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Wage Differentials and Kate Structures Among 40 Labor Markets 1951-52 Bulletin No, 1135 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, C o m m i s s i o n e r Wage Differentials and Rate Structures Among 40 Labor Markets 1951-52 From the Monthly Labor Review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 1952, January and March 1953 issues. Bulletin No. 1135 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Com m issioner For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. - Price 20 cents Letter of Transmittal U nited S tates D epartm ent of L abor , B u r ea u of L abor S tatistics , W ashington , D . <7., A p ril 2 ) 1953 . S ecretary of L abo r : The I have the honor to transmit herewith a report providing a comparison of pay levels and wage structures, supplementary benefits, and union-agreement coverage among 40 labor markets. The articles in this publication were based on data collected in community wage surveys conducted by the Bureau be tween September 1951 and May 1952. This report was prepared by members of the staff of the Division of Wages and Industrial Relations. E w an C lagu e , Com m issioner . Hon. M artin P. D u r k in , Secretary of Labor. Contents Preface______________________________________________________ Wage differences among 40 labor markets________________________ Occupational wage differentials in major labor markets, 1951-52____ Wage formalization in major labor markets, 1951-52_______________ Related wage practices in major labor markets, 1951-52____________ Extent of unionization in major labor markets, 1951-52____________ Page v 1 4 6 10 15 Preface The articles in this bulletin are based on data obtained by the Bureau in community wage surveys conducted in 40 major labor-market areas between September 1951 and May 1952. Occupational earnings and related wage benefits data were collected on a community-wide basis in each of these areas. Survey techniques, with only minor exceptions, were identical in all areas. Six broad industry divisions were covered. These are: manufacturing; trans portation (except railroads), communication, and other public utilities; whole sale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. Whenever possible, separate data were presented for individual broad industry divisions. Only establishments above a predetermined employment size were included within the scope of the studies. This minimum size varied according to the industry division and area studied; in no instance were establishments with fewer than 21 workers included. The earnings information collected excluded premium pay for overtime and night work, and data relating to fringe benefits were confined to formal plans for which at least a part of the cost was borne by the employer. Individual bulletins were prepared for each area studied and provide a de tailed report on the survey findings. In addition, a summary report was prepared which consolidates in a single publication the area-job averages and fringe-benefit provisions. These bulletins are available for purchase from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. See last page of this bulletin for a listing of the bulletin reports. Wage Differences Among 40 Labor Markets pay levels in the highest-wage city exceeded those in the lowest-wage city by a third for office workers and maintenance craftsmen, by threefourths for warehousing and shipping jobs, and by nine-tenths for custodial workers. The greater intercity wage spread for the custodial jobs reflects primarily the comparatively low pay levels prevailing for such work in the South. Regionally, Middle Atlantic cities as a group held a pay position above New England and south ern cities but below the Middle West and Far West. Differences in pay levels among cities within each region were sufficiently great, how ever, to introduce overlapping of regional ranges when all cities were arrayed according to average Pay levels for office workers and for workers employed in maintenance, custodial, and ware housing and shipping jobs were highest in Detroit and the San Francisco Bay Area among 40 major labor markets surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in late 1951 and early 1952. Average pay levels in some other large northern and Pacific Coast cities were generally only a few percentage points below those in these two areas. Based on average earnings for comparable jobs, T a b l e 1.— R elative p a y levels fo r office w orkers in 4 0 m a jo r labor m a rk ets , 1 9 5 1 -5 2 1 [New York City* 100] Relative Rank 106 105 104 100 99 1 3 4 5 6 8 13 14 16 18 23 24 27 31 32 34 35 38 40 New England South Middle Atlantic Middle West Far West Detroit_________________ San Francisco-Oakland. Los Angeles. Chicago________________ New York____________ Cleveland........................... Seattle. [Albany-Schenectady{ Troy_________________ J-Houston............................... /Indianapolis......................... [Milwaukee......... ................. [Newark-Jersey City........... Pittsburgh__ ____ /Buffalo................ ................. 1................................................ [Rochester............................ Columbus— ........................ Hartford................ _.......... . [Cincinnati______________ Trenton_______________ Atlanta________________ •{Louisville_______________ [St. Louis........................... . Kansas City........ ............. N orfolk-Portsmouth........... Allentown-BethlehemPhoenix. Easton. Boston______ __________ Philadelphia ______ _____ 'Birmingham____________ Denver. Minnaapnlis-Rt. Paul Worcester............................ Richmond______________ Memphis_______________ /Oklahoma City_________ ) Salt Lake City. [Jacksonville____ ________ / ......................................... . Providence_____ _____ __ New Orleans____________ Scranton_______________ i The relatives presented in the first column relate the average standard weekly salaries in 24 office jobs in each city to the corresponding averages for New York City. For each city, the all-industry average for each job was multiplied by the total employment in the job in all cities combined to arrive at the aggregate used in the comparison. This procedure assumed a constant employment relationship between jobs in all cities. The all-industry aver age for each job was computed by dividing the sum of the hourly earnings by the number of workers in the job in the area. Inter-area differences in the average for a job are thus affected by inter-area differences in the con tribution of each industry to the employment and earnings estimates for that job. pay level for a particular job group. For exam ple, Houston and Atlanta office worker salaries equaled or exceeded salary levels in 5 of 11 cities in the Middle West and in 4 of 10 cities in the Middle Atlantic region. Occupations common to a variety of manufac turing and nonmanufacturing industries were studied on a community-wide basis.1 Twentyeight States were represented in the list, permit ting examination of interregional and intraregional variations in pay levels as well as the relationship between area pay levels and such factors as size of community and degree of union ization. The combined population of the 40 areas exceeded 52 million and more than 10 million workers were employed in the industries and establishment-size groups studied. Intercity wage relationships were expressed as percentages of pay levels in New York City, which was studied in January 1952. For 28 of (i) 1 In addition to manufacturing, these studies covered: transportation and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and selected service industries. Results of these surveys were published in occupational wage-survey bulletins for each of the 40 areas. For list of bulletins, see p. 18. 2 the areas, the period studied differed from the survey month for New York by 2 months or less.2 Measures of intercity differences in pay levels presented here are therefore subject to some understatement or overstatement depending pri marily upon the time difference among the survey dates for the areas being compared. Resurveys could result in some changes in the relative posi tion of some of the areas. Data for Birmingham and Pittsburgh, for example, do not reflect the most recent wage increase executed in the steel industry. The city relatives are based on averages, in each area, for 24 office jobs and for 17 manualtype jobs commonly found in the broad industry divisions represented. Intercity wage relation ships differ somewhat by type of occupation, and the selection of occupations other than those used in these comparisons presumably could yield somewhat different results. Minor differences in city relatives and rank position should thus be viewed in light of the above limitations, and also in light of the differ ences in industrial composition of the labor force T able 2. — R elative p a y levels fo r p la n t w orkers in in d ire c t jo b s in 4 0 m a jo r labor m a rk ets , 1 9 5 1 - 5 2 1 [New York City=100] 1 The relatives presented in the first column relate the average hourly earn ings in seven maintenance jobs, four custodial jobs, and six warehousing and shipping jobs in each city to the corresponding averages for New York City. Relatives were based on straight-time earnings, excluding premium pay for overtime and night work. See footnote to table 1 for method of com putation of the average. among areas as explained later. However, infor mation on area-wage differentials, used with care, does provide an essential tool to individuals and organizations in the administration of wage and salary structures, in wage negotiations, and in the selection of locations for new establishments.* Relative Levels Among Labor Markets * The other 12 areas were studied as follows: September 1951, Seattle; October 1951, Cleveland, Hartford, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, and Richmond; April 1952, Birmingham, Boston, and Columbus; and May 1952, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Jacksonville, and Louisville. Office-worker salaries in New York City were exceeded, among the areas studied, only in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco-Oakland area. Five percentage points or less below New York in the scale were cities as widely separated geographically as Seattle, Cleve land, Houston, and Pittsburgh. A majority of the 40 areas were clustered at the 90-99 percent 8 (of New York) level. Providence, New Orleans, and Scranton were the only areas in which officeworker salaries were less than 85 percent of the New York average (table 1). T a ble 3. — R elative p a y levels fo r p la n t w orkers in selected w ork categories in 4 0 m a jo r labor m a rk etst 1 9 5 1 -5 2 [New York C ity -100] Labor market New England: Boston............................................... Hartford............................................ Providence....................................... Worcester........................................ Middle Atlantic: A lbany-Scheneetady-Troy............. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton___ Buffalo............................................. Newark-Jersey City....................... New York......................................... Philadelphia.................................... Pittsburgh........................................ Rochester.......................................... Scranton............................................ Trenton............................................. South: Atlanta.............................................. Birmingham..................................... Houston.......................................... . Jacksonville...................................... Memphis.......................................... New Orleans.................................... Nor folk-Portsmouth....................... Oklahoma City................................ Richmond......................................... Middle West: Chicago............................................. Cincinnati......................................... Cleveland......................................... Columbus......................................... Detroit............................................. Indianapolis..................................... Kansas City..................................... Louisville.......................................... Milwaukee....................................... Minneapolis-St. Paul..................... St. Louis........................................... Far West: Denver.............................................. Los Angeles....................................... Phoenix............................................. Salt Lake City.................................. San Francisco-Oakland.................. Seattle............................................... Main tenance (7 jobs) 93 90 85 89 96 92 100 103 100 96 100 94 88 95 88 90 101 91 85 80 89 80 90 107 95 100 94 111 97 99 101 102 99 101 92 106 97 92 111 104 Warehous Custodial ing and (4 jobs) shipping (6 jobs) 94 93 91 95 95 91 101 105 100 91 100 95 80 97 74 70 74 63 68 60 73 72 73 106 90 98 90 113 94 91 87 102 97 94 86 103 85 88 114 108 91 86 82 86 91 87 98 101 100 91 102 92 84 94 69 77 78 64 67 68 68 75 71 103 93 100 91 111 89 93 88 100 93 95 84 105 86 87 113 106 1 See footnote to table 1 for method of computation of the average. Intercity wage relationships for plant job groups were generally similar to those for office workers in regions other than the South. For all plant jobs combined (table 2) and for the custodial, and warehousing and shipping job groups (table 3), the southern cities were grouped at the bottom of the city rankings. In the case of skilled mainte nance trades, Houston workers’ pay was well above average, and pay levels in Jacksonville, Richmond, and Birmingham also compared favor 252095-53------2 ably with prevailing levels in the New England cities, and Scranton, Denver, and Salt Lake City. As suggested by these comparisons, skill differ entials (measured on either a percentage or centsper-hour basis) tend to be greater in the South than in other regions. The industrial composition of the areas studied varied substantially. Thus, the explanation for some of the intercity wage differences may be found in dissimilar industrial distributions of the labor force. Manufacturing industries employed more than half of the workers in each of the New England and Middle Atlantic areas (except New York City) and in the Middle West areas studied. Nonmanufacturing industries dominated employ ment in all southern areas except Birmingham and all western areas except Los Angeles. Average earnings for comparable occupations were usually higher in manufacturing than in nonmanufactur ing; the earnings advantage held by workers in manufacturing was more consistent among office jobs than among the indirect plant jobs studied. However, Detroit and Chicago, centers of the relatively high-wage automotive and metalworking industries, respectively, ranked between New York and San Francisco where trade, finance, and service industries were comparatively more important. Earnings of office and maintenance workers in the southern cities compared favorably with New England pay levels, despite the lower degree of industrialization. Occupational earnings of plant workers tended to be highest in the largest cities, particularly those in which a large proportion of the plant workers were employed in establishments oper ating under terms of union agreements. Of the top 10 areas in the ranking (table 2), 7 were among the 10 largest in population and 7 were among the first 10 areas in a ranking by degree of unioniza tion.3 Of the last 10 areas (9 in the South) in the earnings scale, only 5 ranked among the 10 smallest areas studied, but 8 were among the lowest 10 in terms of collective-bargaining contract coverage. Office-worker salary levels seemed * In 17 of the 40 areas, 75 percent or more of the plant workers were in estab lishments with agreements covering such workers; in 7 areas, less than 50 percent were covered. 4 to be more often related to population size than to degree of contract coverage. Union-contract coverage of office workers ranged from less than 10 percent in 12 areas to 20 percent or more in only 8 areas. Available data indicate that wage levels tended to be lower in smaller cities than in nearby large urban centers. Data collected by the Bureau in cities of 50,000 to 200,000 population during the last year 4 indicate that pay levels for comparable jobs were substantially lower in the Augusta (Ga.)-Aiken (S. C.) area than in Atlanta; in the Occupational Wage Differentials in Major Labor Markets, 1951-52 Occupational wage differentials measured on both a percentage and a cents-per-hour basis were greatest in the South, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis 1 of data collected in late 1951 and early 1952. In the process of occu pational wage setting, differentials provide a means of compensating workers in accordance with differ ences in requirements of skill, responsibility, effort, working conditions, and other factors. They provide individual workers with the incentive to attain higher skills. The high degree of job specialization which is characteristic of most indus tries is reflected in a diversity of pay scales in individual establishments. Measured in percentage terms, differences in pay between skilled and unskilled occupations have exhibited substantial regional variations for a long period of time.2 Previous studies have indicated a long-term trend toward a reduction in the magnitude of percentage differentials in wages for skilled and unskilled jobs; average hourly earnings of skilled workers in the United States in 1907 were about double those of unskilled workers, whereas 1947 skilled rates, on the average, were only 50 percent higher. This narrowing of differ entials can be attributed to the fact that wage adjustments made in recent years have, in many * This study compares occupational wage differentials in six different regions of the United States. * See Occupational Wage Differentials, 1907-47, Monthly Labor Review, August 1948 (p. 127). Green Bay and Manitowoc-Sheboygan areas of Wisconsin than in Milwaukee; and in Pueblo, Colo., as compared with Denver. However, as among the 40 larger labor markets dealt with in greater detail, a number of exceptions were noted in which pay levels in smaller cities exceeded those in larger cities in the same State or region. 4 Because of the limited amount of occupational earnings available from the studies in these smaller areas, which were conducted at the request of the Wage Stabilization Board, comparisons were made in individual jobs rather than the comparable job groups upon which the tables are based. cases, been applied on a uniform cents-per-hour basis. While maintaining wage differentials in absolute terms, such increases have tended to further narrow percentage differentials in the establishments or industries involved. R e la tio n sh ip s betw een ea rn in g s o f sk ille d m a in ten a n ce an d u n sk illed o cc u p a tio n s , in a ll in d u str ie s , 1 9 5 1 -5 2 1 Area group Number of areas studied Differentials in straight-time hourly earnings between skilled maintenance workers and— Stock handlers Janitors Percent Cents- Percent Centsage per-hour age per-hour New England......... . Middle Atlantic_____ South............................. Middle West.............Mountain___________ Pacific Coast............... 4 9 8 11 2 3 37 38 83 41 40 31 48 53 82 57 52 49 54 62 108 66 71 58 62 73 95 78 76 76 1 Differentials were computed as follows: (1) a simple average of the differ ences in the area-wide averages for maintenance carpenters, electricians, and machinists and each of the unskilled jobs (stock handlers and janitors) was derived to obtain area differentials; (2) a simple average of the area differ entials was made to obtain the average differential for the area groupings. The area groupings used in this study include: N ew England— Boston, Hartford, Providence, and Worcester; M iddle A tlan tic— Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Buffalo, Newark-Jersey City, New York, Philadelphia, Pitts burgh, Rochester, Scranton, and Trenton; South— A tlanta., Birmingham, Houston, Jacksonville, Memphis, Norfolk-Portsmouth, Oklahoma City, and Richmond; M iddle W est— Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Louisville, Milwaukee, MinneapolisSt. Paul, and St. Louis; M ountain— Denver and Salt Lake City; Pacific Coast— Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, and Seattle. Scope and Method of Analysis Occupational wage differentials presented in the accompanying table were based on area-wide earnings information for selected skilled and unskilled jobs obtained from the Bureau's 40-area co m m u n ity -w ag e-stu d y program conducted 5 between September 1951 and May 1952.8 For purposes of analysis, three skilled maintenance jobs—carpenters, electricians, and machinists— and two unskilled jobs—stock handlers and jani tors—were selected in order to measure percentage and cents-per-hour differentials between skilled and unskilled workers; the published earnings data in 37 areas were used. Area differences in all industry averages between the skilled and unskilled jobs were averaged to obtain regional wage rela tionships. Earnings in all jobs selected relate to men workers. Because occupational staffing patterns and pay levels vary within and among industries in an area, wage differentials based on all-industry averages may differ, therefore, from average differentials within individual establishments. However, such all-industry differentials are considered to be reasonably accurate for the purpose of illustrating the existing spread in pay levels for particular jobs and, more specifically, for an examination of regional differences in wage relationships. Percentage Differentials Percentage wage differentials between the main tenance trades and unskilled jobs in the South greatly exceeded those in other regions (see table). Pay levels for workers in the maintenance trades in the southern cities compared favorably with prevailing levels in many of the northern cities, but unskilled labor rates were substantially lower in the South.4 The greater wage differentials in the South thus reflect the comparatively low wage levels at the bottom of the wage scale. Differentials in wages for skilled maintenance workers and stock handlers were grouped at 37-41 percent for New England, Middle Atlantic, Mountain, and Middle West areas as compared with the 83-percent estimate for the eight south ern cities combined. Pacific coast areas (Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco-Oakland) had a combined wage spread of only 31 percent. As would be expected, the wage spread between maintenance trades and janitors was greater than that between maintenance trades and stock1 1 The study in each area covered manufacturing, public utilities, wholesale trade, retail trade, finance, and selected service industries. Results of these surveys were published in occupational wage survey bulletins for each of the 40 areas. For list of bulletins, see page 18. * See Wage Differences Among 46 Labor Markets, p. 1. handlers. The average wage differentials be tween the latter two categories ranged from 54 percent in New England to 108 percent in the South. Variation noted in average wage differentials among areas within the same regional grouping was in some cases traceable to the nature of the wage structure in the dominant industry in particular areas. Maintenance workers in De troit, for example, averaged only 31 percent more than stock handlers as compared with differentials of 40 percent or more found in Chicago, Indian apolis, Kansas City, and St. Louis. The all industry differential for Detroit was, nevertheless, several percentage points higher than the per centage difference between the same job categories in the motor vehicle and motor-vehicle equipment industry in this area. Similarly, the average wage differentials in Birmingham and Pittsburgh were well below the differentials indicated for the South and Middle Atlantic city groupings, respectively, and indicate the influence of the wage structure in the basic iron and steel industry. Louisville was grouped with midwestern cities for purposes of this report, but the maintenancetrade-stock-handler differential (62 percent) places this area midway between the South and Middle West in the matter of wage spread. Stock han dlers in Louisville averaged $1.23 an hour compared with a range of 86 cents to $1.12 among the south ern cities and a $1.31 to $1.64 range among other midwestern areas. Cents-Per-Hour Differentials Cents-per-hour occupational wage differentials were also greatest in the South but were more closely grouped than the percentage measures of wage spread. Cents-per-hour differences between the averages for skilled maintenance workers and stock handlers ranged from 48 cents in New Eng land to 82 cents in the South. The maintenancetrade-janitor differential amounted to 62 cents in New England and 95 cents in the South; among the other four regional groupings of cities, the differential ranged from 73 to 78 cents. Regional differences in pay levels account for the greater variation in percentage differentials. The long-term trend of wages in the United States has been toward a widening of cents-perhour differentials between skilled and unskilled 6 workers, but a narrowing of percentage differen tials. Uniform cents-per-hour adjustments pre serve absolute differences and diminish relative differences; uniform percentage adjustments main tain percentage differences and increase absolute differences. Since adjustments in the future, for the most part, will probably represent a mixture of these two. forms, the outlook is for a continuation of these opposing trends. It is possible, of course, that some adjustments will be of such a nature as to increase relative differences in particular situations. Wage Formalization in Major Labor Markets, 1951-52 rule. The definition of a “ job” or “ classification” may be very narrow or very broad, and the single rate may, therefore, be applicable to a very few workers on identical jobs or to large numbers a number of essentially different jobs The extent and nature of wage formalization performing which are regarded as meriting the same rate of differed substantially among the industry divi pay. sions and the 40 labor-market areas included in plans provide that specific rates the community wage-survey program conducted for“ Rate-range” individual workers within the range are de recently by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. termined by merit, length or a combina Formal wage structures that provide an established tion of various concepts ofof service, merit and of rate or a range of rates for each job classification service. Rate ranges may be set up withlength various have been widely adopted in industry—partic degrees of formality and more or less rigid rules ularly in manufacturing and public utilities. respecting the position within the range at which Nevertheless, individual rates, related to training, new workers are hired and concerning their auto ability, skill, and bargaining power of individual matic or nonautomatic advancement to the workers, were commonly employed in some maximum A rate range, like a single rate, industries in many of the areas—especially among is usually rate. established experienced workers. office occupations. Proportionately, more office However, a complete andforseparate rate structure workers than plant (or nonoffice) em ployees below the minimum is frequently established worked under the individual-rate system in each workers not fully qualified (e. g., learners for or area, although a majority of office workers in apprentices) for the job rates. 32 of the 40 areas were employed in establish Incentive wage plans—applicable chiefly to pro ments with formalized rate structures in office duction workers in manufacturing—may be con departments. sidered as type of formal wage structure Wage formalization involves the establishment even thougha third earnings may vary as a result of of a single rate or a rate range for each job category differences in individual group accomplish in the establishment.1 A “single-rate” establish ment under a given plan. orThis is con ment can be defined as one that pays the same cerned mainly with the nature of analysis the wage rate to experienced workers in a job classification.2 ture for time-rated workers and thereforestruc no Learners or apprentices may be paid according attempt has been made to examine the various to rate schedules which start below the single rate of incentive wage plans as such. However, and permit the worker to achieve the full job types the incidence pay plans in manufactur rate over a period of time. Individual experienced ing industriesofhasincentive been summarized briefly in this workers may occasionally be paid above or below article. the single rate for special reasons, but such payments are regarded as exceptions to the usual* Basis and Scope of Analysis *Establishment practice differed greatly as between office and plant depart ments, and information is summarized separately for these employee groups. >The terms, “individual rate,” “rate range,” and “single rate” are more completely defined in the Glossary of Currently Used Wage Terms, BLS Bulletin No. 983, June 1950. The degree of utilization of the various types of wage structures for office workers and time-rated plant workers has been expressed in this study as 7 . T a b l e 1 — N a tu re o f w age stru ctu re fo r office w orkers in 4 0 m a jo r labor m arkets, by in d u str y d iv isio n , S ep tem ber 1 9 5 1 M a y 1 95 2 1 Percent of workers employed in— All industries Area Manufacturing Formal Formal wage Indi wage structure vid structure ual rates Single Rate Single Rate rate range rate range Public utilities Wholesale trade Formal Foimal Indi wage Indi wage vid structure vid structure ual ual rates rates Single Rate Singlei Rate rate range rate range Retail trade Services Finance Formal Formal Indi wage Indi wage vid structure vid structure ual ual rates rates Single Rate Single> Rate rate range rate range Formal Indi wage Indi vid structure vid ual ual lates rates Single Rate rate range N ew E ngland Boston_________ Hartford________ Providence_____ Worcester_______ 5 1 4 16 63 86 60 64 32 13 46 30 18 2 4 25 52 88 41 41 30 (2) 10 55 22 34 50 87 87 49 36 13 13 29 14 2 1 3 50 14 48 48 48 86 51 49 Albany-Schenectady-Troy____ 21 Allen town-Bethlehem-Easton _ 2 3 Buffalo................. Newark-Jersey 4 City.................. 1 New York______ Philadelphia____ 3 Pittsburgh ____ 3 Rochester_____ (J) 2 Scranton _ ____ 1 Trenton ................ 48 68 68 70 68 63 69 76 47 62 31 43 2 40 1 39 8 26 31 34 (*)2 4 28 24 4 61 37 (?) 43 67 69 70 53 70 74 86 56 62 14 (2) 6 31 30 17 22 (2) 1 47 28 8 22 6 14 40 38 95 71 56 95 83 84 69 92 34 80 5 23 27 16 8 25 8 66 20 1 5 2 5 7 3 3 36 11 34 44 55 21 33 27 3 31 63 2 84 6 64 51 45 (J) 72 3 64 70 97 69 4 47 43 46 43 46 35 54 50 24 1 53 56 2 53 55 10 8 51 59 15 2 43 1 47 76 (?) 44 39 43 25 43 32 78 21 15 55 61 55 65 49 53 20 78 85 69 72 77 83 55 28 21 76 76 31 27 23 17 45 70 77 16 24 57 42 30 49 35 41 73 26 6 43 51 70 51 65 56 27 65 94 62 60 71 74 75 65 61 63 61 52 60 1 37 33 10 2 28 25 23 (?) 33 4 35 36 29 15 4 46 1 39 58 59 79 77 85 78 60 69 62 70 69 41 1 31 19 23 1 15 22 36 (2) 31 23 (2) 26 30 4 88 78 89 81 88 81 90 72 90 11 5 22 5 11 (») 8 19 11 6 19 10 10 6 28 4 10 14 2 23 23 (2) 25 27 37 77 49 48 49 61 17 28 49 70 68 63 15 45 42 45 35 69 70 51 57 42 21 32 34 31 46 84 74 53 69 67 42 14 26 41 25 30 72 90 88 87 85 56 28 5 11 12 50 60 62 46 42 49 50 38 38 45 57 48 12 3 1 62 66 30 46 38 22 70 61 1 79 88 83 94 21 11 17 6 23 26 48 68 66 77 45 39 54 77 98 68 52 32 <*> 2 31 2 23 55 61 42 62 11 59 71 70 69 75 61 71 64 38 89 41 29 30 29 23 39 29 36 45 34 31 19 38 46 34 51 7 55 66 66 79 58 54 66 49 93 6 39 42 43 39 79 27 17 67 28 61 58 56 61 21 67 83 33 72 79 43 45 48 55 66 75 45 33 56 23 19 57 (2)1 55 52 41 34 4 23 3 54 67 43 75 (2) 74 80 67 81 69 46 55 67 81 35 56 26 19 33 19 31 50 42 33 19 65 44 3 5 6 6 19 1 9 1 8 53 56 18 51 52 10 47 39 82 44 25 80 56 80 81 71 67 53 44 19 15 29 30 47 30 27 15 6 69 73 85 94 M iddle A tlan tic 5 19 3 2 3 46 43 54 32 20 81 100 51 57 44 65 80 100 76 63 24 10 27 2 9 17 14 34 28 15 34 35 11 49 14 47 72 83 57 48 89 37 52 53 100 53 48 57 63 51 58 59 71 57 5 7 44 47 37 31 30 41 32 28 35 38 30 13 3 15 41 9 12 35 57 20 16 45 37 South Atlanta_______ (2) Birmingham 1 1 Houston________ .Taokson villa 2 3 Memphis____ _ Nfiw Orleans 6 Norfolk-Ports3 mouth _ _ _ Oklahoma City__ 3 Richmond.____ (2) M iddle W est Chicago............ — Cincinnati______ Cleveland Columbus______ Detroit................ Indianapolis____ Kansas City____ Louisville. ____ Milwaukee_____ Minneapolis-St. Paul................... St. Louis............... 1 7 1 1 2 2 41 10 2 1 1 2 2 8 77 73 7 3 9 (2) 3 2 4 2 4 21 1 2 1 Far W est Denver Los Angeles.......... Phoenix Salt Lake City__ San FranciscoOakland............. Seattle................... 1 2 2 6 6 5 77 66 60 63 49 3 2 6 6 3 55 5 1 1 10 11 5 33 * Percentages are based on total office employment in establishments according to their predominant type of wage structure for time-rated workers. 2 9 1 3 5 5 23 10 s Leas than 1 percent, 1 4 3 57 63 52 40 65 41 46 51 8 proportions of all workers employed in offices (or plant departments) in which the given practice predominated.3 The extent of incentive pay plans in manufacturing is reported in terms of workers actually being paid under this method. The data were obtained from the Bureau’s com munity wage-study program conducted during late 1951 and early 1952.4 Information concern ing the nature of the wage structure and the extent of incentive pay was collected on a com munity-wide basis for each of 40 areas in 6 broad industry divisions, thereby permitting both inter area and inter-industry comparisons.6 More than 10 million workers were within the scope of the surveys in these areas which have a combined population of over 52 million. ments totaled 35 for public utilities, 30 for finance, 29 for manufacturing, 16 for retail trade, 9 for wholesale trade, and only 2 for service industries. In the latter two industry groups, the use of individual rates was particularly widespread. Formalized wage structures tended to be most common in divisions with the highest average number of employees per office. Plant-Worker Wage Structure For time-rated plant workers, among the indus tries and establishment-size groups studied, formal single-rate and rate-range wage structures were generally used in all areas and informal plans were comparatively unimportant. Whereas indi vidual determination was found to be of substan tial importance for office workers, it was of Office-Worker Rate Structures significance for plant workers in only a few of the A majority of the office workers in 32 of the 40 40 areas. (See table 2.) In two areas only— areas studied were employed in establishments Jacksonville and Richmond—were more than a that had formalized wage structures, in nearly all fourth of the workers employed in establishments cases providing a range of rates for each occu that had rates of pay for plant workers on an pation. Single-rate structures were of minor im informal basis; the proportion in most areas ran portance, applying to more than 10 percent of the well below 20 percent. In many of the areas, none of the three types of workers in Albany-Schenectady-Troy and Wor cester only. In eight areas, office salaries were wage structures was applicable to a majority of the primarily determined on an individual basis. plant workers, inasmuch as both types of formal (See table 1.) The basic importance of individual ized wage structure were used extensively and indi rates in offices was such, however, that even in vidual determination applied at least to a few areas in which payment was predominantly by workers. Formalized structures providing a rate the range-of-rates method, the proportion of in range for each occupation were predominant in 20 formally rated workers ranged from a fifth to areas, but covered a majority in only 11; single-rate were the most prevalent type in 18 areas, but more than two-fifths and represented a slight plans applied to a majority in only 12. Allentownmajority in seven of the nine southern areas and Bethlehem-Easton, Detroit, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, in Scranton. San Francisco-Oakland, Seattle were the only The degree of wage formalization varied greatly areas in which as many asand three-fifths of the work among the industries studied, with rate ranges ers were employed in establishments having single most common in the public utility and finance rate plans; Hartford and Rochester, on the other groups and least common among the service indus hand, were the only areas in which equally large tries. Areas in which a majority of the office proportions of workers were in establishments with workers were employed in rate-range establish-* rate ranges. The types of wage structures varied among the * The exclusion of incentive workers from plant employment figures would broad industry groups studied. Both single-rate result in somewhat different estimates of the prevalence of particular types and rate-range plans affected substantial numbers of wage structures for time-rated workers in some areas and industry divi sions. of workers in manufacturing and public utilities in <Comprehensive results of these surveys including wages and related nearly all areas, with individual determination ap benefits data were published in occupational wage-survey bulletins for each of the 40 areas. plying to comparatively few workers. In manu * The study in each area covered: manufacturing; transportation (except facturing, the areas were nearly equally divided railroads), communication, and other public utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and selected service industries. between those in which single rates predominated 9 T able 2. — , N a tu re o f wage structure f o r tim e-rated p ro d u c tio n w orkers i n 40 m a jo r labor m arkets by in d u s tr y d iv is io n Septem ber 1 9 5 1 -M a y 1952 1 Percent of plant workers employed in— All industries * Area N ew E ngland Boston................................... Hartford............................... Providence........................... Worcester............................. Manufacturing Formal Formal wage wage structure Indi structure vid ual Single Rate rates Single Rate rate range rate range 40 26 37 37 48 66 39 45 57 66 44 37 38 44 64 13 51 41 25 18 41 51 44 42 30 75 28 46 34 56 41 40 37 52 30 22 22 47 33 38 19 41 27 50 56 37 38 36 42 30 70 35 46 50 27 51 47 54 50 51 57 26 53 42 37 58 39 48 38 49 71 47 74 73 47 47 15 40 25 25 12 8 24 18 Wholesale trade Public utilities Formal Formal wage wage Indi structure Indi structure vid vid ual ual rates Single Rate rates Single Rate rate range rate range 49 24 38 38 45 72 38 47 64 70 50 38 37 46 77 12 51 44 23 17 45 55 42 44 20 82 31 46 21 10 44 67 47 78 44 70 30 40 31 50 28 44 9 51 12 67 50 41 5 9 13 5 18 3 10 28 35 31 45 34 79 39 57 57 26 57 46 60 58 51 59 20 53 34 34 65 36 51 49 42 79 54 89 94 42 56 15 41 6 4 24 15 31 39 68 55 65 59 32 45 43 45 40 38 44 63 27 10 63 40 55 46 47 56 48 36 66 88 37 60 2 45 15 60 40 46 81 64 19 16 53 80 36 50 49 19 22 81 65 5 4 10 5 (*)14 19 39 50 51 51 39 51 42 37 33 42 62 60 50 49 49 61 49 52 63 67 44 36 42 43 76 41 27 38 58 57 23 59 73 59 4 2 Retail trade Services Formal Formal wage wage Indi structure Indi structure vidvid ual ual rates Single Rate rates Single Rate rate range rate range r Indi vid ual rates 30 31 4 34 40 22 57 35 30 4 39 31 16 31 15 22 60 51 53 40 24 18 32 38 45 19 42 33 28 4 7 9 27 77 51 58 28 34 32 46 32 28 41 19 29 37 28 29 25 38 46 25 43 35 5 37 44 37 43 16 22 47 16 46 66 26 36 34 9 22 18 27 17 12 39 15 30 15 28 37 52 53 75 45 13 47 34 51 63 41 30 43 48 38 56 74 21 53 42 38 34 64 43 13 19 14 22 39 15 30 27 14 29 31 59 12 57 8 43 32 39 22 28 65 31 7 38 19 26 30 53 22 37 39 29 47 63 32 39 13 32 54 33 34 11 38 79 13 18 13 27 7 25 5 33 42 37 54 38 45 77 51 45 43 36 61 43 63 34 34 16 44 55 20 18 45 27 19 13 31 38 33 65 46 30 24 16 45 17 49 23 58 66 45 32 17 56 74 39 57 39 57 23 26 46 16 26 34 55 37 41 84 76 56 33 39 37 15 24 24 M iddle A tlan tic Albany-Schenectady-Troy... Allen town-Bethlehem-Easton Buffalo......................................... Newark-Jersey C ity................ New York................................... Philadelphia............................... Pittsburgh.................................... Rochester...................................... Scranton...................................... . Trenton....................................... South Atlanta.......................... Birmingham................. Houston........................ Jacksonville.................. Memphis...................... New Orleans................ Norfolk-Portsmouth.. Oklahoma City............ Richmond..................... M iddle W est Chicago............................... Cincinnati.......................... Cleveland. _........................ Columbus.......................... Detroit................................ Indianapolis........................ Kansas City....................... Louisville........................... . Milwaukee___ ____ _____ Minneapolis-St. Paul----St. Louis.............................. F ar W est Denver.............................. Los Angeles..................... Phoenix............................ Salt Lake City................ San Francisco-Oakland. Seattle............................... 18 16 15 12 18 14 6 12 21 13 19 11 21 41 22 21 20 22 41 8 14 7 13 4 12 12 13 15 10 5 15 4 14 13 1 2 13 13 5 7 3 6 18 10 6 10 6 1 Percentages are based on total plant employment in establishments according to their predominant type of wage structure for time-rated workers, rather than on the number of workers actually receiving pay under one type of plan or another. Because of the prevalence of substantial numbers of incentive workers in some establishments, percentages based on the 5 4 7 11 1 8 9 9 9 7 3 9 2 6 5 1 2 9 13 6 8 1 7 2 1 (>) (*) 6 14 2 1 3 8 21 22 53 20 10 12 20 19 8 9 10 12 22 1 20 10 22 20 8 8 48 32 59 31 24 43 17 20 19 5 18 26 19 33 33 54 29 71 52 62 65 62 44 30 51 49 28 12 28 19 30 20 30 51 16 18 24 61 69 45 68 41 45 33 11 35 32 53 6 20 20 22 31 6 22 78 72 46 14 81 39 64 65 34 66 73 50 77 55 37 80 81 6 18 8 21 58 8 26 21 7 6 22 12 10 47 53 53 18 12 15 76 4 20 33 28 11 35 15 28 60 17 12 10 37 13 6 30 13 10 39 33 9 11 11 8 latter method would differ to some extent from the data presented herein. 2 Includes data for finance, insurance, and real estate in addition to those industry groups shown separately. * Less than 1 percent. 10 and those in which rate ranges were most prevalent. On the other hand, rate ranges were predominant in twice as many areas as were single rates in the of rate determination was predominant in 11 areas for both wholesale and retail trade and in 12 areas among the services industries. T able 3.— Incentive-Rate Systems P ro p o rtio n o f p la n t w orkers p a id by incentive methods i n m a n u fa c tu rin g in d u s trie s in 40 areas 1951-52 , 40 percent or more 30 to 39 percent 20 to 29 percent 10 to 19 percent Under 10 percent Albany-ScheneetadyTroy. Allen tow nBethlehemEaston. Boston. Cleveland. Milwaukee. Norfolk-Portsmouth. Pittsburgh. Rochester. Scranton. Chicago. Columbus. Hartford. Newark-Jersey City. New York. Philadelphia. Providence. St. Louis. Trenton. Worcester. Atlanta. Buffalo. Cincinnati. Denver. Indianapolis. Louisville. Birmingham. Detroit. Jacksonville. Kansas City. Los Angeles. Memphis. MinneapolisSt. Paul. Richmond. San Francisco-Oakland. Houston. Okl aho ma City. Phoenix. Salt Lake City. Seattle. public utilities group. In wholesale trade, single rate structures were predominant in 13 areas, as against 17 areas in which rate ranges predom inated. In retail trade, rate-range structures were most characteristic in 23 of the 40 areas. Single rate structures were most common among the services industries and were used by establishments with a majority of the workers in 25 areas; in only 3 areas were rate-range plans predominant in this industry group. Individual rates were considerably more prev alent in the trade and services industries than in manufacturing or public utilities. This method Related Wage Practices in Major Labor Markets, 1951-52 Employee benefits which supplement payments made directly for hours worked or units produced are commonly referred to as “supplementary,” “related,” or “fringe.” A notable development of “fringe” benefits has occurred in recent years and has contributed substantially to the general wel fare of the worker and his family. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study of data collected in major labor markets in late 1951 and early 1952, a variety of such benefits were widespread for all workers, although the proportion of office workers profiting from the fringe benefits which were ana A variety of types of incentive-rate systems are employed, including both individual and groupbonus plans and the most common type—straight piecework. Although these plans are frequently employed in some nonmanufacturing industries, they are of most importance in the manufacturing industries to which the study on incentive rates has been limited. Office workers are rarely paid under this wage system. Approximately 30 percent of the manufacturing plant workers in the 40 areas studied were paid on the basis of incentive rates. The proportion of workers paid in this manner varied substantially among the areas studied, ranging from less than a tenth to more than a half. Areas in which the highest proportions of manu facturing-plant workers were paid on incentives include: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, with large steel-manufacturing operations; N orfolk-Portsmouth, an important shipbuilding center; Scran ton, important for garment and textile manu facturing; and Milwaukee, which has a diversified machinery (both electrical and nonelectrical) industry. Individual area variations are outlined in table 3. lyzed was usually greater than that of manual workers who received them. Provisions summarized in this analysis were paid vacations, paid holidays, paid sick leave, insurance benefits, retirement pensions, and non production bonuses.1 Their prevalence has been expressed in terms of the proportion of all workers employed in offices or plant departments that observe the practice in question. Because of eligi bility requirements, the proportion actually re ceiving specific benefits may be smaller. The analysis has been limited to formal plans and excludes those informal arrangements whereby benefits are granted at the discretion of the employer. 1Although not summarized herein, provisions relating to the payment of shift differentials in manufacturing industries are also available in individual bulletins. 11 Scope and Method of Analysis Data used in this analysis were obtained from the Bureau’s studies of earnings and related wage practices in 40 major labor-market areas between September 1951 and May 1952.2 More than 10 million workers were employed in the industries and establishment-size groups studied.3 Informa tion in each area was collected on an all-industry basis; separate detail was shown, whenever pos sible, for each of six major industry groups: manu facturing; transportation (except railroads), com munication, and other public utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. Vacations Paid vacation plans have become so extensive during the past few years that virtually all workers in the 40 major labor markets were employed in establishments providing such benefits. These plans, with only a few exceptions, provided regular pay for a specified period of time, graduated in accordance with the worker’s length of service.4 In a few instances, vacation payments were based on a percentage of earnings or were in the form of flat-sum amounts; such plans, however, were in frequent and have been converted to comparable length-of-time payments for the purpose of this article. Among the 40 areas studied, vacation benefits customarily were more liberal for office workers than for plant workers. Office workers usually received 2-week vacations after a year of employ ment, compared with 1 week for plant workers. Vacation plans typically provided increased bene fits for additional periods of continuous employ ment, with service periods of 2, 5, and 15 years being of particular significance. Virtually all office workers and a substantial number of plant workers were eligible for a 2-week vacation after a Results of these surveys were published in occupational wage survey bulletins for each of the 40 areas. 3 Small establishments were omitted in the interest of economy. Because of this, proportions indicated may be slightly inflated in some instances since larger establishments customarily have more liberal provisions. 4 Required length-of-service periods varied among establishments; for minimum benefits, however, periods of 1 year were most common, although shorter periods were frequently employed, especially for office workers. completing 2 years of service. After 5 years, a majority of the plant workers in all areas received 2-week vacations; no significant change in benefits for office workers occurred at the 5-year point. After 15 years of continuous em ployment, vacation provisions, on the whole, were still more liberal for office workers than for plant workers, although to a lesser extent. A 2-week vacation was most commonly granted after 15 years of service to both office and plant workers in a majority of the areas; 3-week vacations were frequently reported in each area and applied to a majority of all these workers with 15-year employ ment in Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, and Rochester. Additional areas in which more than half the office workers were eligible for 3-week vacations with pay after 15 years include Boston, Indianap olis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, NewarkJersey City, New York, and Pittsburgh. Paid vacations in excess of 3 weeks were uncommon for either office or plant workers. Although prevailing practices were remarkably similar among the areas, the proportions of workers comprising the majority varied consider ably. For example, while more than half the office workers in nine-tenths of the areas were employed in establishments providing a 2-week vacation after a year of service, these proportions ranged from slightly more than 50 percent in 7 areas to more than 80 percent in 6 areas. Although no sharply defined regional pattern of differences was apparent, vacation benefits for office workers tended to be more liberal in New England than in other regions; plant workers in New England were not similarly affected. Among the broad industry divisions studied, vacation benefits for office workers were most liberal in the finance, insurance, and real estate group and least in retail trade. In each area, a majority of office workers in finance were em ployed by establishments providing vacations of 2 weeks or more after a year of service and in more than three-fourths of the areas these pro portions ran over 85 percent. On the other hand, 2-week vacations were granted to a majority of the office workers in retail trade in only a tenth of the areas. Vacation provisions for plant workers were generally most liberal in wholesale trade and public utilities and least in the manu facturing and services industries. 12 Holiday Pay Pay for holidays not worked was provided to nearly all office workers in each major labor market and to the vast majority of the plant workers in all areas except Birmingham and Pittsburgh where less than half the plant workers received holiday pay. The absence of holiday provisions in the steel industry at the time of the study accounted for these exceptions.6 Six days were most frequently provided to both plant and office workers in a little over half the areas studied. Most liberal benefits were received by workers in the four New England labor mar kets, together with New York City and adjacent Newark-Jersey City, in which a large proportion of workers received 9 or more days. On the other hand, substantial numbers of workers in 4 southern areas (Atlanta, Birmingham, Jackson ville, and Memphis) received 5 paid holidays annually. In each of the areas studied, paid holiday provisions were more liberal for office workers than for plant workers. Among the broad industry divisions studied, holiday provisions were most liberal in the fi nance, insurance, and real estate division. In this industry group, a majority of the workers em ployed in three-fourths of the areas received 7 or more days a year and in 15 of the areas commonly received 11 or more days annually. Paid Sick Leave Plans providing for the payment of wages or salaries in case of sickness or injury, while not nearly as prevalent as vacation or holiday plans, were nevertheless frequently reported in each of the areas studied. The composition of these plans differed greatly not only with respect to qualifying requirements and length-of-leave allow ances, but also as to the proportion of wages or salaries paid during illness. For the purpose of this analysis, only those plans providing full pay and requiring no waiting period have been con sidered; no attempt was made to evaluate differ ences in the number of days of leave granted. Paid sick-leave plans typically affected greater pro portions of office workers than plant workers. In 34 of the 40 areas studied, the proportion of office * Holiday-pay benefits have since been negotiated and the workers were granted 6 days annually, effective August 15,1952. workers receiving these benefits ranged from a fourth to slightly more than a half; on the other hand, in only 2 areas were as many as a fourth of the plant workers similarly covered and the proportion was less than a tenth in 26 areas. The wide differences between the numbers of office and plant workers receiving paid sick leave were due in large part to the prevailing practice among manufacturing industries. Although rela tively more office workers than plant workers were eligible for sick-leave benefits in each of the broad industry groups studied, the difference was much the greatest in the manufacturing group. Only 8 areas had as many as a tenth of the manu facturing plant workers employed in establish ments providing these benefits, while all but 2 of the areas had more than a tenth of office workers in manufacturing similarly employed. Sick-leave provisions for plant workers were most prevalent in public utilities and in wholesale and retail trade establishments; and for office workers, in man ufacturing and public utilities. Insurance Benefits Several million workers in the 40 major labor markets were covered by one or more types of insur ance benefits paid for, either wholly or in part, by the employer. Many of these workers were em ployed in establishments that maintained more than one insurance plan—over and above those prescribed by social security laws. Life insurance was the most common of the insurance benefits, although health and hospitalization plans were also applicable to large numbers of workers. In gen eral, office workers received these benefits more frequently than plant workers. Differences, how ever, were not great in most cases and, in a few areas, the advantage was in the direction of plant workers and was due to the widespread adoption of these benefits through collective bargaining. The proportions of workers covered by insurance plans varied somewhat among the areas; however, no striking regional variations were apparent. For example, the 4 areas in which fewer than 70 percent of the office workers were covered by life insurance benefits (Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Providence, and Scranton) were distributed among 4 widely separated geographic regions. Among industry groups, the prevalence of in surance benefits differed distinctly. Life insurance 13 1 P e r c e n t o f w orkers em ployed in establishm ents h a v in g fo rm a l p ro v isio n s f o r selected su p p le m e n ta ry wage benefits i n J+0 m a jo r labor m arkets, Septem ber 1 9 5 1 -M a y 1952 35 17 14 17 99 98 99 100 99 99 99 99 97 100 85 93 83 69 53 81 91 57 72 85 5 10 26 35 16 6 36 23 52 44 46 51 33 36 40 40 51 91 94 84 82 93 81 83 91 92 56 58 42 71 78 66 61 64 77 64 54 63 54 52 52 69 62 54 54 72 50 54 35 67 61 65 57 26 40 45 59 34 52 37 74 61 66 67 61 63 71 62 100 23 45 36 14 9 28 22 19 48 19 75 54 61 82 90 69 76 78 48 72 33 3 70 1 67 100 10 100 (3) 1 3 100 99 (3) 28 1 67 100 1 78 100 98 (3) 66 99 1 60 64 24 32 90 96 71 32 21 29 38 84 76 85 84 84 83 87 86 69 85 71 64 65 73 54 47 59 45 53 76 69 63 56 59 52 39 57 26 53 73 67 64 57 67 67 64 71 72 30 53 98 99 97 100 98 98 96 98 99 31 33 32 37 44 29 62 42 27 67 62 63 61 54 67 32 55 68 99 84 99 97 100 98 97 99 97 47 31 37 34 10 55 44 32 46 29 5 37 10 69 6 66 10 40 13 34 21 25 56 18 27 47 89 81 85 79 74 76 83 63 73 48 49 50 49 50 39 65 37 43 61 46 69 66 58 46 66 58 35 100 100 100 100 38 26 45 13 39 42 33 50 36 28 75 60 73 54 84 58 56 66 46 61 72 99 (3) 67 99 1 75 99 1 85 99 1 71 96 (3) 79 99 5 77 99 1 68 97 5 67 99 (3) 82 98 1 62 2 54 100 32 85 23 . 74 13 87 27 81 17 90 17 84 30 81 25 82 17 85 35 81 44 84 74 56 64 77 79 73 67 69 85 65 65 38 30 44 51 24 29 60 65 54 48 76 69 95 1 5 95 3 99 1 100 (3) 99 (3) 39 44 63 93 89 91 42 73 59 73 61 40 Less than 6 days 6 days More than 6 days Life insurance 84 93 63 90 Total 12 93 84 90 55 Retirement pensions 1 60 74 78 79 3 16 8 42 Hospitalization 99 98 92 97 100 Less than 6 days 6 days More than 6 days Life insurance Total with provisions 2 63 73 43 59 87 92 73 87 wk. wks. 76 65 63 72 58 67 69 62 46 33 19 42 66 66 77 66 73 68 64 79 44 66 68 74 62 62 64 47 70 29 60 73 57 49 50 41 46 31 58 32 48 57 60 54 43 33 59 46 29 25 44 33 26 29 18 36 16 36 Paid holidays Total Retirement pensions 2 7 7 25 wk. wks. Paid vacations (after 1 year of service) 1 2 Hospitalization Health insurance Paid holidays 1 Total with provisions 2 Labor markets Paid vacations (after 1 year of service) Health insurance Plant workers Office workers N e w E n g la n d Boston_______________ ___ Hartford....... .......... ................. Providence___________ ____ Worcester_________________ 100 100 99 99 98 2 (3) 99 1 99 2 88 91 87 91 9 3 15 17 44 42 50 62 44 37 26 75 78 60 80 4 39 9 15 69 66 38 17 10 15 77 70 79 83 77 81 90 84 56 75 8 M id d le A tla n tic Albany-Schenectady-Troy... Allento wn- Be thl ehe inEaston_________________ Buffalo_______ ______ _____ Newark-Jersey City_______ New York................................. Philadelphia.......................... Pittsburgh___________ ____ Rochester_____ ___________ Scranton_________________ Trenton__________________ 99 99 99 100 100 100 100 99 98 99 97 2 59 57 52 59 44 47 63 57 23 48 11 93 64 85 98 92 97 48 97 78 86 5 5 2 15 2 50 47 68 27 18 54 26 85 48 62 67 57 57 63 80 53 67 72 50 24 34 26 19 13 25 16 16 38 77 46 76 65 89 66 72 88 85 43 26 13 42 50 7 13 22 13 30 16 38 21 31 37 55 53 58 4 4 25 2 8 22 4 13 14 81 74 58 64 49 72 61 74 99 97 87 98 98 98 93 96 98 98 99 77 79 75 74 81 74 81 74 85 78 83 17 14 9 3 4 4 4 17 19 11 18 16 90 85 78 76 81 86 83 80 88 96 92 78 73 70 68 77 70 60 66 82 78 62 9 8 4 4 3 10 18 7 2 14 26 83 70 82 73 85 82 72 74 78 72 84 83 56 70 74 82 79 66 69 76 64 79 72 52 47 65 79 71 55 66 73 59 65 47 36 49 31 68 51 37 42 57 35 46 98 97 90 81 67 17 23 9 27 14 77 90 68 79 91 84 4 54 71 51 76 74 63 32 70 55 73 61 44 26 65 57 68 53 27 38 39 26 45 18 12 8 2 2 8 22 South Atlanta___________________ Birmingham............................. Houston__________________ Jacksonville________ _____ _ Memphis......... ......................... New Orleans______________ N orfolk- Portsmouth_______ Oklahoma City____ _______ Richmond____ ___________ 21 66 66 M id d le W est Chicago.......................... .......... Cincinnati__________ _____ Cleveland.............................. Columbus_________ _______ Detroit___________________ Indianapolis______________ Kansas City_______ _______ Louisville______ ____ ______ Milwaukee............................... Minneapolis-St. Paul______ St. Louis_________________ 99 100 100 100 99 99 100 22 22 11 11 1 6 5 7 4 4 4 F ar W est Denver........... ......................... Los Angeles_______________ Phoenix__________________ Salt Lake C ity.___________ San Francisco-Oakland_____ Seattle........................................ 100 99 98 100 100 100 100 55 51 29 5 11 8 70 80 62 83 85 79 100 100 99 68 88 68 63 21 6 2 5 3 2 61 64 32 17 18 11 12 20 34 57 71 70 22 1 Rounded to nearest whole number. * Includes data for provisions not shown separately. *Less than 0.5 of 1 percent. plans were most prevalent among the manufactur ing, public-utility, and finance industries and least common in services, with the retail and wholesale trade groups holding a median position. Establishments maintaining these benefits em ployed more than four-fifths of the office workers in manufacturing in 28 areas, in the public-utilities group in 26 areas, and in finance in 29 areas. As large a proportion, on the other hand, was recorded in only 1 area for office workers in the services group, and in 16 of the areas the proportion was less than half. Although health and hospitalization insurance plans were not as widespread as life insurance plans, their application has increased substantially during the past few years and many hundred- 14 thousands of workers were covered by these bene fits at the time of the study. A majority of both office and plant workers in three-fourths of the areas were employed in establishments that main tained one or both of these plans. Hospitalization benefits were most common in the manufacturing industries, applying to more than half the office workers in 34 of the areas and comparable num bers of the plant workers in 33 areas. They were least frequent for office workers in the publicutilities group in which a majority of the workers were covered in only 8 areas. Among plant workers, the smallest proportion covered was in the services group. Health insurance provisions which include acci dent and sickness, medical and surgical benefits were of about the same importance as hospital ization benefits and were frequently combined with them into a single “package” for administrative purposes. However, among the public-utility in dustries, health insurance provisions were much more prevalent than hospitalization and applied to more than half the office and plant workers in three-fourths or more of the areas. These benefits were also widely found in manufacturing in as many areas. Health insurance plans were least common in the services group. Pensions The coverage of both plant and office workers by private retirement-pension plans increased rapidly during the past few years. Only about 5 percent of the more than 30,000 selected establish ments studied by the Bureau in 1945 and 1946 provided pension benefits to plant workers, and the coverage of office workers was not markedly greater.6 The spread of these plans was indicated by the proportion of workers similarly covered in the 40 major labor markets studied in late 1951 *See Monthly Labor Keview, July 1947 (p. 53). and early 1952. More than a fourth of the plant workers in all except 4 of these areas were employed by establishments granting pensions and in 9 of the areas the proportion exceeded a half. In each of the areas, relatively larger numbers of office than plant workers were employed in establish ments with pension plans; the number of office workers having pension benefits ranged from about a third in 5 areas to more than two-thirds in 8 areas. Pension benefits tended to be most widely found in the New England and Middle Atlantic regions and least in the South and Far West. Among the major industry groups studied, plans providing retirement-pension benefits were most common in the public-utilities and finance groups and least frequent among establishments in the services group. Nonproduction Bonuses Nonproduction bonuses may be defined as bonuses whose payment depends upon factors other than the output of an individual worker or group of workers. Such plans were frequently reported in each of the major labor markets, but applied to a majority of the workers in only a few. Christmas or year-end bonuses were, by all meas ures, the most common type of nonproduction bonus in use; profit-sharing plans and other types of bonuses were of negligible importance. Christ mas bonuses were provided to a larger proportion of office workers than plant workers in all except five of the areas. These provisions generally were most common in the trade and finance industries and were usually least common in public utilities. The amounts of and the eligibility requirements for nonproduction bonuses varied widely among individual establishments, ranging from “foodbaskets” to sizable monetary payments and for periods of service ranging from a few weeks to several years. 15 Extent of Unionization in Major Labor Markets, 1951-52 Three-fourths of the plant workers as con trasted with about a seventh of the office employ ees in 39 metropolitan areas were employed in establishments having collective-bargaining agree ments relating to these 2 categories of workers, respectively. The extent of unionization among plant workers varied from nearly half the workers in the Southern cities as a group to over fourfifths in the Middle Atlantic and Far Western cities.1 About a fifth of the office workers in the latter two regions were employed in establish ments with union agreements relating to office employees, as contrasted with a tenth in the South and New England. The degree of unioni zation of both plant and office workers also varied widely among different industry groups. Method and Coverage A series of wage studies conducted by the Bu reau of Labor Statistics in major metropolitan areas between September 1951 and May 1952 provided the information for this analysis of un ionization.2 These areas had a combined popula tion exceeding 52 million and were located in 28 States. The estimated employment in the areas covered by the surveys was over 10 million work ers (about a fourth of the workers in comparable industries in the country). Six broad industry divisions were covered in compiling data: manu facturing; transportation (except railroads), com munication, and other public utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services.3 The most important exclu sions were the construction industries and railroads. This analysis is not intended to measure the proportion of workers belonging to labor organiJ The 39 cities for the broad comparative purposes of this article have been grouped into 5 regions: New England, Middle Atlantic, South, Middle West, and the Far West. * Information on unionization was available for only 39 of the 40 areas covered by the wage studies. * Establishments employing 21 or more workers were covered in all indus try divisions in all cities except New York City, Chicago, Boston, Cleve land, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Newark-Jersey City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Franeisco-Oakland. In these areas the minimum was 101 workers for manufacturing; transportation (except railroads), communication, and other public utilities; and retail trade. In New York City and Chicago, a minimum of 51 workers applied in wholesale trade; finance, insurance and real estate; and services.. zations or even the proportion actually covered by union agreements. The estimates relate to all workers employed in an establishment (plant or office) that met the test of unionization. In these estimates each worker category—plant or office— was computed separately; plant departments or offices were considered unionized if the union con tract in effect covered a majority of the workers in their respective category.4 The proportions given may be an overstate ment of the extent of union coverage in the sev eral industry groups, in that the surveys related only to plants above a certain size (see footnote 3). The small plants that were excluded from the scope of the surveys may not be as highly organized as those surveyed; this is most likely to be true in such industry groups as retail and wholesale trade. Unionization of Plant Workers On an all-industry basis, unionization of plant workers ranged from less than a third of the workers in Oklahoma City to virtually all in San Francisco-Oakland and Seattle. The unioniza tion of workers was usually more extensive in the Middle Atlantic, Midwestern, and Far Western cities than in New England or the South. In only seven of the areas studied, less than half of the plant workers were employed in union establish ments. Five of these areas were located in the South, one in New England, and one in the Far West. In 17 of the areas, three-fourths or more of the plant workers were covered by union agree ments. None of these cities was located in the South or New England. The most highly organized of the six broad industry groups studied was transportation and public utilities. Over nine-tenths of the plant workers in this industry group were in establish ments with collective-bargaining agreements, as compared with about five-sixths in manufacturing and two-thirds in the nonmanufacturing industries combined. Only about half the workers in non manufacturing were in union establishments when the public utilities group was excluded. Among 4 “Plant workers” include working supervisors and all nonsupervisory employees engaged in processing, receiving, shipping, warehousing, main tenance, and other related functions. “Office workers” include all office employees except executive, administrative. suDervisorv. and Drofessional employees. 16 the industry groups studied, retail trade had the lowest degree of plant-worker unionization; it was the only group in which less than half of the workers were employed in establishments with union agreements. Unionization of Office Workers Unionization was much less prevalent among office than among plant workers. In only five of the areas were a fifth or more of the office workers employed in union establishments. Three of these areas were located in the Middle Atlantic region and two in the Far West. About a fifth of the office employees in these two regions were unionized as contrasted with a tenth in the other three regions. The Middle West ranked with the Middle Atlantic and Far Western cities in plantworker unionization; with respect to office-worker coverage, however, the Middle West was more closely alined with New England and the South. Unionization of office workers was highest in Newark-Jersey City and Pittsburgh and lowest in Hartford and Columbus. By industry, unionization of offices was notable only in the transportation and public utilities group where over half of the workers were covered by union agreements. In other groups, unioniza tion ranged from virtually none of the workers in the finance group to about a fifth in retail trade. In all 39 areas combined, about a sixth of the office employees in manufacturing establishments were covered by collective-bargaining agreements. Organized office workers, in part, were repre sented by unions whose predominant membership consisted of office employees. However, they were represented to an appreciable extent by unions whose basic membership was composed of plant employees. Influence of Industrial Composition In making interarea comparisons of unioniza tion on an all-industry basis, the industrial composition of the 39 areas should be considered. Since the extent of unionization varies among industry groups, the relative importance of cer tain industries or industry groups within an area has a direct bearing on the over-all extent of unionization. For example, on an all-industry basis, about three-fourths of the plant workers in Cincinnati as compared with about two-thirds in Phoenix were employed in establishments with union agreements. However, if these figures are separated into manufacturing and nonmanufac turing, about five-sixths of the plant workers in manufacturing and a half of the plant workers in nonmanufacturing were employed in union plants in both cities. The difference in proportions is due to the relative importance of manufacturing and nonmanufacturing in the two cities. In Cincinnati, nearly two-thirds of the workers within the scope of the survey were employed in the more highly unionized manufacturing estab lishments as contrasted with less than a third in Phoenix. Birmingham and Richmond were the only two southern cities studied in which more than threefourths of the plant workers were employed in manufacturing establishments having union agree ments. The importance of the heavily unionized steel industry in Birmingham and the large unionized tobacco plants in Richmond greatly influenced the extent of unionization in these areas. Emphasis should be given to the fact that the extent of unionization is usually greater in large cities and in large plants. The occupational wage surveys on which these union-coverage estimates are based relate primarily to the larger cities and plants. Moreover, the proportions of workers covered by union agreements in this analysis relate to total employment (plant or office) in firms having union agreements covering a majority of these workers rather than to the number actually covered by agreements or the number who are members of labor organizations. 17 P roportion of workers covered by union agreements in 89 m ajor labor m arkets , 1951-5 Plant workers Percent All industries Manufacturing Office workers N onmanufacturing Percent All industries Manufacturing N onmanufacturing 20-33 Albany-SehenectadyTroy Los Angeles Newark-Jersey City Pittsburgh Seattle Albany-S chenectadyTroy Atlanta Birmingham Boston Denver Detroit Los Angeles Newark-Jersey City New York Pittsburgh Salt Lake City Albany-SchenectadyTroy Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Milwaukee Newark-Jersey City Phoenix Pittsburgh Seattle Trenton Los Angeles Minneapolis-St. Paul New York Pittsburgh St. Louis 15-19 Birmingham Buffalo Detroit Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Phoenix San Francisco-Oakland Scranton Trenton Buffalo Philadelphia Scranton Buffalo Cleveland Indianapolis Los Angeles New York Oklahoma City St. Louis San FranciscoOakland Scranton Boston Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Denver Detroit Kansas City Milwaukee Newark-Jersey City Philadelphia Phoenix Scranton Worcester 10-14 Atlanta Boston Chicago Cleveland Denver Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Oklahoma City Richmond St. Louis Salt Lake City Milwaukee Providence Richmond San FranciscoOakland Birmingham Chicago Cincinnati Denver Jacksonville Kansas City Minneapolis-St. Paul Philadelphia Richmond Worcester Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Hartford Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Louisville Memphis Minneapolis-St. Paul New Orleans N orfolk-Portsmouth Oklahoma City Phoenix St. Louis Seattle Trenton Worcester Atlanta Boston Columbus Detroit Hartford Houston Louisville Memphis New Orleans N orfolk-Portsmouth Providence Salt Lake City Detroit 90 or more Pittsburgh San Francisco-Oakland Seattle Albany-Schenectady- San FranciscoTroy Oakland Buffalo Seattle Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee Newark-Jersey City New York Pittsburgh St. Louis San FranciscoOakland Seattle 75-89 Allentown-Bethle* hem-Easton Birmingham Boston Cincinnati Hartford Indianapolis Kansas City Los Angeles Louisville Minneapolis-St. Paul Philadelphia Phoenix Richmond Trenton Chicago Columbus Denver Houston Jacksonville Memphis New Orleans Norfolk-Portsmouth Providence Salt Lake City Scranton 50-74 20-49 Albany-SchenectadyTroy A1lent own-B ethlehem-Easton Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City Los Angeles Milwaukee Minneapolis- St. Paul New ark-Jersey City New York Philadelphia St. Louis Trenton Birmingham Boston Chicago Cincinnati Columbus Denver Hartford Indianapolis Louisville Memphis Norfolk-Portsmouth Phoenix Providence Richmond Scranton Atlanta Houston Jacksonville New Orleans Oklahoma City Salt Lake City Worcester Atlanta Oklahoma City Worcester Albany-S chenectady- Under Allentown-BethleTroy hem-Easton 10 Cincinnati Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Columbus Atlanta Hartford Birmingham Houston Buffalo Louisville Columbus Memphis Minneapolis-St. Paul Hartford Houston New Orleans Indianapolis N orfolk-Portsmouth Jacksonville Providence Louisville Worcester Memphis New Orleans N orfolk-Portsmouth Oklahoma City Providence Richmond Salt Lake City Trenton i The study covered manufacturing, public utilities, wholesale trade, retail trade, finance, and selected service industries. Major groups excluded from study were building construction and railroads. For size of establishments covered, see footnote 3 (p. 15). Community Wage Studies for 40 Major Labor Market Areas •These bulletins, for sale at the indicated prices, provide, for each area, cross-industry averages and distributions by earnings classes for office, pro fessional, technical, maintenance, power plant, custodial, warehouse, and shipping jobs. •Separate data (where possible) for manufacturing, utilities, trade, finance, and services. •Summaries of prevailing work schedules, shift differentials, vacations, sick leave, benefit plans, and other practices. •Special information on important local occupations and union wage scales. Order only from Superintendent of documents, W ashington 25, I ndicate BLS B ulletin N umber and D esired Quantity A rea Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N. Y________ Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa_______ Atlanta, Ga___________________________ Birmingham, Ala______________________ Boston, Mass__________________________ Buffalo, N. Y_________________________ Chicago, 111___________________________ Cincinnati, Ohio_______________________ Cleveland, Ohio:_______________________ Columbus, Ohio_______________ Denver, Colo__________________________ Detroit, Mich_________________________ Hartford, Conn________________________ Houston, Tex_________________________ Indianapolis, Ind______________________ Jacksonville, Fla_______________________ Kansas City, Mo______________________ Los Angeles, Calif_____________________ Louisville, Ky_________________________ Memphis, Tenn_______________________ BLS B u ll. N o. 1108 1111 1102 1107 1106 1085 1105 1096 1056 1109 1066 1086 1059 1084 1075 1110 1064 1094 1112 1067 P rice (cents) 15 15 15 15 25 25 25 20 25 20 20 25 20 20 20 15 20 25 20 15 A rea Milwaukee, Wis_______________________ Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn____________ Newark-Jersey City, N. J______________ New Orleans, La_______________________ New York, N. Y _______________________ Norfolk-Portsmouth, Va________________ Oklahoma City, Okla__________________ Philadelphia, Pa_______________________ Phoenix, Ariz__________________________ Pittsburgh, Pa_________________________ Providence, R. I _______________________ Richmond, Va_________________________ Rochester, N. Y_______________________ St. Louis, Mo_________________________ Salt Lake City, Utah__________________ San Francisco-Oakland,Calif____________ Scranton, Pa__________________________ Seattle, Wash_________________________ Trenton, N. J_________________________ Worcester, Mass_______________________ D. C. BLS Price B u ll. N o. (cents) 1099 1068 1081 1074 1101 1088 1070 1060 1103 1082 1071 1058 1087 1095 1069 1076 1078 1057 1104 1077 20 25 25 15 30 15 15 25 15 20 20 15 20 25 15 25 15 20 15 20 •A comprehensive bulletin entitled “ Wages and Related Benefits—40 Labor Markets, 1951-52” provides average earnings for 65 jobs that are common to a variety of manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries and the prevalence of many of the fringe or related benefits. Twenty-eight States are represented in this bulletin permitting an examination of inter regional as well as intraregional variations in pay levels and added benefits. Order BLS Bulletin No. 1113, Price 35 cents. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1953