EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE PORTABLE-LAMP AND LAMP-SHADE INDUSTRIES, FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1940 1

2

Summary

IN February and March 1940, earnings in the portable-lamp industry averaged 49 cents per hour, and in the lamp-shade industry slightly less than 41 cents an hour. Within each industry, however, individual hourly earnings varied widely from under 30 cents to more than three times that amount. There were strong concentrations, in both industries, in the range of 30 and under 40 cents, although the portable-lamp industry, employing a preponderance of male workers, showed higher wages throughout than the lamp-shade industry, with its relatively large complement of female workers.

The present article covers working supervisors, factory clerks, and manual workers, but not office workers. Data on the wages of home workers in the lamp-shade industry appear at the end of this article.

Characteristics of the Industries

DEFINITION OF INDUSTRIES

The portable-lamp industry, as defined by the Wage and Hour Administrator, includes "the manufacture or assembling of any portable lamp which may be plugged into electrical outlets, or an assembled device that is made to receive a socket for lighting purposes and is portable." Some of the larger establishments engaged in the production of portable lamps manufacture their lamp bases, cut the pipe for standards, stamp out or mold various parts, and then assemble and wire these parts to form the complete lamp. Some of these firms also cut the materials and make the shades for their own lamps. Other firms, especially the smaller ones, buy all the parts and shades from establishments which specialize in their manufacture and merely assemble these parts to produce the complete lamp. The firms which

1 Prepared by Sidney C. Sufrin, assisted by P. L. Jones and John F. Laciskey, of the Bureau's Division of Wage and Hour Statistics. This article is a summary of a longer report under the same title, Serial No. R. 1204, copies of which may be obtained from the Bureau.

* Earnings at overtime rates were excluded from these comparisons. Were they included the average hourly earnings for each industry would have been raised by less than 1 cent.

are limited to assembly work account for a large proportion of the smaller-sized plants included in the survey. Establishments specializing in the manufacture of parts but not assembling the lamps were excluded from the Bureau's survey.

The lamp-shade industry as defined by the Administrator includes. "the manufacturing of any complete device of any material which can be attached to a portable lamp, or to an electric incandescent bulb as a part of a portable electric lamp, or to an electric fixture and which when so attached will either partially or completely surround the electric incandescent bulb or bulbs; the purpose of such device being primarily for shielding the light source from the normal field of vision, and for decoration, except reflectors of metal, glass, or plastics." Silk, rayon, acetate, mica, and parchment (pure and paper) constitute the principal materials used in making lamp shades. Plants making

these several types of shades were included in the Bureau's study, but the relatively few employees who make the wire frames for lamp shades were not included.3

According to the Bureau's estimates, the portable-lamp industry employs some 5,300 workers and the lamp-shade industry about 5,000 workers. Of the 191 establishments covered by the Bureau's study, 74 manufactured both lamps and lamp shades. In such cases, for tabulation purposes, the workers making lamps were separated from those making shades and the establishment was regarded as 2 plants. Altogether some 4,959 workers (about evenly divided between the 2 types of products) were employed in these combination establishments, or about half the estimated employment in the 2 industries together.

A

Except for the New York metropolitan area, very little progress had been made toward regulating working conditions through trade-union agreements. In that area 39 portable-lamp factories and 30 lampshade plants had workers covered by trade-union agreements.* few Philadelphia plants in both industries were also unionized, but elsewhere only 3 lamp plants and 2 lamp-shade plants were found which had a union agreement.

Coverage of Study

The field survey was based upon a carefully selected sample of 137 representative lamp plants and 128 lamp-shade establishments.5 In both industries less than 1 percent of the workers were found in the entire South, being confined to Florida, Kentucky, and Maryland in

Most of the wire frames are purchased rather than made by firms in this industry. Information concerning home workers is also excluded from the detailed wage and hour data presented, but, as noted, the earnings of a selected sample of home workers are given at the end of this article.

A union establishment, as defined in this survey, is one in which the majority of the employees are covered by either a written or an oral agreement with a trade-union.

The survey was limited to establishments employing three or more wage carners.

the case of the plants making portable lamps, and to Kentucky and Maryland in the case of those making shades. For the southern district all establishments were included; for the other districts all of the plants with 100 or more employees but only about half of the small- and medium-sized establishments. Since only one-half of the small- and medium-sized establishments were covered, the data secured for such establishments were weighted by 2. The final tabulations include all of the data obtained from the southern and largesized plants, in addition to the weighted data from the small- and medium-sized plants. Thus, the combined figures represent the entire industry.

Portable-Lamp Industry

AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS

The overwhelming majority of wage earners in the portable-lamp industry are paid on a straight time-rate basis.

Hourly Earnings of All Workers

Hourly earnings of the 5,302 wage earners covered in the portablelamp survey during February and March 1940 averaged 49.4 cents. Earnings among individual establishments, however, varied considerably, with plant averages ranging from 27 to 80 cents an hour. Despite the wide difference between these extremes, nearly two-thirds of the plants (64.2 percent), employing approximately 68.8 percent of the workers, showed averages that were within the range of 37.5 and under 55 cents.

In table 1, which presents the percentage distribution of individual workers according to average hourly earnings, the broad dispersion of wages is further reflected. Omitting the most extreme classes, this table shows that individual hourly earnings ranged from 25 cents to $1.10. Within this range was found 98.7 percent of the entire labor force.

Variations by Sex and Skill

Women constituted only a minor fraction (less than 10 percent) of the entire labor force. Almost nine-tenths of these women were semiskilled workers. Because of the extremely small number of female workers classed as skilled and unskilled-33 of the former and 36 of the latter-distributions by skill are not given for the female group.

The difference between the average hourly earnings of skilled and semiskilled shows a much greater spread than the corresponding difference between the averages for the semiskilled and unskilled. The former difference is nearly 27 cents, while the latter figure is only about 6 cents.

TABLE 1.-Percentage Distribution of Portable-Lamp Workers, by Average Hourly Earnings, Sex, and Skill, February and March 1940

1 Number of females too small to warrant percentage distribution by skill.

2 Less than a tenth of 1 percent.

3 Includes 33 skilled workers, 454 semiskilled workers, and 36 unskilled workers.

Variations in Earnings in Selected Metropolitan Areas

Although the plants of this industry were found in 13 States, nearly three-fourths of the workers were employed in 3 metropolitan areas. New York led with 1,729, or 32.6 percent of the total employed; Chicago followed with 1,611, or 30.4 percent; and Philadelphia had 620, or 11.7 percent.

Among these 3 areas, Philadelphia had the highest average hourly earnings, 55.2 cents, in contrast with 51.4 cents in New York and 46.8 cents in Chicago. The higher Philadelphia average was due in part to the very small proportion of female workers there. Only 10 female workers were found in Philadelphia out of a total of 620 workers in that area. However, that city also showed higher average hourly earnings for male workers alone-55.4 cents, as compared with averages of 52.5 cents in New York and 48.8 cents in Chicago.

The average hourly earnings shown for the Philadelphia and New York areas include wages in unionized as well as nonunionized plants. In Chicago, none of the plants covered by the survey were reported as having union agreements, and this may help to explain the lower averages there. The average hourly earnings in nonunion plants in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago were 51.6 cents, 49.2 cents, and 46.8 cents, respectively. The average hourly earnings in unionized plants were 56.3 cents in Philadelphia and 52.3 cents in New York.

The earnings for the 4,623 workers (4,171 males and 452 females) in all metropolitan areas with populations of 1,000,000 or over averaged 50.1 cents an hour. In metropolitan areas of less than 1,000,000 average hourly earnings were 44.4 cents. Only 679 workers were employed in these areas.

WEEKLY HOURS AND EARNINGS

Full-Time Weekly Hours

Of the 137 plants covered in the survey of the portable-lamp industry in February and March 1940, there were 79 that had full-time hours of 40 per week, while 33 were on a 42-hour basis. The fulltime hours of most of the remaining plants ranged from 40.5 to 48 hours per week. In 4 of the establishments which employed a total of nearly 100 workers, full-time hours of less than 40 per week were reported. The averages applied to the majority of the employees in a plant. Maintenance, powerhouse, and service workers frequently had different schedules of working hours from those of the main body of wage earners.

Actual Weekly Hours

The actual weekly hours of all wage earners in the portable-lamp industry averaged 39.4 during February and March 1940. The male workers averaged 39.5 hours, as against an average of 37.8 hours for female employees. Among the males, the figures were 39.1 hours for skilled, 39.8 hours for semiskilled, and 39.4 hours for unskilled workers.

Weekly Earnings

Weekly earnings in February and March 1940 for all wage earners covered in the portable-lamp industry averaged $19.45, exclusive of earnings due to the extra rates for overtime. The average for males was $20.02, as compared with $14.26 for females. Among the males, the averages amounted to $27.38 for skilled, $17.46 for semiskilled, and $14.74 for unskilled.

Nearly three-fifths (59.5 percent) of all wage earners covered in the survey earned $12.50 and under $22.50 per week, while 13.4 percent earned less than $12.50 per week. Workers earning $22.50 and under $30 amounted to 15.2 percent of the total, while those earning $30 per week and over constituted 11.9 percent of the total.

Lamp-Shade Industry

AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS

More than one-half (52.4 percent) of all the workers in the lampshade industry are paid on a time basis. The principal occupations

• The inclusion of earnings due to the extra rates for overtime work increases the average weekly earnings of all workers in the industry by 21 cents.