Esthonia. May, International Labour Review, Germany, Women Members of Trade Unions. At the outbroak of war a number of women members of the "free" (social democratic) trade unions was 223,000, or 9 per cent of the total membership. During the war the number of women members at first fell considerably, in spite of the increase in the employment of women in most industries, but by October 1918 the number had again risen, being then 380,000. After 9 November 1918 there was a rapid increase in the mmbership of trade unions. By 31 December 1918, the https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis number of women members was 676,000. The total number of women members on 3 March 1922 was 1,648,335. Of the 49 unions affiliated to the General Confederation of German Trade Unions, only 10 are without any women members. (Korrespondenzblatt des Allegomoinon Doutschen Goworkschaftsbundos, 3 June 1922; Sozialistische Monatshofte, 8 June 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 30 Juno 1922.) Bills Approved by Federal Economic Council. Bills have been approved by the Federal Economic Council and laid before the Federal Council on the Washington Draft Convention, concerning unemployment, the employment of women during tho night, and the limitation of hours of work to 8 in the day and 48 in the week. (Vossishe Zeitung, 5 April 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 5 May 1922.) Hours of Work. The Gorman order on hours of work doos not prohibit night work for adult men, but night work between 8 p.m, and 6 a.m, for young persons under 16 and for women is prohibited by the industrial code. In spite of this, in establishments employing two or more shifts, women arc allowed to work until 10 p.m. on condition that they arc granted a minimum rest period of at least 16 consecutive hours, fn view of the fact that the regulations for rest periods already proscribe that workers employed for 'more than 6 hours a day shall be allowed breaks of either ono-half or three-quarters of an hour during the day, workers in establishments employing two or more shifts actually work no more than r* hours per day. (Report of the Netherlands Commission of Inquiry into Hours of ork in Germany; International Labour Review, May 1922,) Hours of Work in Belgian Occupied Area. According to the report of the Belgian High Commission on employment and wages in the Belgian occupied area on 31 March 1922, the limitation of the working day to 8 hours is very rarely exceeded and then only in certain special cases. At the beginning of March 9,10 hours a day were being worked. In certain metal factories in the Aix-la-Chappelle area which were behindhand with short term orders; in certain collieries of the WU= Basin in order to remedy the coal shortage due to the last railway strike (February); in a chemical factory in the Grevenbroich area (work on short term orders); and in certain clothing fxxxiix factories in the Cleves area (piece work). In home industries (for instance, basket making) the working day is from 10 to 12 hours as also in agriculture, where certain work can not be delayed, and there is a shortage of available labor, This is also the case in seasonal industries. (Report, Belgian High Commission, 31 March 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 28 April 1922.) Greece, The Greek Minister for National Economy informs the International Labour Office by letter of 11 May 1922, that the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Greece has passed bills for the ratification of the Draft Convention concerning the use of white lead in painting and the application of a weekly rest in industrial undertakings, adopted by the Third Session of the Conference, These bills will become law after receiving the Royal assent and publication in the Official Journal of the Kingdom. (International Labour Office. Official Bulletin, 31 May 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -7It aly. New Office Created, The Confederazione del Lavoro d'Italia (Labor Confederation of Italy) has created the Segretariato Femminile annesso all Ufficio di Legislazione Sociale (Woman Secretaryship connected with the Social Legislation Bureau) and appointed Ete. Laura Casartelli-Cabrini to fill the position. Ratification of the Washington Conventions. A recent Act has authorized the Royal Government to give full effect to the conventions adopted at Washington concerning the employment of women during the night and the night work of young persons employed in industry. (Gazetta Ufficiale, 18 April 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 5 May 1922.) Regulations in Tobacco Factories. Regulations for wage-earning workers in the state tobacco factories and warehouses were issued by Royal Decree on 19 February 1922, Chapter III deals with the general terms of employment of workers and with the processes from which women are excluded; these are defined as "heavy tasks and porters' work," which shall be assigned "only to men," while women under age are not to be employed "in opening bales; in sorting leaves not previously damped; in the fermenting process and in the disintegration of heaps of the fermented product; in the drying process in closed rooms; in grinding and sifting; in the manufacture of extracts and in cutting," Chapter IV deals with hours of work and annual leave. Working hours are limited to 7 daily, exclusive of the compulsory break of one hour. Overtime is allowed up to 225 hours a year for each worker 75 hours being compulsory on requirement and the remainder optional, and overtime being paid for at the rate of time and a half. Annual leave is granted for ten working days in each year with full pay; if work allows, instructors, inspectors, and supervisors may have a further ten days. Chapter V regulates the payment of wages, and allowances to widows and orphans of employees. Chapter VI deals with allowances in money and in kind (medical attendance, etc.) in case of illness or pregnancy and childbirth, and provides for free treatment of persons attending at the factory dispensary. Maternity benefit includes payment for a wet nurse where the mother is unable to. feed her child. The maternity fund of each factory is managed by a ccmmittee of two salaried employees nominated by the director of the factory, two representatives elected by the members of the fund, and the director as chairman. (International Labour Review, July 1922) Japan, Closing of Silk Factories. The decrease in the export of silk and the consequent fall in its price has particularly affected the silk weaving and spinning factories in the prefectures of Ishikawa, Fukui, and Yamagata, with the result that associations of employers in various localities have decided on a general closing down of factories. Considerable unemployment has followed and the situation is becoming serious, (Osaka Mainichi. 3-15 March 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 16 June 1922), Clerks Want Weekly Rest Day. The clerks of Japan who heretofore have had few, if any, holidays during the year, are hoping much from the inauguration of a weekly rest day bya large department store of Osaka. The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and other bodies have taken the matter up with a view to the adoption of a similar system in Tokyo where there are a number of large department stores conducted on American lines. (ashington Post, July 17, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Netherlands. According to press information, the Second Chamber of the States General passed the Government bills for the ratification of the Draft Conventions concerning employment of women during the night, fixing the minimum age for admission of children to industrial employment and concerning the night work of yaung persons employed in industry at its sitting of 11 're.17 1922 without discussion, and on 19 1ay the bills were adopted by the First Chamber. (International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, 31 May 1922) Serb. Croata and Slovene Kingdom. A very comprehensive set of regulations on safety and hygiene in industrial undertakings was issued on 25 October 1921. Certain special features should be noted. The employment of women and young persons under 18 is prohibited in the lead trades; also in the glass trades, where melting and blowing is carried on; and at printing presses or where they are exposed to danger of lead poisoning. As an exception in printing works authority is given for the employment of: (1) apprentices who have attained the age of 16 years; (2) women not less than 18 years of age, in bronzing; (3) women not less than 18 years of age, in distributing type as well as in warehouses and in type-setting; (4) women who have already been employed for more than one year in the printing trade. (International Labour Revie;(71, July 1922) Sweden. Organization of Women Workers Discussing the question raised at the Trade Union Conference in Rome concerning a special trade union international for female workers, the Social Demokraten surveys the women's trade union movement in Sweden. It points out that female workers during recent years have become more and more interested in the trade union movement, though the number of women organized in trade unions fell by about 20 per cent in 1921 owing to unemployment. At present the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions has about 26,000 female members, The unions with the largest number of women members are: - tailors' union (4,000), Factory Workers' Union (2,882), Bakery and Confectionery Workers' Union (21 815),Tobacco Workers! Union (2,672), Shoe and Leather Workers' Union (2,558), Textile Workers' Union (11,000), Telegraph and Telephone.Workerel Union (2,000). The Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union and several other so-called mixed unions also have female members, There are also several independent women's trade unions which are affiliated to the Social Democratic Women's Union, on the Executive of which they are represented. According to the figures -obtained by the Social Demokraten, there seem to be altogether about 45,000 women organized in trade unions in Sweden. (Social Derppkraten, Stockholm, 5 May 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 30 June 1922) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Sv itzerland. The Resolution of 2 Larch 1917, fixing minimum rates of wages in the mbroidery industry, was repealed by a Resolution of the Swiss Federal Council ated 27 Larch 1922, as far as embroidery by the co-called Schiffli machines s concerned, and the minimum rates ceased to become compulsory as from 1 April4 he rates fixed for hand-machine embroidery remain in operation until further orders, (International Labour Review, July 1922). Hours of Labor. The Bundesrat intends in the near future to submit to the Assembly a proposal for the revision of Article 41 of the Factory Act, whereby powers will be given to the Government to prolong the working hours in certain branches of industries and works to 54 hours a week for urgent reozons, especially in times of crisis. (Neue Ziircher Zeitung, ifiarch 28; Economic Review, Lay 5, 1922.) Uru.ruay. Dr. Paulina Luisi has been appointed government representative on the Commission on Traffic in Women and Children of the League of Nations. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, July 1922.) Yucroslavia. Before the war it was not especially advantageous to employers to engage either =married or married persons, since each worker was pd according to ability. These conditions have been changed in an important respect. A basic wage is now paid, to which bonuses are added, according to the responsibilities of the worker for wife, children, parents, etc. It is therefore, cheaper for the employer to engage unmarried persons and married workers are being dismissed and replaced'by unmarried ones. It is obvious that this produces an intolerable situation which calls for relief at the earliest possible moment. The number of married persons who are unemployed increases daily. (First Annual Report, Yugoslavia Labor Inspection Department; International Labour Review, EaY 1922). NCTES. Some one has estimated that if a married woman, during a period of 30 years' married life, has 'attended to the ordinary duties of the household, she has served nearly 500'..000 meals, has put up more than 3,000 jars of preserves, devoted . abour 35,000 hours to sweeping, washing and scrubbing, and so on at some length. • Then this investigator has figured that, at accepted prices for this work, it is worth considerably over $100,000, and he asks the question, "Why can not she retire on her savings!” And he answers his own question .by asking another one, as. follows: ,"How do You define the ordinary woman's contributions to her family wealth?" (Christian Science 1,:onitor, July 12, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ,e, " 11110 NEU PUBLICATIONS. Careers, A guide to the professions and occupations of educated women and girls. Women's Employment Publishing Co., Ltd., London, n. d. ed. 5, 238 p. ;11inois. Industrial Commission. Annual report for . . year ending June 30, 1921, and statistical report fcr . • 1920. 32 p. Illinois, Laws, Statutes, etc. Illinois manual of laws affecting women and children. Chicago, 19224 189 p. Issued by the Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago. Kansas. Court of Industrial Relaticns. Women's Division. Women workers in Kansas. Laws governing the employment of women and Topeka, 1922. 19 p. minors in the State of Kansas. Contains orders affecting laundry, manufactoring, mercantile, public housekeeping, and telephone industries. Lapp) John A. Medicine and industry. p. 148, 1531 159. Dodge Idea, v. 38, no. 6, June 1922. Lininum Wazt. Massachusetts, Department of Labor and Industries. Division of 34 p. 1922. Report for the year ending November 30, 1921. Boston, and Reprint from the Annual Report of the Department of Labor Industries. of New York. De' artment of Labor. Bureau of RelAarch and Codes. Dsion Industrial Hygiene. fixtures. Economic value of maintaining clean windows and lighting (Special Bulletin 1124) June, 1922. 15 p. 5 fig t to dust and refuse Engineering principles and practical data relating June, 1922. 47 p., 73 fig. removal from woodworking machines. Rvan John A. Llinimum wage administration. p. 150, 158-159. Dodge Idea, v. 38, no. 6, Ulm, Aaron Hard. Why the working man gets tired. July, 1922. p. 25-27, illus. June 1922. Nations Business, v. 10, no. 81 Winslow, ;:arv N. Journal, ILAerican StatisMedians of women's earnings in four states. 1922. p. 106-108. March 137)1 no. s. tical Association, v. 18 (n. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis void& 194 U. S. tepartment of Labor WOMEN t S BUREAU Washington New Letter No, 16, August 28, 1922. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Connecticut, In a campaign in the interest of the enforcement of laws protecting working women, the Committee on Women in Industry of the League of Women Voters has made a study of the posting of employment notices in mercantile establishments and has taken the matter up with the Department of Labor. The committee has sent out a letter to 71 merchants in the state calling their attention to a tendency not to supply sufficient seats for salesgirls in their establishments and to the disposition of floor superintendents not to allow the girls to use the seats which are provided. Three hundred letters have also been sent to women shoppers all over the state asking them to notice whether the girls are permitted to sit down and to hold personal interviews with merchants on this subject. A number of firms have been reported to the Department of Labor for their attention. . The Committee en Women in Industry has voted to work for the bill for shorter working hours for women which will be introduced by the Ccnsumers t League. District of Columbia, Managers of 15 laundries were recently brought into police court on charges of violating the minimum wage law in failing to furnish the Minimum Wage Board with a Complete and accurate list of women employed at their places of business, The laundry companies filed demurrers and motions to quash the information on the ground that it was vague and uncertain and did not properly inform the defendants cf the nature of the charge against them and on the ground that the minimum wage law is unconstitutional as the question of its constitutionality is still before -the Court of Appeals. The judge,however,overruled these motions, The companies requested jury trials and these will be held early in September, Kansas. The Christian Science Monitor of August 21, contains the following story: "The laundry owners of Kansas who may want to fight the order of the Industrial Court, fixing minimum wages and a maximum hour schedule for women workers, must first deposit a sum equal to the difference in wages between what they actually pay and the minimum fixed by the commission, Laundry owners whst made this discovery when they brought suit to enjoin the enforcement of the wage order, The district court of Shawnee County, where the suit was filed, ordered each laundry owner individually to become a party to the suit, and every Monday each owner must pay to the clerk of the court the amount of wages due his women mployees to bring the scale up to the minimum fixed by the court. This difference in wages will be impounded by the clerk of the court and held until he case finally is determined, If the Industrial Court decision stands, the clerk of the court will pay directly to the women workers the amount impounded for each. The court directed that each laundry owner make a weekly statement showing name and address of every employee who is not receiving the full minimum wage prescribed by the minimum scale, and the iit:ference in pay must be scheduled when payment is made. If the laundry owners shoed win the case, then the money would ne refunded to them by the Court. The Industrial Court fixed $11 a week as the minimum pay for laundry workers with one yearts experience, It also established the eight-hour basic day for laundry workers. This is the same scale of pay and the same schedule of hours for laundry workers as has applied to women workers in factories for the past three years. No injunction has been sought by mereantile establishments of the State to restrain the minimum wage order of the Industrial Court for clerks in stores, in hotels or restaurants. The scale for these classes of workers is now in effect and unless the laundry owners make deposits regularly) as ordered, the new scale will be at once applicr'oie to their women workers." Another clipping from the Kansas City Times states that the 1211 order of the Industrial Welfare Commission for manufacturing industriPs is not affected by the recent injunction secured by the Associated Industries. The rates and hours are the same for this industry in th, 1922 orders as in those of 1919 and it is the 1922 orders against which the injunction was granted, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis e Nac,sachusetts. The minimum rates of 0.4.40 and 0_4.75 recommended by the wage boards for the brush and men's clothing and raincoat occupations were not approved by the Minimum Wage Commission but were recommitted to the boards with the request that they bring their findings, if possible, more in accord with the rates fixed by other boards in session at the same time. Both boards, however, returned their original determinations. The Commission then voted to disapprove these findings and the old rates for these industries are still in effect. New York. The New York City League of Women Voters has completed a questionnaire for candidates of all political parties and will send them out at once to men whose names have been suggested fer office. Candidates for the Assembly and State Senate will be asked among other questions, the following:- Are you for or against (1) the revision of the laws so as to remove the present legal disabilities of women so that women may serve on juries, may have an equal right to be appointed administrators of the estates of relatives, may choose their legal residences, may be admitted to all civil service examinations and have an equal right to all appointments and may have full control of their earnings? (2) An eight-hour day or a forty-eight hour week for women and minors in factories and mercantile establishments, a minimum wage commission to determine a living rage for working women and minors in various industries and localities and the abolition of night work for minors? One question to be asked Representatives bac and United States Senators will be "Are you for or against adequate financial support for the Children's Bureau, the Women's Bureau, in the Department of Labor, and Home Demonstration Work in the Department of Agriculture?" After the state conventions candidates for the office of governor and Lieutenant-governor, will receive a questionnaire similar to the one sent to aseemblymen and state senators. Answers to the que-stionnaries will be kept on file at the political information bureau 6f the League and later will be printed with the records of the candidates and circulated free of charge to women voters throughout the city. Pennsylvania. Textile Code. The tentative draft of the Textile Code for application in the dyeing and finishing branches of that industry has been submitted to two public hearings and will come before the committee for final revision Tuesday, September 26, at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia. The criticism received at these hearings has been compiled and together with Other criticism that may be received in brief form will be submitted to a committee of dyers for consideration, after which the code will be adopted by the Industrial Board. An interesting feature in connection with this code is that it was formulated by the dyers themselves and submitted to the Industrial Board with a request for adoption as a safety standard applicable to their own industry. Lighting Code. revision of the Lighting Code will be held at the for meeting committee A third Philadelphia Septepber 28. The chief criticisms presented in Bellevue Stratford Hotel at the first two meetings were that minimum intensities are not given for some of the most important industries of the state and that those given -4,re not high enough. Rulings of the Industrial Board. A petition of the employees of S. TannhauSer, Philadelphia, for permission to reduce the lunch period for women employees to 30 minutes was denied. Permission was granted the Summit Hotel, Uniontown, open from May 1 to October 15, to employ women seven days per reek. Home Work R4eeulations. Feeulations of the Industrial Board on industrial home wark become effective September 1. A separate pamphlet containing the regulatitias is being printed. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - 3Canada. Among the measures passed during the last - session of Parliament was an act to incorporate the Frontier College, with headquarters at Toronto. The objects of this institution are to promote education among Canadian working men and women and Canadian immigrants, and to promote higher educational training and instruction for teachers and social workers auong Canadian working men and women and Canadian grants. The College is authorf.zed to conduct classes and construct suitable buildings wherever required, "as for instance in, or in the vicinity of, facto:ies, industrial plants, mining camps, lumber camps, railway camps, eXtra gangs, and all communities of workers engaged in construction, industrial, agrarian and other labouring pursuits." It may confer degrees and may affiliate vith any other college or university. No religious tests are permitted. (Labour Gazette, Canada, July 1922.) Alberta. The fifth legislature of the Province of Alberta passed Acts establishing a Bureau of Labour, providing a minimum wage for women, and creating a superannuation fund for the benefit of civil. servants. (Labour Gazette, Canada, July 1922.) British Columbia. The report of the Einimum Wage Board of British Columbia for 1921 contains the following paragraphs: No one can study the returns made to the Board without remarking the general improvement shown in hours of employment and the greater numbers receiving the higher wages. While here and there girls may have lost their positions because employers did not consider them worth the legal minimum rage, the returns zhow a better balance in wages of the whole body of women workers in Brsh Columbia than in former years. More umployees are passing up into the better paid classifications. For example, in the mercantile industry the returns indicate that adult women receiving the highest salaries (S25 a week or aver) number more than twice as many in 1921 as in 1920. The payrolls show no justification for the fear sometimes expressed that the setting of a legal minimum wage for adult workers would cause wholesale replacement by those under age. The question of married women and girls who work for pin money is not as importbelief, and any danger of abuses arising from this pracant as appears to .x_ tice may be met by establishing the principle of equal pay for equal work. Few women would work full hours unless there were real need, and employers would not be likely to employ workers who display no real interest in their work, or who hold so slender a grasp upon their positions. Recent surveys indicate that the number of women vorking whose circumstances do not require them to take up outside work is negligible. It is important to note that the number of women and girl employees living away from their families in lodging and boarding houses is increasing as our cities grow in population. During the period of high wages the benefit of minimum wage legislation and the protection given to fair employers was not so clearly realized as it is now, and will be in the immediate future. One of the great English statesmen asserted that world unemployment is greater now than it vas after the Napoleonic Wars, and that onefourth of this unemployment was amongst women. Up on the recent opening of a large establishment in Brsh Columbia for 400 places there were 4000 applicants, the majority of these being women. Ontario One of the most important measures passed by the last session of the Ontario Legislature was the act to amend the minimum wage act in conformity with the acts in force in other provinces, by enlarging the powers of the Board to fix the working hours as well as the minimum lazes of female employees. In presenting the bill the Minister of Labour stated that the Minimum Wage Board had experienced difficulty in securing the intended effect of its orders owing to a tendency on the part of employers to extend the working hours when the minimum wage was fixed. He claimed that it was unfair to fix the Da±minaxmxwxga same minimum whether the working week was one of 35 or one of 59 hours. The amending act gives the Board all the powers whic nay be conferred upon a commission under the Public Inquiries Act, with regard to .,7xing . of maximum hours as woll as of minimum wages. After due inquiry the Board may. eotablish a minimum wage and the maximum number of hours per week for which such mirimum wage may be paid; also a rate of wages for all time work in excess of the established maximum number of hours per week. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis al. A -Alilb. A _4 Another measure affecting hours of labour was the Act to Promote the Public Health by providing for one day of rest in seven for employees in certain employments, which will take effect on August 1 in cities and towns with over 10,000 population. Twenty-four Consecutive hours of rest in every 7 days, on a Sunday if possible, must be allowed for all workers in hotels, restaurants and cafes, with the exception of watchmen, janitors, superintendents or foremen, employees of a class where there are not more than two employed, and employees who are not employed for more than 5 hours in any one day. Nothing in the'act, however, authorized any Sunday work now prohibited by law. Penalties up to 0.00 are provided for contraventions of the act. (Labour Gazette, Canada, July, 1922.) China The fitst National Conference of Chinese workers was held at Canton from 1-6 :0.5T 1922. One hundred and sixty-two delegates from 12 cities, representing over 300,000 workers, were present. (Communication from the Industrial Department, National Committee, Y. \;% C. A ., Shanghai; Industrial and Labour Information, 28 July 1922.) Czechoslovakia. The bill concerning the ratification of the draft conventions concerning unemployment, the employment of women before and after child-birth and the night work of young persons employed in industry has been carried forward from the recent session of the Czethoslovak Chamber of Deputies to the present session. (International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, 5 July 1922.) In an article appearing in the New York Call of July 16 Dr. George M. Price, Director of the Joint Board of Sanitary Control says: "I have just visited some of the large porcelain factories of Carlsbad, and, to my great surprise, I saw young girls no more than 15 years of age carrying heavy trays loaded with earthen ware weighing, according to the statement of the foreman, 40 kilos, or over 80 pounds. The women workers in the glass, porcelain and textile mills, appeared to be overworked, thin, worn out, and very much older than their age. There were also a number of child workers, who were undergrown and undernourished but doing the work of grown persons. The inspector explained that many of these children were stunted during the years of the World War. He further stated that children born during the last eight years never saw white bread and rarely wheat bread. The wages paid to these workers are far below the cost of living ... housing conditions are bad though the house of the glassworker furnished by the employer, seems to be much better, consisting usually of two rooms, no bath, rarely running rater, and crude sanitary arrangements. . . In talking to Lir, noser,of the well known glass manufacturing firm, on the efficiency and production of the glass works, he made the direct statement that production under the 8-hour system had greatly exceeded the production under the 10-hour system in his factory. Denmark. The recommendation of the Washington Conference concerning the protection of women and children against lead poisoning has been the occasion of an inquiry into the degree of exposure of Danish workers to the risks of lead poisoning. The Factory Inspectorate has completed its investigation and The Minis-try of the Interior . has directed the Labour Council to arrange for a medical inquiry in order to ascertain the extent to which employment in undertakings in which the workers are open to the risks of lead poisoning has affected the health of the workers concerned. The Government will not be able to acme to a definite decision regarding the measures to be taken until this inquiry is completed. (International Labour Office, Official Bulletin, 5 July 1922.) England. Equal Franchise, The Prime Minister has consented to receive a deputation organized by the National iJiion of Societies for Equal Citizenship to present to him a memorial asking the Government to introduce and pass through all its stages this session an equal franchise bill which has been signed by 222 members of Parliament and 41 nationally organized associations. There are in England 6,000,000 voteless adult women including the great majority of professionally and industrially occupied women. (gaman t s Leader, August 41 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -11 5 Women in the International Labour Offices. The latest figures of the ataff of the International Labour Office of the League of Nations show that there are 160 women employed in that office, as against 185 men. It is expressly laid down in the regulations of the office that all posts are open equally to women as well as men, following the general principles agreed to by the signatories of the Peace Treaty in part XIII, the seventh of which reads: "The principle that men and women shouldreceive equal remuneration for work of equal value." Women have competed on equal terms with men at the examinations held from time to tine in different European capitals for the recruitment of staff, and it is interesting to not4hat in one examination for 7 vacancies as editors and translators 5 women were successful as against 2 men. Women belong to 15 out of the 28 nationalities at present represented in the International Labour Office -- British, French, Swiss, Italian, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Dutch, Norwegian, Russian, Canadian, Lithuanian, Swedish, Polish, German and Danish. The hihest appointment held in the office by womanis that of Chief of the Labour Legislation Section of the Research Division. This is held by Miss Sophie Sanger, who is at the moment acting as Chief of the Division in the temporary absence of Dr. Royal Meeker on a mission in Central Europe. In the National Information Service all relations with women's organizations are looked after by a woman. Women are also in charge of the typing, multigraph, and roneo branch. The employment of women in this newly formed international civil service has been fully justified by the excellent results obtained. (Woman's Leader, August 4, 1922,) Courses for Unemployed Women Continued. Government has decided not to close down the domestic training courses for The unemployed women but to go on giving a grant, and on a substantial scale, to eke out the funds of the Central Committee on Women's Training and Employment for this purpose. (Woman's Leader, July 28, 1922.) France. The promised debate on the Woman's Suffrage bill which was expected last month has again been postponed, this time until October. (Woman's Leader, July 21,1922.) Germany. Two State "Schools of Economics and Administration" were opened at the beginning of May at Berlin and Dusseldorf. These schools are intended for persons .of either sex who have had only an elementary education, have already been earning :their livelihood for some time, and who intend to use the knowledge which may be given them, not for their own private ends, but for the benefit of -the general community in some administrative work connected with social or economic questions. The chief subjects of instruction are political econony, the German constitution and its historical development, labour law, social administration and sociology. The Prussian Diet has granted the necessary credits for the equipment of the schools and the payment of the salaries of the teachers. The first course is to last a year. The Berlin school is being attended by 20 trade unionists, each of whom receives a maintenance grant of 10,000 marks from the State and 5,000 marks from his trade union. (Vorwaerts, 3 May, 1922; Die Gewerkschaft, 16 June, 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 21 July, 1922.) Holland. Dutch women voted for the first time at the general election on the 6th July. They more or less equal the male voters in number and for the first time the decisions made were nationally in more than name. Four women were elected, and there is a possibility of a fifth, for M. van Houten, who was reelected, is 85, and it is rumored that he intends to resign his seat in favour of Mlle Van Dorp. (Woman's Leader, July 21, 1922.) India 4 To fill a vacancy in the Post of Lady Investigator in Bombay, the Labour Office qppointed a Board of Selection te deal with the applications. Thirty-one applications were received and the Board has agreed unanine:Isly to appoint Mrs. MaIatibai Karve. Mrs. Karve at present holds an appointment under the Bombay Presidency Women's Council but will join the Labour Office on the first of July 1922. (Labour Gazette, Bombay, June 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -6 Japan. The Osaka Mainichi announced in April that a Labour School was to be opened in Osaka in June for the instruction of workers, and particularly members of trade unions, in sociology, economics, politics, jurisprudence, trade unionism and other questions of interest to labour as well as in matters of general education. Classes will be held in the evening. There will be four courses in the year, three identical courses of three months each, followed by a more advanced course for workers who have finished one of the preliminary courses. The teachers include well-known labour leaders and certain of the professors of Kyoto University. (Industrial and Labour Information, 21 July 1922,) Sweden. The proposal that duly qualified women should be allowed to enter the high grades in the Civil Service and be admitted to all other government positions in Sweden was defeated by a two-lak7ciwotes majority in the Upper Chamber some weeks ago. The reason given was that the question ought only to be discussed in connection with new salary regulations for women civil servants. NOTES, An International Workers Education Conference, convened by the central Workers' Educational Association of Belgium, was held at Brussels on 15-17 August. Thirteen national organizations,(trade union, co-operative and political bodies) were represented. One of the chief objects of the Conference was to exchange information on the activities of the various national organizations represented. Another question to be discussed was the exchange of pupils between the Workers' College of Belgium and similar institutions in other countries. Miss Fannia M. Cohn and Mr. Spencer Miller,Jr., attended this Conference as delegates from the Workers' Educational Bureau of America, of which Mr. Miller is Secretary. Miss Cohn, who is the Secretary of the Educational Department of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, expects to spend a few weeks following the Conference studying labor schools in Erigland and Scotland. NEW PUBLICATIONS. British Columbia, Derry, Kathleen Minimum Wage Board. Report, 1921 Victoria, 1922) 18 p. Ylorking Women's Problems. Canadian Congress Journal, v. 1, no. 8 August, 1922. p. 438 - 441. Georgia, Commissioner of Cortmerce and Labor. Tenth annual report . .1921.Atlanta, 1922, 83 p. Great Britain. Home Office. Committee on Lightim in Factories and Workshops. Third Report . . . London, 1922. 38 p. Illuminating_ Engineering_ Society, Code of Lighting: factories, mills and other plac American Standard. Approved Dec. 31,1921, by AmeriA• can Engineering Standards Committee,New York,1922, 36 p. 16 fig. Kansas. Court of Industrial Relations. Second annual report,1921. Topeka,1922.107 p. Part IV: - Division of women and children. Phillips, Marion Aims and constitution of the International Federation of Working Women. Canadian Congress Journal, v. 1,no.8,Aug.1922. p.436-438. Spaeth, Reynold A. Factors determining length of work day. Nation's Health v.4,no.8, August,1922. p.488-490. Read before the Fiftieth Conference of Pennsylvania Industrial Physicians and Surgeons at Harrisburg, May 25, 1922. irikprovontOt work . # Nationi $ U41.110kv 4 no.8, August, 1922, p.485-488. U.S.Federal Board for Vocational Education, Vocational rehabilitation and workmen's compensation. Interrelation of the programs of vocational rehabilitation and workmen's compensation. Washington, , June, 1922. 25 p. (Bulletin 76) SVdCncArickerieRdgar. Si,cknescor000rds Welfare Leave, Louisville,Kentucky. Annual Report, 1921.Louisville,1922.60 p.illus. Contains reports of 31 social agencies in Louisville. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis U. S. Department of Labor WOMEN'S BUREAU Washington September 27, lg.' . News Letter No, 17. ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Miss Ethel Johnson Misrepresented. the country during the Unfortunate publicity has been given in the newspapers of M. Johnson, Assistpast month to a statement alleged to have been made by Miss Ethel Miss of the Department of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts. nt Johnson has replied to this as follows: purporting to An article which appeared in the Boston American for August 25th ly come to your possib may women ng be an interview with me on the expenditures of worki ting the submit fore there am notice as it has been copied in a number of papers. I r is matte the if tion situa following explanation so that you will understand the brought to your attention. interview was published The article in question is pure fabrication. The alleged e and in no way repuntru while I was on vacation. The statements ascribed to me are enable a working to cient suffi resent my views. I have never said that 49 a week is luxuries, nor with her y girl to meet the necessities of life and that 017 will suppl know how to not they do have I ever said that working girls are extravagant or that of living cost or any spend their money. I am not the author of any clothing budget budget. not the Commission which Under the Massachusetts law, it is the wage board and working woman to meet the cost makes recommendation as to the amount necessary for a ined from expressing any personal of living. In view of this fact, I have always refra r of the Commission nor Assist0-1nion on the subject. Incidentally, I am not a membe referred to in the article. ant Commissioner of the Minimum Wage Commission as a budget prepared by an The reporter who is responsible for the story secured s and used this as the basis for employer member of one of the Commission's wage board wage board there is no excuse for the article. As the budget was not adopted by the its publication. this nature circulated as it It is unfortunate to have fictitious material of work. I have written the American tends to create prejudice against the Commission's requesting that they make retraction. Arkansas. have petitioned'the IndusAccording to a press report merchants of Fort Smith 's ruling of 1920 establishtrial Je1fare Commission for a hearing on the Commission s that the ruling is discriming a minimum wage for women workers. The petition argue with the decline in the inatory in that it applies only to Fort Smith and also that in 1920 is 413.25 a week for excost of living the wage is too high. The wage fixed for inexperienced workers. perienced workers in mercantile establishments and (?11,00 California, it had suspended its The Industrial Welfare Commission announced yesterday that a week to 415, and reduction of the minimum wage for women in California from 416 to hear testimony and to -:ould hold a public hearing in San Francisco September 27th ous public hearing. The remedy a technical defect in the notice given of its previ aining order granted by 1-age reduction already has been held up by a temporary restr protested against the cut. the Superior Court hare to one of the labor unions which opinion from AttorThe Commission said its action was taken as the result of an notice of the previous - ey General U. S. Webb to the effect that the defect in the the Commission's order. blic hearing raised a serious question as to the validity of 'acramento Bee, September 2, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2 Kansas. Sixty Firms Contest New Minimum Wage. Sixty Kansas firms have entered appearances in the Shawnee County District Court, making themselves parties to the order issued by Judge McClure, holding up the women's wage award of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations recently promulgated. The judge ruled that any firm making itself a party to the litigation could benefit from the restraining order issued temporarily holding up the enforcement of the award. The award remains effective as regards all firms not joining in the action. The wage award as it affects new wages for women in mercantile establishments, such as retail stores, is now in effect, and so far as is known has not been contested in the courts. It was planned at first to include this in the test case but the Court ruled that each merchant would have to join in the suit in order to benefit under a restraining order. If the test of the court's power should prove favorable to the contesting employers, action to void the wage award as affecting store employees probably would be taken. (Daily News Record, New York, August 14, 1922). Ruling on Hours for Retail Clerks in Small Towns. The Kansas Court of Industrial Relations has issued an order permitting stores in Kansas towns of 5,000 or less inhabitants, to employ women clerks until 10 o'clock at night one night each week, provided no clerk works more than 10 hours in one day. This ruling was made especially so that retailers in country towns could acccommodate the farmer trade, much of which is handled on Saturday evenings. To take care of merchants in towns of more than 5,000 inhabitants; where conditions seem to warrant late closing one night a week, the court announced that it would make exceptions to the order when proper evidence as to the need ifor such action is presented. (New York Woman's Wear, August 10, 1922). Massachusetts. Recess Commission on Unemployment and Minimum Wage. The recess commission appointed by the legislature to study the question of unemployment and the minimum wage has organized and commenced its work. Public hearings on the minimum wage began Tuesday, September 26th, The Commission is required to investigate the subject of unemployment; unemployment compensation, the operation of the minimum wage law, its affect on industry and upon employees, whether the present law should be repealed or made mandatory, or what changes should be made in the existing legislation, Action must be submitted to the General Court in January,1923. Settlement of Textile Strike. A general settlement of the textile strike in Massachusetts has been effected by the restoration of thq wages in effect before the reduction last spring. The strike, which was precipitated by a twenty per cent cut in wages has lasted six months and involved mills in Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Fitchburg; Ware and Attleboro. The Department of Labor and Industries under a legAativo order, is making an investigation of the situation in Massachusetts and in Southern mills. Report with opinion as to whether the reduction which caused the strike was necessary in order to enable the mills to conduct their business at a reasonable profit; must be submitted to the legislature in January, 1923. Hearing on Power Pmah Press Rules. A hearing on the adoption of the recommendations of the Power Punch Press Committee will be held Thursday, September 28the Following is text of the proposed code: 1) All power press tools in use shall be constructed, or effective safety appliances provided, to prevent the hand of an operator from being in the hazard zone at the time of operation: if https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The speed of the press when running continuously is more than 30 working strokes per minute and the clutch is engaged for each stroke. (b) The speed of the press is more than 45 working strokes per minute, the stroke is less than 4 inches and the press is running continuously. 2) Power shall be off and press drive wheels shall be at rest while tools are being adjusted, except where the control allows the ram to be stopped at any point of the stroke. 3) No person shall render inoperative or fail to use any safety appliance which has been provided in accordance with section 1. Note 1. Safety appliances may be of the following types: (a) Stationary guards. (b) Movable guards of the sweep type, operating positively from the rum or shaft and not from the tripping mechanism. (c) Movable guards of the gate type, closing in advance of the operation of the clutch. (d) Mechanical means; such as chute, slide, dial, magazine or roll feeds. (e) Double hand trips. (f) Pliers or other hand implements. New Wage Board for Brush The Minimum Wage Commission has voted to form for the brush industry. This action is taken as a findings of the reconvened board which reported on Industry. a new wage board of seven members result of the disapproval of the May 23, 1922. Schools of Politics and Government, As a part of its citizenship work, the Massachusetts League of Women Voters is to conduct a School of Politics and Government in cooperation with Radcliffe College. The sessions will be held October 18, 19 and 20. The faculty of the school includes: President LeBaron Russell Briggs, Professor Zechariah Chafee,Jr., Professor Felix Frankfurter, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor Arthur N. Holcombe, Dean Henry W. Holmes, Professor William B. Munro, Dean Roscoe Pound, Professor Francis B. Sayre, Professor Frank W. Taussig, Professor Frederick J. Turner, Woman Appointed on Industrial Accident Board. Governor Cox has appointed Mrs.Emma Fall Schofield of Malden as the first woman member of the Industrial Accident Board. The position was created by the legislature this year through an act which became effective in September. Mrs.Schofield is a lawyer and has served as probation officer for women and girls. She will be the highest salaried woman in the State service as the appointment carries a salary of c6,000, The term is for five years. New Department of Administration and Finance. The law establishing a new Department of A dministration and Finance became effective this month. The Department will be in charge of a commission of four members and will supersede the office of the Supervisor of Administration. It will also take over part of the functions of the Auditor's office and the Treasurer of the Commonwealth. The new Department rill embrace a comptroller's bureau, a budget bureau and a purchasing bureau as well as a division of personnel and standardization which will fix salaries in the state service and will investigate the work of the state departments for the purpose of increasing efficiency in the state service. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis lia,440York_. Special Laundries Code. in the act A special advisory committee within the State Department of Labor is for the of preparing a special code on Laundries. The committee is considering rules and humidity, protection of employees in laundries by the regulation of temperature and any other machines special the elielination of damp floors, the safe guarding of of the judgment the in questions relating to the conduct of the laundry business as coeimittee may seem necessary. Owners The committee is made up of the president of the New York State Laundry Secthe Association, the manager of the Laundry Board of Trade of Greater New York, Ameriretary of the Associated Industries cf New York State, a representative of the can Launlry Machinery Company, representing the employers. Representing the employees a representative of the United Garment Workers Union, a representative of the shop committee of the Pilgrim Laundry of Brooklyn, a representative of the Laundry Workers International Union, a representative of workers employed in manufacturers' laundries. There are also on the committee two heating and ventilating engineers and 3 representatives of the Department of Labor. Public hearings will probably be held on this proposed code in the immediate I uture. State Standards Building Code Committee. The 1922 legislature passed a law creating a State Standards Building Code Committee to formulate codes for places of public assembly, for the purpose of throwing ])roper safe guards about all places of public assembly where one hundred or more pereons zxsgmbim may assemble, conducted for pecuniary gain, such as picture houses, public halls, theatres, etc. This code will make standards for the physical conditons of men and women _employt.;d in theatres. The duty of providing safety standards for these places was imposed upon the Labor Department by the legislature. These rules shall be the minimum standards and shall supersede any local ordinances on the subject inconsistent with the rules. Additional requirements may be sailed for by any locality. isconsin. In the case of George Burkhart, applicant, vs Simmons Company, respondent, the industrial Commission on August 8 ordered payment to the applicant of a IluMp sum of e253.50 and weekly payments of 0.6.90 as long as total disability lasts. The case is that of a punch press'operator of two years' experience who turned out on an average from 18,000 to 20,000 pieces during an 8-hour shift. In order to do this, the Commission found, considerable exertion and muscle strain was required which resulted, in March 1922, in a painful and swollen arm. On April 27, 1922, the arm became entirely useless and the case was diagnosed as occupational neurosis. Although the employee did not give the company notice in writing of his claim for compensation in compliance with the law, the Commission ruled that this failure was not with the intention of misleading the company and that the company was not in fact misled. The Commission found also that the record was not clear as to the amount of expense for medical treatment ineerred up to August 8 but declared that if the two parties cannot agree upon the amount of this expense the matter can be determined at a later hearing. In the meantime the Commission issued the temporary order for papmeet of a lump sum and weekly payments of the amount to which the applicant's veekly wege entitled him under the compensation law. United States. The bill providing independent citizenship for married women has passed the Senate and been approved by the President. The pen with which the bill was signed :as presented to Ere. Maud Wood Park, president of the National League of Women 'roters in recognition of the League's work in support of this legislation. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -5 •-ssi Canada. An order of the lanimum'Wage Board, governing the fruit and vegetable industry, took effect in February, 1920. Subsequently the employers petitioned the Board to reopen the question of the amount of a fair minimum wage for this industry, and in accordance with the provisions of the Act a conference was held at which representatives of all persons interested in the scale were heard, The recommendations made by this conference were reviewed and approved by the Board, and the scale of minimum wages was again fixed to take effect 60 days from July 4, 1922, the date of the new order, the previous order becoming null and void on the same date. The new scale is practically identical with that of 1920... The minimum wage for an experienced female employee of 18 years of age or over remains at 0.4 for a teek of 48 hours, and inexperienced employees are still to be paid at the rate of ti,10 a week during the first month's employment in the industry, and 01 and 02 respeetAwely during the second and third months. The piece time rates are also unchanged... (Labour Gazette, Canada, August, 1922). Japan. The first union of women workers in Japan was the League of Waitresses (Osaka Jokyo Domei) formed in Osaka on 10 April 1922 with a membership of 200. The new union is carrying on propaganda with the object of arousing women workers in other commercial and industrial undertakings. An attempt is being made to form a federation of women telephone operators, factory workers and typists, organized according to occupation. At a meeting of representatives of the unions affiliated to the Confederation of Labour Unions in Western Japan (Kansei Rodo Kumiai Domei Kai) held on 3 June, it was decided to form a union to include all women workers. It was expected that a union of women textile workers in and near the city of Osaka would be formed at the end of June under the title of Union of Spinners in Western Japan (Seibu Boseki Ko Kumiai) with a membership of about 800. (Tokyo Asahi, 4 April, 5, 21 and 23 June 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 1 September, 1922). Norway, On August 26, 1916 a committee was appointed in connection with the Ministry for Sopial Affairs to examine the amendments to be made to existing Norwegian legislation for the protection of workers. This committee reported on 11 February, 1922 and submitted the draft of a bill. Among the sections having a more or less direct connection with matters which have been dealt with by decisions of the International Labour Conference those regarding the employment of women provide as follows: Prohibition of Employment of Women in Certain Work, (1) Women shall not be employed in work below ground. On the recommendation of the Labour Council, the King may either prohibit or impose certain conditions for the employment of women in certain trades or undertakings where the work involves special exposure to danger to health, accidents or cverstrain. (2) Women who are not dressed in clothing approved by the inspecting authority shall not be employed in minding boilers or machinery considered to be dangerous, nor in cleaning, greasing, or looking after machinery or shafting in motion, nor in putting driving belts, ropes, etc., on revolving pulleys while they are in motion, unless the said work is entirely free from danger. Night Work of Women. (3) In factories, handicrafts, constructional work, mining, or other industrial undertakings, women shall not be employed on night work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., except . https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - 6 (Urgent (a) in the cases ment3_oned in paragraph 19, subsection (la) es or work to save life or goods from danger due to natural occurrenc accidents) .or interrupted (b) when occurrences which could not be forseen have ng, undertaki or threaten to interrupt the regular conduct of an tion of deteriora (c) when night work is necessary to prevent the raw materials or products. Employment Before and After Childbirth. con(1) Women shall be exempt from work during the first six weeks after the before weeks finement. They may claim exemption from work during the last six time when, in accordance with the certificate of a medical practitioner or midwife, the confinement is expected, of (2) If a woman is exempt from work in accordance with the provisions the sub-section (1), her post shall remain open for her unless she has resigned or inspecting authority has given its consent to herdismissal. she may (3) If a woman is in need in consequence of the provisions in (1) relief poor to relating claim relief from public funds. The law in force at the time shall apply, but the relief shall not be regarded as poor relief. Women Nursing Their Children Themselves. free time ';;omen nursing their children themselves shall not be refused the needed for this purpose. NOTES Mary Macarthur Scholarship. (England) for Applications have been rceived from andidates all over the country the Mary Macarthur Scholarship in Memory of Emma Paterson, Lady Dilke, and Mary training for women Macarthur, The scholarship is intended to provide education and applications who wish to serve the Trade Union and Labour 1ovement, and from the many d among that have come in it is clear that the desire for such training is widesprea s were candidate Twenty women today, and that many more such scholarships are needed. promising most selected to take the examination which was held on August 22nd. The the of the candidates will be interviewed as early in September as possible, and scholarship. will then be awarded. (Labour Magazine, London, September 1922). PERSONNEL. Virginia, reMiss Emma L. ';:ard has been appointed to succeed Mrs. Ethel L. Scott who has and Labor of nitned as director of the Division of Women and Children in the Bureau Industrial Statistics, NEW PUBLICATIONS. Associatidn of women clerks and secretaries, London. Cost of living for women clerical workers. Sobe facts and figures. 20 p. London, Labour publishing co., ltd., 1922. Eyesight conservation council. Part of the study of waste in industry Eye conservation in industry. conducted under the auspices of the Federated American Engineering New York, 1922. 29 p. (Its Bulletin 1) Societies. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 4 . 4 -7.International association of public employment services. Proceedings of the ninth annual meeting .., held at Buffalo, New York, September 7-9, 1921, Washington, Gov't print. off., 1922. 78 p. (U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 311.) International labour office. Note upon the measures taken to give effect to the draft conventions and recommendations adopted by the International labour conference. International Labour office . Official bulletin, v. 6, no.6, 9 August 1922. p. 253-289. 1. List of acts, bills and other measures yhich have arisen up to date out of the International labour conference and have been brought to the notice of the International labour office i - 2. Tabular summary showing the chief results obtained up to da te and in particular the ratifications registered. Mansbridge) Albert. Workers' educational association of Great Britain. International labour review, v.6, no.3, September, 1922. Maryland. Board of labor and statistics. Thirtieth annual report, 1921, Baltimore (1922). p. 335-344. 383 p. Massachusetts. Department of labor and industries, Division of minimum wage Enforcement of minimum via ge decrees in Massachusetts for the year ending Mimeographed November 30, 1921. 31 p., 32 tables. Meade, John P. What is expected of the factory inspector... Labor and industry, v, 1, no. 4, August? 1922. p. 9-20. Read before the convention of the Association of governmental labor officials of the United States and Canada, Harrisburg, May 1922. National industrial conference board. The physician in industry. A symposium. (Its special report 22) New York, June, 1922. 98 p. Ne, :- York. Laws, statutes, etc. Miscellaneous labor laws, with amendments, additions and annotations to 165 p. August 1, 1922. (Ner! York, 1922.) Issued under the direction of Henry D. Sayer, the Industrial Commissioner. Prepared by the Office of the chief statistician. Embraces provisions of the laws of New York which directly or indirctly affect labor, other than the labor law and the workmen's compensation law. New York state labor law with amendments, additions and annotations to August 1, 1922. (New York, 1922). 143 p, Issued under the direction of Henry D. Sayer, the Industrial Commissioner, Prepared by the Office of the chief statistician. Contains the labor law and certain sections of the lenal law pertinent thereto. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis omit. Pratt, Georpe K. l hygiene will help to Problem Of the mental misfit in industry. Menta solve many maladjustments in industry. September, 1922. p. 557-559. Nation's health, v. 4$ no. 9, ylvania industrial physicians Read before the 15th Conference of Penns and surgeons at Harrisburg, May 25, 1922. Regar, G. Bertram Proper lighting means protec* Need of adequate artificial illumination. rs. tion and improved production to industrial worke p. 550-552, illus. 1922. mber, Septe 9, no. Nation's health, v. 4, ylvania industrial physicians Read before the 15th Conference of Penns 1222. and surgeons at Harrisburg, May 25, Ryan, . A, John Some problems of minimum wage legislation. September, 1922. Catholic charities review, v. 6, no. 7, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis p. 223-226. -9- NEW PUBLICATIONS. Barr, F. G. Health service in dollars and cents. National cash register medical department shows value of its work; e120,000 saved in decreased lost time. Hospital management, v. 14, no. 4, October 1922. p. 65-66. Ne-i York. (State) Department of labor. Course of employment in New York state from 1914 to 1921. (Special bulletin 113) 136 p. Prepared by the Office of the chief statistician. Pennsylvania. Department of labor and industry, Safety standards of the industrial board. Laundries, Albany, 1922. 1922? Prosser, C. A. Outlook for industrial education. 1922. Vocational education magazine, v. 1, no. 1, September 10 p. p. 3-5. U. S. Department of labor. Women's bureau. l in the census Family status of breadwinning women. A study of materia off., 1922. schedules of a selected locality. Washington, Gov't print. 43 p. (Bulletin 23) Vocational education magazine v. 1, no. 1, September 1922. l Published by J. B. Lippincott company, Philadelphia, for the Nationa society of vocational education. Wisconsin consumers' league. in Summary of protective laws for the working women and children of Wiscons p. 10 folder, and a legislative program for 1923, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 203 U. S. Department of Labor wchav s BuazAu shingt on News Letter No. 18. October 27, 1922, ACTIVITIES AFFECTING MIEN IN INDUSTRY. Illinois. has been organA joint committee representing fourteen women's organizations next session the in introduced be to bill ized to work for the passage of an 8-hour of the Illinois General Assembly which meets in January. Kansas, On September 30, Judge Whitcomb of the District Court of Shawnee County, handed down two decisions which sustained in every respect the validity of Industrial Welfare Orders Nos. 12 and 13, fixing a minimum wage of $11 per week and maximum hours of 49T per week out for women and minors in laundries and manufacturing plants in Kansas. In these cases, which were brought by the Topeka Laundry Company and the Topeka Packing Company, it was contended that there was no evidence before the Court of Industrial Relations to sustain the finding of that Court that the wages, hours and working conditions in these industries were prejudicial to the health and welfare of a substanial number of employees. The Court of Industrial Relations showed at the trial that extensive surveys had been made by the state in conjunction with the federal government of the wages, hours and working conditions of women and minors in Kansas, as well as the cost of living, and that these surveys showed that a large number of women were receiving inadequate wages and that many were living in unhealthful conditions on account of the failure of their employers to pay a living wage. In his decision Judge Whitcomb upheld the results of these surveys in every respect. The material part of the decision in the laundry case, which is substantially the same as that in the case of the packing company, is as follows: And now on this 30th day of September, 1022, this matter came decision by the court upon the evidence heretofore submitted, for on the court after consideration of such evidence and arguments and and briefs of counsel, and being fully advised in the premises, finds that the Order of the Court of Industrial Relations known as Industrial Welfare Order No. 12 and all of the provisions thereof, were sustained by the evidence before the said Court of Industrial Relations, and that such order is in all respects a reasonable and proper exorcise of the police powers of the state and of the powers of the said Court of Industrial Relations, and that judgment be rendered in this case for the defendants. The suits were filed by the laundry and packing companies as representatives of the Associated Industries and temporary restraining orders were granted by Judge McClure on July 26 on condition that the moneys due the employees under these orders be deposited with the Clerk of the District Court pending the final decision. A large number of the laundries and manufacturing plants intervened in those cases and made deposits in accordance with the restraining orders. Motions have now been filed to return this money to the employees by whom it was earned. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2Massachusetts. Obstacles in Way of Federal Hour Legislation. At a meeting of the Council on Women and Children in Industry on October 26, Miss Mary Anderson, Director of the Women's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, referring to the action of the textile manufacturers of Massachusetts in advocating a national 48-hour week for women and children, stated that she considered of this an encouraging sign of the growing recognition on the part of management however, the needs of the workers. In connection with the proposed legislation, she pointed out that before a national law on such a matter can be made effective, it will be necessary to remove the constitutional obstacles in the way of federal labor legislation. Candy Manufacturers Ask Seasonal Exemption, The New ngland Manufacturing Confectioners Association has petitioned the Department of Labor and Industries to declare the manufacture of candy a seasonal A hearing on this petition was given by the Department on Tuesday, occupation. October 17. In case the request should be granted, wcmen and minors 16 to 18 years of age could be employed for 52 hours a week in the candy factories provided the As the busy season in the candy average for the year did not exceed 48 hours. mean four months with overtime would that Christmas, trade is from September to employment. Under the law the hours of women and minors in manufacturing establishments may not exceed 48 a week except in the case of manufacturing industries declared seasonal by the Department of Labor and Industries. In only two industries has This is in the case of the straw hat industry seasonal exemption been granted. packing and sorting industry. tobacco and Hearings on the Minimum Wage. and an amendment to make it mandatory have been subjects law The minimum wage of discussion at recent hearings in Boston of the Special Recess Commission on Unemployment, Unemployment Compensation and the Minima. Wage. Proponents of the mandatory law who were heard at the meeting on September 26 included representatives of various women's organizations, of the State Federation of Labor, and of the Department of Labor and Industries. For the latter Miss Ethel M. Johnson stated in part that "no industry as a whole has refused to comply with the present law, but individual employers have refused. The Commission has advertised 11 times for non-compliance, 10 of them in one industry; 371 establishments, employing from 7000 to 8000 women, have given full compliance; 128 establishments, representing 1454 women, have not comnlied." According to newspaper accounts the opponents of a minimum wage law who appeared at the hearing of October 11, characterized the minimum wage idea as an "artificial attempt to regulate the fundamental law of supply and demand"; stated that it was tried out in the time of queen Elizabeth, resulted in shattering of the trade of the country and is therefore unworkable today. They also argued that the law should not apply equally to all sections of the state because in the smaller towns girls in stores do not have to pay carfares to and from work and because for the most part they live at home. Other statements were to the effect that the wage law makes competition difficult; that employees will have to be discharged if the law is mandatory and that the industrial condition of Massachusetts is already desperate because of the non-mandatory law. New York. The working Women's Compensation Service established by the Women's Trade Mrs. Union League is proving an extremely interesting and valuable experiment. take to Maud Swartz, who acts for the League as adviser to the women who want https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3work as she has a advantage of this servce, is uLurually yell fitted for the speaking knowledge of sevthorough understanding of the law ii in equipped with a Compensation Bureau. eral languages. Lrs. Swartz spends 5 days each week at the are to be heard, to cases whose women the of Her job is to secure the confidence ative when the represent their as to, her give them advice, and to act, if they want Because the carrier. insurance cases are argued, just as the attorney acts for the the averby d understoo Workmen's Compensation Law is so complicated and so little before made been age working woman more often than not errors and omissions have know in often not the case is discovered by Mrs. Swartz. For thus far the women do it usually and service advance of the assistance they can have through the League's that they is not until they appear at the Bureau for their cases to be heard the 'women, of Most to. her want they if realize someone is there to help them service and this of advantage take to once they know this, are naturally delighted understanding increased With to more than one of them it has meant much in results. ly undoubted work the York of this free service offered to the working women of New will develop in scope and in value to the injured woman. Legislation for Women Is Asked by Unions. The Nonpartisan Committee of the New York State Federation of Labor has begun in New its campaign in behalf of the legislative demands of organized wage workers and women for workday 8-hour an demands York State. One plank in their platform standard minimum fix to ed minors and a commission with women workers represent as the wages. Another plank demands the establishment of the state insurance fund state. only form of insurance for workmen's compensations in the Working Women Have New Home. Trade Union League has moved into its new 5-story buildThe New York Women's ing at 247 Lexington Avenue where a cafeteria, clubrooms, and numerous other facilities will be peovided for all trade union women and the wives of working men. Pennsylvania. Laundries Code. Through the cooperation of the Pennsylvania Laundry Owners Association over 6000 conies of the new safety standards applying to laundries were placed in the hands of the laundry employees in the various laundries of the Commonwealth. This method of distribution of safety literature is important in that copies of the code actually reached the employees as well as the employers. Industrial Home Work. The first request for exemption from the requirements of the industrial home work rulings Which became effective September 1, 1922, was refused by the Industrial Board. The petitioner represented a large New York firm which sends its goods into nine counties of the Commonwealth to be manufactured by workers in their homes. The specific exemption asked for pertained to the paragraph regarding annual health certificates for the homes. The claim was set forth in the petition that the homes are in rural districts for the most part, making it difficult for the state or local health authorities to cover the territory each year. In denying the petition the Board took the position that an exemption covering such a widespread scope would nullify the general enforcement of the rulings. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -4Investigation of "Boarding" Rooms in Hosiery Plants. The investigation of "boarding" rooms in hosiery plants which has just been completed by the Division of Hygiene and Engineering of the Department of Labor and Industry shows that the employees working in such rooms, especially women, labor under difficult conditions. The work demands continuous standing and walking, exposure to the heat of the workrooms and liability of the workers to burns from the drying forms. Boarding which consists of drawing the damp stockings by hand over forms heated by live steam, for the purpose of stretching and drying them, is done in several ways but all the methods expose the workers to the danger of being burned and to the excessive heat radiating from the machine. As a result of this investigation several recommendations intended to eliminate the hazards attached to this occupation will be presented in the near future to a committee consisting of representatives of the Department of Labor and Industry, employers and employees. Washinqton. The sum of.0.8,865.02 in minimum wage claims due to'Women workers throughout the state was collected between April 1, 1921, and June 30, 1922, largely through the efforts of the Supervisor of Women in Industry, assisted by the branch offices of the Department of Labor and Industries. Chile, Proposed Legislation. Among the items of legislation either pending or to be introdu ced, advocated by the President in his recent message to Congress, were the followi ng: Revision of the Constitution, formulation of the labor code, the formati on of cabinet portfolios of agriculture and of labor and social welfare, and the improvement of the legal status of women and children. In speaking on the labor code, the President announc ed his belief in the necessity of greater diffusion of popular education, campaigns against alcoholism and social diseases, a minimum rage, labor accident compensation, and conciliation and arbitration courts. He spoke as follows regardi ng the legal rights of wcmen and children: It has been the constant care of my Governm ent to improve the legal status of women and of both legitimate and illegitimate children. I note with profound satisfaction that this subject * * * is being studied by a special Senate commission, and I venture to indulge the hope that the Rindo Republic will soon have a law investing the Chilean woman with the rights of citizenship which belong to her as a mother, as the owner of the property she possesse d before marriage and of that which she acquired by her own effort, and suppressing from cur law antiquated statutes, the reflection of past states of civilization, which disqualify her from performing civil acts for which she is fitted by her personal characteristics and the state of education and culture which she has achieved among us. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, September, 1922.) National Looms. A new factory has been equipped with looms invented by a Chilean. This same model has been adopted by the Government for the vocational and normml schools of the Republic, whore students are required to learn its use, in order that after graduation they may in turn instruct families, since weaving is well adapted to become a home industry. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, October 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -5Evening Schools for working Women, In Santiago an evening school for working women is maintained by the Association of Practice High School Students and Alumni. In addition to the rogular subjects of the school program, instruction is given in civics and social hygiene. (Bulletin, Graduates are eligible to enter the evening high school for girls. 1922,) Pan American Union, September Guatemala. for the school According to the report of the Department of Public Instruction were new. which of 18 laborers, year of 1921 there were 87 night schools for (Bulletin, Pan American Union, September 1922.) Netherlands. amployment of women The bill for the ratification of the convention concerning during the night adopted by the Second Chamber of the States General on 11 May 1C22 and by the First Chamber on 19 May 1922, received the Royal Assent and was promulBulletin, 13 SeptemiOer gated on 20 May 1922. (International Labour Office. Official 1922.) Panama. In addition to English, Spanish, stenography, dressmaking, embroidery, weaving, and other manual arts, taught in the Women's Free Vocational School of Panama, lectures are now being given in civic education. Classes in telegraphy and bookkeepino are soon to be opened. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, September 1922.) Uruguay. Through the praiseworthy initiative of a group of Montevideo women, a modern sanitarium for working women has been opened in the capital. The institution has a corps of distinguished consulting physicians, an interne, and 30 graduate nurses. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, October 1922.) International. Congress of Postal, Telegraph and Telephone Workers, al Internation Federation of Postal, Telegraph and Telephone Workers held The its third congress at Berlin from August 18 - 22. The congress was attended by some 75 official delegates as well as nearly 400 other members, and almost all European countries were represented. After a discussion of the treatment of women in the postal, telegraphic and telephonic services, the following principles were unanimously adopted: (a) Equal pay should be given for equal work where skill and qualifications are identical; (b) Women should not be obliged to resign on marria7e; (c) Women who resign voluntarily on marriage should receive compensation for the loss of their pension, and, in certain cases, their children's pension. (Communicotion of the International Labour Office; Industrial and Labour Information, 8 September 1922.) NOTES United States Women's Bureau Has New Exhibit. A sign flashing on a yellow panel illuminating the words "more than 8+ wage-earning women"; the figures of a man and woman supporting together the tries of the country; a vivid appeal of color - blue ani orange and brown sketches which show the girl who turns o,rer her earnin;s to her mother, and https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis million indusin the who washes up the dishes after the working hours; the straight question whether earnings and hours permit a satisfactory life; four models - a shop window with clothes, a woman eating her lunch, a girl playing basket ball, and a sick girl being cared for in a hospital - these models a foot or so high, flanking a panel on which are listed the other iimm items in a typical budget; this is the exhibit which illustrates in concrete terms the problems of the woman in industry and the necessities and comforts of life which she should be guaranteed. This exhibit is designed to attract attention and awaken interest in the subject of women in industry. It 3.8 not a technical exhibit in any way. It quotes no statistics and does not require detailed examination. With three panels and a few makall models it shows the importance of wage-earning women who help support both the industries and the families of the nation and the problem connected with their earnings and hours of work. The exhibit can be used in connection with any convention or meeting where it is desired to draw special attention to the subject of women in industry. It will make a complete exhibit on the subject of women in industry for the use of county fairs, health expositions, etc. On such occasions it can be used by or in connection with local organizations who are working for the improvement of industrial conditions, and who want some means of focusing attention on their own work. For mass meetings or large gatherings part of the display can be used as a background and a text for speakers while a smaller case with models can be placed where the audience can study the details and discuss the items which should be included in a living wage. The entire display would draw much attention in a shop window or other public place. If space is restricted the smaller section of models could be used alone in connection with exhibits of a more local character. This exhibit may meet the needs of those who are planning a campaign to improve conditions for wage-earning women; to arouse interest on this subject in a community; or to do educational work in connection with the establishment of better standards for women in industry. It is loaned free of charge although the borrower must pay expressage. Under special circumstances it may be arranged to have a representative of the Women's Bureau accompany the exhibit. Weekly Radio Talks by Women's Bureau. Every Thursday evening at 7:15 the United States Women's Bureau speaks to an unseen audience on some phase of the subject of women in industry. These radio talks are broadcasted from Station NOF, the Government (Navy) broadcasting station at Anacostial near : 1 fashington. They occupy perhaps 10 minutes each and thus far have dealt chiefly with women's wages and the need for standardizing and stabilizing them. Recent Appointment of Miss Grace Abbott, Miss Grace Abbott, Chief of the Children's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, has been appointed to cooperate with the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Women and Children of the League of Nations in an unofficial and consultative capacity, and under reservation of any binding effect upon the United States of any recommendations which may be made by the Committee. The Committee held its first meeting in Geneva June 28 to July 1, 1922, Among the resolutions adopted bxxtk at that time was one recommending that in view of the great interest which the United States has shown in the question of the traffic in women and children and of emigration, it should be invited by the Council of the League to appoint a member to serve on the Advisory Committee. This the Council has done and Miss Abbott has been appointed by the President to cooperate with the Committee. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -7Learzuc of damen Voters Announces State Legislative Programs. The Committee on Women in Industry of the National League of Women Voters, Miss Amy G. Maher, chairman, has just announced plans for legislation affecting women in industry which will be undertaken this year by the state leagues. This information comes in the form of a news letter of which this is the first issue. The programs of 13 states are as follows: Alabama: 1. Eight hour day, 48 hour week; 2. Prohibition of work 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after childbirth. Connecticut: Bill for shorter hours to be introduced by the Consumers' League, and advocated by the League of Women Voters - 9 hour day, and 50 or 48 hour week. Delaware: May support Labor Commission in asking for larger apprepriation - increase from 0900 to 0500, with power to define duties and determine salaries of its employees. Indiana: Eight hour bill. Iowa: Maximum hour bill. Kansas: 1. Statutory provision for appointment of woman director; 2. May work for separate appropriation for women's bureau. Massachusetts: 1. Measure involving the principle of raising the school age from 14 to 16 yeors; 2. Measure invol,ring the principle of one day's rest in seven for hotel; restaurant, and drug store employees; 3. Opposition to any repeal of the minimum wage law and suppor t of having the law . made mandatory in Massachusetts, Minnesota: 1. 48 hour week, 8 hour day, and one day's rest in seven, for women in gainful occupations, except those in domestic service, and nurses; 2. Women member of Industrial Commis sion; 3. Amendment to minimum . wage law, to hold employers accountable for violations of ruling of the Commission after published notice has been given. Ohio: Bill to create minimum wage commission. Rhode Island: 1. Regulation of night work; 2. Mothe rs' pensions; 3. Legislation to regulate present industrial home work conditions. Virginia: 1. Nine hour bill; 2. Cooperation with State Bureau of Labor, for appropriation for Women's Divisi On. West Virginia: Possibly a bill limiting hours, and another abolishing night work. Wisconsin: 1. Increased appropriation for Board of Vocational Education; 2. Supervision over children working in beet fields; 3. Supervision over women working in hotels; 4. Eight hour day; 5. Maternity aid for working mothers; 6. Abolition of prison contract system; 7. Adoption of unemployed insura nce. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -ENational Consumers' League. National Consumers' League will be held in the of meeting The 23d annual Topics for discussion include blanket legislaC-10. Washington, D. C., November tion, the 8-hour day nd the living wage, and one day of rest in seven for hotel workers. At the banquet to be hold on the evening of the 10th the subject for discussion will be the federal child labor amendment. National Council of Catholic Women. The National Council of Catholic Women will hold its second annual convention in Washington, D. C., November 21-25. Subjects to be presented at these sessions are girl welfare, housing conditions for girls for women in industrial cities, women in industry, travelers' aid, immigration and international relations. Facts Versus Fiction. A hasty survey of the newspaper clipping file of the Women's Bureau has revealed the following interesting facts in connection with the publicity given recently to a statement credited to Miss Ethel LF4 Johnson of Massachusetts and later emphatically branded by her as pure fabrication. This clipping file undoubtedly contains by no means all the news stories on this subject but 51 have been received. Of these 45 are severely critical and conder.inatory of Miss Johnson and the Y9.00 a week minimum wage alleged to have boon advocated by her. These clippings come from all sections of the country and they are of many types of newspaper publicity - letters, editorials, syndicated articles. One and all they criticize and ridicule the idea of )9.00 as an adequate minimum and equally too they rmi ridicule and condemn Miss Johnson for a reported statement which she has never made and is far from endorsing. Six clippings only contain Miss Johnson's repudiation of the interview credited to her. One comes from the middle west, the others from two eastern states. The dates of the two sets of clippings also are interesting. The 45 range from August 25 to October 2, although the letter of denial was first published September 4. The latest of the six clippings is dated October 4. PERSONNa. North Dakota, Miss Myrtle Sc - ville is now secretary of the Minimum Wage Departmeht of the Workmen's Compensation Bureau. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis V 210 News Letter No. 10. U. S. De.,partment of L:. - bor ..7011.111 S BURE1U Washi on November 28, 1922. ACTIVITIS AFFXTING WOHON IN INDUSTRY Arkansas, The Industrial Welfare Commission has issued fro now ungc orders effective December 1, Order No.3 is a revision of the previous order for mercantile'est ablish-' rents in Fort Smith and the new rates arP ',11,00 for oxperiencod and 1.0.00 for inexperienced women employees;rnductio ns from Y13.25 and Y11,90. 0rdPr No, sets the same rates of y11.00 and el0.00 for mercantile establishments in Little Rock where the rates have been the same as for the rest of the state 1,25 and y1.00 per day, California. In an effort to re gulate the private employment agencies of California, especially in their dealings with women rage earners, and particularly with teachers in the public schools, there will be presented to tho California State Legislature this winter 3 bills, all them the result of the work of the Conference on Employment Agencies, of which Doctor rarian a Bertola i chairman and riss Gertrude Emmeri ch, executive secretary. The findings of this conference, which has been at work for some months,.. show a condition among the private employment agencies through which these organizations not infrequently charge and collect as much as 60 per cent of the first Eonth t s salary of the person for whom they obtain a position. It is the contention of the conference that this so-called "commi ssion" is, first of all, unnecessary, because the state and ,other free employm ent agencies fur:lish trained or untrained help just as satisfactori ly a3 the private agencies; 5ocln. , 4 hat the "comission" is a payment of something for nothin g, since the ago.ncy, As a .liddleman between employer and employed, produc es nothing and renders no service for he payment it receives; and that, third, if the private agency is be allowed to exist, its "commission" should be reduced to 10 and possdbly 5, per cent Gef the eelges of thn first wage-producing period, whether it be by the wok or the month, e.ecordingly as the employee is paid. The employment agencies, which have formed An organization and which are Aaintaining trained lobbyists to fight the proposed :Lew before the legislature, claim .2'n their part, that they do render a valuable service to the community; that they fill a position which the free or state agency cannot fill, because of lack of confidente in the free agency by both employer and employed; and that they- tho employ ment agencies - canner exist on a ^Irinission as low as 10 per oPnt, and will be compelled to suspend operations if such a law is put intr effect. Efforts are being made, wader the guidance of the Conference on Employment Agencies, to bring about a condition in which the employer will assume half of the fee charged by the employment agency hired by him. It is believed that this will tend to influence the employe r tl use the free, state, county, or city employment agency, and therefore gradually eliminate the private commission-charging agencies. Whatever may be the contentions of either side, or whatever may be the outcome of the attempt to control the private employment agonries by legal methods , the investigations of the conference have brought to the surface some interesting conditions in the employment agencies in San Francisco and elsewhere in Califo rnia... It was shorn that 203 private employment agencies in California lit year collected Y1,5C0,000 from the wage-earners of California, an average of 0400 for each of the agencies. It was shown that one fee-charging agency in San Francisco makes a monthly https://fraser.stlouisfed.org MIP Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2that this noney is largoly collected from , net profit of apnroxin.ately n pincers an average of 300 rage-earning women and girls. Th ; agency in questio 0.00 per month. Each applicant girls a month in positions, whooe averan,e salary. is provided she can pay it by the io charged 35 per cent of her first month's salary, paid by the ::.onth, fe- of these 15th of the month on ,Thich she goes to work. Being but if they fail to so pay it girls can pay their fee to the agency on the 15th, all of their first month's they are charged 25 per cont more, or 60 or cent in pay their v 35 by the 15th of the salary, Presuming that all the women are able to month for this one agency, month, ho7rever, this makes a collection of ,1.0,500 a t.,1000 a month, approximately : whose total operating expenses it was learned, are leaving a net profit of v9500 as a minimum... an applicant for a position Before these private agencies vill register collect from the ennloyer he or she must siRa a contract empowering the agency to e, since the employer recours the fee charred. This loaves the employee without by any chance the employee If must pay the fee out of the wages paid to the worker. A is "b- klisted" by all the refuses to pay, or fails to nay, the fee, he or sho furnished with employment by any employment agencies, and will not be registered or that this condition prevails of them. The Conference on Employment Agencies found in no one of the states are in at least 45 of the 43 states of the Union, and that limited...(Christian of the employment agencies controlled or their fees Science Monitor, October 23, 1922.) District of Columbia. District of Columbia has For' the second time the Court of Appeals of the ninimum wage law, this time derendered a decision on. the constitutionality of the opinion. The case has now claring the law invalid arZ. thereby reversing its earlier proceedings were first been in the courts for two years and a half. Injunction District of Columbia brought against the Einimum Wage Board Lay 25, 1920, the June 22, 1920, after which the Supreme Court rendered its decision upholding the law 6, 1921, that court deJuno later, case was carried to the higher court. A year the case was asked and of ng reheari clared the law constitutional. Immediately a granted, :r. Justice Robb, time refused, but asked again the following month and this having then a regular member of the court who was ill when the case was considered, th reonly returned to the bench, and the claim having been made and upheld that ng to usual gularly constituted court could grant or refuse a rehearing. Accordi the practice in the absence of a member of the Court of Appeals, a justice from , Stafford Er. Justice ute. substit a as in District Supreme Court had been called and law the uphold to Smyth Chief Justice who served in this capacity, voted with decision to refuse a rehearing. With Mr, Justice Robb no7 returned to the bench the 1 to 2 a of of November 6, 1922 declaring the law unconstitutional is the result of mpinion vote of the court, the Chief Justice this time dissenting. The recent same the the court and the dissenting opinion of the Chief Justice are essentially however, as those of 1921 (see News Letter No:5, June 22, 1921). Chief Justice Smyth, grant to in addition discusses at length the queotion of the legal right of the court "In a rehearing once it had beendenied by a properly constituted court. 3e says, reheara for notions hen d of (i.e.,w then dicpose my opinion both cases were finally ing were overruled), an the court is without jurisdiction to render the present the redecisions", After reviewing the circumstances leading up to the granting of appelthe that ng, hearing the Chief Justice says, "it would seem from the foregoi case lants, finding themselves defeated, sought a justice who had not sat in the appeal an by but who, they believed, would be favorable to them, and induced him, directed to him personally, to asoume jurisdiction and join with the dissenting justice in an attempt to overrule the decisions of the court. I shall not characterize such practice - let the facts speak for themselves. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis • by counsel for "What argumonts, if any, were advanced to Er. Justice Robb nor an I awaro appellants whon they made their anplication to him, I do not know, to veto on the of the has is on which ho rested his conclusion that ho had a right he proceoded. upon that think, I motions. But from what I have said) it is manifest, words, other in question; the the assumption that ho alone had the power to decide to to unable agroo am I that it was not a metter for consideration by the court. only," it of member this... The question was for the court - not for ono The Minimum Wage Board has appealed the case to the Supremo Court of the case United States but immediate action cannot of course be expected. With the the desince that still pending the law cannot be unforced and it has boon reported have boon cision of the Court of Appeals rendered Novembor 6 the wages of some women proare day a meals two where ont reduced far below the minimuM. In one ostablishm boon to have said is wage the vided and a, minimum of 0.2.90 was paid under the law reduced to '6.00 a week, Illinois. Time Study of 1e5)C35 Women in Cook County, time study of firms The Illinois League of Women Voters has made recently a 1921, and July'll and wonon omployeos in Cook County, covering -the period botweon women. The, 165,035 June 30, 1922. The investigation covered 4,347 firms employing 8 hours a day, report shows that 175 of those firms employ 3,997 women loss than 29,543 women employ firms 703 9, under 3034 firms employ 117,459 women 8 hours and is Comparison hours. 10 women 9 hours and under 10, and 435 firms employ 14)036 s are conclusion drawn; following the made with similar studios in 1913 and 1918, and fot day women, working (1) The tendency is towards 8 hours as the standard per cont In 1922, 730'per cant of the women work loss than 9 hours as against 70.8 in 1918 and 23.3 per cent in 1913; 9 hours (2) The long hour industries, in which more than half of the women work hunOne and more aro chiefly those included in domestic service and retail trade. 67 retail dred and ten laundries of 144 reporting, 245 restaurants of 365 reporting, trado retail ous miscellane 153 and reporting, clothing trade establishments of 127 per day; hours 9 than more establishments of 139 reporting, workod (3) There are only a few violations of the present 10 hour law; (4) The number of firms in manufacturing and :lochanical industries working less than 9 hours has tmcreasod from 16.1 per cent in 1013, and 48.6 per cent in 1918 to over 79 per cent in 1922; proposed (5) 43)549 women workers in Cook County would be affected by the 2-hour law, "Woten The Committee on Women in recommended to the state convontion woments 8-hour bill. The oormitteo in industry weak" beginning January in Industry Wook." Industry of the Illinois League of Woman Voters that the Leqguo i,work for the passago of the hopes to do educational work through a "women 8, 1923. Women Upholsterers 'C;in Strike for Better Wages. Women upholsterers of Chicago who went out on striko October 23, won their strike in 3 days, 21 firMs signing up for a minimum wage of 26,0O a week for experienced workers and 0.8.00 for apprentices. These are increases of from 4,0O to 96.00 a week. The foroladios, who are not themselves eligible to momborship in the union, have boon advanced from 927.50 to 06.00, The trade is now 95 per cent organized. (Life and Labor Bulletin, November, 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - 00 Massachusetts. Minimum Wage Hearings. by the fact that Thu interost in minimum wago in Eassachusetts is evidenced Wage havo Minimum and 6 public hearings 5ofore the Recess Commission on Unemployment a mandatory boon devoted to arguments for and against minimum wago legislation and law. The seventh hearing was hold on November 22 to afford opportunity for rebuttal on both sides, Now Wage Board for Brush Makers. established by A third wage board for the brush-making industry has boon women employed for wages the Minimum Wage Commission to recommend a minimum rate of experienced for in brush'factories in Massachuvotts. The present rates of 0,44 since effect and LI.CO for inexperienced 'women for a 48-hour wook have boon in in August 191/1. The wago board for the occupation was reconvened by the Commission this by 1921 for the purpose of revising the existing rate. The report submitted board in 1922 was not accepted by the Corleission. Manufacture of Candy Not a Seasonal Industry. Following a public hearing on the question the Department of Labor and Industries voted to deny the petition of the New England Manufacturing Confectioners Association that the manufacture of candy be declared a seasonal occupation. Council on Women and Children in Industry. A luncheon mooting of the Council on Women and Children in Industry hold November 24 discussed the following topics: Should home making be recognized by tho Federal Government as an occupation and so listed in the Census? - Should the scope of the Council - women and children in industry - be extended to include representation from wo:lon in the home? Missouri. The Committee on Women in Industry of the Missouri League of Women Voters is making plans for the support of a bill for a minimum wage commission New Jersey. Thu Nov Jersey League of Von Voters will support a bill prohibiting night work for women in factories, laundries and bakeries after 10 p.n, and before 6 a.r4 Canneries are excepted. The Consumers' League will introduce a bill for a minimum wage commission. Pennsylvania. Lighting Code. As a result of the public hearing held on the porposed lighting code a committee has boonsolectod to go over the present tentative draft and prepare a more complete code. A revisod draft will be submitted to public hearings again on dates to be announced later. Second Hand Curled Hair. use of second-hand curlod hair in upholstering the of n An investigatio by the Division of Hygiene and Engineering of the Depart.work has boon completed merit of Labor and Industry. The investigation discloses the fact that largo quantitios of curled hair and ottlor meterials filled with dust and vermin are being used in the manufacture of over-stuffed furniture, cushions and other articles, The Industrial Board will appoint a committee to draft regulations topuiring tho sterilization of all materials used in such work. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Rulings of th.; Industriol Board. to work 7 days Thc pctition of tho Y. L.. C. A., Uniontown, to p-rmit worn= Co., PittsGoods Jonos Dry a wok with only 3 hours work on Sunday was d:niod. The ono cvcning a w:ok. burgh, hLv2 larn dcnicd p-rmission to cmploy womon ovor timo Opinion Fixs Hours Womon May Work. No woman omployod in a mill tho logal number of hours permittod by Ponnsylthc vania law for ono day can work an additional shortor poriod in anothor mill on Tho managor, sumo day, ov -n though thc socond plant b- oporatod by anothor ownor or socond cmploymont viclatos tho spirit of thc womon's omploymont Law, it has boon shown. An opinionoto this offect has just boon rondorcd by Doputy A:ttornoy Gcnoral Emorson Collins. (Philadclphia Public L7dgr, Novembor 11, 1922.) Canada A Minimum Wagc Board has boon appointod in Alborta in conformity with tho vincial Logislaturc, Minimum Wag° Act which was passcd at thc roc.;nt scssion of tho ProID Thc now board, which bogan to function early in October, is composed as follows: Chairman, Mr. A. G. Browning, Edmonton, doputy attorncy-gonoral of Alborta; tolployccs' roprosontativc, Mrs. Harriot J. Ingram, of thc Garmcnt Workors' Union, 4monton, employors 1 roproscntativo, Mr. James Kollas, socrotary of Rotail Mcrchants' Associa0 tion; socrotary of the board, Mr. Walter Smitten, Calgary, (Labour Gazotto, Canada, Octobcr, 1922.) Aro.2ntina, Prohibition of Night Work in Bakorics. On 3 August 1922 thc Chambcr of Doputics passed a Bill prohibiting night work in bakcrics. Work botwoon 9 p.m. and 5 a. m. is prohibited in all baking, confcctioncry and similar establishments. This prohibition covers all work directly or confoctionory and allicd industries. eSan indiroctly connected with Should circumstancos 2-c:rider it necessary in the public interest, the Governr condons: following •the ment may authorize night work in machine bakerios subject to and between employers' concludod tho (1) That an agreement on the question has boon workers' Organizations; (2) That the work is carricd out in shifts not exceeding 8 hours in length and that the hours of the shifts altornate periodically both for working days and the weekly rest; (3) That the hygienic conditions are satisfactory. (Communication of the Intornational Labour Office; Industrial and Labour Information, 30 October 1922.) School for Women. to women free courses in bookkee ping and furnishes A Benos Aires school :P irn accounting us well as in spinning and weaving. The latter course serves a double purpose, for in addition to teaching an occupation which is remunerative, it encourages the uso of national raw materials. (Bulletini Pan American Union, Novomber 1922) Bill Concerning Labour Agreements. The Joint Commission of Social Legislation has submitted to the Chambor of Deputies, a report on the Bill concerning labour agroemcnts. The Bill includes provisions securing to women the right to dispose freely of their own earnings, to retain 50 per cent of the wages of sons who are minors, and the samo portion of the wages of a husband who is a confirmed inebriate. Another provision of the Bill would regulate the conditions of women and children in conformity with the decisions adopted at the various sessions of the Intornational Labour Conference. (El Morcurio, 27 July 1922; Industrial and Labour Information, 21 October 1922.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis .„ • w Salaries of V:omen Teachers. The women holding teaching and executive positions in the high schools for girls have petitioned Congress that their salaries be made equal to those of men occupying similar positions in the high schools for boys. The differonce in salary, the petition states, has existed since 1918, (Bulletin PanAmerican Union, November 1922.) Costa Rica. The women of San Jose who are interested in city improvements are advocating the appointment of women sanitary inspectors, (Bulletin, Pan American Union, November 19224 ) Great Britain, Notices of proposals to vary the minimum rates of wages for vale and female workers have been made by the Toy Trade Board,(Great Britain),the Eilk Distributive Trade Board (Scotland)) the Aerated Waters Trade Board (England and Wales), and the Stamped or Pressed Metal Ware Trade Board (Great Britain)4 These notices are issued with the consent of the Einister of Labour. The various trade boards will consider any objections to the proposals within two months of specified dates. Honduras. La Perfoccion, a ready mado clothing factory of Tegucigalpa, has instituted a monthly contest in spee:d and skill for its women operativos. The first contest was hold on July 28 when first and second prizes wore given for speed and -a single prize for perfect work, Women not eligible for the contest on account of working on special ,achines will be given separate contests and rewards. (Bulletin, Pan American Union, November 1922.) India. IliBeng-a and Bombay qualified medical women have been appointed to conduct investigations into the condition of women's work before and after childbirth, and to assist employers who dosiro to institute maternity schemes. The Government of the Central Provinces intend to appoint an Inspectress of Factories with medical qualifications at an early date, (Labour Gazette, Bombay, September 1922.) Japan, At the sixth sitting of the Fourth Session of the International Labour Conference hold at Geneva 23 October 1922, Er, Yoshihara Tazawa (Japan), in referring to the Washington Conventions said that the prohib:Aion of night work by women was absolutely essential in Japan, In the cotton srinning factories women working at night lost 0.85 lbs in weight every two weeks even though thoy worked alternate weeks during the day and night. In the mining inees.Lry, wherein numerous'women were employed Thring the night, women wore contracting diseases at a rate of 50 per cent more than the non, "Japan claimed a special treatr.ent in regard to the Hours af Convention," he said, "namely hours per day or 57 hours a week and 60 hours in the case of the silk industry. If such an article was adopted under such peculiar circurestances) why should the Japanese Government leave the Conference decisions unratified and ' unenforced without. due reasons? This is a question involving international noralityV In Japan, continued Mr. Tazawa, the silk industry was the most important one, employing young women whose working duration extended to 12 hours and often exceeded 13 hours. Authoritative investigations showed that the rate of contracting tuberculosis was 69 out of 1,000 young women in silk factories. There was growing dissatisfaction among the Japanese workers towards the International Labour Organization and such a sentiment would never fail to grow so long as the declarations of the Government's delegates in the Conference would vanish into empty pronouncements and so long as the Conferences' decisions would mostly remain unratified, as they wore nor.(Industrial and Labour Information, 24 October, 1922) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis • Poland. Tho woman in Poland aro planning to hold a convontion at Warsaw oarly in •}*_. thc purpose of organizing tho activitics of wonon and wonon's organizations throughout thc Stato. Thu first stops toward this ond wore taken a year ago whon a 000lnittoo of 28 womon, roprosonting all branches of activity was appointod to organize a Woman's Work Congress. Eany of tho most prominent womon in Poland aro mombors of the committoo or aro cooperating with tho col:rlittoo in its organization mrk... It is also hopod that roprosontativos of womon of thc Unitud States and othor countries will bo sufficiently intorested in tho Polish Wonen's Work Congress to Gond visitors to Warsaw next year. Tho Congress will bo dovotod, to a considorable extent, to the study of womonis part in religious activitios, social work, education, vocational and labour problems, politics and oconomics. (Weekly Nows Rolease, Polish Bureau of Infornation, Octobor 25, 1922.) Switzerland. By letter dated 6 October 1922 tho Federal Political Dopartront comnunicatod to the Socrotary-Gcnoral of tho Loaguo of Nations folloal rati:ication of tho Washington convcntions concorning unemploynont, tho criploynont of women during tho night, the night work of young porsons employed in industry and tho minimum ago for admission of childron to industrial employmont. (Intornational Labour Offico, Official bullotin, October 25, 1922,) NCTES. Weloon of tho Nation Callcd to Confor on Industrual Problems. A Wonon's Conforonco on Industrial Probloms, to bo hold in Whshington under tho auspices of the Unitod States nopartnont of Labor is announcod by Socrotary Janus J. Davis for January llth, 12th and 13th, Following the procodent of prcvious conforences called during this administration to deal with the unemployment situation and with agricultural problems by moans of consultation with exports in thoso eImons Conforcnco is to- be nation vido in scope and to bring spocial fields, together roprosontativo vomon from all walks of life. Thc sossions will be hold in the auditorium of the Unitod States National Musoun, The call, which has just gone out, is issuod through tho Women's Borcou of the Department of Labor, accompanied by a lettor from Secretary Davis, calling attention to thc problons bofore the confcronco. "It appears from census figures that approximately one-fourth of the wage oarnors of Amorica aro womon, and apparontly the proportion is increasing rathor than diminishing", says Sccrctary 3avis. "Evory thinking Amorican must roalizo that this situation croates a nurtor of special problems and calls for careful connothors sideration of ways and means for safoguarding eImors and cIp of the nation who must so bc omployod. It is impossiblo to separate cntiroly tho problons of our mothcrhood fron the problems of our childhood, and thoro is nothing moro important in our civilization than thc protoction of both of thoso in thcir strength and,purity. Tho futuro of tho nation doponds on this more than on any othor single factor." https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis rov-8 411011 The call itself, othich is signed by Eics-Eary Anderson, Diroct or of the :Ionents Burcau, sets frrth the purposes of the conference and -f the Womonts Bureau. "Recognition of the national and intornational importance of labor conditions is a paranount nood since the Nation depends for its prosper ity upon the officionoy of its workors. No other foundation for commercial success will be so sure as the consorvation of practices in induntry which make for the health and well-being of the romon workers, ond also assure efficiency in the industries. It is with this in mind that we arc calling this conference and urge the fullest partic ipation by the women of the country. "The Womonts Bureau is charged with the responsibility of developing policies and standards and conducting investigations in the industries of the country which shall safeguard the interests of womon workers and thus nako their service effective for national good. In fulfilling this obligation we fool that a conforenco of women, representing all national organizations of womon, would go far not only to focus attention on the problons involved but to help in the development of policies and standards for the offectivo employment of women in industry." The invitations to the conferonco have boon sent to a long list of woments national organizations and organizations having wonen members. PERSONNEL U. S. Dopartnont of Labor. hiss Katherine Lenroot has boon appointed Assistant to tho Chief of the Children's Bureau, Eiss Josephine Rocho has boon appointed to succeed Eiss Lonroc t as Director of the Editorial Division of the Childronts Bureau, NEW PUBLICATIONS Bureau of vocational information. Nows-bullotin, v, 1, no. 1-4, October 1-November 15, 1922. U. S. Dopartmont of Labor. Wononts Bureau. Preliminary memorandum: Hours, wages, and working condit ions of women in the inc:ustrios of Alabama. October 1922. 21 p., mimeographed. Preliminary report on hours and wages of ronon in industry in :lissouri. Washington, Govt.'print, off., 1922. 23 p. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ,vmusimmo
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