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State Teachers ColIegc'Librsry
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, No. 127
HOURS AND EARNINGS
IN
TOBACCO STEMMERIES
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, SECRETARY
WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, No. 127
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN
TOBACCO STEMMERIES
BY
CAROLINE MANNING
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1934
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
Price 5 cents
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CONTENTS
Letter of transmittal_________________________________
Introduction____________________________________” ’ " ~ ‘
Summary_________________________________
Hours of work_______________________________
Average hourly earnings____________________________
Cigarette stemmeries_______________________________ ~ ~
Tobacco dealers’ stemmeries____________________________
Chewing-tobacco stemmeries__________________________ ~~
Smoking-tobacco stemmeries____________________________
Variations in hourly earnings____________________________
Learning period__________________________________””__ Z_Z_Z_
Substandard workers___________________________________
Standards raised since President’s Reemployment Agreement__
Week’s earnings of employees working total operating hours___
Median earnings__________________________________
Distribution of earnings___________________________
Week’s earnings of employees working less than operating hours
Hours_____________________________________
Earnings_____________________________________
Week’s earnings of all employees covered________
Relief_______________________________________ _
__ _____
Ability of the industry to pay a living wage_______________ _
Fluctuation in past 12 months_____________________________
Supplementary work___________________________________
Trends of employment and other data___________________
Pag®
V
1
1
2
4
4
5
7
7
S
11
11
11
12
12
13
15
15
16
17
17
18
18
18
19
CHARTS AND CORRESPONDING TABLES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Indexes of stemmery employment, pav roll, and production in cigarette
factory 1, March 1933 to May 1934
_ _
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, "and hours
worked in cigarette factory 2, May 24, 1933, to May 16, 1934 _ _
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, and hours in
cigarette factory 3, January 1933 to May 1934______________
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, and hours
worked in cigarette factory 4, September 13, 1933, to May 23, 1934
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, and production in a factory
making chewing tobacco, June 14, 1933, to May 16, 1934„
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20 21
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22 23
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24 25
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26 27
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28 29
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,
Washington, August 3, 1934..
I have the honor to transmit a report on hours and earn
ings in tobacco stemmeries in Virginia and North Carolina. Data
were secured for three branches of the industry—cigarette factories,
chewing-tobacco factories, and dealers’ establishments—in all of
which tobacco stemming is done.
The investigation was made and the figures have been analyzed at
the request of labor representatives for use in the making of a code of
fair competition for tobacco manufacturing.
The field work was done and the report has been written by Caro
line Manning, industrial supervisor.
Respectfully submitted.
Mary Anderson, Director.
Hon. Frances Perkins,
Secretary oj Labor.
.
Madam:
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
INTRODUCTION
In May 1934 the Women’s Bureau of the United States Depart
ment of Labor made an investigation of current pay rolls of the stemmery departments in three branches of the tobacco manufacturing
industry in Virginia and North Carolina to secure material for use in
the making of a code for the tobacco industry. Dealers’ stemmeries
were included in this pay-roll audit, since dealers not infrequently
contract with cigarette manufacturers to deliver tobacco that has
already been stemmed in dealers’ establishments. Smoking-tobacco
stemmeries, represented by only 278 employees, are shown in certain
tabulations (see pp. 8 and 17) but are not treated in detail as are
the other branches.
Pay-roll data for 3,990 persons were secured in the stemmeries of 7
factories making cigarettes; for 418 persons in 3 plants making chew
ing tobacco; and for 717 persons employed by 3 dealers in tobacco.
An overwhelming majority of the employees in stemmeries are women.
Since standards and conditions varied somewhat in these three
branches of the tobacco industry, a separate wage analysis has been
made for each of these groups; and where numbers employed were
.sufficiently large, emphasis has been placed on four of the numerically
most important occupations in the stemmeries, namely, hand stem
ming, machine stemming, searching, and picking.
SUMMARY
Date of survey: May 1934.
Scope:
Stemmery departments in three branches of the tobacco manufacturing indus
try in Virginia and North Carolina. Pay-roll data for 5,125 persons in 13 estab
lishments: 3,990 in 7 cigarette factories, 418 in 3 chewing-tobacco factories, and
717 in 3 dealers’ establishments. An overwhelming majority of the employees
an stemmeries are women.
Hours:
Over four-fifths of the employees worked the firms’ operating hours. In
dealers’ establishments, a branch of the industry that has not complied with the
President’s Reemployment Agreement, over two-thirds of the employees had
worked 55 hours or more, in contrast to only one person in cigarette-factory stem
meries who worked more than 40 hours and none in chewing-tobacco stemmeries
who worked as much as 40.
Warnings:
Hand stemmers had a higher median of hourly earnings in cigarette factories
(27 cents) than in chewing-tobacco factories (24.7 cents) or dealers’ establish
ments (11.9 cents). In the last named no employee averaged as much as 22)4
■cents; in the other two branches some hand stemmers, 33 and 7, respectively,
Teceived as high as 40 cents.
The median of the week’s earnings of 1,141 hand stemmers in cigarette-factory
istemmeries, whose operating hours were 39 and 40, was $11. On the other hand,
1
2
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
the median of the 424 hand stemmers in dealers’ establishments working the full
55-hour week was only $6.55, and the median for the 119 whose week was 28 hours
was $3.60.
HOURS OF WORK
The time element is as necessary a consideration as the wage rate
in determining actual earnings. Altogether, of the 5,124 employees
for whom complete pay-roll data were obtained in 13 tobacco-stem
ming departments, an outstanding number—44.7 percent—had
worked 40 hours during the pay-roll week, but 15.3 percent had
worked less than 30 hours and 29.5 percent had worked 30 but less
than 40; in other words, almost the same number had worked less
than 40 hours as had worked 40. All but 1 of the 542 employees who
had exceeded 40 hours, 10.6 percent of the total, were employed in
dealers’ stemmeries, where a 55-hour week predominated.
Timekeeping was a most casual matter and done quite carelessly
in several establishments visited, the records of hours worked by
individual employees during the week seeming far from exact. In
spite of this fact, the hours given have been used in this report, as
the employers were reckoning their costs upon these same pay-roll
entries, and they were the only records available for a measurement
of time.
In one set of books almost every employee had worked 40 hours,
though some had worked 32 hours and a few 36., On inquiiy it devel
oped that the foreman entered only absences in his time book and did
not “bother” with anything less than half a day. In another factory
office the record of time furnished showed only the number of days on
which the employee had reported for work. There was nothing to
indicate how short or how long the days had been, though a general
statement was made as to the total number of hours the stemmery had
operated. Obviously it was impossible to combine this pay roll with
those on which hours worked, or at least approximate hours worked,
were given, and therefore it has not been included in this report.
This firm, nevertheless, had calculated hourly earnings in this case,
using operating hours as a base for reckoning individual Working hours.
In passing it may be stated that three-fifths of the employees in this
stemmery had earned less than $8 during the week.
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Hours worked in 'pay-roll week
Total employees
Employees working specified number of hours in—
Cigarette
stemmeries
Hours worked in pay-roll
week
Chewing tobacco
stemmeries .
Dealers’
stemmeries
Number Percent
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total................
15,124
100.0
13,989
100.0
418
100.0
717-
Less than 30----------30, less than 35____ _
35, less than 40_____
40________________
■ Over 40, less than 55.
55 and more-----------
783
352
1,1.58
2, 303
42
486
15.3
6.9
22.6
44.9
.8
9.5
404
335
960
2,289
1
10.1
8.4
24. 1
57.4
a
220
5
193
52. 6
1. 2
46.2
159
12
5
14
41
486
1 Excludes 1 employee with hours not reported.
2 Less than 0.1.
ioo!o
'
22.2
1.7
.7
2.0
5. 7
67:8
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
3
There were striking variations in the amount of time worked in the
three branches of the industry studied. In stemmeries connected
directly with the manufacture of cigarettes, 57.4 percent of the em
ployees had worked 40 hours and only one employee had worked
longer. In stemmeries of chewing-tobacco factories none had worked
so long as 40 hours, though 46.2 percent had worked 35 and under
40; however, over half (52.6 percent) of the employees had worked
less than 30 hours during the week. In contrast to this were the
excessively long hours in dealers’ stemmeries, not prohibited in the
present unregulated condition of this branch of the industry. In the
stemmeries of dealers over two-thirds (67.8 percent) of the employees
had worked as long as 55 hours, although more than one-fifth (22.2
percent) had worked short hours, less than 30. This is a branch of
the industry which, in spite of its long hours and low wage scale, is
not yet [July 1934] regulated by a code and has never complied with
the President’s Reemployment Agreement.
In determining hourly rates of wages, due consideration should be
given to the usual number of hours worked, for, after all, the worker
must live on his week’s earnings, and if he is employed for only part
of a week, say 30 hours, when the hourly rate was fixed with a stand
ard 40-hour week in view, the worker suffers a decided loss, and in this
case earns only three-fourths of what standard earnings should be.
Since not far from half of the workers covered in the industry (44.8
percent) were employed less than 40 hours—many even less than 30
hours—in a normal period, the hourly rate should be fixed correspond
ingly higher, bearing this undertime condition in mind.
The fact that not far from three-fifths of the employees (55.2
percent) in the 13 plants worked 40 hours or more does not mean
necessarily that the others could have worked 40 hours had they so
desired. As a matter of fact, only 4 of the stemmeries connected with
cigarette factories operated full 40 hours during the pay-roll week,
and the week for this audit was selected in each case in consultation
with management because it represented usual conditions, neither the
high nor the low of the year.
Of the other three cigarette stemmeries, two operated 39 and 34
hours respectively, while the third operated 35 hours in one section
and 36 hours in another. These operating hours under 40 affected
about three-tenths (29.5 percent) of all employees scheduled in the
cigarette units.
None of the three chewing-tobacco factories operated as much as 40
hours during the pay-roll week. Two divisions in one factory operated
36 and 28 hours respectively; the other factories operated 25/2 and
16 or 17 hours. In this branch of the tobacco-products industry
short hours prevailed, and none of the employees had an opportunity
to work more than 36 hours.
Operating hours in the stemmeries of tobacco dealers show extreme
conditions, for the most part decidedly different from the short hours
prevailing in the other two branches of the industry. One of the three
dealers’ stemmeries operated only 28 hours but the other two operated
55 hours. Over four-fifths (82.3 percent) of the employees in dealers’
units were in the stemmeries where these longest working hours were
the standard.
Considering the 5,124 employees in the 13 stemmeries covered by
the survey, 83.6 percent worked the full operating hours of the depart793660—34—2
4
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
ment in which they were scheduled. Though as a whole 82.6 percent
of all those in cigarette stemmeries worked total operating time, the
proportion varied greatly from plant to plant. In one department
operating 40 hours, only 42.6 percent worked the full 40 hours, while in
another also operating 40 hours, 92.9 percent worked the total time..
Variations in the proportions working full operating hours in the other
branches of the industry are not so extreme as in cigarette factories,
though in one dealer’s stemmery 77.6 percent of the employees, and
in another 88.4 percent, worked the total 55 operating hours. In the
third dealer’s stemmery 93.7 percent worked the total operating hours,
in this case only 28.
Employees working total operating hours
Operating hours of plants or stemmery departments
num
Plant Total
ber of
number employees
Employees working
total operating
hours
Number
All stemmeries-.
Cigarette stemmeries—Total.
34.
35..
36..
39.
40.
40.
40..
40..
Percent
5,124
4, 284
83. f
3,!
3,293
82.6
248
476
279
172
168
242
2,226
178
158
438
266
142
156
103
1,873
157
63.7
92.0
95.3
82 6
92.9
42.6
84.1
418
387
92.6-
55
94
72
197
51
76
67
193
92.7
80.9
93. 1
98.0'
Chewing-tobacco stemmeries—Total.
16 or 17..
25^---
28_____
36_____
Dealers' stemmeries—Total.
717
127
340
250
28_
55..
55..
88.2
84.2
119
264
221
93.7
77.6
88.4
AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS
CIGARETTE STEMMERIES
Hand stemming
Of about 4,000 stemmery employees for whom pay-roll data were'
furnished by cigarette manufacturers, one-half were hand stemmers,
over one-fourth (27 percent) were searchers or pickers, and somewhat
over one-fifth (22.3 percent) were machine stemmers.
Almost invariably hand stemming is a piecework job, paid on a
production basis by weight either of stems or of strips, the rates vary
ing slightly with the type and the quality of the tobacco. The average
hourly earnings of 69.1 percent of the 2,022 hand stemmers fell within
a 10-cent range, 22% and under 32)) cents an hour, while 17.2 percent
earned less than 22% cents and 13.7 percent earned 32}) cents or more.
The following shows the percentage of 2,022 hand stemmers in ciga
rette factories averaging each specified amount per hour.
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
5
Average hourly earnings (cents):
employees
Less than 15 j 3
15, less than 207 3
20, less than 25 22. 4
25, less than 304 k 9
30, less than 35 20. 0
35 and more~ 7’ 4
This arrangement in 5-cent groups shows that the most usual hourlyearnings were 25 and less than 30 cents, over two-fifths of the hand
stemmers being in this group. More than one-fifth (22.4 percent)
earned 20 and under 25 cents and still another fifth earned 30 and
under 35. Small proportions earned 35 cents or more (7.1 percent)
and less than 20 cents (8.6 percent).
As many as 26 hand stemmers averaged less than 15 cents an hour,
173 less than 20 cents, 626 less than 25 cents, and 1,474 less than 30
cents an hour; or, roughly speaking, almost one-third averaged less
than 25 cents and almost three-fourths averaged less than 30 cents.
This is especially significant in view of the fact that the cigarette
firms, in becoming parties to the President’s Reemployment Agree
ment of August 1933, were allowed a minimum rate of 25 cents an
hour for stemmery occupations. Further, the code for the cotton
textile industry operating in the same areas as the tobacco-products
factories established a minimum of 30 cents an hour. The theory of
minimum wages is that they shall provide protection for the most
unskilled workers by setting the lowest wage level at which workers
can live in health and decency. Applying to the cigarette industry
the minimum standard of 30 cents an hour set by the cotton textile
code, it appears that only somewhat more than one-fourth (27.1 per
cent) of the hand stemmers in cigarette factories were earning 30 cents
or more; that is, enough to meet the lowest standard of living allowed
for experienced workers by the minimum established for the other
industry.
Machine stemming
Machine stemming was not usually a piecework job, and the most
common hourly rate was 25 cents. About 100 of the 890 machine
stemmers were earning less than 25 cents, while almost three-fifths
earned 25 cents and practically one-fourth earned 30 cents or more.
Picking and searching
The operations of picking and searching also were on an hourly
basis, the prevailing rate in 4 of the 5 plants reporting these workers
being 25 cents. No worker averaged less than this an hour, and
fewer than 30 of the 1,077 were receiving more than 25 cents.
TOBACCO-DEALERS’ STEMMERIES
The hourly earnings of the employees in stemmeries of tobacco
dealers are so much lower than those in stemmeries directly connected
with cigarette factories that they have been analyzed separately.
For example, in the case of hand stemmers, who constitute the vast
bulk of the workers, 87.6 percent of those employed in dealers’ estab
lishments, in contrast to only 1.3 percent of those in cigarette factories,
earned less than 15 cents an hour; and at the other extreme, while
over four-fifths of the hand stemmers of cigarette tobacco earned 22%
6
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
cents, no hand stemmers earned as much as this in dealers’ establish
ments. The following shows the percentage of the 635 hand stemmers
in tobacco dealers’ establishments averaging less than the amounts
specified per hour.
Percent of
Average hourly earnings (cents):
employees
Less than 8----------------- --------------------------------------------- 2. 2
Less than 10 14.
0
Less than 12--------------52. 1
Less than 14 80.
3
Less than 15 87.
6
Less than 17% 97.
6
1754 and more _____________________________________
2.4
As stated before, 87.6 percent of the 635 hand stemmers in dealers’
plants earned less than 15 cents an hour, and the distribution of earn
ings under 15 cents shows that 2.2 percent earned less than 8 cents,
14 percent less than 10 cents, 52.1 percent less than 12, and 80.3
percent less than 14 cents.
Since work in the stemmeries of tobacco dealers is seasonal, the pay
rolls used as a basis for this compilation were selected by the manage
ment in each case as representing a busy week in the past season.
For this reason the dates of the pay rolls used were not uniform as
were those of the cigarette firms. One dealer recommended a pay
roll of November 1933 and another was as late as March 1934; but in
■each case the stemmery operated normal time for the season, if not
overtime.
Furthermore, these pay rolls represent earnings on tobacco that had
been contracted for by various cigarette manufacturers, and while
employees in the stemmeries of cigarette factories had earnings with
a median of 27 cents an hour, employees in dealers’ stemmeries had
earnings with a median of only 11.9 cents, or less than half that of
stemmers in cigarette factories.
A difference in rates in these two branches of the industry is being
considered by the administration, but it is unfair that the average
earnings of stemmers in one plant should be less than half of the aver
age of stemmers in another plant simply because the stemmers first
named are employed by a dealer and the others are employed by a
cigarette manufacturer. Undoubtedly the cigarette firms who con
tract with dealers for tobacco strips benefit by this differential in the
labor costs at the expense of cigarette manufacturers who operate
their own stemmeries, so from the point of view of employers as well
as employees the rates set should be uniform for the occupation,
whether done for a dealer or for a manufacturer of cigarettes, of chew
ing tobacco, or of smoking tobacco. And in no case should this mean
the lowering of a rate below 25 cents an hour.
Almost nine-tenths of the employees (88.6 percent) in the stem
meries of tobacco dealers were hand stemmers, only 82 being machine
stemmers, pickers, or searchers. With few exceptions, hourly earn
ings were higher in these latter occupations than in hand stemming.
Two-thirds of the machine stemmers reported were earning 20 or 21
cents, and none of them, nor of the pickers and searchers, earned less
than 15 cents.
7
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
CHEWING-TOBACCO STEMMERIES
The pay-roll data for over 400 persons employed in stemmeries
directly connected with plants making chewing tobacco cover the
hand-stemming operation only. Though earnings were decidedly
better in this branch of the industry than in the stemmeries of dealers,,
they ranged somewhat lower than in stemmeries of cigarette factories.
The following shows the percentage of the 418 hand stemmers in
chewing-tobacco establishments averaging each specified amount perhour.
Percent of
Average hourly earnings (cents):
employees
Less than 15
2. 2:
15, less than 2023. 4.
20, less than 2525. S
25, less than 30 30. 9
30, less than 35 11. 7
35 and more 6 0
Only 9 hand stemmers were earning less than 15 cents an hour in
chewing-tobacco factories. Just over one-fourth were earning less
than 20 cents and about the same number 20 and less than 25 cents.
The largest group (30.9 percent) had earnings of 25 and less than 30
rents, and 17.7 percent had earnings of 30 cents or more, including a
few who made as much as 40 cents.
SMOKING-TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Records were obtained for a limited number of stemmers, 1 with
hours not reported, in smoking-tobacco stemmeries. The following
shows the percentage of these 277 hand stemmers in smoking-tobacco
units earning each specified amount per hour.
Average hourly earnings (cents):
15, less than 20___________
20, less than 25___________
25, less than 30___________
30, less than 35___________
35, less than 40___________
40 and more______________
Percent of
employees
-
2. 9
11. 9
-- 27. 1
.. 35. 7
-- 15. 2
__ 7. 2
It is apparent that earnings of hand stemmers w'ere higher in
smoking-tobacco units than in the other stemmeries visited. None
of the 277 hand stemmers averaged less than 15 cents and only 2 9
percent earned less than 20 cents. At the other extreme, over a third
(35.7 percent) earned 30 and under 35 cents and more than a fifth
(22.4 percent) earned 35 cents or more.
Nearly three-fifths (58.1 percent) of the workers in these units
averaged 30 cents or more an hour, in contrast to only 27.1 percent in
the cigarette units, 17.7 percent in chewing-tobacco factories, and no
one at all in the dealers’ units. Further, while only 1.6 percent of
the hand stemmers in cigarette factories earned 40 cents or more, 7.2,
percent of those in smoking-tobacco units did so.
8
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Average hourly earnings of employees in tobacco stemmeries
Percent of employees
Cigarette factories
Average hourly earnings (cents)
Total
(3,989)
Total______________ ___
Median hourly earnings (cents)
Hand
Machine
stemmers stemmers
(2,022)
(890)
100.0
25
100.0
27
Less than 15____
15, less than 173417J4, less than 20.
20, less than 2234
:2234, less than 25.
25, less than 2734
2734, less than 30.
30, less than 3234
3234, less than 35.
35, less than 3734
3734, less than 40.
40 and more____
100.0
25
Pickers
and
searchers
(1,077)
Chewing- Smokingtobacco
tobacco
factories, factories,
hand
hand
stemmers stemmers
(418)
(277)
100. 0
25
100. 0
24.72
100.0
31. 03
2 97.3
2.2
7.2
16.3
13.2
12.7
19.9
11.0
7.4
4.3
2.9
1.4
1.7
0.7
2.2
5. 1
6.9
11.9
15.2
22.4
13.4
10.5
4.7
7.2
1.1
3.8
6.1
i 60.3
4.2
4.2
3 20.1
2.4
.3
1
.1
.
Percent of employees—Dealers’
establishments
Average hourly earnings (cents)
Hand
stemmers
(635)
Pickers
and search
ers (58)
100.0
12.27
100.0
11.9
100.0
15
12.4
15.6
18.1
14.4
10.6
6.4
15.8
3.5
2.5
.7
14.0
17.6
20.5
16.2
12.0
7.2
10.1
2.0
.3
Total
(14 717)
23
Total________________________________
,22)4, less than 25
________________________________ ______ _____
84.5
15.5
1 Almost all at 25 cents.
2 All at 25 cents.
3 Almost all at 3234 cents.
4 Includes 24 machine stemmers, not shown separately.
VARIATIONS IN HOURLY EARNINGS
There was a wide variation in individual earnings within the same
plant. For example, in four cigarette factories some hand stemmers
averaged as little as 10 to 12 cents an hour, while a few averaged as
much as 45 to 48 cents.
There were variations in hourly earnings from plant to plant, also,
but these were less marked than the differences among individual
earnings within the same plant. For hand stemmers the median
hourly earnings ranged from 25 cents in 1 of 6 cigarette factories to
30 cents in another, from 18.6 cents to 26 cents in 3 chewing-tobacco
units, and from 11.6 cents to 12,1 cents in 3 dealers’ units.
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
9
Median hourly earnings of hand stemmers, in ascending scale
6 cigarette factories1
Factory number:
6
7
1
5_________ ____ ____
2
4________________
Cents
25.0
26.5
26.7
27.3
28.9
30.0
3 chewing-tobacco factories
Factory number:
13______________
11____________
12.............................. .
Cents
18.6
25.0
26.0
3 dealers’ establishments
Factory number:
Cents
11.6
11.9
12.1
1 Factory employing less than 50 excluded from this summary.
The range in median earnings for machine stemmers was from 23.7
cents in one cigarette factory to 32% cents in another.
A comparison of the distribution of earnings plant by plant gives
a more complete picture of the variations in standards than does a
comparison of minimum and maximum points or of medians. Such
a distribution follows:
Percentage distribution of hand stemmers in various plants according to hourly
earnings, arranged in ascending scale
1,988 HAND STEMMERS IN 6 CIGARETTE FACTORIES <
Earning less than 25 cents
Earning 25 and less than 30 cents
Percent of
Factory number:
employees Factory number:
4
20.3
4
2____ ___________
25.2
2___
5
28.8
7___________
1_____________
29.7
6________
7
36.8
5____________
6
42.4
1_______
Earning 30 cents and more
Percent of
employees Factory number:
27.5
29.4
1____________
39.3
44.0
45.3
47.3
Percent of
employees
'
13.6
23.0
23.9
25.9
45.4
52.2
418 HAND STEMMERS IN 3 CHEWING-TOBACCO FACTORIES
Earning less than 20 cents
Factory number:
11__________
12..........................
13
Earning 20 and less than 30 cents
Earning 30 cents and more
Percent of
Percent of
employees Factory number:
employees Factory number:
13..............................
29.8
15.2
12.................... .
59.1
70.2
11_...................
90.9
Percent of
employees
9.1
25.7
635 HAND STEMMERS IN 3 DEALERS’ ESTABLISHMENTS
Earning less than 10 cents
Plant number:
10
8
9
Earning 10 and less than 15 cents
Earning 15 cents and more
Percent of
Percent of
employees Plant number:
employees Plant number:
8.7
8_________ ____
72.1
14.7
9
73.6
16.0
10.______________
76.4
10
Percent of
employees
10.4
13.2
15.0
1 Factory employing less than 50 excluded from this summary.
The proportion of hand stemmers in 6 cigarette units whose average
earnings were less than 25 cents ranges from 20.3 percent in one factory
to 42.4 percent in another; of those earning 25 and under 30 cents
the range was from 27.5 percent in one factory to 47.3 percent in
another; and of those earning 30 cents and more the range was from
13.6 percent in one factory to 52.2 percent in another.
10
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
The earnings of hand stemmers in three chewing-tobacco factories
showed much wider variations. In one plant none of the stemmers
earned less than 20 cents, while in another 70.2 percent were in this
earnings group. Correspondingly, in the upper level of earnings 25.7
percent in one plant earned 30 cents or more, while in another plant
no one earned as much as 30 cents.
Variations were slight in the stemmeries of dealers, where all earn
ings were extremely low. The variation in the proportion earning
less than 10 cents an hour was only from 8.7 percent to 16 percent,
and the variation in the highest wage group, with earnings of 15 cents
or more per hour, was only from 10.4 percent to 15 percent.
Variations in firm standards—percent distribution 1 of average hourly earnings
HAND STEMMERS IN CIGARETTE FACTORIES
Average hourly earnings
(cents)
Factory 1 Factory 2 Factory 3 Factory 4 Factory 5 Factory 6 Factory 7
(74 em (119 em (33 em
(69 em (1,075 em (125 em (527 em
ployees) ployees) ployees) ployees) ployees) ployees) ployees)
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
1.4
28.4
47.3
23.0
7.6
17.6
29.4
27-7
17.6
11.6
8.7
27.5
23.2
29.0
7.7
21.1
45.3
21.4
4.6
8.0
34.4
44.0
10.4
3.2
100.0
11.6
25.2
39.3
15.7
8.2
MACHINE STEMMERS IN CIGARETTE FACTORIES
(41 em
ployees)
(53 em
ployees)
(68 em
ployees)
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
64.1
35.3
•7
91.2
8.8
92.1
7.9
Less than 25- ______
100.0
(153 em (330 em
ployees) ployees)
(17 em
ployees)
(228 em
ployees)
HAND STEMMERS IN TOBACCO.DEALERS’ ESTABLISHMENTS
Plant 8
(258 eniployees)
Plant 9
(250 employees)
Plant 10
(127 employees)
Total___________________ ____ __________
10, less than 13___...... ... ........ .............. .
13, less than 15___ ____________ ______ _
15 and more__ ______ _____ ____________
13.2
10.4
15.0
HAND STEMMERS IN CHEWING-TOBACCO FACTORIES
Factory 11
(55 eraployees)
Total.. ________ _______ _______________
Less than 20. __________ ____ _____
20, less than 25________ _____ ___________
25, less than 30______ .
30 and more_________________
* Not computed where base less than 50.
Factory 12 Factory 13
(269 em(94 employees)
ployees)
100.0
100.0
100.0
12.7
78.2
9.1
27.9
31.2
25.7
2.1
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
11
Earnings of machine stemmers were in most plants determined by
the hourly rate of pay. In some manufacturing units the rate was
uniformly 32% cents and in other large units it was 25 cents. Only
in one cigarette factory, where this occupation was on a piecework
basis, did earnings fall below 25 cents an hour, and in this case 64 per
cent—almost two-thirds—were averaging less than 25 cents an hour,
a few of them even less than 20 cents.
Like those of machine stemmers, the earnings of searchers and pick
ers were determined by the standard hourly rate paid for this work in
the various plants. Practically all were earning 25 cents, the pre
vailing hourly rate. In no cigarette factory were any pickers and
searchers earning less than this, and only 29, employed in 3 plants,
were earning more.
LEARNING PERIOD
Stemming is often regarded as unskilled labor, but one superintend
ent insisted that it is more or less skilled. Searchers become efficient
within a week, but hand stemmers require 3 weeks and machine feeders
4 weeks to acquire speed and accuracy.
However, all agreed that there is practically no inexperienced labor
being hired these days. “They have all been brought up in stemmeries and know how to handle tobacco”, was one manager’s com
ment.
SUBSTANDARD WORKERS
Management in various plants referred to the inefficiency of work
ers, their advanced age, and their lack of fitness for any other type of
work. It would seem that it was a charity to employ them, unless
one remembered the thousands of pounds of tobacco that they were
stemming and sorting. On two occasions a rough selection was made
of individual earnings of pieceworkers that seemed decidedly below
the usual earnings in the department, and the foremen were asked
what they considered the cause in each case for the apparent low earn
ing capacity. Of a total of 36 such workers, 14 were appraised as
old, 16 as slow, and 2 as “no good”, the other 4 being respectively in
poor health, recently ill, inefficient, and handicapped by poor sight.
With almost half of this sample group classified as slow, the question
arises, Wore the slow workers taken into consideration when the piece
rates were set for their jobs?
STANDARDS RAISED SINCE PRESIDENT’S REEMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
In the cigarette and chewing-tobacco branches of the industry there
was a general revision of wage rates in August and September 1933 as
well as a reduction in working hours. For example, the 40-hour week
was adopted in a factory where formerly the week had been 45 sometmies 50, and occasionally 60 hours long. In another a uniform
schedule of 45 hours was changed to 40 hours; and in a very short time
all firms m the cigarette industry were conforming to a 40-hour maxi
mum working week. At the same time hourly wage rates were
raised. One manager stated that wages were increased 12>2 percent
m his plant. In some cases rates that had been 16 and 18 cents were
raised to 25, while various piece rates were increased from 6% to 10%
cents, from 7 to 12}^ cents, from 9 to 12 cents, or from 1% and 1% cents
79356°—34----- 3
12
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
to 2 and 2% cents. Rates varied slightly from firm to firm and with
various types and qualities of tobacco.
A comparison of pay rolls before and after the President’s Reem
ployment Agreement shows to what extent wages improved. Average
hourly earnings for all employees in one stemmery for the weeks in
January and March of 1933 ranged from 13 to 16 cents. A great
improvement was noticeable in the corresponding season in 1934, when
the average hourly earnings for all employees in the stemmery ranged
from 23 to 28 cents.
WEEK’S EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES WORKING TOTAL
OPERATING HOURS
The week’s earnings are of vital importance to the man who must
live from week to week, governing all expenditures by the amount in
his weekly pay envelop. He cannot reckon on monthly salary or
quarterly dividends. If his working hours are curtailed, he suffers
immediately. Well over two-fifths (44.8 percent) of all the stemmery
employees worked less than 40 hours in the pay-roll week recorded.
Employment undoubtedly is more seasonal and precarious in some
branches of the industry than in others.
MEDIAN EARNINGS
Hand stemmers
The hand-stemming occupation accounts for the great bulk of
stemmery employees, and though the occupation is practically the
same wherever performed, operating hours and earnings vary not
only in the three branches of the industry covered but from plant to
plant.
In the cigarette units, the median of the w'eek’s earnings of the 545
who worked full operating schedules of 34, 35, and 36 hours was $9.55,
and of the 1,141 who worked full 39- and 40-liour schedules it was $11.
These were the highest median earnings of hand stemmers in any of
the groups.
The next highest median was $8.80 for the hand stemmers in
chewing-tobacco plants who worked the full schedule of 28 and 36
hours. For those who worked 16 or 17 and 25% hours, other full-time
operating schedules in chewing tobacco, the median was $4.55.
In the stemmeries of dealers the medians fell still lower. For those
working the very long week of 55 hours the weekly earnings had a
median of $6.55, and for those working the short schedule of 28 hours
it was $3.60. In summary, for the longest working schedules in each
branch of the industry the medians of the week’s earnings were $11
in cigarette stemmeries, $8.80 in chewing-tobacco stemmeries, and
$6.55 in dealers’ stemmeries.
Machine stemmers
The median of the week’s earnings of machine stemmers working 40
hours in cigarette factories was $10.60; for those working full-time
schedules of 34, 35, and 39 hours it was $8.75. It is worth noting in
this connection that the lowest median for machine stemmers, $8.65,
was in a factory where very recently there had been a marked increase
in machine-stemming equipment and where pounds produced
determined the group earnings.
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
13
Searchers and pickers
The great majority of the full-time searchers and pickers in cigarette
factories were on a 40-hour schedule, and 94 percent of these 834
workers earned $10. The few pickers on a 34-hour schedule earned
Median of the week’s earnings of employees working total operating time of their
respective departments
Occupation and branch of industry
Hand stemmers:
Cigarette factories................
Chewing-tobacco factories______
Machine stemmers:
Cigarette factories____
Searchers and pickers:
Plant operating
hours
134. 35, and 36____
\39 and 40_ __ ___
/16 or 17 and 25^...
128 and 36
/ 28
165.......... ....................
Number of
employees
Median of
working
the week’s
total
earnings
operating
hours
545
1,141
127
260
119
424
$9. 55
11.00
4. 55
8.80
3. 60
6. 55
J34, 35, and 39
\40_____________
296
405
8. 75
10. 60
/34----------------------(40_____________
72
834
1 8. 50
2 10.00
1 All earned $8.50.
2 94 percent earned $10; the rest earned more.
DISTRIBUTION OF EARNINGS
Medians indicate only the point at which half the earnings are below
and half are above, but the variation appears more clearly in a distri
bution of earnings in dollar groupings.
Hand stemmers
Combining all hand stemmers regardless of the branch of the indus
try that employed them or of the operating hours of their respective
plants, the median of the week’s earnings of 2,589 in this occupation
was $9.55, and all had worked the entire time that their departments
had operated in the week.
Though the median was $9.55 as stated, 14.6 percent of the stem
mers earned less than $6, not so much as a dollar a day i at the other end
of the scale a slightly larger proportion (15.4 percent) earned $12 or
more, averaging slightly over $2 a day.
Between these two extremes of less than $6 and $12 or more fell the
vast majority of the earnings. In each of the dollar groupings of $6,
$7, and $8 there were around 250 employees, more than 300 earned
respectively $9 and under $10 and $11 and under $12, and more than
400 earned $10 and under $11.
The total of hand stemmers is heavily weighted by the large num
bers in cigarette plants, where the range of earnings was higher than
in stemmeries of dealers or of chewing-tobacco factories. Consider
ing the hand stemmers in cigarette factories where operating hours
were 39 and 40 separately from those where operating hours were 34,
35, and 36, it is apparent that only 1.9 percent of those on the longer
schedules earned less than $7 for the week and 9.9 percent of those on
14
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
the shorter schedules earned less than $7; and while 25.8 percent under
the longer hours earned less than $10, 61.1 percent under the shorter
hours had such earnings. Forty-six percent of those on the longer
schedules earned $10 and under $12, the most representative earnings
for this group, but only 27.9 percent on the shorter schedule earned
so much. At the higher wage levels 28.2 percent working the longer
hours earned $12 or more, but only 11 percent with the shorter hours
did so.
_
_
In the other two branches of the industry there were such wide dif
ferences in operating hours from plant to plant that there was even
less similarity in earnings than in those just discussed. This was
especially marked in the stemmeries of dealers, where none of the hand
stemmers on a 55-liour week earned less than $3, but 15.1 percent of
those on a 28-hour week did so. The highest earnings on the 28-hour
schedule were $5 and under $6, and only 1.7 percent of the group
received this, while practically 2 percent (1.9) of those on a 55-hour
schedule earned $10 and under $12. However, even those working
the very long week had no one who earned as much as $12. Their
earnings bulked heavily in the $5, $6, and $7 groups and only 13.4
percent earned $8 or more.
Wide variation between the earnings on long and those on short
operating hours was evident in the chewing-tobacco stemmeries also.
Twelve percent of the hand stemmers on 17- and 25%-hour operating
schedules earned less than $4, though none of those working 28 or 36
hours earned so little. Sixty-five percent of the workers on the shorter
hours earned $4 and under $5 and none earned as much as $7, but 55
percent of those on the longer hours were in the $7, $8, or $9 groups
and 21.5 percent earned $10 and under $12. As many as 6.5 percent
earned $12 or more.
Machine stemmers and pickers and searchers
Of the 296 machine stemmers who worked full plant time of 34, 35,
or 39 hours, practically two-thirds (65.9 percent) earned $8 and less
than $9; for two-tliirds (66.9 percent) of the 405 who worked full time
where the hours were 40, the earnings were $10 and less than $11.
The hulking of numbers was even heavier in the case of the pickers
and searchers, undoubtedly due to the fact that all were in cigarette
factories, -where these jobs have a standard hourly rate. All who
worked full time where the plant schedule was 34 hours earned $8.50,
and all but 6 percent of those working full time where the schedule was
40 earned $10. The little group exceeding this was paid over $10
but under $14. No machine stemmer and no picker or searcher who
worked full operating hours earned less than $8 nor so much as $14.
The table following shows the earnings distribution of employees
who worked the full operating hours.
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
15
Percent distribution according to week’ s earnings of employees who worked the oper
ating hours of their respective departments
HAND STEMMERS
Total hand
stemmers
Week’s earnings
Total.
Less than $3--_
$4,
$5,
$6,
$7,
$8,
___
less than $5
less than $6
less than $7 _
less than $8
less than $9. _ .
.
$10, less than $11
$12, less than $13
$13, less than $14____
$14, less than $15___
Number
Percent
2,616
100.0
19
90
129
168
235
242
253
340
424
317
224
103
41
31
0.7
3.4
4.9
6.4
9.0
9.3
9.7
13.0
16.2
12.1
8.6
3.9
1.6
1.2
Cigarette factories
C hewing-tobacco Dealers’ stemmeries
operating—
factories operating—
operating—
34, 35, and 39 and 40
hours
36 hours
(545 em (1,141 em
ployees) ployees)
100.0
0.6
3.3
6.1
11.9
15.6
23.7
18.7
9.2
6.1
3.3
.9
.7
16 or 17
and 36 28 hours
and 25^ 28hours
hours
(119 em
(260 em ployees)
(127 em ployees)
ployees)
100.0
100.0
0.2
.7
0.8
12. 6
66.1
15.7
4.7
1.1
3.4
7.2
13.2
24.4
21.6
15.8
7.2
3.0
2.3
100.0
100.0
15.1
60 5
22.7
1.7
0.4
2.3
14.2
17.7
19.2
18.1
14.6
6.9
4.2
1.2
.8
.4
55 hours
(424 em
ployees)
100.0
2.8
26.9
34 7
21. 7
8. 5
3.1
1.4
. 6
MACHINE STEMMERS AND PICKERS AND SEARCHERS
Total machine
stemmers 1
Machine stem
mers in cigarette
factories
operating—
Total pickers and
searchers 2
Pickers and search
ers in cigarette
factories operat
ing—
Number
Percent
34 hours
(72 em
ployees)
Week's earnings
Total___ _______
$8, less than $9
$9, less than $10
$11, less than $12_ ___
$13, less than $14
34, 35, and 40 hours
39 hours (405 em
(296 em
ployees) ployees)
Num
ber
Percent
725
100.0
100.0
100.0
943
100.0
100.0
203
28
288
72
65
69
28.0
3.9
39.7
9.9
9.0
9.5
65.9
2.0
6.9
66.9
5.4
1.7
17.0
98
11
814
10.4
1. 2
86.3
100.0
17
3
1.8
.3
4. 7
11.8
17.6
40 hours
(834 em
ployees)
100.0
97 6
2. 0
.4
1 Total includes 24 machine stemmers in dealers’ establishments working 55 hours, not shown
separately.
2 Total includes 37 pickers and searchers in dealers’ establishments working 55 hours, not shown
separately.
WEEK’S EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES WORKING LESS THAN
OPERATING HOURS
In the 3 branches of the industry under consideration 840
employees, 16.4 percent of the 5,124 covered, worked other than the
full operating time of their respective departments, all but 13 of them
working less than the operating hours. It is impossible to state
what part of the 827 whose hours fell below the total in their depart
ments lost time because of plant conditions and not for personal
reasons. It frequently happens in industry that though a unit as a
whole may operate 8 hours a day, there is not enough work to keep
16
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
all persons busy throughout the 8-hour period, and it is probable
that many of those who failed to work the full operating period in
the present study had their time curtailed by plant conditions.
Hours
The following shows the hours of employees who worked less than
total operating hours:
TT
Cigarette
Chewingfactories tobacco factories
xlours worked:
Total 685
30
Less than 20 212
20, less than 30 192
30, less than 40281
19
6
5
TT
, .
JSCU 1C! &
Hours
worked:
establishments
Total......... ............ ................................................................... .. 112
Less than 30
30, less than 40
40, less than 55
40
17
55
Over four-fifths (82.8 percent) of all who failed to work the plant’s
operating hours were employed in cigarette factories, and of these
685 undertime workers 30.9 percent had worked less than 20 hours
during the week, 28 percent had worked 20 and less then 30 hours,
and 41 percent had worked 30 and less than 40 hours.
The numbers of undertime workers in the other branches of the
industry were relatively small; 19 of the 30 in chewing-tobacco
factories had worked less than 20 hours, while of the 112 in dealers’
stemmeries half had worked 40 but less than 55 hours and more than
one-third had worked less than 30 hours.
Earnings
Naturally, earnings were correspondingly lower for these undertime
workers than for those on full operating hours. Though the median
of the earnings of cigarette hand stemmers working the full 39 or 40
hours was $11, it was $6.50 for the undertime employees in cigarette
factories, more than two-fifths of whom worked 30 and under 40
hours. While the median of the earnings for hand stemmers in
dealers’ plants operating on a 55-hour schedule was $6.55, for the
undertime employees in dealers’ stemmeries, half of whom worked
at least 40 hours, it was $4.40.
A comparison of the proportions earning less than $5 emphasizes
further the low level of the earnings of undertime workers. More
than one-third (35.2 percent) of the undertime workers in cigarette
stemmeries and more than three-fifths (63.4 percent) of those in
dealers’ stemmeries earned less than $5. In contrast to this, only
2 hand stemmers on a full-time schedule of 40 hours in cigarette
factories and only 14 on a full 55-hour schedule in dealers’ stemmeries
were reported as earning less than $5. Further, of the hundreds of
hand stemmers in all 3 branches of the industry who worked full
operating time, which ranged from 16 to 55 hours, only 8.3 percent
earned less than $5,
17
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Week’s earnings of employees who worked less than total operating hours
Stemmery employees working less than operating hours
Total
Week’6 earnings
Cigarette factories
Number
Percent
Number
Total____
Median 1______
827
10.05
100.0
685
$6.50
Less than $4__ .
$4, less than $5._
$5, less than $6_ _
$6, less than $7..
$7, less than $8..
$8, less than $9..
$9, less than $10 _
$10, less than $11
$11, less than $12
$12 and more___
210
25.4
15.4
127
71
106
66
115
49
34
20
29
8.6
12.8
8.0
13.9
5.9
4.1
2.4
3.5
143
98
57
89
59
109
48
34
19
29
Percent
Chewing-tobacco
factories
Number
30
Percent
0)
Dealers’ establish
ments
Number
Percent
112
100.0
$4.40
20.9
14.3
8.3
13.0
41.1
22.3
12.5
15.2
6.3
8.6
15.9
7.0
5.0
1.8
.9
2.8
4.2
1 Not computed where base less than 50.
WEEK’S EARNINGS OF ALL EMPLOYEES COVERED
A summary of all workers, regardless of hours actually worked and
regardless of branch of the industry and of occupation, shows the
week’s earnings of 5,403 employees.
Employees
Week’s earnings
Number
Percent
1 5,403
100.0
576
902
1,147
2,052
654
72
10.7
16.7
21.2
38.0
12.1
1.3
1 Includes 278 workers in a smoking-tobacco establishment.
From this it is apparent that the earnings of one-tenth of the
employees were less than $5 for the week, for close to one-half (48.6
percent) they were less than $10, and for 86.6 percent they were less
than $12. In other words, only a little more than one-eighth of the
employees covered in the stemmeries of this industry earned as much
as $12 during the week.
RELIEF
In one tobacco-manufacturing center the emergency relief adminis
tration reported that in May slightly more than 10 percent of their
case load was experienced tobacco-factory workers, and that in over
2 percent of the cases they were giving supplemental aid to part-time
workers in tobacco factories. In another city over one-sixth of the
case load in April and over one-seventh in May were families in which
one or more members were tobacco workers.
Relief had been necessary to supplement earnings of a greater num
ber of workers still employed in the tobacco-products industry than of
18
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
those out of work because of the seasonal nature of the industry. In
one city roughly two-thirds of the families were receiving supplemental
aid during April and May, while only one-third were receiving total
relief, and relief of tobacco workers in this city was averaging a few
thousand dollars each month.
A relief organization stated that the shut-down of a tobacco concern
for a few weeks in January had doubled their case load, but they met
the emergency, and no family was left destitute.
ABILITY OF THE INDUSTRY TO PAY A LIVING WAGE
Labor cost is comparatively such a small part of the total produc
tion costs that the wage levels could be raised without making an
appreciable difference to the industry. Figures submitted by the
firms demonstrated that actual cost of labor for the preparation of
tobacco leaf for cigarettes was low. In one plant the average weekly
wage was $10.82 per person for the unit of over 2,000 employees
engaged in the preparation of tobacco leaf, that is, in stripping, inside
trucking, blending, stemming, picking, searching, sweeping, and so
forth. During the week this stemmery produced something over
3,000,000 pounds of strips, or enough tobacco for a billion cigarettes,
the cost of these operations being less than a penny a pound of pre
pared tobacco or less than a mill per package of 20 cigarettes.
FLUCTUATION IN PAST 12 MONTHS
The past 12 months had not been a depression year for the cigarette
firms and several units had employed an extra night shift for limited
periods. To keep up with increasing business one unit not only put
on a night force in the spring of 1934 but was gradually installing
more machine-stemming equipment.
For 8 months out of tlie past 12 another firm had operated a second
sluft quite continuously. In other stemmeries hiring and laying off
had been more spasmodic; for example, one plant closed down for 2
weeks in midwinter, then later operated extras at night for a short
time.
In contrast to these fluctuations other units maintained a fairly
steady labor force week after week and month after month.
Supplementary work
Not all units were expanding or working extra, shifts; some were
with difficulty keeping the force busy full time. It is to their credit
that they were shifting workers from one job to another to employ
them as much time as possible. In one department of 75 hand stemmers about one-fifth of them had worked on two jobs during the week.
Their average employment on their regular jobs was 26 hours, while
on the secondary job they averaged 6% hours, which raised their aver
age earnings for the week from $6.63 to $8.48. In another such case
the shifting to a supplementary job raised the average hours for the
group from about 32 to 38)2.
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
19
Trends of employment and other data
Five of the firms, 4 making cigarettes and 1 making chewing tobacco,
■supplied figures showing the recent trends in stemmery employment,
production, and pay rolls. Three of the records were in weekly
periods and two were in monthly periods. One cigarette unit had
these comparative data for only the past 8 months, September 1933
to May 1934; one record extended over 11 months, June 1933 to May
1934; and one over 12 months, May 1933 to May 1934. Two records
were for more than a year, one for the past 15 months and one for the
past 17.
These five records have been analyzed separately to show the suc
cessive changes for the individual stemmeries. All figures submitted
were reduced to index numbers, January 1934 being used as the base
because it was a date common to all reports. Tables giving the index
numbers accompany the charts.
Chart 11This chart illustrates conditions that are steadier than in
the other plants, with a great improvement in the spring of 1934 over
the spring of 1933. The increases through the winter months were
due to an extra night shift employed during that season.
Chart 2.—In contrast to chart 1 this shows a decrease in employ
ment, accompanied in most recent months by a marked increase in
hours and production. The curves for the total pay roll and earnings
rise in August at the same time that employment begins to decline
somewhat. This rise undoubtedly reflects the improved wage stand
ards set by the President’s Reemployment Agreement. It has been
suggested that the change in the direction of the production curve
since January is due at least in part to the installation of stemming
machines that are gradually replacing hand-stemming operations.
Chart 3.—The extreme peak in chart 3 in May 1933 immediately
preceded the N.I.R.A. and coincides with sudden spurts in some other
lines of business at that time. The curve indicates a decline in em
ployment since February 1934 but recently an upward trend in the
production and pay-roll curves, especially the former.
Chart 4-—These curves illustrate conditions in this firm only since
the President’s Reemployment Agreement became effective. There
were sudden temporary changes through the 9 months, but on the
whole employment cannot be said to be on a higher level. In Feb
ruary employment and man-hours increased while production dropped,
but in April the opposite was true. The production curve suddenly
went up with little change in employment and a drop in total pay
roll. Such divergence in the curves was not explained.
Chart 5.—This is the only chart illustrating conditions in the
chewing-tobacco branch of the industry. The record is incomplete
in spots. Though the curve for employment was amazingly steady
(the index varying only from a low of about 95 to a high of 103)
production and” pay-roll curves shot up and down from extreme highs
to lows. Altogether there were at least eight spurts upward, each
followed by sudden and drastic downward turns. Since early in
August of 1933 the production and pay-roll curves have practically
■coincided, a condition not appearing in any cigarette factory chart,
whether the stemmery force was wholly pieceworkers or not.
20
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
CHART 1—INDEXES OF STEMMERY EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLL, AND PRODUC
TION IN CIGARETTE FACTORY 1, MARCH 1933 TO MAY 1934
[January 1934=100]
Number of employees
Payroll
Production
Mar
Apr
May
June July Ang
Sept Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
21
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, and production in cigarette factory 1
March 1933 to May 1934
'
[January 1934=100]
1 week nearest middle of month
Month
Number of
employees
March____
April_____
May______
June............
July______
August____
September.
October___
November..
December..
January...
February.,
March___
April____
May_____
Pay roll
Production
1933
36.0
35.2
48.5
61.9
67.7
69.8
69.7
85.9
100.2
98.0
33.0
31.1
44.9
57.6
55.6
63.3
64.6
81.7
93.6
96.0
45.4
29.6
57.3
65.5
98.9
55.9
56.2
63.7
68.7
73.8
100.0
116.8
114.2
97.5
72.0
100.0
111. 1
99.8
85.5
68.1
100. 0
106.7
57.2
100.3
96.5
1934
CHART 2—INDEXES OF STEMMERY EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLL, PRODUCTION, AND HOURS WORKED IN CIGARETTE
FACTORY 2, MAY 24, 1933, TO MAY 16, 1934
to
^
[January 17, 1934=100]
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEM M ERIES
.—
. Humber of employees
----- m- Payroll
Production
Man hour8
Per capita earnings
Average hourly earnings
♦ ♦••♦••Average hours worked per employee
J__ 1__ L
J___1__ L
14 21 29 5
15 22 29 6 13 so 27 3 10 17
August
September
1933
October
November
December
January
I . I -I
J__ I__ I__ I—I—L
31 7 l1* 21 23 7 14 21 2S 4 11 is 25 2 9 16
February
March
1934
April
May
23
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, and hours worked in cigarette
factory 2, May 24, 1933, to May 16, 1934
[Jan. 17, 1934=100]
Week ending—
Number
of em
ployees
Pay roll
Produc
tion
Hours
worked
(man
hours)
Per
capita
earnings
Average
hourly
earnings
84.2
65.5
71.3
80.1
75.8
73.3
60.5
89.2
96.5
92.4
83.8
73.1
59.8
46.8
47.4
43.2
80.5
77.4
88.7
48.9
64.8
64.2
58.7
56.4
82.3
75.4
51.9
84.3
46.3
70.4
93.3
(0
(0
W
(1)
(')
«
(')
(')
(!)
C)
(!)
99.9
88.2
65.6
67.2
66.3
79.1
85.7
100.4
53.4
78.0
79.4
71.4
71.7
63.5
57.4
47.1
67.6
40.4
59.1
72.6
0)
50.8
39.3
43.3
48.7
43.9
41.8
35.5
49.2
52.7
50.9
60.5
79.9
56.7
46.0
49.5
50.5
89.7
82.0
103.0
57.3
77.7
78.5
74.7
67.4
66.8
64.7
46.3
76.1
41.5
62.6
92.8
(!)
(i)
0)
W
(!).
C1)
(1)
i
(!)
C1)
O)
(')
85 5
81.7
79.2
82.0
79.2
120.9
108. 0
105. 2
111.3
100.3
98. 1
100.8
99.1
102. 5
103.2
86. 7
105.2
91.0
95.6
114.3
(!)
«
98.2
100.0
90.0
121.0
115.8
121.6
119.0
70.7
93.2
117.9
113.5
119.0
93.3
124.5
132.2
125.3
143.1
153.4
146.9
(!)
96.5
100.0
95.0
99.3
98.6
92.2
91.0
55.5
72.5
91.8
89.8
94.2
71.3
92.3
95.2
88.6
85.4
85.8
87.3
P)
101.1
100.0
97.9
95.6
95.9
92.8
94.2
57.3
75.5
96.6
96.1
99.8
76.8
104.1
107.6
94.5
105.7
104.5
96.0
(2)
104.3
100.0
97.9
98.1
94.9
97.0
96. 7
96.5
96.6
101.4
101.9
100.2
105.0
108.7
109.7
101.2
107.6
110.8
105.2
1933
May 24._ __ ...
May 31
.......................
..
Jane 7._ _
___ ... _____
June 14 ______ __ ____ _____
June 21. ________ _____ ____
June 28- _ ... _ _
_______
July 5_______________________
July 12
July 19
............
..................
July 26. ______ _______________
Aug. 1----------------------------------Aug. 8----------------------------------Aug. 16- _______
__ _
Aug. 23... __ ________ _____
Aug. 30______________
____
Sept. 6_____________________
Sept. 13__
___ _
Sept. 20____ _______
____
Sept. 27 _ __________________
Oct..4
Oct. 11___
___ _______
Oct. 18
Oct. 25____ ____________ ____
Nov. 1—___
__ _________
Nov. 8
Nov. 15____ _ ________
Nov. 22...........................................
Nov. 29. ........ ................ ....... Dec. 6_
-_
Dec. 13
Doc. 20_ _____
_ _____
Dec. 27. __
______
127.0
113.1
111.3
104.0
106.6
112.8
102.6
103.6
100.7
99.3
96.4
105.5
97.4
91.6
88.3
93.4
88.7
90.1
89.4
w
50.6
39.6
43.2
48.7
46.4
43.8
37.7
55.3
58.7
57.7
65.4
85.4
72.1
52.0
55.1
52.5
95.6
92.5
105.6
59.4
78.3
77.9
72.0
71.1
65.1
59.2
40.9
71.1
36.8
56.5
83.0
m
1934
Jan. 3____ _ _
....
Jan. 10 ________ _
Jan. 17__
Jan. 24 ________________ __
Jan. 31 ________________ ____
Feb.7-_
________
Feb. 14_______ _____
Feb. 21, _________________
Feb. 28___________ ____Mar. 7___
_____________
Mar. 14- Mar. 21______ _____ _____ ____
Mar. 28___________
Apr. 4____ ____ _
___
Apr. 11-_ ___
_
Apr. 18________ ___________
Apr. 25______________________
May 2 ___ ___________ _
May 9_________
May 16-.......... ................ ...............
«
99.6
100.0
94.9
101.8
97.4
96.4
93.4
93.4
92.7
96.4
95.3
94.5
97.4
96.4
97.1
94.9
86.9
90.9
95.6
«
100.7
100.0
92.9
97.4
93.5
89.5
88.0
53.5
70.0
93.1
91.5
94.4
74.8
100.3
104.4
89.6
91.8
95.0
91.8
1 Not available.
2 Closed.
99.6
100.7
100.0
100.0
105.8
104.7
106.2
112.4
111.3
113.1
108.0
Average
hours
worked
per
employee
(i)
C1)
rn
«
(1)
0)
0)
(1)
0)
(1)
C1)
69.6
58.1
60. 5
63.9
74.3
76.2
97.9
51.6
77.5
80.1
74.1
68. 1
65. 2
62.8
53. 4
72. 5
45. 5
65. 7
81. 2
(!)
(2)
96.9
100.0
101. 3
95. 8
59 4
78 3
95. 3
94 5
99. 7
73. 3
95. 8
98. 2
93. 5
98. 4
94. 5
91.4
24
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
CHART 3.—INDEXES OF STEMMERY EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLL, PRODUCTION,
AND HOURS IN CIGARETTE FACTORY 3, JANUARY 1933 TO MAY 1934
[January 1934=100]
— Humber of employees
— Payroll
— Production
... Operating hours
June July lUfi
Sept Oct
Hot
Sec
Jan
feb
25
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, and hours in cigarette factory
3, January 1933 to May 1934
[January 1934=100]
Average
number of
employees
for the
month
1933
January_______
February.______ ____________
March.. ____________
April_____
____ ___
May_________________
June_____________
July___________________________
August.._______________
September_______________
October. ______________ _
November____________
December__________ _________ _
1934
January_______
February______ ____ ______ ___
March_________ ___________
April_________________
May______________ ______
Total for the month
Pay roll
Produc
tion
100.6
So. o
125.4
100.0
103.2
90.7
81.7
Operating
hours
83.9
60.3
72.1
62.6
155.5
90.5
79.0
100.6
87.4
80.6
63.2
64.1
100.0
57.9
78.4
74.4
92.8
CHART 4—INDEXES OF STEMMERY EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLL, PRODUCTION, AND HOURS WORKED IN CIGARETTE
FACTORY 4, SEPTEMBER 13, 1933, TO MAY 23, 1934
[January 17, 1934=100]
/ \ i\
Number of employees
Payroll
Production
•Van hours
Per capita earnings
13 20 27 4 11
September
18 25 1
October
8
15 22
November
1 ? 3 3
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEM M ERIES
tO
05
27
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEMMERIES
Indexes of stemmery employment, pay roll, production, and hours worked in cigarette
factory 4, Sept. IS, 1933, to May 23, 1934
[Jan. 17, 1934 = 100]
Week ending—
Number of
employees
Pay roll
Produc
tion
Hours
worked
(man
hours)
Per capita
earnings
1933
Sept. 13... .......... .................... .
Sept. 20._______ ___
___
Sept. 27.......... .......................... .
Oct. 4__________ ___________
Oct. 11
Oct. 18
Oct. 25__________ ____ _
Nov. 1
Nov. 8_____ ____
Nov. 15------------------------------Nov. 22
Nov. 29 __________________
Dec. 6____________ __________
Dec. 13............................ ..............
Dec. 20___ ________ _______
Dec. 27............. . .........................
113.6
83.0
81.8
84. 1
83.0
79.5
87.5
95.5
94.3
93.2
101.1
(o
102.3
100.0
97.7
(>)
132.8
111.5
115.7
107.3
121.2
99.3
107. 2
86.4
81.7
65.8
106.0
(0
94.8
149.0
138.0
(>)
155.7
204.7
188.7
162.7
176.7
147.3
161.5
116.3
93.4
85.1
127.1
(o
147.4
137.5
149.6
«
133.6
108.0
116.2
115.6
124.2
94.6
119.6
94.4
80.0
64.2
101.5
«
97.1
140.7
139.0
(■)
134.9
132.8
135.2
119.3
125.4
112; 5
118.6
91.5
83.9
65.9
104.4
«
90.5
143.7
131.1
0)
1934
Jan. 3................... ..........................
Jan. 10___ ____________
Jan. 17___ _________ _____ _
Jan. 24 ___________________
Jan. 31.______ _______ ______ _
Feb. 7
Feb. 14
Feb. 21..........................................
Feb. 28
Mar. 7
Mar. 14___ _________ _____
Mar. 21_________ ___________
Mar. 28_____________ _______
Apr. 4 _____________________
Apr. 11 _
Apr. 18___ ___ ___________
Apr. 25............. .................... .......
May 2.................................... .......
May 9... .. _______ ____
May 16_______________ _____
May 23_____ ...
_ ............
97.7
101.1
100.0
90.9
95.5
118.2
118.2
119.3
165.9
110.2
105.7
103.4
77.3
83.0
83.0
89.8
93.2
87.5
85.2
89.8
86.4
76.8
126.0
100.0
110.0
113.6
111.7
122.8
119.2
138.2
106.9
115.4
96.3
71. 2
64.4
107.7
77.4
87.5
95.6
68.8
83.9
96.3
158.7
165.0
100.0
141. 6
142.8
152.6
142.3
134.8
103.0
126.8
146.3
127.6
112. 8
84.9
121.3
160.0
126.7
152.8
98.3
133.4
158.3
85.8
121. 8
100.0
109.2
112.2
136.4
135.4
129.1
170.6
108.3
126.8
107.5
84.1
68.3
101.2
87.6
101.1
102.4
83.8
96.3
109.1
70.4
114.5
100.0
111.4
115.7
100.2
100.3
95.7
104.4
95.2
100.9
89.4
72.7
73.8
129.2
85.4
89.4
103.2
73.2
93.4
107.3
1 Closed.
Average
hourly
earnings
0)
(0
99.4
103.3
99.6
92.8
97.6
105.0
89.8
91.5
102.1
102.4
104.4
97.6
105.9
99.3
89.5
103.5
100.0
100. 7
101.3
93.5
90. 7
92.3
81.0
98.7
91.0
89.5
84. 7
94.3
106.4
88.3
86. 6
93.3
82.0
87.1
88.2
to
00
[January 17, 1934=100]
Vianbar of efl^loyew
Payroll
Production
(incomplete)
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO STEM M ERIES
CHART 5.—INDEXES OF STEMMERY EMPLOYMENT, PAY ROLL, AND PRODUCTION IN A FACTORY MAKING
CHEWING TOBACCO, JUN E 14, 1933, TO MAY 16, 1934
29
HOURS AND EARNINGS IN TOBACCO 8TEMMERIES
Indexes of slemmery employment, pay roll, and production in a factory making chewing
tobacco, June 14, 1933, to May 16, 1934
[Jan. 17, 1934=100]
Week ending—
1933
June 14
June 21............... .
June 28___
July 5
July 12.............
July 19
July 26-_ ______
Aug. 2--------------Aug. 9 . ____
Aug. 16_______
Aug. 23_____ _
Aug. 30_._____
Sept. 6
Sept. 13
Sept. 20
Sept. 27
Oct. 4
Oct. 11
Oct. 18
Oct. 26
Nov. I........... _
Nov. 8__ _______
Nov. 15
Nov. 22..................
Nov. 29
Number of
employees Pay roll
102.1
101.1
103.2
103.2
102.1
102.1
102. 1
101.1
102.1
103.2
102.1
101.1
102.1
102.1
102.1
96.8
95.8
95. 8
96.8
102.1
100.0
101.1
101. 1
101. 1
100.0
Produc
tion
107.0
84.2
73.9
19.2
112.6
97.7
154.4
96.0
66.6
80.1
66.9
63.5
104.8
101.0
84.8
74.3
94.4
133.9
105.3
92.5
23.7
140.8
122.1
193.3
120.1
66.5
78.1
66.6
63.4
(i)
100.8
84.8
74.3
94.4
103.8
118.4
110.4
132.5
125.4
86.7
49.3
103.8
118.5
110 4
132.7
125.5
86.7
49.1
1 Incomplete record.
Number of
employees Pay roll
Week ending—
Dec. 6......... ...........
Dec. 13
94.7
Produc
tion
77.2
(*> '
77 1
w
1934
0) '
Feb. 7
n
1
Mar. 21
rn' n
159.4
159.6
V)
119.5
May 16............. .
101.1
3 Closed.
63.6
63.5
@FedFRASER