Contents Working conditions of journalists in various countries. Campaign for the prevention of blindness among industrial workers.. South Carolina-Endemic pellagra in the cotton-mill villages.... Fifth international congress on industrial accidents and occupational Finnish cooperative boarding houses...--- Cooperative oil associations in North Central States.. Condition of farmers' cooperative movement... Workers' education and training: A library adult education program.. Need for evening schools...--. Canada Apprenticeship law of Ontario.......... Labor organizations and congresses: Strikes and lockouts in the United States, November, 1928------ Conciliation work of the Department of Labor in November, 1928. Work of Railroad Board of Mediation during 1927-28... Germany-Metal workers' dispute and compulsory arbitration, by Wages and hours of labor in the men's clothing industry, 1928---- Salaries of teachers in higher educational institutions__---- New York-Earnings of office workers in factories___-- Arbitrator grants wage increases to German metal workers____ China-Wages and working conditions in Shanghai leather trade. This Issue in Brief This Labor accounts for only 41.8 per cent of the cost of erecting a building, while material accounts for 58.1 per cent, according to a study made in three representative cities by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. study also shows the proportionate cost of labor and material in each of the major items of erecting a building, and what portion of the building dollar is spent for each class of work. Material formed a larger percentage of the cost than labor in all the items that make up the cost of residential building, except excavating, painting, papering, and plastering. In nonresidential building only three items-excavating, plastering, and painting-show a higher labor cost than material cost. Carpenter work takes the largest slice of the building dollar in residential building, 32.7 cents of each dollar going for this class of work. In nonresidential building, concrete work, for which 18.5 cents of each dollar is spent, accounts for the largest single item of expenditure. Page 1. Although the general conditions of employment stability in the men's clothing industry are bad and have shown no improvement in recent years, a number of establishments have excellent records. Thus, of 64 establishments studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 had an average of more than 96 per cent of full-time employment for each of the six years 1923 to 1928, and several establishments show averages of more than 98 per cent in individual years. It would appear, therefore, that there is nothing inherent in the industry itself which necessitates the great employment irregularity which at present characterizes the majority of men's clothing establishments. Page 13. Full-time weekly earnings in the men's clothing industry were slightly lower in 1928 than in 1926, according to the recent biennial survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average full-time weekly earnings for males declined over the period from $41.51 to $40.75; and those of females from $24.28 to $23.44. The hours of labor for males in 1928 were 44.1 for a full week as against 44.3 in 1926, and for females were 43.9 in 1928 as against 44.3 in 1926. Page 128. The weekly earnings of office workers in factories in New York State were $36.37 in October, 1928, as against $19.18 in June, 1914, an increase of about 90 per cent. The information is from a report of the New York Department of Labor, which gives similar data by individual industries. Page 136. Colonial records dealing with wages and wage legislation suggest that the tradition of "high American wages" is as old as the country. Labor scarcity created a wage scale which was considerably higher than that of European workers, and which colonial legislation fixing a maximum wage tried in vain to control. Page 8. V |