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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Frances Perkins, Secretary B U R E A U O F L A B O R ST A T IST IC S Isador L ubin, Commissioner (on leave) A . F. H inrichs, A ctin g Commissioner + W ages in the Nonferrous^Metals Industry, June 1943 Prepared by the DIVISION OF WAGE ANALYSIS ROBERT J. MYERS, Chief Bulletin J^o. 765 [Reprinted from the M on th ly Labor R ev iew , N ovem ber and Decem ber 1943, w ith additional data) U N IT E D ST A T E S G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G OFFICE • W A S H IN G T O N • 1944 For sale b y th e Superintendent o f Docum ents, U . S. G overnm ent Printing Office W ashington 25, D . C . - Price 10 cents Letter o f Transm ittal 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 S t a t is t ic s , W ashington , D . C ., February 14, 1 9 4 4 . The S e c r e t a r y of L a b o r : I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on wages in the nonferrous-metals industry, June 1943. The report was prepared by Edith M . Olsen under the direction of Victor S. Baril, of the Division of Wage Analysis. A. F. H in r ic h s , A ctin g C om m issioner. Hon. F r a n c e s P e r k in s , Secretafy o f Labor. Contents Pag© Summary-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The industry in wartime______________________________ ________________ •_______ Nature of data collected_______________________________________________________ Part I.— Mining and milling: Scope and method of survey_____________________________________________ The labor force_____________________________ Wage-payment practices___________________*______________________________ Entrance rates for male common labor. ________________________________ Straight-time average hourly earnings, by occupation_________________ Regional variations_______________________________________________________ Summary comparisons, by region________________________________________ Part II.— Smelting and refining: Primary smelting and refining: Scope and method of survey________________________________________ The labor force_______________________________________________________ Wage-payment practices____________________________________________ Occupational earnings_______________________________________________ Secondary smelting_____ __________________ Average hourly earnings, by occupation___________________________ Part III.— Wage changes from August 1941 to June 1943__________________ Mining and milling_______________________________________________________ Primary smelting and refining___________________________________________ Secondary smelting_____________________________________________________ n 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 7 8 15 16 16 17 17 24 25 27 28 28 30 B ulletin T^io. 765 o f the U n ited States Bureau o f Labor Statistics [Reprinted from the Monthly L abor R eview, November and December 1943, with additional data] Wages in the Nonferrous-Metals Industry, June 1943 Summary A recent survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that straight-time average earnings for workers in selected occupations in nonferrous-metal mines and mills ranged, in June 1943, from 64.5 cents an hour for pitmen to $1,311 an hour for power-shovel operators. Workers in 18 occupations, accounting for somewhat more than onehalf of the total workers studied, had average earnings ranging from 85 cents to $1.00 an hour. Fully half of all the workers covered in primary smelting establish ments were in occupations for which the average earnings were between 85 cents and $1.00 an hour and more than one-fourth were in occupa tions for which earnings exceeded $1.00 an hour. In each of the three types of smelters for which figures are shown, workers tended to concentrate at somewhat different wage levels. For example, some what more than half of the workers in the copper smelters were in occupations with average hourly earnings ranging from 80 to 95 cents; slightly over three-fifths of the workers in lead smelters were employed in occupations with average hourly earnings between 80 and 90 cents an hour; and more than half of the workers studied in zinc smelters were in occupations in which average hourly earnings ranged from 85 cents to $1.00 an hour. In primary refining establishments, more than two-thirds of the workers studied were in occupations having average hourly earnings of 85 cents to $1.00 an hour. In electrolytic copper refineries, more than three-fifths of the workers were in occupational groups whose average hourly earnings ranged from 85 cents to $1.00 an hour, while in the electrolytic production of zinc nearly three-fourths of the workers were in occupations with average hourly earnings ranging from 90 cents to $1.00 an hour. Average hourly earnings for workers in selected occupations in secondary smelters ranged from 63.8 cents an hour for watchmen to $ 1.178 an hour for class A machinists. Blast-furnace and reverberatory furnace operators, and furnace operators’ helpers, together accounted for fully two-fifths of all the workers studied, and were paid average 1 2 Wages in N onferrous-M etals Industry hourly earnings of 88.6 and 79.9 cents an hour. Average hourly earnings of more than $1.00 an hour were paid only to workers in some of the maintenance occupations. Average hourly earnings in the mining, milling, smelting, and refining branches of the nonferrous-metals industry were substantially higher in June 1943 than in August 1941, the date of the Bureau's earlier survey of the industry. For workers engaged in mining and milling establishments, gross average hourly earnings, which include premium payments for overtime work, rose approximately 28 percent. In the nonferrous primary smelting and refining industry as a whole, gross average hourly earnings increased nearly 26 percent. The Industry in W artim e Nonferrous metals are of critical importance in the manufacture of the weapons and implements required for present-day mechanized warfare. Either in pure form or in combination with other metals, they are found in practically all types of fighting equipment—planes, guns, ships, transportation and communication equipment, and innu merable other essential items. In terms of volume, copper, lead and zinc are the three most important nonferrous metals. M any other nonferrous metals, such as vanadium, molybdenum, tungsten, and manganese, although not consumed in such great quantities as these three, are nevertheless of critical importance, particularly in the production of alloy steels. W ith the entry of the United States into the present war, the non ferrous-metals industry was called upon to produce in unprecedented volume in order to keep the Nation's manufacturing plants supplied with enough raw materials to meet production goals. It was clear that war demands would strain the capacity of the entire industry, but particularly of the mining branch, since a decline in the grade of ore was faced in some areas. The shortage of urgently needed mate rials made it imperative for the Federal Government to stimulate an increase in the production of ore from every known deposit and to aid in the location and development of new sources of supply. The program undertaken to stimulate the production of these vital metals has been many-sided. The U. S. Bureau of Mines and the U. S. Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior have inten sified their efforts to discover new ore deposits. The War Production Board has assisted producers by granting high priority ratings on mining equipment and supplies, and has offered aid in the bunding of roads to hitherto inaccessible mining areas. Under certain conditions and restrictions financial assistance in the development of mining proj ects has been made available through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. As a further incentive to mine operators to increase the output of copper, lead, and zinc, the Metals Reserve Co., estab lished by the Federal Government, announced the payment of pre mium prices on all overquota production of these metals.1 The “ Premium Price Plan" became effective on February 1, 1942, and is to operate until July 31, 1944. Manpower problem.—Undoubtedly the most critical problem re lated to increasing, or even maintaining, the level of production is the drastic shortage of labor facing the industry. This manpower 1 See Office of Price Administration Release No. P M 2458, February 9,1942. The Industry in W artim e 3 shortage is most serious in the mines. Whereas practically all mining areas have been in need of additional workers, the trend of employ ment has actually tended downward. The relatively strenuous and hazardous nature of the work, particularly in underground operations, makes employment in the mines generally unattractive. Furthermore, mining and milling operations are typically situated in isolated com munities in which housing and other facilities are limited. It has been difficult, therefore, to replace the workers who have been lost to other industries or to the armed forces. Several agencies of the Government have cooperated in an effort to alleviate the shortage of labor in the industry. On September 7, 1942, the War Manpower Commission, in an attempt to stabilize employment, placed limitations upon the movement of men away from the mines. In October of the same year, the major gold mines were ordered by the War Production Board to cease operations, in order to free their miners for work in essential nonferrous-metal mines. Also in the fall of 1942, the War Department authorized the furloughing from the Army, for a period of 6 months, of 4,000 men who had formerly been employed in the mines and who were willing to resume mining jobs. Although this plan was not entirely success ful in the first attempt, the War Department announced a new pro gram in July 1943 for releasing 4,500 additional skilled miners from the Army; only mines of high potential productivity, which are in areas where the labor shortage is critical, will benefit from this program. The Selective Service is granting occupational deferment to essential nonferrous-metal workers in some localities. Wage-stabilization program.— As part of the combined effort by Federal agencies to solve the labor-shortage problem in the nonferrous-metals industry, the National War Labor Board has granted a number of wage increases in the industry. One of the early deci sions of the Board resulted in a substantial general wage increase for workers in the copper operations in Michigan. On October 16, 1942, an increase of $1.00 a day was granted to 10,000 copper, lead, and zinc workers in Idaho and Utah.2 Simultaneous with this action was the establishment by the Board of a Nonferrous Metals Commission to stabilize wages and labor relations in the industry as a whole.3 Ex tending the industry-wide stabilization program begun in Utah and Idaho, the Commission has granted wage increases in certain areas where higher rates were needed to maintain a sufficient labor force. On August 15, 1943, workers in 5 plants in the Tri-State lead and zinc producing area were granted a 50-cent general wage increase per shift;4 the local Board was authorized to approve such adjust ments in the earnings of other workers in the Tri-State District as are needed to stabilize the wages of the industry in that locality. Partly as a result of these and other increases, average hourly earnings in the mining and milling of nonferrous metals rose from 74.5 cents in January 1941 to $1.00 in June 1943, or by about 34 percent. Eliminating the influence of increased overtime work at premium rates, the increase was about 29 percent.* s National War Labor Board, Release No. B-251, October 16, 1942.. » Idem, Release No. B-329, November 29, 1942. *Idem, Release No. B-889, August 15,1943. 4 [Pages in N onferrous-M etals Industry N ature o f Data Collected These earnings data were obtained in a nation-wide survey of wages in the nonferrous-metals industry, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics during the summer of 1943 at the request of the Nonferrous Metals Commission of the National War Labor Board. The principal purpose of the survey was to provide current basic wage data to aid in the stabilization of wages in the industry. The study covered two broad. segments of the industry—mining and milling, and smelting and refining; it included establishments engaged in the mining or processing of all nonferrous metals other than the precious metals.5 Plants engaged in the fabrication of nonferrous metals were not included in the survey. The data obtained in this study were collected by trained field representatives of the Bureau, who visited the individual establish ments and transcribed the information directly from pay-roll and other plant records. Average hourly earnings, excluding premium payments for overtime and late-shift work, were obtained for all workers in selected key occupations. Standard job descriptions were used by the field representatives in classifying the workers by occupation, in order to insure the greatest possible comparability between jobs in all of the plants studied. The wage data are for typi cal pay-roll periods in June 1943. Although the occupational wage data comprise the greater part of the information secured during the course of the survey, it was necessary also to obtain such other items of information as would facilitate the interpretation of these wage data, as, for example, the daily hours of work, overtime-payment practices, number of shifts operated and shift-differential policies. In addition, data were ob tained on the method of wage payment for workers within each occu pation, entrance rates paid to male common labor, and the extent of unionization.* * An earlier study of the wage structure of the nonferrous-metals industry was conducted by the Bureau in the fall of 1941. This study included the mining, milling, smelting, refining, and primary fabrication of nonferrous metals. In the summer of 1942, the wage data for mining and milling, smelting, and refining, were brought up to date (see U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin No. 729: Wage Structure of the Nonferrous-Metals Industry, 1941-42). P a r t I .— M ining and M illing SCOPE AND METHOD OF SURVEY The study of the mining and milling division of the industry covered the extraction and milling of copper, lead, and zinc ores and, in addi tion, certain other nonferrous-metal ores, such as mercury, bauxite, molybdenum, tungsten, and manganese, which are of less importance from the standpoint of volume of production and employment. All of the mining establishments included were engaged primarily in the actual extraction of ore, from either surface or underground mines; establishments in which exploration, prospecting or development activities constituted the major part of the work were not included. In many cases, two or more of the mines studied in a given locality were operated by one company. The milling establishments were engaged in the crushing of crude ore and, in many of the mills, in eliminating waste material from the ores. A large number of the mills studied were found to be operated in conjunction with individual mines, but central milling (i. e., where the ore from several properties is processed at one central mill) is also widely practiced in the industry. Although copper-bearing ore is mined to some extent in 18 of tne 48 States, practically all copper production is centered in the States of Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. In 1942, according to Bureau of Mines reports, these six States ac counted for all but 3 percent of the total production; the three States of Arizona, Utah, and Montana accounted for 78 percent of the total production. The greater part of the lead-zinc ore extraction is carried on in nine States: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, New? Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah. The Tri-State Area, which occupies parts of four contiguous counties in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, is the oldest and still the principal zinc-producing area in the United States. In 1942 this area alone accounted for over 30 percent of the total domestic zinc production, and for about 7 percent of the entire lead output. Both lead and zinc are found in most of the Western and Central States. Significant deposits of zinc are also located in New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia. Most of the mercury produced in the United States comes from mines in California and Oregon, while about three-fourths of this country’s supply of molybdenum originates in Colorado. Tungsten deposits are found chiefly in California and Nevada, and in small quantities in Colorado, Arizona, and Idaho. In the production of vanadium, Colorado ranks first, with smaller amounts coming from Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. Manganese ores are found in a number of States, the larger deposits being in Montana. Throughout most regions, the survey covered virtually all of the mines and mills employing 9 or more workers. In a few States, how ever, where the concentration of the industry was great, a repre sentative sample of the mines and mills was selected, consideration being given to size and type of establishment, location, and corporate affiliation. Such sampled data have been properly weighted in order to assure appropriate representation of all areas. 6 6 Wages in N onferrous-M etats Industry The scope of the survey of wages in mining and milling operations is indicated in table 1, which shows by region the number of workers for whom detailed occupational wage data were obtained and the number of workers for whom figures are presented, i. e., the weighted employment figures. The survey actually covered 326 mines and 177 mills, operated by 241 separate companies. The weighted employ ment figures relate to approximately 670 mines and mills. T able 1.— Num ber o f W orkers in M in es and M ills Represented by Bureau's Survey» June 1943 Number Number of of workers workers actually actually scheduled used Branch and region 1 Branch and region1 All regions__________________ 35,424 41,271 Hopper mines. Pacific Northwest Southwest___ Midwest . __ Southeast _ 16,486 299 8,075 5,638 2,080 394 16,486 299 8,075 5,638 2,080 394 Lead and zinc mills________ Hopper mills „ Pacific . , Northwest _ Southwest Midwest _ _ __ Southeast. 1,638 79 847 469 221 22 1,638 79 847 469 221 22 Other mines . . . t___ Pacific ___ _ . Northwest _ Southwest. Midwest. _____ _______ Southeast Tiead arid zinc mines Pacific . ._„ Northwest Southwest Midwest __ . 9,827 78 4,087 1,393 2,945 618 706 14,321 78 5,757 1,393 5,769 618 706 _ ' Northeast.............. ............. Southeast............................ Northwest Southwest . . . Midwest .. Northeast _ Southeast. _ Other mills . . . . Pacific Northwest _ Southwest _ Midwest _ Number Number of of workers workers actually actually scheduled used 1,685 480 180 689 219 117 2,609 622 180 1,471 219 117 4,875 748 2,289 327 1,369 142 5,245 748 2,633 327 1,369 168 913 114 696 17 86 972 114 755 17 86 i The Pacific region includes California, Oregon, and northwest Washington; the Northwest includes; Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and northeast Washington; the Southwest includes Arizona,. New Mexico, and Texas; the Midwest includes Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Kansas, and! Oklahoma; the Northeast includes New York and New Jersey; the Southeast includes Alabama, Georgia* North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The detailed earnings presented in the following pages are for selected occupations, representing 41,271 workers of whom 36,052 were employed in mines and 5,219 in mills. Total employment in these operations (i. e., mines and mills employing 9 or more workers) is estimated at 72,000. Copper, lead, and zinc producing operations employed approximately 85 percent of all the workers studied. The Northwest region accounted for 45 percent of the workers, the South west for 19 percent, and the Midwest for 27 percent. The combined employment of the Pacific, the Northeast, and the Southeast regions accounted for but 9 percent of the total number of workers studied. THE LABOR FORCE With the exception of office employees, the labor force employed in the mining of nonferrous metals was composed exclusively of male workers; in the mills covered by the survey, only 25 women were employed in the occupations studied. The average hourly earnings of the few woman workers were somewhat below the averages paid to male workers in the same occupations. Part I — M in in g and M illing 7 Unionization.— Union agreements were in effect in 106 of the 326 mines and in 63 of the 177 mills actually covered in the Bureau’s survey. The union establishments employed over 53 percent of all the workers studied. Negotiations with unions were in progress in several additional establishments, some of which have since signed union agreements. At the time of the survey, most of the organized mine and mill workers were represented by the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, affiliated with the C. I. O. A small percentage of the workers belonged to A. F. of L. unions and to inde pendent labor organizations. The extent of unionization varied con siderably between regions. In the Western States nearly 60 percent of the workers were employed in union plants, while in the Tri-State lead and zinc mines and mills only 23 percent of the workers were employed in union establishments. WAGE-PAYMENT PRACTICES Mine and mill workers are paid predominantly on a time basis; in most cases time workers are paid by the day. In the mines studied, 76.5 percent of all the workers studied were time workers and 23.5 percent were incentive workers. Incentive methods of pay were limited to relatively few of the occupations. Muckers in many of the mines studied were paid on a piece-rate basis. Bonus plans, under which the workers receive a guaranteed minimum rate plus a bonus for output in excess of an established production quota, were used in compensating workers in certain other mining occupations—for example, drining-machine operators, loading-machine operators, and cagers. rayment by the horn* or day is particularly common in the mills. All of the employees in copper mills and all but 2.3 percent of those in lead and zinc mills were time workers. Multiple-shift operations were reported by the majority of the companies included in the survey, but only approximately 25 percent of the workers in the mines and mills were employed on the second shift, and only approximately 10 percent on the third shift. The payment of shift differentials is not common practice in nonferrous mining and milling. Premium pay to workers on second and third shifts was reported by only 3 of the 241 companies studied. Periodic rotation of shifts was practiced in well over one-half of the operations studied. Employees in each of the 241 companies were paid at the rate of time and a half for all work above 40 hours a week; 91 companies also paid this overtime rate for hours worked in excess of 8 a day, which was the length of the normal workday in most of the establishments surveyed. Holiday work was paid for by 106 companies at the rate of time and a half, and by 9 companies at double time. Fifty-five of the 241 companies paid special wage differentials to workers in hazardous occupations. These differentials were most commonly paid to shaft sinkers and shaft repairmen and to employees exposed to wet and particularly unpleasant conditions of work. The wage premiums paid to workers in these occupations were typically between 25 cents and 50 cents a day, although several companies paid a differential of $1.00 a day for shaft-repair work. 574850—44-----2 8 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry ENTRANCE RATES FOR MALE COMMON LABOR Of the 503 mines and mills actually covered in the survey, 426 reported established entrance rates for male common labor. These rates ranged from 30 cents to $1.03 an hour, the extreme range result ing largely from regional differences in general wage levels. Nearly all of the establishments included in the Southeast region paid entrance rates to common labor of 50 cents an hour or less, whereas in the Pacific region, the lowest rate reported for such workers was 68.8 cents an hour. Nearly two-thirds of the establishments reported entrance rates of between 60 and 85 cents an hour, the largest concen tration being within the narrow range from 70 to 75 cents. STRAIGHT-TIME AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS, BY OCCUPATION The detailed occupational wage data for all nonferrous mines and mills studied in the survey are presented in table 2. Because of the small number of operations producing the metals found in the South east and Pacific regions, combined earnings data are shown for all nonferrous mines and mills in each of these two regions. The number of workers and straight-time average hourly earnings are shown for 44 selected occupational groups in underground and open-pit mines and in the mills processing the ore. The occupations are classified in table 2 by type of operation. Thus, all processing operations are shown separately for underground mines, for open-pit (surface) mines, and for mills. Many of the larger companies submitted combined reports for several operations in a given locality; it was not possible, therefore, to indicate the number o f mines and mills represented in each occupa tional average shown. Companies operating a mill and one or more mines on the same property often employ only one custodial and one maintenance crew to service all divisions of the operation. In such cases no attempt was made to prorate these workers for the purpose of presenting earnings data separately for mines and mills; the average hourly earnings shown in table 2 for other than processing occupations therefore relate to both the mining and the milling operations. Earnings data for underground workers represent earnings for total time in the mine, including travel time to and from the face or place of work in the mine, Where the underground workers were given a formal lunch period and allowed to leave their place of work in the mine and were not subject to call during this period, the tm e spent for such lunch periods has not been considered as time worked, and is not reflected m the earnings shown. In many of the mines, however, the workers were given no formal lunch period, but ate on the job. In such cases, the time spent for lunch was considered as part of the workday. For the country as a whole, straight-time average hourly earnings for the 41,271 workers covered in the study ranged from 64.5 cents an hour for pitmen to $1,311 an hour for operators of large power shovels in surface or open-pit mines. Nearly three-tenths of the workers were found in the 10 occupations for which the average hourly earnings ex ceeded $1.00 an hour, and more than half (52.8 percent) of the workers were in the 18 occupations for which average earnings ranged from 85 cents to $1.00 an hour. Slightly more than 11 percent of all the Part I — M in in g and M illin g 9 workers studied were in occupations with earnings of less than 80 cents an hour. Three occupations, production drilling-machine operators, all-round miners, and muckers, together accounted for 42.8 percent of all the workers; average hourly earnings for workers in these three occupations were 91.2 cents, $1,049, and 89.7 cents an hour, re spectively. 10 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry T able 2.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occu United States total: All metals Pacific All metals Northwest All metals Lead and zinc Copper Occupation Numher of workers Maintenance: Blacksmiths________ Carpenters, class A__. Carpenters, class B—. Electricians, class A .. Electricians, clas^B.. Machinists, class A__. Machinists, class B „. Aver- Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver ber ber age age ber , age age ber age hourly of hourly of hourly of hourly of hourly earn work earn work earn work earn work earn ings ings ers ings ers ers ings ers ings 438 $0,930 641 1.023 284 .834 604 1.059 .905 271 467 1.059 .870 405 .954 988 Supervision: Working foremen, processing‘ 1,163 departments. Processing—m ining (under ground): Cagers, inside....................... 757 Drilling-machine operators, 4,057 production. Drilling-machine operators, 734 special. 826 Miners, all-round.................. 7,708 M uckers...................... ........ 5,911 Pumpmen....................... — 484 Timbermen...................... . 2,977 Trackmen, inside.................. 704 Processing—mining (surface): Drilling-machine operators.. 422 Pitmen.................................. 308 184 Under 5 cubic yards.. 104 Trackmen, surface----1,133 Processing—milling: Ball-mill operators----383 Crusher operators____ 632 Filter operators:.......... 169 Flotation operators----633 Helpers, processing machines.5. 961 Jig operators.......................... 349 Inspection and testing: Samplers, ore....................... . 128 Samplers.............................. . 216 Recording and control: Timekeepers______ _______ 171 25 $1,044 24 1.306 23 .917 13 1.181 .947 7 13 1.215 17 1.120 23 .949 186 $1.018 354 1.070 96 .903 302 1.100 120 .981 316 1.079 98 .985 349 1.011 80 $0,997 69 1.082 32 .928 55 1.099 34 1.055 50 1.104 34 1.016 187 1.063 72 $1,067 204 1.060 20 .957 206 1.067 61 .984 244 1.062 52 .973 1.026 56 1.270 357 1.089 192 1.121 33 1.138 .933 .912 26 31 .907 295 1.096 1,300 1.010 1,009 102 889 1.026 1.036 158 132 1.031 1.077 1.093 10 1.028 1.129 97 1.124 .929 1.049 .897 .902 .981 .849 13 433 245 8 49 5 .908 .645 12 .838 151 88 1.138 1.311 .702 13 .974 1 (0 .871 .810 .827 .901 .793 .818 10 39 6 24 33 3 .850 .824 123 16 1.261 1.018 22 1.013 3,949 .947 134 1.029 143 1.033 783 .982 14 .988 1.094 .975 1.057 .975 .960 1.047 .834 69 62 .987 (i) 39 49 580 1.256 1.276 .766 4 49 580 1.252 1.276 .766 1.032 .881 1.014 .985 .861 0) 212 219 90 284 427 20 .902 .882 .880 .967 .869 .840 68 83 26 137 115 3 .886 .867 .910 .980 .889 0) 87 31 22 113 169 .930 .944 .920 .952 .912 5 7 1.068 .920 42 116 1.049 .854 12 10 .956 .638 19 74 .948 .909 276 .959 1.065 5.345 .915 1.984 231 .836 .988 1,846 1.003 111 .979 166 1.076 892 .908 1,206 1.041 68 1.000 972 .945 68 1.012 4 .800 95 1.106 6 .893 82 1.134 Conveyor operators_______ Hoistmen _ ______ _________ Locomotive engineers______ Locomotive firemen......... . Motormen, inside......... ....... Tractor operators__________ Trammers.................- ......... . Truck drivers..................... . Truck operators, capacity— Under 10-ton................... 10-ton and over________ 181 1,179 281 50 1,422 307 972 316 .845 .927 1.006 .845 .947 .939 .782 .838 3 34 (0 .915 .993 1.046 1.138 .903 .883 .886 .927 1.047 1.031 .874 .963 1.168 .867 .909 9 196 7 4 20 23 91 449 149 24 921 41 224 144 79 178 149 24 635 15 7 21 .923 1.113 1.031 .874 .969 1.044 .838 .945 372 203 .735 .960 27 .814 .835 1.058 .770 (i) 90 84 6 8 Change-house men________ Watchmen........................... . 177 699 .782 .747 7 7 .865 .816 82 289 .853 .844 52 152 .852 .863 Material movement: Custodial: 1 T oo few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. 224 .989 158 31 .901 .898 17 91 .928 .895 11 Part I — M in in g and M illin g potions in Nonferrous -M eta l M in es and M ills , by Region and M etal, June 1943 Northwest— Continued Other metals Southwest All metals Lead and zinc Copper Other metals Occupation Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver age age age age age ber ber ber ber ber of hourly of hourly of hourly of hourly of hourly work earn work earn work earn work earn work earn ings ers ers ers ings ings ers ings ings ers 34 $0,962 81 1.085 .862 44 41 1.272 25 .874 22 1.205 .948 12 .952 162 47 $0,920 117 .993 12 .931 103 1.006 .925 26 51 1.019 29 .992 330 .999 15 $0,881 17 .900 6 .892 8 .975 3 .862 6 .933 6 .866 13 -.863 25 $0,964 99 1.008 (i) 6 93 1.011 23 .933 45 1.030 23 1.025 314 1.006 7 $0,849 1 (0 2 0) 3 .787 132 1.030 341 .991 35 .960 292 1.001 14 .851 35 279 .874 .894 130 269 .932 .803 28 180 .830 .819 98 53 .977 .906 4 36 .561 .555 10 .970 235 1.261 41 1.013 48 .901 1.045 1,717 .821 1,324 .967 76 671 .871 .850 70 .887 .983 .843 .806 1.045 .975 32 290 398 20 86 8 88 504 644 20 91 29 190 1.327 4 .675 15 853 .893 1,341 .735 818 .817 48 582 .879 62 .871 .973 1.021 .941 .876 1.072 .989 1 86 108 8 3 0) .681 .501 .362 0) 82 26 1.099 .930 155 65 .906 .742 151 63 .906 .739 4 2 (0 0) 35 1.256 55 19 493 1.309 1.321 .639 52 19 493 1.279 1.321 .639 3 0) 57 105 42 34 143 17 .880 .877 .840 .965 .802 .824 112 84 36 115 107 2 .840 .759 .741 .858 .716 0) 27 25 14 35 35 2 .765 .722 .666 .861 .707 0) 85 56 17 80 70 .864 .794 .863 .856 .724 3 5 .413 .536 2 (0 11 32 1.323 .793 51 28 .768 .839 1 4 0) .675 49 24 .768 .866 1 0) 2 0) 43 .957 1 0) 20 99 106 26 160 45 48 17 .775 1.059 .997 .818 .983 .993 .664 .884 18 .642 5 .736 6 2 .484 0) 63 27 .886 1.021 9 1.012 37 130 .743 .820 6 .433 7 .962 46 .940 3 75 .825 .891 62 26 59 92 .808 1.239 .777 . .905 20 197 106 26 189 45 145 33 .775 .932 .997 .818 .952 .993 .715 .814 84 84 .840 1.058 72 27 .902 1.021 13 46 .763 .682 43 157 .737 .777 80 .842 24 .786 91 14 .757 .789 6 21 .702 .608 Maintenance: Blacksmiths. Carpenters, class A. Carpenters, class B. Electricians, class A. Electricians, class B. Machinists, class A. Machinists, class B. Maintenance men, general. Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments. Processing—m ining (under ground) : Cagers, inside. Drilling-machine operators, production. Drilling-machine operatorst special. Loading-machine operators. Miners, all-round. Muckers. Pump men. Timbermen. Trackmen, inside. Processing—mining (surface): Drilling-machine operators. Pitmen. Power-shovel operators, ca pacity— Under 5 cubic yards. 5 cubic ya-ids and over. Trackmen, surface. Processing—milling: Ball-mill operators. Crusher operators. Filter operators. Flotation operators. Helpers, processing machines. Jig operators. Inspection and testing: Samplers, ore. Samplers. Recording and control: Timekeepers. Material movement: Conveyor operators. Hoistmen. Locomotive engineers. Locomotive firemen. Motormen, inside. Tractor operators. Trammers. Truck drivers. Truck operators, capacity— Under 10-ton. 10-ton and over. Custodial: Change-house men. Watchmen. 12 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry T able 2.— Straight-Tim e Average H ou rly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupa Midwest All metals Copper Tri-State: Lead and zinc Lead and zinc Occupation Aver Aver Aver Aver Num age Num age Num age Num age ber of hour ber of hour ber of hour ber of hour work ly work ly work ly work ly ers earn ers earn ers earn ers earn ings ings ings ings Maintenance: Blacksmiths.................................................... 147 $0,818 Carpenters, class A _ ...... 129 .871 Carpenters, class B __..................................... 125 .778 ■Electricians, class A 52 .944 Electricians, class B__................... ............... 100 .804 .963 Machinists, class A ........................................ 66 Machinists, class B ......................... .............. 224 .798 Maintenance men, general 276 .827 Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments_ 360 .981 Processing—mining (underground): 264 Cagers, inside................... ............................. .861 .869 Drilling-machine operators, production____ 2,176 Drilling-machine operators, special............... 295 1.000 Loading-machine operators_______________ 390 .940 Miners, all-ronnd. _ .... _ 24 .598 Muckers.......................................................... 1,915 .957 Pumpmen.. .................... .............................. 131 .757 Timbermen.................................................... 240 .745 Trackmen, inside............................................ 488 .814 Processing—mining (surface): Drilling-machine operators __ _ _ . .722 101 Pitmen_______ ______ ___________________ 72 .621 Power-shovel operators, capacity— Under 6 cubic y a r d s _______________ 67 .991 5 cubic yards and over ....... __ 36 1.354 Trackmen, surface 59 (0 Processing—milling: Ball-mill operators. ....................................... 26 .756 .738 Crusher operators........................................... 222 Filter operators ....... 23 .744 Flotation operators......................................... 175 .828 Helpers, processing machines................. ...... 366 .726 Jig operators..... .............................................. 308 .818 Inspection and testing: Samplers, ore ....... 18 .701 Samplers. ........................... ........................... .757 48 Recording and control: 21 Timekeepers....................... ........................... .827 Material movement: Conveyor operators........................................ 49 .743 Hoistmen............. .......................................... 418 .814 Locomotive engineers 26 0) Locomotive firemen______________________ 234 .900 Motormen, inside........................................... Tractor operators _ .899 200 .753 Trammers....................................................... 543 Truck drivers................................................ .753 100 Truck operators, capacity— Under 10-ton___ __ _ .646 140 10-ton and over _ . . . . 84 .833 Custodial: 24 .655 Change-house men.......................................... Watchmen..................................................... 224 .598 34 $0.717 31 .718 34 1 88 .726 0) .721 35 .852 7 653 214 451 36 215 44 256 244 0) .796 1,446 .992 71 379 12 .779 1,213 .714 93 12 .743 .706 424 1.013 84 $0,863 78 .880 63 .830 24 1.023 45 .898 42 .913 108 .870 36 .815 210 1.054 .876 216 .913 858 1.068 45 .946 267 12 .780 1.100 1,080 .778 75 .835 12 .831 264 .886 .838 1.068 .893 .780 1.144 .807 .835 .841 40 2 .802 (l) 39 <9 19 .886 18 <9 1 0) .786 .766 .744 .844 .736 .829 9 132 <9 .784 .673 .674 .700 18 169 23 159 310 286 135 288 261 .853 .741 .844 3 .668 5 28 .799 .801 3 24 0) .813 3 .794 9 .929 9 .929 2 51 0) .745 39 327 .765 .840 36 261 .773 .855 77 .819 .945 (i) .767 .781 .837 .757 0) 152 1 352 86 57 158 2 339 84 .771 .784 62 .638 60 <9 8 155 .681 .590 3 132 (9 .592 8 30 .688 .683 16 42 18 10 38 .661 .691 1 T oo few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. 101 $0,863 .869 115 .810 85 .939 58 .843 64 .900 50 .850 120 .829 246 13 Part I — M in in g and M illin g tions in Nonferrous -M etal M ines and M ills , by Region and M etal, June 1943 —Con. Midwest—Continued Northeast Other States: Lead and zinc Other metals Lead and zinc Southeast All metals Aver Aver Aver Aver Num age Num age Num age Num age ber of hour ber of hour ber of hour ber of hour work ly work ly work ly work ly ers earn ers earn ers earn ers earn ings ings ings ings 17, $0,865 .847 37 22 .754 34 .880 .714 19 8 (9 12 (9 .831 210 12 $0.725 14 .886 9 .683 4 1.013 2 (9 15 1.172 16 .831 30 .816 16 $1,007 9 1.052 .873 4 15 1.043 .921 17 14 1.111 .925 19 .984 10 17 $0.723 8 .968 24 .713 9 .907 1 (9 7 .960 18 .658 46 .828 69 .925 16 1.126 33 .747 28 588 26 112 .792 1.022 1.067 1.073 .672 .661 .690 .750 .417 .583 .981 .983 26 237 60 93 52 291 22 56 28 .772 .857 .700 .699 16 44 11 6 137 152 16 115 2 .669 .674 .731 .729 .813 13 77 10 11 12 251 2 13 20 1 2 0) 0) 61 70 .670 .628 3 83 .517 .392 1 (9 1.033 1.354 .939 (9 48 36 58 10 1 9 37 23 24 22 25 .759 .700 .744 .792 .681 .678 23 .603 .621 .620 .781 .690 .693 2 4 .638 .660 3 66 133 18 .744 .654 160 (9 <9 (9 1.041 .866 .883 .898 (9 (9 .757 (9 (9 16 53 9 9 13 7 .860 .884 .851 .885 (9 (9 7 15 5 26 15 9 7 .852 12 10 .668 14 4 .664 .500 0) .729 13 17 .664 9 .736 2 (9 3 .712 (9 .780 8 40 26 .649 .694 6 19 .949 1.012 12 62 .695 .777 95 1 13 2 1.010 0) .655 (0 5 199 33 12 .802 .899 .575 .563 29 .949 32 4 .867 .860 42 17 8 12 .818 .729 .989 .651 2 (9 78 84 .653 .833 43 .480 5 23 .640 .575 6 31 .526 12 19 .645 .777 <9 (9 (9 9 3 .809 (9 Occupation Maintenance: Blacksmiths. Carpenters, class A. Carpenters, class B. Electricians, class A. Electricians, class B. Machinists, class A. Machinists, class B. Maintenance men, general. Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments. Processing—mining (underground): Cagers, inside. Drilling-machine operators, production. Drilling-machine operators, special. Loading-machine operators. Miners, all-round. Muckers. Pumpmen. Timbermen. Trackmen, inside. Processing—mining (surface): Drilling-machine operators. Pitmen. Power-shovel operators, capacity— Under 5 cubic yards. 5 cubic yards and over. Trackmen, surface. Processing—milling: Ball-mill operators. Crusher operators. Filter operators. Flotation operators. Helpers, processing machines. Jig operators. Inspection and testing: Samplers, ore. Samplers. Recording and control: Timekeepers. Material movement: Conveyor operators. Hoistmen. Locomotive engineers. Locomotive firemen. Motormen, inside. Tractor operators. Trammers. Truck drivers. Truck operators, capacity— Under 10-ton. 10-ton and over. Custodial: Change-house men. Watchmen. 14 Wages in N onferrous-M etals Industry Incentive earnings are reflected in the relatively high average hourly earnings of workers in some occupations. All-round miners, for ex ample, earned an average of $1,049 an hour and special drillingmachine operators an average of $1,093 an hour. As stated earlier, incentive methods of wage payment were found in relatively few occupations. It should be borne in mind that general averages for the country as a whole have only limited significance, because they do not reflect regional differences in occupational and wage [structure. This is evident from table 2 and from the following discussion of the wage structure within each of the six broad regions. REGIONAL VARIATIONS The Northwest region, of greatest importance in the industry from the standpoint of employment and production, includes the States of Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and the northeastern section of Washington. Forty-five percent of all the mining and milling workers studied were employed in establishments in this region. Approximately two-thirds of the 18,689 workers covered in the Northwest region were engaged in occupations in which the aver age earnings amounted to $1.00 an hour or more. The lowest earn ings were those of trackmen in open-pit mines, who averaged 76.6 cents an hour. While over 75 percent of the workers in the selected process ing occupations in the mines were in occupations averaging $1.00 or more an hour, the highest average for any processing occupation in the mills was 96.7 cents an hour for flotation operators, an occupation accounting for less than one-fourth of the workers in the six mill pro cessing occupations for which figures are shown. Nearly half of the workers covered in the Northwest region were employed in copper mines and mills. Over 44 percent of these workers were classified as all-round miners and earned an hourly rate of $1,094. Slightly more than one-third of the workers in the North west were employed in lead and zinc mines and mills. Fully threefifths of all the workers in lead and zinc operations in the Northwest were concentrated in four processing occupations, namely, muckers, all-round miners, timbermen, and production drilling-machine opera tors. Workers in these occupations earned on an average 94.7 cents, $1,013, $1,033 and $1,036 an hour, respectively. In operations ex tracting and milling other than copper, lead, and zinc ores, average hourly earnings ranged from 68.2 cents an hour for watchmen to $1,323 an hour for ore samplers, and over half of the workers in these operations were in occupations with average earnings within the 10cent interval of 80 to 90 cents an hour. Approximately one-fifth of the workers studied were employed in the Southwest region, which includes, in addition to Arizona and New Mexico, three small operations situated in Texas. More than 75 percent of the workers in the Southwest were employed in copper mining and milling operations; consequently the relatively high wages paid to this group of workers are reflected in the averages shown for the region as a whole. In the lead and zinc mines and mills only one occupation, that of special drilling-machine operators, paid an average rate exceeding $1.00 an hour, whereas in the copper operations over half of the workers, distributed among 13 occupational groups, earned Part I — M in in g and M illing 15 $1.00 an hour or more. Over half of the lead and zinc workers were found in the 16 occupations with average earnings ranging from 80 to 90 cents an hour. Approximately 40 percent of the workers in lead and zinc establishments, as against only 14 percent of the copper workers, were in occupations with average earnings below 80 cents an hour. Establishments producing nonferrous ores other than copper, lead, and zinc accounted for only 344 of the 8,024 workers covered in the Southwest region. The extremely low earnings shown for some of these workers (for example, 36.2 cents an hour for pumpmen and 41.3 cents for crusher operators) are in part accounted for by the fact that the group of plants in this “ other metals” category includes a number of small and isolated operations. The Pacific region, relatively unimportant in terms of number of workers employed, includes the States of California, Oregon, and northwestern Washington. The earnings of the 1,318 workers in the Pacific region ranged from 80 cents an hour for timekeepers to $1,306 for class A carpenters. Workers in 14 of the 30 occupational groups for which average hourly earnings are shown were paid $1.00 or more an hour. Approximately one-half of all the workers were found in these 14 occupations. Only 5 occupations, accounting for less than 5 percent of the workers, had average hourly earnings of 85 cents or less. Slightly more than one-fourth of all mine and mill workers studied were found in the Midwest region. This region, most important for its production of lead and zinc ores, includes the States of Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. More than half of the employees in the selected occupations in this region were engaged in processing operations in the underground mines, as against only one-tenth in processing occupations in the mills. Muckers and production drilling-machine operators constituted over one-third of the total number of workers in the region. In only two occupations, special drilling-machine operators and power-shovel operators, were the average earnings $1.00 or more an hour. One-fifth of the workers surveyed in the Midwest region were in occupations in which average hourly earnings ranged from 70 to 80 cents an hour, and somewhat more than two-fifths of the workers were in occupations having aver ages between 80 and 90 cents an hour. Lead and zinc mines and mills employed approximately two-thirds of the workers in the Midwest region. The average hourly earnings shown for the Tri-State lead and zinc operations reflect the recent retroactive wage increases granted to workers in four of the com panies studied in the area.6 The relatively high average hourly earnings ($1,144) shown for muckers in the Tri-State area result from incentive wage payments to these workers in all but one of the com panies included in the study, more favorable working conditions resulting from changes in mining practice, and premium rates of pay when working under unusual conditions. These factors account for the sharp increase in the average hourly earnings of these workers since 1941. In a majority of the occupations average earnings were somewhat higher in the Tri-State area than in the other areas in the Midwest region. 8 Similar increases have been granted to workers in other companies in the area subsequent to the date when field work for the Bureau’s present study was completed; these wage changes are not reflected, how ever, in the earnings data presented in this study. 574850-44----- 3 16 Wages in N onferrous-M etals Industry The Northeast region includes the States of New York and New Jersey. All of the mines and mills surveyed in this region were en gaged in the production of lead and zinc ore. The average earnings in this region, which accounted for relatively few of the total workers included in the study, ranged from 80.9 cents an hour for changehouse men to $1,126 an hour for working foremen. Nearly threefifths of the workers were concentrated in the 15 occupations having average hourly earnings of between 85 and 95 cents, while fully another fourth of the workers were in 7 occupations with average earnings in excess of $1.00 an hour. Only 3.4 percent of the workers surveyed were employed in mines and mills in the Southeast region, which includes the States of Ala bama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In no occupation in this region were workers paid on an average as much as $1.00 an hour. Muckers, who formed the largest occupational group, earned 66.9 cents an hour; the highest average shown for any occupation was 98.9 cents an hour for trammers, and the lowest average, 39.2 cents an hour, was paid to pitmen. Slightly more than two fifths of the workers in the Southeast region were in occupations which averaged less than 70 cents an hour, and more than one-fourth were concentrated in the 12 occupations for which average earnings were between 70 and 80 cents an hour. SUMMARY COMPARISONS, BY REGION The wage data shown in table 2 for the mining and milling of nonferrous-metal ores indicate that in June 1943 considerable varia tion existed in wage levels among the several regions. In an attempt to measure the extent of these regional differences, the averages for 23 selected occupations were combined into a single weighted average for each region. For this purpose, the respective occupations were given the same weight, regardless of region. The resulting composite averages are presented below: Average hourly earnings Northwest_____________________________________________ $0. 98 Pacific__________________________ ________ ____________ 1.0 1 Southwest___________________________________________ . 89 Midwest_____________________________________________ . 86 Northeast____________________________________________ . 94 Southeast____________________________________________ . 76 Percent o f Northwest average 100 104 91 88 96 78 On the basis of data for 23 identical occupations combined, it appears that there was an average difference of about 25 cents per hour between wages in the Pacific region and those in the Southeast region. Among three regions (Pacific, Northwest, and Northeast) the difference was only 7 cents; excluding the Southeast region, the difference for the remaining five regions was only 15 cents. Factors other than regional differences, such as differences in size of plant, corporate affiliation, and unionization, have undoubtedly influenced the relative wage levels to some extent. P art II .— Smelting and Refining P R IM A R Y SM E LT IN G A N D R E F IN IN G Scope and M ethod o f Survey As has been mentioned earlier, the Bureau’s survey included smelt ing and refining, as well as mining and milling. Smelters extract the metal or metals from the ore in a furnace by reduction. Refineries, as the name implies, further refine the metals by removing impurities. Of the several refining processes, the electrolytic process is perhaps the most general. The survey included virtually all establishments engaged in the primary smelting and refining of copper, lead, and zinc. These plants are scattered over 24 States. Of the 60 establishments studied, 47 with 10,240 workers were primary smelters, and 13 with 3,742 workers were refineries. T able 3.— N onferrous-M etal Smelters and Refineries Covered b y Bureau's Survey, June 1943 Primary smelting Branch All branches................................................ Number of units 47 Refining Workers Number of units Workers Number Percent 10,240 100.0 13 3,742 100.0 4,045 1,653 4,542 39 5 16.1 44.4 8 2,539 67.9 5 1,203 32.1 Number Percent — - a* Zinfi .................................. - ..................... _ _ .... ... .. .. . 13 15 Separate tabulations of the average hourly earnings are presented in this report for each process, i. e., for smelting and refining and, when ever possible, for separate metals within each process. Thus, separate figures are shown for copper smelters, zinc smelters, lead smelters, electrolytic copper refineries, and electrolytic zinc production. The wage data have been shown by region in all cases where there was a suffi cient number of plants and workers to permit such an analysisRegional divisions used for purposes of presenting the data neces. sarily vary from one branch of the industry to another. The selected occupations for each division are grouped by type of operation. The Labor Force The labor force in primary smelting and refining establishments is composed almost exclusively of male workers. Separate occupational averages are not shown for the few female workers who came within the scope of the present study. Because of differences in production processes, there are also wide variations from one plant to another in the occupational composition of the labor force. These variations are indicated by the number of plants represented in each occupational classification. The wage data shown for copper smelting provide a good example of the variations in occupational structure between plants in the same division of the industry. Although most of the important processing occupations 17 18 Wages in Nonjerrou s - M etals Industry are found in the majority of the 19 copper-smelting establishments, some occupations (for example, bag-house operators, binmen, and roaster and sinter firemen) were found only in a relatively small number of plants. The working force in the nonferrous-metal smelting and refining industry is very extensively organized by labor unions. Over 95 per cent of the workers surveyed in refining operations were employed in plants having union agreements; similarly, union plants employed 77.2 percent of the workers studied in primary smelters. The Inter national Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers accounted for the greater part of union membership in primary smelters and refineries. W age-Paym ent Practices Practically all of the workers studied in nonferrous-metal refineries were paid on a time basis; the few workers who were paid under incen tive methods of wage payment were employed in copper refineries. In the primary smelters 94.2 percent of all workers were paid on a time basis; time rates were paid to all workers in copper smelters, to 93 percent of the workers in lead smelters, and to 89.7 percent of the workers in zinc smelters. Most of the primary smelters and refineries reported the operation of three shifts. The majority of the workers, however (63 percent in smelting and nearly 75 percent in refining), were employed on the first shift. None of the primary smelters or refineries reported the payment of shift differentials; rotation of shifts was practiced in approximately one-half of the plants studied. All employees in the primary smelting and refining establishments surveyed were compensated at the rate of time and a half for all work above 40 hours a week; in about nine-tenths of the plants this overtime rate was also paid after 8 hours per day. Of the 55 primary smelters and refineries reporting established entrance rates for male common labor, 32 paid these workers start ing rates of between 70 and 85 cents an hour. Occupational Earnings Copper smelting.— Over one-half (54.6 percent) of the 4,045 workers in the 19 copper smelters studied were employed in the 17 occupa tions having average earnings between 80 and 95 cents an hour (table 4). Aside from an average rate of $1.04 paid working foremen, earnings of more than $1.00 an hour were found in only 4 occupations, all of which were class A maintenance occupations. The 445 converter helpers, who formed the largest occupational group, earned 84.3 cents an hour. Two other numerically important proc essing occupations— converter punchers and reverberatory-furnace helpers—had average hourly earnings of 84.9 and 78.5 cents respec tively. In the material-movement group of occupations, loaders and unloaders earned an average of 78.7 cents an hour. The range in average hourly earnings for workers in the 31 selected occupations for which figures are shown was from 76.8 cents for watchmen to $1,282 for class A bricklayers. 19 Part I I — P rim ary Smelting and Refining T able 4.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Copper Smelting, by Region9l June 1943 Total8 Occupation Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A — Carpenters, class A ............................... Carpenters, class B ............................... Electricians, class A__......................... Electricians, class B ............................. Helpers, journeymen............................ Machinists, class A .............................. Machinists, class B .............................. Maintenance men, general................... Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments_.-...................................... ........ Processing: Bag-honse operators . B inmen___............................................ Casting-machine operators............. . Converter helpers, all-round................ Converter punchers..................... ....... Converter skimmers............................. Cottrell operators-............................... Reverberatory-furnace chargers______ Reverberatory-furnace helpers, allround........ ............................ .......... Reverberatory-furnace operators......... Reverberatory-furnace tappers............ Roaster and sinter firemen................... Inspection and testing: Samplers........... ............ ...................... Recording and control: Weighers, metal.................................... Material movement: Crane followers.................................... Crane operators, electric bridge........... Loaders and unloaders......................... Motormen............................................. Custodial: Guards........................ _•........................ Janitors................... ............................. Watchmen............................................ Northwest Number Number of of workers plants Average hourly earnings Number of plants Number of workers 35 140 42 123 44 264 107 46 178 $1.282 1.061 .955 1.070 .975 .882 1.073 .938 .952 3 4 1 4 1 4 4 1 1 18 105 5 61 5 150 59 7 103 $1,228 1.063 (3) 1.066 (3) .957 1.067 (*) (3) (3) 9 9 7 14 9 11 12 10 3 8 53 1.040 1 14 4 8 12 9 14 15 9 10 15 100 89 445 264 130 76 52 .888 .844 .866 .843 .849 .963 .953 .840 3 2 2 4 4 4 2 66 44 30 82 34 54 15 .913 .975 .952 .935 1.003 .993 .916 15 18 16 8 268 157 82 73 .785 .933 .891 .913 4 5 4 3 96 31 24 33 .925 1.089 .962 .955 12 79 .832 3 30 .960 11 90 .919 2 8 .963 15 17 13 15 72 199 355 200 .857 .969 .787 .908 5 5 3 4 34 78 90 132 .958 1.010 .888 .978 7 11 8 128 54 85 .885 .810 .768 3 3 3 78 25 33 .940 .893 .853 Southwest Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A__ Carpenters, class A ............................... Carpenters, class B ............................... Electricians, class A ..................... ........ Electricians, class B ......... ................... Helpers, journeymen............................ Machinists, class A ....... ............ ......... Machinists, class B ....... ....................... Maintenance men, general Supervision: Working foremen, processing depart ments............................................... Processing: Bag-house operators............................. B inmen ___ ____________ Casting-machine operators................. Converter helpers, all-round................ Converter punchers.......... ................... Converter skimmers............................. Cottrell operators___________ _______ Reverberatory-furnace chargers........... Reverberatory-furnace helpers, all round___________ ____ ___ ____ ___ Reverberatory-furnace operators......... Reverberatory-furnace tappers............ Roaster and sinter firemen................... Inspection and testing: Samplers............................................... Recording and control: Weighers, metal...................... ............. See footnotes at end of table. Average hourly earnings East 5 3 2 6 3 6 5 5 1 12 10 20 33 23 107 25 20 54 6 37 1.019 1 2 1 5 5 4 7 7 4 4 1 34 13 63 154 55 17 16 (*) .711 .792 .626 .771 .903 .832 .779 3 14 .910 3 3 3 4 1 3 3 352 28 41 5 13 .848 .872 1.023 1.011 (3) .900 6 8 6 4 110 50 33 25 .707 .880 .777 .841 3 3 4 1 8 60 22 15 .879 .940 .994 (3) 6 39 .733 3 10 .834 4 5 .865 4 75 .921 $1.229 .986 .949 1.012 .947 .787 1. 017 .929 (*) 1 2 3 4 3 1 3 2 5 25 14 29 13 7 23 9 (*) $1.083 .967 1.144 1.037 (3) 1.152 1.060 (3) 20 Wages in N onferrous-M etals Industry T able 4.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupations in Copper Smelting, by Region,1 June 1943 — Continued East Southwest Occupation Material movement: Crane followers____________________ Crane operators, electric bridge______ Loaders and nn loaders Motormen. _ _ Custodial: Guards__ , Janitors Watehmen ^- Number Number of of plants workers Average Number Number hourly of of workers earnings plants 7 8 6 7 28 64 88 50 $0,742 .937 .649 .789 3 3 3 2 10 55 171 8 3 6 3 18 20 44 .829 .704 .720 1 2 32 9 Average hourly earnings $0,836 .957 .807 .733 i Northwest region includes Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Washington; Southwest region includes Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas; Eastern region includes New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee. * Includes 2 plants in Michigan. Average hourly earnings by occupation for these two plants are as follows: Electricians, class B, 76.5 cents; machinists, class B, 76.1 cents; casting-machine operators, 73.5 cents; reverberatory-furnace helpers, all-round, 67.8 cents; reverberatory-furnace operators, 77.1 cents; reverberatory-furnace tappers, 81.9 cents; motormen, 70.4 cents; watchmen, 68.3 cents. * Too few workers and/or plants to warrant the computation of an average. In each of the three broad regions for which figures are shown, well over half of the workers were found in occupations having average hourly earnings within a 10-cent range. In the Northwest region, the range was from 90 cents to $1.00; in the East from 80 to 90 cents; and in the Southwest, from 70 to 80 cents. These concentrations indicate, in a general way, substantial regional variations in earnings. Regional averages based on data for 18 identical occupations, comprising roughly three-fourths of the workers covered, further confirm these variations. Thus, the earnings of workers in these selected occupa tions averaged 78.3 cents an hour in the Southwest region, 91.8 cents an hour in the Eastern region, and 97.0 cents an hour in the Northwest region. Zinc smelting.— Straight-time average hourly earnings for workers in selected occupations in the 15 primary zinc smelters studied ranged from 79.5 cents an hour for guards to $1,287 an hour for lead burners (table 5). Nearly three-fourths of all the workers were in occupa tions with average earnings in excess of 90 cents an hour and 45 percent were in occupations with average earnings of over $1.00 an hour. Three occupational groups, chargers, metal drawers, and load ers and unloaders, which accounted for almost a third of the workers studied, had hourly earnings of $1,003, $1,007, and 85.9 cents, respectively. A regional comparison of the earnings of workers in occupations for which figures are shown in two or more regions indicates that the East had higher average earnings than either of the other two regions in all but two of the occupational groups, namely, class A bricklayers and class B machinists. The highest average hourly earnings in the East ($1,448) were paid to lead burners. This compares with a high of $1,246 for workers in the same occupation in the North Central region and a high of $1,292 for class A bricklayers in the South Central region. 21 Part I I — P rim ary Smelting and Refining T able 5.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Z inc Smelters, by Region ,l June 1943 Total Occupation Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A — Bricklayers, refractory brick, class B_. Carpenters, class A ................... ........... . Carpenters, class B ............................... Electricians, class A ________ ________ Electricians, class B ________ ______ Gas-producer operators.............. ......... Helpers, journeymen..................... ...... Machinists, class A ....... ............... ...... Machinists, class B .............................. Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments_________ __________________ Processing: Bag-house operators............................. B inmen _ ................... ........................... Chambermen (acid department)_____ Chargers, retorts, hand........................ Chiselers_-............................................ Condenser makers (pottery depart ment)............. ................................... Connie boys........................................ Lead burners (acid department)......... Loamers................................................ Metal drawers....................................... Mill operators (crush, grind, and mix).. Retort firemen...................................... Retort press operators......................... Roaster and smter firemen.................. Stampers....... ....................................... Inspection and testing: Samplers________________ ________ Recording and control: Weighers, metal................................ . Material movement: Crane operators, electric bridge_____ Loaders and unloaders......................... Motormen............................................. Truckers, hand................................... Custodial: Guards____________________________ Janitors___________________________ W atchm en.......................................... Number Number of of workers plants 6 4 7 7 10 11 6 10 7 8 South Central Average Number Number hourly of of earnings plants workers 39 11 19 37 24 41 155 129 25 76 $1,269 .993 1.115 1.007 1.109 1.039 1.039 .905 1.134 1.041 Average hourly earnings 3 3 $1,292 3 2 5 4 12 6 14 7 1.080 .950 1.045 .950 3 3 3 17 7 18 .836 1.058 .974 8 65 1.211 5 43 1.162 8 6 7 14 13 35 64 56 526 340 .954 .874 1.052 1.003 .925 4 4 1 7 7 17 53 12 278 175 .898 .846 (’) .993 .926 14 14 8 13 15 13 14 11 14 11 75 315 39 287 451 110 261 42 207 282 .941 .897 1.287 .933 L007 .911 1.112 .898 1.036 .958 7 7 1 6 7 6 6 6 7 7 43 164 10 120 , 205 63 118 30 66 155 .907 .895 (* *) .913 .973 .889 1.070 .877 .969 .924 9 19 .897 1 3 10 24 .896 5 14 .843 4 12 7 6 11 493 84 78 1.115 .859 .897 .875 1 6 3 3 1 273 49 55 (>) .818 .894 .854 9 9 7 37 42 43 .795 .827 .893 5 4 2 15 20 12 .754 .845 .762 (») 1 South Central region includes Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas; North Central region includes Illinois; Eastern region includes Pennsylvania and West Virginia. * Too few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. 22 W ages in Nonferrous -M etals Industry T A B L E 5 .—Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Z in c Smelters, by Region,1 June 1943 — Continued North Central Occupation Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A__ Bricklayers, refractory brick, class B_ _ Carpenters .class A ............................... Carpenters, class B ............................... Electricians, class A ............................. Electricians, class B__......................... Gas-producer operators........................ Helpers, journeymen......... ......... ........ Machinists, class A .............................. Machinists, class B .............................. Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments......... ................... .................... Processing: Bag-house operators............................. B inmen................ ................................ Chambermen (acid department)......... Chargers, retorts, hand........................ Chiselers........... .............. .................... Condenser makers (pottery depart ment) - ............................................. Connie boys.......................................... Lead burners (acid department)......... Loamers....................... ........................ Metal drawers_____________ ________ M ill operators (crush, grind, and mix). Retort firemen...................................... Retort press operators ........................ Roaster and sinter firemen....... ........... Stampers___________ ______________ Inspection and testing: Samplers______ _ ,, Recording and control: Weighers, metal____________ __ ____ Material movement: Crane operators, electric bridge______ Loaders and unloaders......................... Motorm.en.__........................................ Tnmkfirs, hand Custodial: Guards____________________________ Janitors................................................. Watchmen............................................ Number Number of of workers plants 3 1 2 1 3 1 3 2 3 6 2 12 2 6 9 55 7 25 East Average Number Number hourly of of earnings workers plants $0.997 (’ ) .877 <*) 1.013 (*) .831 1.050 1.082 3 1 3 3 4 4 5 4 2 2 36 5 5 19 8 28 146 57 11 33 $1.267 (*) 1.185 1.108 1.209 1.067 1.043 .998 1.236 1.046 2 21 1.325 12 11 24 151 115 1.081 1.012 1.196 1.073 .974 1.043 .930 1.448 1.018 1.106 1.044 1.218 1.074 1.208 1.043 1 1 2 6 .863 3 3 2 20 97 50 .931 .921 .806 2 2 3 4 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 18 26 11 94 93 21 53 6 63 50 .942 .757 1.246 .893 .918 .809 1.026 .830 .893 (*) 4 5 4 4 5 4 5 2 4 3 14 125 18 73 153 26 90 6 78 77 (*) Average hourly earnings 3 5 .816 5 11 .959 3 7 .924 2 3 1.078 1 3 2 1 76 18 (*) .859 .775 2 3 2 3 9 144 17 23 1.151 .937 1.036 .927 2 2 2 11 13 6 .806 .783 .793 2 3 3 11 9 25 .840 .849 .980 i South Central region includes Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas; North Central region includes Illinois; Eastern region includes Pennsylvania and West Virginia. * Too few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. Seven-eighths of the employees in the South Central region and nearly three-fourths of those in the North Central region were in occu pations having average hourly earnings between 80 cents and $1.00 an hour. In the Eastern region slightly less than one-third of the workers were in occupations with earnings within that range, but fully two-thirds were in occupations averaging $1.00 or more an hour. The substantially higher level of earnings in the East is clearly indi cated by general regional averages based on data for 22 identical occupations. "Workers in these occupations in the Eastern region earned 11.4 cents more per hour on the average than similar workers in the South Central region and 15.7 cents an hour more than similar workers in the North Central region. Lead smelting.—In the 13 lead smelters studied in the Bureau survey, average hourly earnings varied from 76.6 cents for watchmen to $1,215 for class A bricklayers (table 6). Approximately 62 percent of the workers were in occupations with average earnings between 80 and 90 cents an hour. In only one occupation in the processing depart 23 Part I I — Prim ary Smelting and Refining ment, that of desilverizing kettlemen, did workers average over $1.00 an hour. The highest earnings were found in the maintenance depart ment, where well over two-fifths of the workers were in 6 occupational classifications with average earnings in excess of $1.00 an hour. Loaders and unloaders, the largest occupational group, earned an average of 89.7 cents an hour. Janitors and watchmen were the only workers receiving earnings below 80 cents an hour. T able 6.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Lead Smeltings by R egion,1 June 1943 Total Occupation Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A ........................................ Bricklayers, refractory brick, class B........................................ Carpenters, class A ...................... Carpenters, class B ...................... Electricians, class A ..................... Electricians, class B ..................... Helpers, journeymen— ............... Machinists, class A......... ............. Machinists, class B ............ .......... ‘M^intAnnnrfi man, gpno.rn.1 Supervision: Working foremen, processing de partments.................................. Processing—Smelting department: Bag-house operators..................... Binmen......................................... Blast-furnace chargers.................. Blast-furnace operators_________ Blast-furnace tappers................... Crushermen.................................. Roaster and sinter firemen.......... Processing—Refining department: Casting-machine operators_____ Desilverizing kettlemen________ Dross kettlemen........................... Furnace helpers, all-round.......... Furnace operators (refining and softening)................................... Inspection and testing: Samplers........................ .............Recording and control: Weighers, metal_______________ Material movement: Crane followers........................— Crane operators, electric bridge.Loaders and unloaders............... Motormen_______ ____________ Truckers, hand________________ Custodial: Guards.......................................— Janitors (including change-house men).......................................... Watchmen.................................... Midwest West Aver Aver Aver Num Num age Num Num age Num Num age ber of hourly ber of ber of hourly ber of ber of hourly ber of work work work earn plants ers earn plants ers earn plants ers ings ings ings 6 2 9 7 9 7 10 10 8 3 11 $1,215 4 3 59 22 38 17 145 50 23 35 1.062 1.060 .962 1.034 1.026 .839 1.050 .945 .996 1 7 3 6 3 5 7 4 9 $1,209 2 56 10 26 8 113 41 14 (*) 1.056 .987 1.038 1.002 .839 1.055 .941 2 2 $1,243 1 2 4 3 4 5 3 4 3 1 3 12 12 9 32 9 9 35 (’) 1.147 .942 1.027 1.046 .838 1.027 .951 .996 4 22 1.102 3 19 1.120 1 3 9 0 10 9 9 6 8 57 26 81 46 65 44 70 .944 .813 .818 .896 .893 .890 .828 6 4 6 6 5 5 7 40 23 45 27 43 42 55 .956 .811 .860 .947 .891 .888 .839 3 1 4 3 4 1 1 17 3 36 19 22 2 15 .917 (2) .765 .823 .897 (*) (2) 7 3 8 8 49 18 47 76 .940 1.061 .843 .850 3 2 3 5 26 14 19 59 .949 .937 .858 .861 4 1 5 3 23 4 28 17 .930 (*) .833 .813 (*) 5 43 .931 3 29 .963 2 14 .864 10 67 .878 6 61 .880 4 6 .856 10 32 .943 6 24 .939 4 8 .952 3 10 10 7 3 13 55 164 93 27 .827 .934 .897 .875 .829 1 6 6 5 2 7 42 131 58 15 (’) .930 .845 .886 .849 2 4 4 2 1 6 13 33 35 12 (3) .943 1.104 .857 <’) 7 58 .858 4 35 .894 3 23 .802 12 8 57 40 .798 .766 6 5 35 23 .833 .776 6 3 22 17 .742 .752 i West region includes California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Texas and Utah; Midwest region includes Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, i Too few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. In both the West and the Midwest, the highest average hourly earnings, $1,209 and $1,243, respectively, were received by class A bricklayers, and the lowest earnings found in each of these regions were received by watchmen (77.6 cents an hour) in the West, and jani tors (74.2 cents an horn) in the Midwest. In approximately one-half of the occupational groups for which figures are presented, there is 24 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry considerable uniformity in the averages for the West and the Mid west. Averages for these two regions, based on 25 identical jobs and using constant weights, indicate an absolute difference of less than 1 cent between the two regions. Electrolytic copper refining.— The earnings of workers in the 8 elec trolytic copper refineries studied ranged from a low of 81.8 cents an hour for janitors to a high of $1,329 an hour for class A bricklayers (table 7). Somewhat more than three-fifths of all the workers studied were found in the 21 occupations having average earnings of between 85 cents and $1.00 an hour. All workers in occupations classified in the maintenance group, excluding class B electricians and journey men's helpers, earned more than $1.00 an hour. Well over two-fifths of the workers were employed in 17 processing occupations; in only 2 of these occupations, however, strippers and reverberatory-furnace operators, did workers earn as much as $1.00 an hour. Ingot in spectors and crane operators, the 2 largest occupational groups, aver aged 90.3 cents and 91.1 cents an hour, respectively. T able 7.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Electrolytic Copper Refining, by Region,1 June 1943 Total Occupation Maintenance: Bricklayers, refractory brick, class A ........................................ Carpenters, class A ____ ________ Carpenters, class B ...................... Electricians, class A__................. Electricians, class B__................. Helpers, journeymen___________ Machinists, class A ____________ Machinists, class B ....... ............. Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments.............................. Processing: Circulation men, tanks........... .... Electrolytic-tank operators_____ Hot-sheet men......................... . Loopers and punchers__________ Strippers.-................................... Washers and cleaners................... Casting-machine operators______ Furnace helpers, all-round........... Ladlers (mold casting)................. Reverberatory-furnace chargers— Reverberatory-furnace operators. Wheelmen..................................... Filter operators............................ Furnace operators. - ..................... Leach operators............................ Process operators.......................... Roaster and sinter firemen______ Inspection and testing: Inspectors, ingots............ ............. Samplers....................................... Voltmeter men (tankhouse)_____ Recording and control: Weighers, copper_____ _________ Material movement: Crane followers......................... Crane operators, electric bridge. . Motormen..................................... Custodial: Guards...................... .................. Janitors....................................... . East Other States Aver Aver Aver Num Num age Num Num age Num Num age ber of hourly ber of hourly ber of hourly ber of work ber of work ber of work plants ers earn plants ers earn plants earn ers ings ings ings 16 $1,329 81 1.092 23 1.036 53 1.107 36 .985 .914 89 87 1.126 53 1.028 1 5 4 4 4 1 4 45 1.025 7 7 8 7 5 7 6 6 8 3 5 6 5 3 91 32 137 49 130 86 40 48 53 47 104 160 10 35 36 29 27 .903 .940 .835 .970 1.008 .904 .960 .880 .896 .938 1.006 .949 .902 .969 .928 .943 .830 7 8 7 225 123 55 3 6 5 6 5 3 6 5 4 5 7 13 (*) 43 $1,117 21 1.052 30 1.156 31 1.010 26 (*) 72 1.140 53 1.028 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 38 2 23 5 63 15 (*) (*) (*) $1,044 (2) .944 (J) 2 20 .976 2 25 1.065 5 .896 .976 .927 .988 1.058 .871 .960 .901 .895 .935 1.019 .953 .873 .963 .942 .945 .830 2 3 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 9 12 33 2 30 47 24 36 19 10 6 8 3 3 2 8 .966 .881 («) (*) .842 .932 .960 .873 .897 .951 .794 .862 4 3 82 20 104 47 100 39 16 12 34 37 98 152 7 32 34 21 27 .903 .902 .834 5 5 4 218 119 27 .911 .906 .926 2 3 3 7 4 28 .649 .782 .745 5 5 4 3 4 5 5 4 2 5 4 4 5 2 4 5 (j) (3) (3) (*) 6 51 .908 3 37 .907 3 14 .910 7 7 6 86 273 30 .842 .911 .853 5 5 4 72 252 20 .826 .913 .935 2 2 2 14 21 10 .926 .882 .691 2 51 48 .877 .818 1 4 34 45 .812 1 1 17 3 5 (») (*) 0 ) 1 East includes Maryland, New Jersey, and New York; “Other States” include Montana, Texas, and Washington. * Too few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of au average. 25 Part I I — Prim ary Smelting and Refining The regional analysis is presented in table 7 principally to show separate earnings data for the 5 plants in the Eastern region. * The 3 plants represented in the earnings shown for “ other States” are widely scattered (one in each of the States of Montana, Texas, and Washingtion) and the combined averages for these three plants have very limited significance. It will be noted also that the average hourly earnings for workers in the East have a dominating influence on the averages shown for all 8 copper refineries, because of the relatively large number of workers in the Eastern plants. Nearly three-fourths of the workers studied in the 5 Eastern electrolytic copper refineries were in occupations with average earn ings of between 80 cents and $1.00 an hour, and all of the remaining workers were in occupations averaging $1.00 or more an hour. Electrolytic zinc production.— The information presented for electro lytic zinc production is based on data for 1,203 workers in 5 widely scattered plants (table 8). Over 90 precent of the workers in these plants were in occupations averaging 90 cents or more an hour. The highest average ($1,146 an hour) was earned by class A electricians and the lowest average (70 cents an hour) by loaders and unloaders. Strippers, who formed the largest occupational group (320 workers), earned an average of 99 cents an hour. Leach operators, the second largest occupational group, had average hourly earnings of 92.8 cents an hour. With the exception of journeymen’s helpers, who earned 90.7 cents an hour, all workers in the maintenance occupational groups averaged more than $1.00 an hour. T able 8.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupations in Electrolytic Zinc Production , June 1943 1 Number of plants Occupation Maintenance: Carpenters, cIass A _ . Carpenters, class B __ Electricians, a1a.sk A Helpers, journeymen Machinists, class A __ __ _ ... . ... Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments________ Processing: Electrolytic-tank operators___ _______________ . . . . Filter operators............... ......................... „................ Furnace operators (casting)_____________ _________ Furnace operators’ helpers, all-round Lawlers ... . Leach operators _ .. __ Roaster firemen. _ _ _ Strippers Inspection and testing: Samplers ...... , __ .__ T Recording and control: Weighers, metal __ ..... __ Material movement: Loaders and unloadA m ... Trnolr drivers __ Truckers, hand _ Custodial: Guards Janitors. _ . r _ _. . . . . .. _____ _ ___ . _ Watchmen__________________________________ _______ __ _________ Number of workers Average hourly earnings 32 3 23 47 14 $1,076 1.071 1.146 .907 1.140 4 49 1.099 5 5 3 3 5 5 3 5 93 66 46 22 76 168 70 320 .966 1.007 .979 .970 .971 .928 .974 .990 6 23 .912 3 5 1.120 3 29 4 3 53 18 1.004 .894 2 4 26 13 17 .861 .796 .924 3 2 4 4 4 3 .700 1 States included are Idaho, Illinois, Montana, and Texas. SECON DARY SM ELTING Secondary smelting plants are engaged in the reclaiming or sal vaging of nonferrous metals from either old or new scrap material. 26 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry The impurities in this scrap material are removed by various heating processes, and the pure metal recovered from such scrap is then usually poured into ingots. The Bureau’s survey of nonferrous-metal secondary smelters in cluded 79 plants, most of which are situated in or near large cities. Each of the plants covered employed 9 or more workers, and detailed occupational wage data were obtained for a total of 4,611 workers. Incentive-wage systems are not commonly used in secondary smelters. At the time of the survey more than 95 percent of the workers in these establishments were paid on a time basis. All workers were compensated at the rate of time and a half for work above 40 hours a week. In 56 plants, this overtime rate was also paid for all work in excess of 8 hours a day. Forty-nine of the 67 smelters report ing established entrance rates for male common labor paid hourly rates to these workers of between 65 and 80 cents. At the time of the survey, 83.4 percent of the workers covered were employed in plants having union agreements. Sixty-four of the plants studied operated more than one shift. Approximately two-thirds of the workers were employed on the first or daylight shift, one-fifth on the second or evening shift, and 15 percent on the third or night shift. Shift differentials were paid to workers on the second and third shift in only 8 of the 64 plants operating more than one shift. In addition to figures for the country as a whole, detailed data are also presented for three broad regions, West, Central, and East. Average H ourly Earnings, by Occupation Straight-time average hourly earnings for 4,611 workers classified into 25 selected occupational groups are shown in table 9. Women workers were found in only one occupation— class C hand scrap sorters. A separate average is not shown for the 9 women employed in this occupation, because the difference between their hourly earnings and those of male workers in the same occupation is negligible. For all secondary smelters included in the survey, the range in average hourly earnings was from 63.8 cents an hour for watchmen to $1,178 an hour for class A machinists. The range in hourly earnings for processing occupations was from 74.9 cents for class C scrap sorters to 90.6 cents for class B grinding-machine operators. Furnace operators’ helpers, who accounted for roughly one-fourth of all the workers studied, were paid an average of 79.9 cents an hour. Blastand reverberatory-furnace operators and potmen together accounted for well over one-fourth of the total number of workers and earned average rates of 88.6 cents and 88.8 cents an hour, respectively. Average earnings of more than $1.00 an hour were paid only to workers in some of the maintenance occupations. In each of the three regions for which wage data are shown, the lowest average hourly earnings were paid to watchmen. Similarly, in each of the three regions, the highest average rates were earned by class A workers in one of the maintenance occupations. 27 Part I I — Prim ary Smelting and Refining T able 9.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f Workers in Selected Occupations in Secondary Smelters, by Region,1 June 1943 West Total Occupation Maintenance: Carpenters, class A __ Carpenters, class R Electricians, class A ________________ Electricians, class R Machinists, class A . _ _ _ ___ Machinists, class R Maintenance men, general__________ Supervision: Working foremen, processing departments Processing: Briqiietting-machine operators Casters__ I _________ 2_____________ Furnace operators, blast and reverberatory_________________________ Furnace operators, other Furnace operators’ helpers__________ Grinding-machine operators, class B._ Grinding-machine operators, class C „ Potmen........ .......... ...... i_................... Scrap-separator operators Scrap sorters, hand, class B ............... Scrap sorters^ handj class C _________ Inspection and testing:' Samplers Recording and control: Weighers _ Material movement: Truck drivers __ _ ____ . . _ Truckers, hand _ _ _ _ Custodial: Janitors __ __ _ Watchmen. _ . Number Number of of plants workers 8 15 8 13 8 14 20 10 19 12 49 11 32 74 Average Number Number hourly of earnings of plants workers $1.170 .922 1.142 1.035 1.178 .920 .924 $1.226 .975 0 2 2 1.175 5 9 .961 29 74 .997 6 12 1.162 35 27 161 175 .824 .890 4 3 15 25 .886 1.150 60 35 56 9 8 41 22 37 28 811 287 1,051 68 21 450 145 182 149 .886 .869 .799 .906 .782 .888 .812 .824 .749 11 3 6 1 1 5 117 14 53 9 2 58 .934 .870 .868 1 2 1 4 22 55 .799 3 3 0 0 0 .868 .850 .867 26 108 .852 3 6 .900 44 16 108 398 .886 .769 7 3 15 32 .945 .866 29 33 65 96 .748 .638 3 2 4 3 .744 .733 Central Maintenance: Carpenters, class A Carpenters, class B _________________ Electricians, class A ___ ___________ Electricians, class "R Machinists, class A Machinists, class B _________________ Maintenance men, general Supervision: Working foremen, processing depart ments___________________________ Processing: ■Rriqnetting-machine operators Casters____________________________ Furnace operators, blast and rever beratory_________________________ Furnace operators, other_ _ Furnace operators’ helpers............ ...... Grinding-machine operators, class B__ Grinding-machine operators, class C__ Potmen................................................ Scrap-separator operators___________ Scrap sorters, hand, class B _ . Scrap sorters, hand, class C _ Inspection and testing: Samplers _ Recording and control: Weighers . Material movement: Truck drivers __ Truckers, hand . _ . Custodial: Janitors _ Watchmen. _ 4 2 1 4 2 1 Average hourly earnings 2 9 2 9 4 7 12 3 10 2 39 4 12 58 East $1.197 .926 1.263 1.048 1.241 .980 .916 2 4 5 4 2 7 3 3 7 9 10 5 20 7 $1.070 .902 1.120 .983 1.128 .883 .944 13 34 .952 10 28 .980 17 16 67 97 .786 .821 14 8 79 53 .844 .892 30 14 30 5 3 19 13 22 13 506 100 461 46 12 296 92 125 59 .882 .895 .790 .904 .794 .897 .802 .826 .741 19 18 20 3 4 17 9 14 13 188 173 537 13 7 96 53 56 86 .866 .855 .800 .849 .721 .874 .832 .817 .751 .778 13 38 .801 6 14 13 59 .811 10 43 .902 18 11 42 319 .894 .770 19 2 51 47 .861 .696 16 17 44 41 .755 .604 10 14 17 52 .730 .659 i West region includes California and Washington; Central region includes Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio; East region includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, i Too few workers and/or plants to warrant computation of an average. 28 W ages in N onferrous-M etals Industry The Western region, including California and Washington, em ployed only 391 of the workers studied in secondary smelters. Aver age earnings in this region varied from a low of 73.3 cents an hour for watchmen to a high of $1,226 for class A carpenters. Blast- and reverberatory-furnace operators accounted for nearly one-third of the workers in the region and earned an hourly average of 93.4. All processing workers except 25 casters, whose average hourly earnings amounted to $1.15, were in occupations with average earnings between 85 and 95 cents an hour. The Central region, most important from the standpoint of employ ment and number of plants, accounted for more than half of the workers studied and included the six States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri and Kansas. Employees in this region had average earnings ranging from 60.4 cents for watchmen to $1,263 for class A electricians. Nearly one-fifth of the workers were employed as blast- and reverberatory-furnace operators and earned an average of 88.2 cents an hour. Furnace operators’ helpers and hand truckers, next in order of numerical importance, had average earnings of 79 and 77 cents an hour, respectively. The Eastern region consisted of 28 plants in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, employing 1,654 of the workers included in the survey. Average earnings for all workers in the region ranged from 65.9 cents an hour for watchmen to $1,128 an hour for class A machinists. More than half of the workers were employed as furnace operators and furnace operators’ helpers. Average hourly earnings for these three groups of workers amounted to 86.6, 85.5 and 80 cents an hour, respectively. Of the processing workers 93 percent were in occupations having average earnings between 80 and 90 cents an hour. Only two processing occupations, class C scrap sorters and class C grinding-machine operators, had hourly earnings outside of this 10-cent range; the averages for the workers engaged in these two occupations were 75.1 and 72.1 cents an hour, respectively. P a r t III .— Wage Changes from August 1941 to June 1943 Average hourly earnings in the nonferrous-metals industry were sub stantially higher in June 1943 than in August 1941, the date of the Bureau's earlier survey of the industry. For workers engaged in mining and milling, gross average hourly earnings, which include premium payments for overtime work, rose from 78 cents in August 1941 to $1.00 in June 1943, an increase of about 28 percent. Elimi nating the influence of overtime work at premium rates, the increase was approximately 25 percent. In the nonferrous smelting and refining industry as a whole, gross average hourly earnings increased from approximately 82 cents in August 1941 to about $1.03 in June 1943, or nearly 26 percent. Excluding overtime premium payments, this increase amounted to roughly 20 percent. It must be noted that these over-all earnings data provide only a general picture of the shift in wages between the two periods studied, since they may be influenced considerably by changes in the occupational structure of the industry. For the purpose of measuring the wage changes which occurred in specific occupations between August 1941 and June 1943, comparative straight-time average hourly earnings are shown in tables 10 to 12 for certain occupations which were studied in connection with both of the Bureau's surveys. The number of occupations for which comparisons can be shown are limited by differences in the methods used in the two studies. Whereas the earlier study covered virtually all occupa tions in the various branches of the industry, the June 1943 study was confined to selected key occupations. Moreover, in some instances, earnings data were computed for broader occupational groups in 1941 than in 1943. The 1943 earnings data for certain occupational groups— for example, class A and B maintenance workers—have therefore been combined, for purposes of comparison, to conform with data presented in the 1941 study. On the whole, the occupations for which comparisons are made are believed to represent workers whose occupational duties and responsibilities were similar. M IN IN G A N D M IL L IN G A comparison of average hourly earnings for 24 individual occupa tions in the mining and milling division of the nonferrous-metals industry reveals that every group of workers represented experienced an appreciable increase between August 1941 and June 1943 (table 10). Although average wage increases ranged from a low of 8 percent for truck drivers to a high of 35 percent for muckers, there was, in general, a considerable degree of uniformity from one occupation to another in the percentage of change. Sixteen of the 24 occupations showed increases of 15 to 25 percent. Increases of over 21 percent were found in half of the jobs, the remainder receiving less than that amount. Increases of less than 15 percent were found in only 4 occu pations. The relatively large increase for muckers, as has been indicated, was due in part to substantial gains in incentive earnings and to other special factors operating in certain regions. 29 30 Wages in Nonferrous -M etals Industry T able 10.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupations in M in in g and M illin g o f Nonferrous M etals, August 1941 and June 1943 Average hourly earnings Occupation 1941 Maintenance: Blacksmiths ____ $0,776 Carpenters________ ___ .831 Electricians...................... ...... .828 Processing—Mining: .763 Cagers, inside_______ _______ .849 Drilling-machine operators. __ .834 Loading-machine operators.. . Muckers................................... .666 Pumpmen ... .. .720 Timbermcn T .776 Trackmen._______ _________ .721 Processing—Milling: Ball-mill operators__________ .723 Crusher operators___________ .694 Flotation operators................. .745 Jig operators........ ................... .692 Occupation 1941 1943 $0,930 .965 1.005 .933 .937 .929 .897 .902 .981 .849 .871 .810 .901 .818 Average hourly earnings Inspection and testing: Samplers, ore, mine_________ $0,752 Samplers, m ill........................ .677 Recording and control: Time .876 keepers............... ........................ Material movement: Hoistmen........ ........................ .749 Motormen, inside___________ .785 Tractor and truck operators.. .706 Trammers._______ _________ .632 Truck drivers ___ .774 Custodial: .611 Change-house men__________ Watchmen ... .. .644 1943 $0,850 .824 1.012 .927 .947 .858 .782 .838 .782 .747 PRIMARY SMELTING AND REFINING Table 11 presents comparative data for selected occupations in primary smelting and refining establishments. For convenience in presentation, data for all branches of the industry are shown in one tabulation. The occupations listed are not, of course, found in all branches. It has been necessary, moreover, to omit the wage data for certain occupations because of differences in definition or in the areas surveyed in the two periods. As in mining and milling, wage increases were realized by workers in all occupations which were covered during both of the periods studied, and for which comparative wage data are shown in table 11. In general, however, the increases in average hourly earnings in most smelting and refining occupations were lower than in the mining and milling occupations studied. On a relative basis, workers in the occupations studied in copper smelting establishments enjoyed greater wage increases than those employed in lead and zinc smelting plants. Percentage increases in average hourly earnings in copper smelting were relatively uniform and ranged from 15 percent for machinists to about 25 percent for reverberatory-furnace chargers. The percentage wage increases in lead and zinc smelting, on the other hand, varied considerably from one occupation to another, ranging in lead smelting from 2 percent for casting-machine operators to 22 percent for samplers, and in zinc smeltmg from 5 percent for retort chargers to slightly more than 28 percent for watchmen. The median increases among the occupa tions represented were copper smelting, 18 percent; zinc smelting, 12 percent; lead smelting, 17 percent. For the occupations studied in the electrolytic refining of copper and in electrolytic zinc produc tion, the range in the amount of the wage increases between the various occupations was also relatively great. In electrolytic copper refining, however, workers in 14 of the 20 occupations for which comparisons are shown had increases in average hourly earnings of 10 to 20 percent from August 1941 to June 1943. The median increase was 14 percent. In the electrolytic production of zinc, 31 Part I I I — W age Changes, August 1941 to June 1943 comparisons are shown for only 7 occupations; the increases in average hourly earnings ranged from 5 percent for samplers to 27 percent for filter operators. Strippers, who constituted the largest occupational group in electrolytic zinc production, received an 18-percent increase in average hourly earnings between August 1941 and June 1943. T able 11.— Straight-time Average H ourly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupations in P rim ary Smelting and Refining o f Nonferrous M etals, August 1941 and June 1943 Straight-time average hourly earnings— Smelting Occupation Copper 1941 1943 Zinc 1941 1943 Lead 1941 1943 Electrolytic copper refining Electrolytic production of zinc 1941 1941 1943 Maintenance: Carpenters........................ $0,890 $1,037 $0,939 $1,044 $0.859 $1,033 $0,939 $1,080 $0,874 .929 1.058 .901 1.045 .977 1.065 Electricians____________ .914 1.039 Gas-producer operators__ Machinists .839 1.017 .962 1.089 .901 1.032 .967 1.064 Processing: .798 .944 Bag-house operators .870 .896 Blast-furnace operators. — .793 .893 Blast-furnace tappers____ .926 .866 .940 .846 Casting-machine operators. .749 .960 Chambermen (acid department)________________ .978 1.052 .959 1.003 Chargers, retorts, hand__ 1.862 .925 ChiselersL______________ .795 Circulation men, tanks .903 Connie hnys 1.824 .897 .849 Converter punchers_____ .710 Cottrell operators_______ .769 .953 Electrolytic-tank operators. .826 .860 .940 Filter operators__ .792 Furnace operators .859 .969 .903 "ITot-sheet men _ _ .791 .835 Ladlers________________ .866 .896 Leach operators________ .820 .928 Lead burners (acid de partment) _ 1.216 1.287 Loamers_______________ .864 .933 Loopers and punchers___ .829 .970 Metal drawers .938 1.007 Mill operators (crush, grind, and mix) .785 .911 Retort firemen__________ .990 1; 112 Reverberatory-furnace .673 .893 chargers ________ .840 .938 Reverberatory-furnace operators .783 .933 .863 1.006 Reverberatory-furnace .728 .891 tappers........ ............ . .741 Roaster and sinter firemen. .850 1.036 .828 .804 .830 Stampers .853 .958 .842 .852 1.008 Strippers_______________ .904 .734 Washers and cleaners __ Inspection and testing: .722 .832 .902 Samplers......................... . .711 .759 .897 .878 .777 .870 Voltmeter men (tank.785 .834 house) _______________ Recording and control: Weighers, copper ______ —. 810 .908 Weighers, metal . _ .943 .808 .798 .896 Material movement: .857 Crane followers................ .732 Crane operators, electric bridge .789 .819 .969 .934 Motormen. _ .746 .875 .775 .897 Custodial: .713 .693 .827 .798 .685 Janitors._______________ .670 .810 .726 .818 Watchmen .768 .893 .675 .671 .697 .766 i Revised figure. 1943 $1,076 .966 1.007 .979 .990 .912 .796 82 W ages in Nonferrous -M etals Industry SEC O N D A R Y SM E LT IN G Increases in average hourly earnings for selected occupations studied in secondary smelting operations ranged from 8 percent for weighers to 27 percent for briquetting-machine operators (table 12). Average hourly earnings for the two largest occupational groups— furnace operators and furnace operators’ helpers—were increased 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Scrap sorters, also accounting for a large number of workers during both periods studied, received an increase in earnings averaging 14 cents an hour, or a relative increase of 21 percent, between August 1941 and June 1943. T able 12.— Straight-Tim e Average H ourly Earnings o f W orkers in Selected Occupations in Secondary Smelting o f Nonferrous M etals, August 1941 and June 1943 Occupation Average hourly earnings 1941 Briquetting-machine operators.... $0,649 Furnace operators....... .............. .770 .733 Furnace operators’ helpers______ .606 Janitors______ _________- _______ fiamplATS .686 1943 $0,824 .882 .799 .748 .799 Occupation Average hourly earnings 1941 Scrap sorters__________ _________ $0,653 Truck drivers_____ .715 Truckers, hand________________ .697 .560 Watchmen......... . — ___ Weighers______ _ ________ .787 1943 $0,790 .886 .769 .638 .852
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