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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR L. B. Schwellenbach, Secretary! BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS A . F. Hinrichs, Acting Commissioner U nion W ages and Hours in the Printing Trades July 1, 1945 B ulletin 7s[o. 872 For sale by the Superintendent o f Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. ~ Price 10 cents Letter of Transmittal U n it e d S t a t e s D e p a r t m e n t op L a b o r , B u r e a u op L a b o r St a t is t ic s , W ashington , D. C., M ay 17, 1946. The S e c r e t a r y of L a b o r : hours I have the honor to transmit herewith a report covering union wages and hou in the printing trades, as of July 1, 1945. Donald This report was prepared in the Bureau’s Wage Analysis Branch by Dona H. Gerrish and Herbert M. Abowitz. A. F. H in r ic h s , Acting Commissioner. Hon. L. B . SCHWELLENBACH, Secretary o f Labor Contents Page Summary________________________________________________________________ Scope and method of study_______________________________________________ Union hourly wage rates: Trend of union wage rates----------------------------------------------------------------Average hourly wage rates, July 1, 1945--------------------------------------------Changes in union wage rates between 1944 and 1945__________________ Wage changes between July 1945 and February 1946__________________ Night shift differentials in newspaper trades__________________________ Regional differences in wage rates_____________________________________ Average union wage rates and percent of change in newspaper printing, by city-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Average union hours: Trend of weekly hours_________________________________________ Union hours in 1945___________________________________________ Overtime and Sunday rates-------------------------------------------------------------- (in ) 1 1 2 5 7 9 9 11 12 12 13 14 B ulletin T^p. 872 o f the U nited States Bureau o f Labor Statistics [Reprinted trom the M onthly L abor R e v ie w , April 1946, with additional data.] Union Wages and Hours in the Printing Trades, July 1, 1945 Sum m ary Hourly wages of union printing-trades workers in 75 cities on July 1, 1945, averaged $1,355, an advance of 1.4 percent over July 1, 1944. The newspaper branch averaged $ 1.541— the day-shift workers $1,464, and the night-shift workers $1,611. In the book and job branch hourly rates averaged $1,261. Photoengravers registered the highest trade averages in both the book and job and newspaper branches ($1,736 and $1,814, respectively). A substantial majority of the book and job and day-shift newspaper workers had hourly rates ranging from $1.20 to $1.60; on the night newspaper shifts about half of the workers received $1.60 or more per hour. Approximately one-third of the book and job members and almost two-fifths of the newspaper tradesmen had received rate increases since July 1, 1944, amounting to less than 5 percent in most instances. However, increases ranging from 5 to 40 cents per hour were negotiated between July 1945 and February 1946; almost three-fourths amounted to at least 10 cents per hour. The straight-time workweek for all printing tradesmen averaged 39 hours. The book and job branch averaged 39.7 hours and the newspaper branch 37.5. Practically all of the workers were covered by agreements stipulating time and a half for work beyond the regular contract hours. Premium rates of double time applied to more than 90 percent of the book and job members and 42 percent of the newspaper printing tradesmen if they were required to work on Sunday or the seventh consecutive day. Scope and M ethod o f Study 1 The Bureau of Labor Statistics has made annual studies of union wage and hour scales in various trades on a Nation-wide basis since 1907. Originally, the survey of the printing trades was confined to 7 book and job and 4 newspaper occupations in 39 cities. Coverage was gradually broadened and currently includes 11 book and job and 8 newspaper occupations in 75 principal cities.1 Field representatives of the Bureau gathered the basic data for this report through personal interview with officials of local printing-trades unions in each city. These data included rates stipulated in the working agreements effective July 1, 1945. Scales in negotiation or awaiting War Labor 1Cities are listed in table 4. 697368°—46 (i) 2 Board action at the time of survey were reviewed prior to tabulation to insure inclusion of any changes retroactive to July 1, 1945. Data regarding wage-rate changes between July 1945 and date of publication were obtained from various sources. In making use of the information contained in this report, it should be kept in mind that all the averages and tabulations are based on union scales. A union scale is a minimum wage rate or maximum schedule of hours agreed upon through collective bargaining between employers or their bargaining associations and trade-unions. Some union members may receive rates in excess of the minimum agreed upon because of length of service or special qualifications, or for personal reasons. Such special rates were not used in the preparation of this report. Also excluded were scales for apprentices, supervisory foremen, and union members employed in Government printing plants where rates, although negotiated through collective-bargaining pro cedures, are not incorporated in written agreements signed by both parties. This survey included 2,603 rate quotations, covering 63,735 book and job members and 31,993 newspaper members. The various averages shown herein were based on effective union scales weighted by the number of members actually covered by each scale.2 However, because of annual fluctuations in the weighting factor (membership) the averages do not accurately reflect year-toyear changes. For example, a substantial increase in membership during one year in cities or occupations having lower-than-average rates would tend to depress the average, even though rates increased. T o eliminate such distortions the Bureau has constructed an index series (1939=100) which measures year-to-year changes.3 This series should be used to determine the trend of hourly wage rates, while the current averages best serve as a basis for comparing the general level of wage rates among trades, cities, and regions at the time of survey. Union H ou rly W age Rates TREND OF U NIO N WAGE RATES The index of union hourly wage rates for all printing-trades workers in the 75 cities studied showed an increase of 1.4 percent between July 1 , 1944, and July 1 , 1945 (table 1). Similar increases were recorded for each branch (book and job, and newspaper), raising the indexes for these branches to 113.7 and 116.7, respectively, since 1939. Among the individual book and job trades, photoengravers received the highest average increase (2.2 percent), followed closely by bindery women (2.1 percent) and electro typers (2.0 percent); the smallest increase between July 1 , 1944, and July 1 , 1945, was recorded for bookbinders (less than 1 percent). All other trades in this branch had increases averaging at least 1 percent. In the newspaper branch, photoengravers also reported the largest advance (2.1 percent), while stereo typers had the smallest (less than 1 percent). All other crafts * Tabulation is available in mimeograph form showing the actual union scale effective for each occupaionin each of the cities included in the survey, and where possible the wage changes between July 1, 1945, and date of publication. Copies may be obtained from the Bureau upon request. * Annual percent of change was computed from aggregates of the quotations of unions which furnished reports for identical classifications in 2 consecutive years. The membership weights in both the aggregates used for each year-to-year comparison were those reported for the second year. 3 in this section of the industry showed gains averaging between 1 and 2 percent. The rise in the index during the 5-year period, 1940-45, showed an average increase of 12.7 percent in rates for book and job workers and 14 percent for newspaper workers. In the 5-year period covering World War I (1914-19), rates for book and job workers increased 44 percent, and those for newspaper workers 31 percent. T a ble 1.— Indexes o f Union H ourly Wage Rates in A ll Printing Trades, 1907-45 Indexes (1939=100) of hourly wage rates Indexes (1939=100) of hourly wage rates Year Year All printing Book and job 0) 0) 0) 0) 36.0 36.6 37.3 38.0 38.2 38.6 39.9 43.4 63.1 68.1 74.6 75.4 77.7 81.5 82.7 84.5 27.0 29.9 32.1 33.8 34.7 35.3 36.0 36.8 36.9 37.5 38.8 43.0 53.0 69.1 76.1 76.4 79.4 82.7 83.5 85.4 1907 ______ 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 _ _ 1913 1914..................... 1915 191fi 1917 1918 1919 1990 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926....................... News paper 35.3 37.2 38.8 40.1 40.7 41.4 42.3 42.7 43.0 43.2 44.3 46.4 56.0 68.5 74.5 75.2 76.0 80.6 82.0 83.8 1927_____________ 1928____________ 1929 ____________ 1930_____________ 1931 _ ____ 1932 - _ _____ 1933_____ 1934_____________ 1935 _____________ 1936 ____________ 1937 ___________ 1928 ___________ 1939 ______ 1940 ___________ 1941 ____________ 1942 _________ 1943 ____________ 1944 ___________ 1945 ___________ All printing Book and job 87.0 88.6 89.9 91.3 91.8 91.1 85.7 87.5 90.8 92.9 96.0 99.1 100.0 101.4 102.6 107.0 110.4 113.1 114.6 87.5 88.7 89.9 91.5 92.1 91.2 86.1 88.5 90.4 93.0 96.0 99.2 100.0 100.9 102.0 106.4 109.3 112.2 113.7 News paper 86.3 88.5 90.0 90.9 91.2 91.0 85.1 86.2 91.5 92.8 96.3 98.8 100.0 102.2 103.6 108.1 112.6 115.1 116.7 1 Combined data for years 1907-10 not available. T ab le 2.— Indexes o f Union Hourly Wage Rates in Each Printing Trade, 1907 to 1945 [1939=100] BOOK AND JOB Com Elec Ma pos tro chine oper itors, hand typers ators Ma Press Press chine Photo- assist men, Press tenders Mail enants cylin men, (ma ers gravand chin ers feeders der platen ists) Bind ery women Book bind ers 1907_________ 1908 1909........................ 1910........................ 1911_________ 1912 _ _ 1913 1914........................ 1915 33.7 30.6 33.9 34.3 34.7 35.3 35.5 36.4 37.0 37.1 32.7 32.8 32.8 34.2 35.1 35.9 36.3 37.2 37.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 29.9 31.6 32.1 32.7 34.2 34.9 35.2 36.5 37.9 39.2 39.6 40.6 41.7 42.1 42.2 39.7 40.3 40.4 40.6 1916_____________ 1917........................ 1918 1919 1920 1921 _ 1922 1923 1924 __ 34.3 36.7 41.0 53.1 73.3 85.6 82.9 86.6 87.9 37.1 39.4 44.3 56.5 74.3 81.3 78.0 82.8 86.5 38.2 39.0 43.0 52.6 69.2 79.4 80.8 82.7 86.4 35.9 37.0 38.9 44.6 63.8 74.2 75.7 80.4 83.4 42.3 43.3 46.8 56.4 71.8 81.3 81.4 82.9 86.4 40.6 41.6 45.7 56.2 70.4 81.4 80.4 82.0 85.6 1925 _ 1926 1927........................ 88.9 87.2 89.2 87.5 89.0 90.9 85.9 87.6 89.2 83.1 83.9 84.9 86.4 87.4 90.8 85.7 88.7 89.2 . . . . . . . Year 25.0 27.7 28.1 28.7 29.8 30.3 31.0 31.8 32.0 32.5 34.1 37.0 37.2 38.0 38.6 39.1 40.0 40.0 32.1 33.2 34.3 34.9 35.6 36.1 36.8 37.4 37.5 33.1 36.0 38.2 44.5 61.4 65.4 66.0 66.7 71.4 32.5 34.2 39.9 51.5 70.7 76.5 74.0 82.9 82.1 40.5 41.3 45.8 55.5 72.1 79.6 77.8 83.9 86.4 38.3 40.2 44.3 54.4 73.7 82.3 80.5 83.8 86.4 73.2 77.9 81.6 86.7 87.7 88.8 87.5 89.3 89.4 86.8 90.9 91.8 4 T a b le 2. — Indexes o f Union Hourly Wage Rates in Each Printing Trade, 1907 to 1945— Continued [1939=100] BOOK AND JOB Year Bind ery women 1928........................ 1929........................ 1930................. 1931........................ 1932........................ 1933........................ 1934_______ ____ 89.7 90.4 91.1 91.5 89.2 85.7 90.1 1935_____________ 1936........................ 1937........................ 1938........................ 1939........................ 1940........................ 1941........................ 1942...................... •_ 1943........................ 1944........................ 1945_____________ 90.9 92.6 94.0 98.6 100.0 100.5 102,7 108.8 112.1 117.7 120.1 Book bind ers Com Elec pos tro itors, hand typers 90.5 1 90.5 91.5 91.0 92.6 93.0 93.0 93.5 89.6 93.3 86.4 87.6' 89.6 88.5 90.8 92.0 94.6 98.1 100.0 100.5 102.0 107.3 111.3 112.9 113.6 90.1 92.8 96.3 99.5 100.0 101.7 103.2 107.0 110.0 113.5 114.8 Ma chine oper ators Ma Press Press chine Photo- assist tenders Mail enmen, Press ants cylin men, (ma ers gravand chin ers feeders der platen ists) 85.6 87.6 90.1 92.1 91.8 86.0 92.0 91.1 92.6 95.1 95.6 95.6 89.7 89; 8 89.6 90.3 92.0 92.9 93.5 88.0 90.7 93.4 93.8 95.0 99.3 100.0 100.2 102.3 104.1 107.0 109.4 111.6 91.3 94.4 97.0 99.7 100.0 100.7 101.6 106.4 109.5 110.3 111.6 91.1 93.9 96.7 99.6 ioo.o 101.1 101.9 106.6 109.8 112.3 114.0 83.9 85' l 85! 3 85.5 88! 1 86.4 87! 7 89.4 90. 2 91.3 92! 0 88! 0 82.0 85! 1 90.2 91." 7 93." 4 94*. 0 9l! 6 85! 9 88*. 3 on. om w OI A VI. O QO nO. t X QO 0 A v«. 01 vi. A0 QK OQ OO. Q7 A 0/• O 92.8 98.3 93.3 95.6 96! 8 99.2 87.0 89 9 94! 5 99.4 89.4 93.1 96! 4 99.3 QQ O OO* U 01 V Q VI. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 102.7 104.0 109.4 111.3 113.7 115.8 100.8 101.2 103.0 103.5 108.9 111.3 100.7 101.7 107.8 111.2 113.7 115.2 100.6 101.4 106.4 109.4 110.9 112.1 96.2 99.1 100.6 101.6 106.5 109.9 111.7 113.1 NEWSPAPER Machine tenders (machin ists) Compos itors, hand Machine operators 1907................................... 1908................................... 1909................................... 1910................................... 1911................................... 1912................................... 1913................................... 1914................................... 1915................................... 35.5 37.4 39.4 41.1 41.9 42.8 43.5 44.0 44.2 36.2 37.8 39.0 40.2 40.5 41.3 42.0 42.4 42.8 45.0 45.3 45.6 45.9 1916................................... 1917_________________ 1918................................... 1919................................... 1920_________________ 1921................................... 1922................................... 1923_________________ 1924_________________ 44.4 45.5 47.5 57.1 69.4 75.7 77.4 78.1 82.3 43.0 44.3 45.8 55.7 69.1 73.5 75.5 76.3 80.9 46.0 46.5 48.8 61.9 76.4 79.7 80.4 80.6 85.2 1925_________________ 1926................................... 1927___________________ 1928_________________ 1929_________________ 1930................................... 1931................................... 1932................................... 1933__ ______________ 1934_________________ 82.9 84.8 87.7 89.8 90.8 91.7 91.7 90.8 84.8 86.1 82.4 84.5 86.3 89.5 90.5 91.2 91.3 90.7 84.8 85.9 82.9 82.1 86.8 88.8 90.7 91.4 91.6 91.0 84.6 85.7 1935........................... . 1936................................... 1937................................... 1938___________________ 1939................................... 1940................................... 1941___________________ 1942................................... 1943_____ ___________ 1944................................... 1945___________________ 91.7 93.3 97.3 99.3 100.0 102.1 103.4 107.7 112.4 114.5 116.0 91.6 93.1 97.1 99.3 100.0 101.9 102.9 107.3 111.5 114.0 115.2 91.5 93.2 97.2 99.5 100.0 101.9 103.1 107.9 112.4 114.9 116.3 Year 1Includes pressmen-in-charge. Mailers Photo Pressmen, web engravers presses i 34.1 36! 2 37! 8 39.0 39! 3 39! 8 40.7 4l! 0 4l! 2 37.9 39! 9 4l! 2 42! 2 42! 5 43.1 45! 7 46! 1 46! 2 36.3 37.9 4l! 0 48! 3 55! 7 65! 9 69.0 68.8 71.6 41.5 42! 3 45.6 56.1 69.4 74.5 81.2 84! 5 84.9 86! 2 87.1 88.1 81.5 85! 3 83.0 83.0 87! 3 89! 2 89! 5 9l!l 9l! 6 92.8 86! 8 87! 0 84.7 85.8 86*. 9 86! 9 9l! 0 9l! 7 92! 1 89.4 9l! 6 93! 3 98.0 100.0 101.1 101.5 103.6 104.9 107.7 110.0 91.8 92.3 95.3 97.9 100.0 102.4 103.9 107.9 113.2 116.1 117.9 91 vx. 4 % 80! 1 96.7 1 99.3 100.0 103.1 107.2 114.3 120.1 121.9 123.9 Stereo typers 74! 3 7o! 5 7l! 4 79! 4 46.7 47! 9 49.9 56! 1 68.* 5 79*. 8 78.6 80.2 82! 5 01 vx. a0 QA X 1 OO. 87.4 92.8 95.7 99.0 100.0 102.8 104.5 109.5 114.1 117.3 118.2 5 AVERAGE HOURLY WAGE RATES, JULY 1 , 1 9 4 5 Printing-trade workers under union contract in 75 cities averaged $1,355 per hour on July 1, 1945; book and job employees receiving $1,261 and newspaper employees $1,541 (table 3). Day-shift news paper workers averaged substantially less than those on the night shift, $1,464 compared to $1,611. Night-shift book and job workers were not included in this study, because the normal working force in this classification was too small to yield significant results. Almost three-fifths of the workers in all the printing trades combined had rates ranging from $1.20 to $1.60. About a third of the book and job members worked under agreements providing rates of $1.20 to $1.40 per hour, and over a fourth earned between $1.40 and $1.60. In the newspaper branch, slightly over a quarter of the membership received between $1.20 and $1.40 and about a third earned between $1.40 and $1.60. Only 11 percent of the book and job workers had rates exceeding $1.60, compared to over a third of the newspaper workers. Twice as many night workers as day workers had rates above $1.70. T ab le 3.— Average Union Rates Per Hour and Hours Per Week in the Printing Trades, Judy 1, 1945 Trade Aver age rate per hour Aver age hours per week $1.355 39.0 Book and job..... .............. ...... Bindery women................ Bookbinders. ................... Compositors, hand........... Electrotypers.................... Machine operators ........... Machine tenders (machinists).. Mailers_________________ Photoengravers........ .......... Press assistants and feeders. Pressman, cylinder............. Pressmen, platen................. 1.261 .655 1.252 1.415 1.615 1.449 1.479 1.205 1.736 1.101 1.406 1.201 39.7 40.0 40.0 39.9 40.0 39.9 39.8 39.9 37.3 39.9 39.9 40.0 Newspaper...... ...................... Day work..................... Night work........... ....... Compositors, hand.............. Day work____ _______ Night work__________ 1.541 1.464 1.611 1.617 1.546 1.677 37.5 38.1 36.9 37.4 37.5 37.3 AD printing trades.................. Trade Newspaper—Continued MnphinA npoxat/vrs Daywork......................... Night work______________ Machine tenders (machinists).. Daywork............... ............. Night work_________ _____ Mailers____ ____ ______ ______ Day work___ ____________ Night work_________ _____ Photoengravers______________ Day work._______________ Night work................. ........ Pressmen (journeymen)............. D ayw ork................ ........... Night work.......................... Pressmen-in-fihargft Day work............................. Night work______________ Stereotypers....................... ........ Day work....... ..................... Night work.......................... Aver Aver age age rate hours per hour week $1,590 1.521 1.660 1.615 1.539 1.692 1.219 1.123 1.278 1.814 1.719 1.928 1.495 1.397 1.595 1.650 1.556 1.764 1.500 1.404 1.626 37.4 37.6 37.3 37.4 37.6 37.3 38.1 39.2 37.6 38.0 38.2 37.8 37.3 38.7 36.9 37.6 38.8 35.9 37.0 38.3 35.3 Averages of individual trades in the book and job branch ranged from $0,655 for bindery women to $1,736 for photoengravers. The hotoengravers had no rates under $1.20; over a third of their memers earned between $1.60 and $1.70 and about a fourth received over $2.00 per hour. On the other hand, more than 8 out of every 10 bindery women earned between $0.50 and $0.70 per hour. Rates in this branch of the industry have always been low, primarily because of the unskilled nature of the work. Electrotypers, with 55.3 percent of their membership covered by rates of $1.70 to $1.90, had the second highest average in this branch ($1,615). Photoengravers also ranked first in the newspaper branch, with an average of $1,814 per hour, while mailers had the lowest average— E CHART | UNION SCALES OF WAGES AND HOURS IN THE PRINTING TRADES INDEX 1939-100 INDEX 7 $1,219. Photoengravers reported almost three-fifths of their nightshift members receiving at least $2.00 per hour, 45 percent of whom were located in the New York and Chicago areas. Pressmen-incharge, with the second highest average ($1,650), reported two-thirds of their day-shift group being paid $1.30 to $1.60; the “night-shift group had the greatest concentration of any trade (10.3 percent) in the top rate bracket ($2.20 and over). All the latter were gravure workers in New York, where the rate on black and white presses was $2,233, and on color $2,315 per hour. Mailers, the only trade in the branch with a substantial portion of its membership receiving less than $1.20, also had very few members covered by rates of $1.50 or over. Trades revealing significant blocks of night-shift member ship earning $1.60 or more included hand compositors (60.8 percent), machine operators (59.9), machinists (66.5), photoengravers (93.3), and pressmen-in-charge (58.6). On the day shift only the photo engravers had a comparable proportion of their members (76.2 percent) in these rate intervals. The range of individual rates in the newspaper branch revealed a high of $2,865 for night-shift Hebrewtext hand compositors and machine Operators in New York City and a low of $0,588 for day mailers in Portland, Maine. CHANGES IN UNIO N WAGE HATES BE TW EEN 1944 AND 1945 Wage increases for printing-trade workers during the period of the study seldom exceeded 10 percent; almost two-thirds of those receiving increases benefited by less than 5 percent, a third had advances of 5 to 10 percent, and a small number 10 percent or more. The maxi mum increase, 27 percent, covered only 8 workers. When the two branches were considered separately, it was found that a slightly higher proportion of newspaper workers (39 percent) than of book and job workers (33 percent) received increases. However, the increases were generally smaller among newspaper workers; threefourths of the latter who obtained raises benefited by less than 5 percent compared to three-fifths of the book and job members. Very few in either branch had their rates raised by as much as 10 percent. In the individual book and job trades, mailers had the greatest proportion of members receiving increases (62.1 percent), but practi cally all in this group benefited by less than 5 percent. Similarly, almost three-fifths of the electrotypers reported gains, but very few of the raises amounted to as much as 5 percent. Bookbinders benefited least by wage changes; only 15 percent of their membership was affected, and only 3 out of every 10 had rates raised by 5 percent or more. In only two trades, photoengravers and bindery women, did the number of members having increases of 5 percent or more exceed the number with gains of smaller amounts. Bindery women were the only group in the book and job branch showing a sizable proportion of members receiving increases of 10 percent or more— 4.7 percent had rates raised by 10 to 15 percent, and 5.2 percent received increases of 15 percent or more. In the newspaper branch about half of the photoengravers, press men, and pressmen-in-charge had wage advances during the year. Among night workers, mailers showed the largest percentage of workers getting raises (67 percent). On day work, every trade CHART 2 DISTRIBUTION OF UNION MEMBERS IN PRINTING TRADES ACCORDING TO HOURLY WAGE RATES JULY 1 ,1 9 4 5 PERCENT PERCENT 20 20 BOOK AND JOB NEWSPAPER 15 \ VPi 10 $.40 .50 .60 ANO UNDER AND UNDER AND .UNDER .50 .60 .70 2.00 UNOER 1.70 UNOER 1.90 Z5S ° ^ R LESS TRAN A TENTH OP ONE PERCENT except photo engravers reported that most of the raises amounted to less than 5 percent. Stereotypers were the only newspaper group with a significant proportion o f those receiving increases (13 percent of the day workers and 9 percent of the night workers) benefiting by 10 percent or more. WAGE CHANGES BETW E EN JULY 1945 AND FEBRUARY 1946 Wage increases negotiated through collective bargaining in the industry since the survey date (July 1) have been both extensive and substantial. Practically all the increases occurred after August 18, the date of the Executive order permitting general wage changes under certain conditions. A check in February 1946 indicated that raises ranged from 5 to 40 cents per hour. About one-third of the increases fell between 10 and 15 cents; one-fifth were in the 5- to 10-cent bracket; and another one-fifth provided increases of 15 to 20 cents per hour. Over two-fifths of the book and job employees included in the July study and about three-fifths of the newspaper employees were covered by these raises. As checks of the basic data on wage changes were not possible in all cases, owing to time and staff limi tations, this material is meant only to give a general picture of the wage changes in the industry since VJ-day. NIGHT-SHIFT DIFFERENTIALS IN NEW SPAPER TRADES * On July 1, 1945, union members on night shifts in the newspaper printing trades were paid 11.5 cents more per hour on the average than day-shift workers. Average differentials ranged from 8.1 cents per hour for type-setting-machine operators to 19.5 cents for photo engravers. Actual earnings of night-shift newspaper journeymen were not necessarily higher than those of day workers, as in many instances the night force worked fewer hours for the same daily or weekly scales set for day workers. Shift differentials varied from 2 cents to 71.5 cents per hour. Stereo typers showed the greatest differences between day and night scales, with over 29 percent of the night stereotypers earning as much as 40 cents more per hour than day workers. Virtually all of these trades men were employed in New York City, where the same daily rate was paid to the night shift working 6 hours and to the day shift working 7.5 horns. The differential for this trade in Newark was 46.7 cents, resulting from the same daily scale applying to a day shift of 8 hours and a night shift of 6 hours. In Chicago, a combination of shorter night hours and higher night scales resulted in a differential of 36.3 cents for night-shift stereotypers on foreign-language newspapers. Photoengraving was the only trade which showed a majority of its members receiving differentials exceeding 20 cents an hour. Most of the latter were concentrated in New York, Chicago, and Philadel phia, where higher night scales prevailed for equivalent work shifts. Over half of the night mailers (54.5 percent) received between 14 and 16 cents an hour more than those on the day shift. These night mailers, all working in New York City or Chicago, were covered by agreements providing both higher scales and shorter hours for night work. The highest differential was found in the Hebrew publishing1 1 As some cities did not report both day and night workers, the average differentials discussed in this section are not the same as the differences between the averages for day and night work shown in table 3. 10 CHART 9 AVERAGE UNION WAGE RATES IN PRINTING TRADES ACCORDING TO SIZE OF CITY AND REGION JULY I, 1945 AVERAGE HOURLY RATES BOOK AND JOB AVERAGE HOURLY RATES AVERAGE HOURLY RATES NEWSPAPER AVERAGE HOURLY RATES I MILLION 500,000 250.000 100,000 40.000 ANO UNDER UNOER UNDER UNDER OVER I MILLION 500.000 250,000 100.000 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP LABOR BUREAU OP LABOR S TA T IS T IC S SIZE OF CITIES 11 field in New York City; the same weekly scale for both day and night work, combined with 25 percent shorter hours for night work than for day work, resulted in a 71.5-cent hourly premium for night hand compositors and machine operators. REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN WAGE RATES Union rates in the printing trades show a decided tendency to vary with size of city. In every trade, workers employed in cities of over a million population had higher average rates than those in cities of 500,000 to 1,000,000. However, in both the newspaper and book and job branches some cities of 100,000 to 250,000 had rates higher than in larger cities. Similarly, the smallest-size cities (populations under 100,000) reported higher trade averages than larger cities in a few cases. In general, however, the larger the cityy the higher the average rate. Union rates of printing-trades workers in the North and Pacific regions generally exceeded those in the South and Southwest. In the book and job branch, this relationship prevailed in 25 out of 29 possible comparisons of average rates; in the newspaper branch, in 44 out of 46 cases. T able 4.— Average Union Hourly Wage Rates in Newspaper Printing Trades, by City and Population Group, July I, 1945, and Percent o f Increase Over Previous Year City and population group Group I (1,000,000 and over): New York, N. Y ....................... Average far group T Chicago, Til ___ Detroit, Mich Los Angeles, Calif..................... Philadelphia, Pa . . _ ____ Group II (500,000 to 1,000,000): Washington, TV O Boston, Mass________________ Cleveland, Ohio Average for group II ____ ___ Milwaukee, Wis San Francisco, Calif St. Louis, M o _______________ Baltimore, M d _ __ __ Pittsburgh, Pa Buffalo. N. Y ......... .................. Group III (250,000 to 500,000): Newark, N. J............................. Providence, R. I ____ _________ Cincinnati, Ohio Toledo, Ohio.............................. Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis, Ind______ __ Seattle, Wash....... .................... Minneapolis, Minn Average for group III.................. St. Paul, Minn Houston, Tex _ Dallas, Tex_____ ______ __ Portland, Oreg__ ___ _ _ Denver, Colo Kansas Citv, Mo Memphis, Tenn___ ____ Atlanta, Ga Rochester, N. Y_ _ Louisville, Ky San Antonio, Tex New Orleans, La Birmingham, Ala....................... Aver Per age cent of hourly in rate crease $1,810 1.674 1.655 1.606 1.409 1.407 1.645 1.556 1.511 1.507 1.504 1.480 1.462 1.436 1.432 1.413 1.627 1.568 1. 555 1. 493 1. 491 1.482 1.480 1.448 i. m 1.435 1.420 1.418 1.410 1.393 1 385 1.384 1.356 1.345 1.306 1.272 1.265 1.239 0.8 3.4 .2 0 .9 2.5 1.1 1.0 3.3 0 .2 .7 2.3 .4 1.5 1.9 .3 0 .8 .3 .1 2.2 .3 1.8 5.8 .7 1.3 2.5 .3 5.1 0 0 .2 4.4 .4 1 Includes Rock Island and Moline, 111., and Davenport, Iowa. City and population group Group IV (100,000 to 250,000): Dayton, Ohio_______________ Jacksonville, Fla_ _ Scranton, Pa____ ____ ________ Youngstown, Ohio___________ Des Moines, Iowa____________ Erie, P a..................................... Springfield, Mass...................... Reading, Pa____ ___________ Rock Island (111.) district1....... Omaha, N ebr........ ............ ...... Worcester, Mass_____________ Peoria, 111_________ __________ Average for group I V ._________ Salt Lake City, Utah................ Duluth, Minn_______________ Tampa, Fla................. .............. Spokane, Wash______________ Grand Rapids, Mich................. Richmond, Va................ .......... New Haven, Conn___________ South Bend, Ind........................ Oklahoma City, Okla................ Norfolk, Va____ ____ _________ Nashville, Tenn __ Charlotte, N. C ....... .................. Wichita, Kans_______ ________ Group V (40,000 to 100,000):* Butte, M ont.............................. Charleston, W. Va..................... Phoenix, Ariz_______________ Madison, Wis Binghamton, N. Y __ _ El Paso, Tex____________ ____ Average for group V Manchester, N. H . Mobile, Ala_________________ Portland, Maine _ Little Rock, Ark Charleston, S. C Aver Per age cent of hourly in rate crease $1,480 1.427 1.426 1.417 1.409 1.403 1.367 1.353 1.350 1.344 1.340 1.331 1.881 1.322 1.317 1.302 1.293 1.291 1.269 1.259 1.256 1.247 1.245 1.231 1.217 1.140 3.5 1.2 4.2 .3 .6 1.9 5.8 0 .3 .2 .4 .5 1.425 1.341 2.8 3.5 2.9 2.9 0 .5 1.323 1.304 1.282 1.974 1.245 1.215 1.207 1.200 1.185 .3 2.2 0 3.3 .6 .2 .8 0 4.0 0 1.1 .1 3.8 2.1 3.4 1.4 2.3 0 * Newspaper trades not organized in Jackson, Miss, and York, Pa. 12 AVERAGE UN IO N WAGE RATES AND PERCENT OF CHANGE IN NEW SPAPER PRINTING , BY CITY 6 Average rates for individual cities in the book and job branch were not computed because of the unrepresentativeness of such averages. In this branch the bindery women, a low-wage group, were more com pletely organized in the large cities than in the small ones, and in some cases they outnumbered the highly paid skilled workers. As a result, a general weighted average which included all crafts in the wellorganized areas would be seriously deflated and lack comparability with averages reported for areas in which bindery women were poorly organized. In the newspaper branch, intercity comparisons can be made from the available data. Table 4 shows city averages and the percent of change since 1944 for each city. New York had the highest average rate among the 73 cities covered in this branch ($1.81). Chicago ($1,655) ranked next, followed closely by Washington, D. C. ($1,645), and Newark ($1,627). The lowest averages were found in Charleston, S. C. ($1,185), and Wichita, Kans. ($1,140). Atlanta also reported a substantial increase during the survey period (5.1 percent). There were no other increases as high as 5 percent; 11 cities reported no change in scales. These figures do not include any wage adjustments that have occurred since July 1, 1945. Average Union H ours TREND OF WEEKLY HOURS There was no change in the index of straight-time weekly hours between July 1 , 1944, and July 1 , 1945. For both the book and job and newspaper branches weekly hours have shown only slight varia tions since 1939 (table 5). During both war periods (1914-19 and 1940-45) contract hours remained practically unchanged.• T able 5.— Indexes o f Union W eekly Hours in A ll Printing Trades, 1907-45 Indexes of weekly hours (1939=100) Indexes of weekly hours (1939=100) Year Year All print Book and ing job 1007 1008 1000 1010 1011 1019 1018 1014 ... __ 1015 101ft 1017 1918 _ 1910 1020 1021 ___________ 1022 1923 1024 ________ 1025 1926.................... . 8 (i) 0) 127.1 127.0 126.9 126.8 126.8 126.8 126.8 126.8 126.8 123.1 115.6 115.2 114.7 114.2 114.2 114.1 136.6 130.3 129.2 128.8 128.8 128.7 128.7 128.7 128.7 128.7 128.7 128.7 128.6 123.8 113.9 112.5 111.8 111.8 111.9 111.7 All print Book and ing job News paper 120.5 119.9 119.6 119.3 119.3 119.1 119.0 118.7 118.6 118.5 118.5 118.5 118.7 118.6 118.3 120.6 120.4 118.7 118.4 118.6 1927........................ 109R 1020 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 ___________ 1035 _________ 103ft ______ 1037 1038 ____________ 1939......................... 1040 1941......................... 1942 1943......................... 1044 _________ 1045 114.0 114.0 113.9 113.8 113.7 109.9 109.0 103.4 101.7 101.3 100.8 100.3 100.0 99.8 99.8 99.5 99.8 99.8 99.8 111.7 111.7 111.6 111.5 111.5 107.2 106.1 102.4 100.9 101.0 100.8 100.3 100.0 99.8 99.8 99.8 100.1 100.1 100.1 News paper 118.3 118.0 117.8 117.6 117.6 114.6 114.0 105.0 103.2 101.9 101.0 100.5 100.0 99.7 99.3 99.2 99.2 99.2 99.2 i Combined data for the years 1907-10 not available. •These net changes were based on the specific rates for 1944 and 1945 weighted by the membership reported in 1945. Only comparable data for both years were included. Specific increases for 1944 reflected a larger percentage change in those cities with comparatively low actual scales. Thus, if rates of pressmen in city A increased from $1.00 to $1.10, a gain of 10 percent was registered. If in city B rates rose from $1.40 to $1.50 the percentage change was bnly about 7 percent. 13 The most marked changes recorded by the index series occurred in 1921, when the 44-hour week for commercial printers was established. Hours were reduced in both branches of the industry between 1932 and 1935 as a result of union efforts to minimize lay-offs and spread available work. UNIO N HOURS IN 1945 Straight-time hours specified in union agreements changed very little between 1944 and 1945. The workweek averaged 39.7 hours for book and job members and 37.5 for newspaper members on July 1, 1945 (table 3). More than 9 of every 10 book and job workers had 40-hour workweeks, while over three-fourths of the newspaper members worked under agreements providing 37.5 hours or less. Newspaper workers on the night shift generally had shorter hours than those on day shifts. Over a third of the day-shift men averaged more than 37.5 hours, while but 13.3 percent of the night workers were in this category. T able 5.— Indexes o f Union Weekly Hours in Each Printing Trade, 1907 to 1945 [1939=100] BOOK AND JOB Ma Press Press Ma chine Photo- assist men, Press chine tenders Mail enants cylin men, gravoper (ma ers and der platen ators chin ers feeders ists) Bind ery women Book bind ers Com Elec pos troitors, hand typers 1907........................ 1908........................ 1909........................ 1910 1911...................... . 1912........................ 1913........................ 1914...................... 1915........................ 118.4 132.7 120.8 120.1 119.7 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.0 119.0 119.0 119.0 119.0 118.9 118.9 118.9 118.9 129.3 128.8 128.6 125.2 124.4 124.4 124.2 123.9 123.9 119.7 119.7 119.7 119.7 119.7 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 120.7 120.7 120.7 120.7 1916........................ 1917........................ 1918........................ 1919........................ 1920........................ 1921........................ 1922 1923........................ 1924 118.4 118.4 118.4 118.4 118.4 112.9 111.5 111.0 111.0 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 113.2 112.1 111.6 111.2 118.9 118.9 118.9 118.9 118.9 112.5 110.2 109.1 109.4 123.8 123.7 123.7 123.7 123.6 119.7 118.1 119.1 118.8 119.5 119.5 119.5 119.5 119.5 113.3 111.7 111.2 110.8 120.9 120.9 120.9 120.9 120.9 112.0 111.6 111.2 111.1 1925........................ 1926........................ 1927........................ 1928........................ 1929........................ 1930........................ 1931........................ 1932........................ 1933........................ 1934........................ 111.0 111.2 110.5 110.4 110.6 110.5 110.4 110.5 110.5 103.4 111.6 111.4 111.1 111.9 111.1 111.0 110.9 110.8 110.7 103.4 109.4 109.4 109.4 109.4 109.4 109.4 109 4 109.1 105.6 103.0 119.9 119.9 120.0 119.9 119.6 118.2 117.4 117.5 111.4 107.8 111.2 111.0 111.2 111.0 110.9 106.1 103.1 111.3 111.1 111.1 111.1 111. 1 111.1 111.1 111.1 105.6 101.7 1935........................ 1930 1937........................ 1938........................ 1939........................ 1940........................ 1941........................ 1942........................ 1943....................... 1944........................ 1945........................ 102.7 102.2 101.7 101.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.2 100.2 100.2 100.2 101.7 101.7 101.7 101.3 100.0 100.0 99.9 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 101.1 100.3 100.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 105.5 103.5 103.2 101.1 100.0 97.7 97.7 97.7 105.6 105.6 105.6 101.2 100.3 100.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.8 100.2 100.2 100.1 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Year 111.0 111.0 111.0 ___ ___ ioo.o 100.0 100.0 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 131.9 119.8 118.6 118.4 118.4 118.4 118.1 118.1 118.1 128.5 122.3 120.5 120.3 120.3 120.3. 120.3 120.3 120.3 126.1 121.7 119.2 119.0 119.0 119.0 119.1 119.1 119.1 130.0 130.0 129.6 129.6 119.6 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 118.1 118.1 118.1 118.1 118.0 111.7 110.5 109.7 109.9 120.3 120.3 120.3 120.3 120.3 113.7 112.3 111.8 112.0 119.1 119.1 119.1 119.1 119.0 112.8 112.1 110.7 111.0 119.6 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.3 119.1 119.1 113.2 109.4 108.0 109.6 109.5 109.4 109.3 109.3 109.3 109.3 96.1 101.5 98.1 111.4 111.2 111.2 111.0 111.0 111.0 111.0 101.4 102.6 99.0 110.9 110.0 110.0 110.3 110.4 110.4 110.9 108.4 105.9 101.5 103.7 102.3 101.7 100.7 100.0 99.9 99.8 99.4 99.3 99.3 99.3 97.9 100.4 100.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 98.7 100.7 100.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.8 100.8 100.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 14 T ab le 5.— Indexes o f Union Weekly Hours in Each Printing Trade, 1907 to 1945— Continued [1939=100] NEWSPAPER Machine tenders (machin ists) Compos itors, hand Machine operators 191ft 121.8 121.7 121.7 121.7 121.7 121.3 121.3 121.0 120.9 123.7 123.7 123.7 123.7 123.7 123.4 123.3 122.9 122.5 126.4 126.4 126.3 126.0 1916 1017 101S 1010 1090 1091 1099 1093 1094 120.7 120.7 120.9 120.9 121.2 121.0 122.4 122.4 121.2 122.4 122.4 122.7122.7 122.8 122.5 124.4 124.2 122.5 125.9 125.9 126.0 126.0 126.1 126.1 126.9 126.9 126.1 121.1 121.3 120.6 120.4 119.9 119.5 119.5 117.0 115.7 104.0 122.5 122.2 122.0 121.7 121.8 121.6 121.6 116.8 116.0 103.8 126.8 126.5 125.8 126.0 125.6 125.4 125.4 116.7 115.7 103.8 102.6 100.7 100.1 100.1 100.0 99.6 99.5 99.4 99.4 99.5 99.5 102.7 100.7 100.1 100.0 100.0 99.8 99.6 99.4 99.4 99.5 99.5 102.3 100.4 100.1 100.0 100.0 99.9 S9.8 99.4 99.4 99.5 99.5 Year 1007 1908................................... 1909................................... 1910.................................. 1911................................... 1912.................................. 1913.................................. 1914.-................................ ___ _ _ 109ft 1926................................... 1927................................. . 1928................................... 1929................................... 1030 1931................. ................. 1932.................................. 1933................................... 1934-................................. 1935.................................. 1030 1937.................................. 1938................................... 1939_................................. 1940-................................. 1941.................................. 1942................................. . 1943................................... 1944-................................ 1945. - .............................. Mailers Photo- Pressmen, web engravers presses1 99.3 99.3 100.0 99.3 99.3 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 Stereo typers 113.8 111.8 111.0 110.7 110.7 110.4 110.4 110.4 110.4 122.5 120.7 119.4 118.0 117.8 117.5 117.6 117.4 117.3 120.9 120.9 119.6 119.2 118.0 114.4 115.2 114.1 114.1 110.4 110.3 110.3 111. 1 110.7 110.4 116.2 115.6 112.0 117.3 117.2 117.2 117.3 116.7 115. i 117.3 117.2 117.1 113.3 112.9 113.3 113.1 113.1 113.0 112.6 112.4 112.7 108.0 111.3 112.6 112.3 111.9 112.2 112.0 112.0 109.8 110.8 105.4 116.6 116! 6 116! 4 117.0 116.1 116.1 116.3 115! 3 113.9 110.2 104.5 104.2 103.1 100.2 100.0 99.8 99.7 99.4 99.4 99.4 99.4 103.0 102.6 101.’ 3 100.7 100.0 99.8 99.4 99.3 99.3 99.3 99.3 107.7 107 2 10S! 2 103.1 100.0 99.1 97.9 97.8 97.7 97.7 97.7 1 Includes pressmen-in-charge. The 40-hour week generally prevailed in the book and job trades. Photoengravers— the one exception—had three-fifths of their members working under agreements stipulating 37.5 hours as the maximum straight-time week and about one-quarter under agreements having a 35-hour straight-time limit. In the newspaper trades, the 37.5-hour workweek predominated. However, about half of the night newspaper pressmen, pressmen-incharge, and stereotypers had workweeks of 35 hours or less, while some trades had a subst antial proportion of their members scheduled to work more than 37.5 hours. Overtime and Sunday Rates Practically all the organized workers in both branches of the indus try received an initial overtime rate of time and a half for work beyond the regular contract hours. A few members worked in specialized 15 shops where the overtime rate was not indicated in the agreement; some workers were covered by agreements providing other than stand ard overtime rates. About two-thirds of the printing-trades quotations, covering threefourths of the members tabulated, provided double pay for Sunday or the seventh consecutive day of work. This premium rate applied to more than 9 out of 10 members in the book and job branch. How ever, in the newspaper branch, where Sunday is often a regular workday, almost half the members received time and a half, and over two-fifths received double time for work not regularly scheduled, or for Sunday when the seventh consecutive day of work. V. S . GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1946
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