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The Columbia University Libraries reserve the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. Author New York (State) Bureau of Women in Industry Title: Report submitted relative to the telephone industry. Place: Albany Date: 1920 MASTER NEGATIVE # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD '265 1148 mmmm nes3 ■ J 1,11 1«) m Uevr York (State) Biareau of wpnon in industry. Report submitted relative to the telephone in- dustry in llew York state to His Excellency, the governor of the state of Hew York. Prepared by the Duroau of women in industry, Albany, Lyon, 1920. 95 p. tables, diagrs. 22 on. On cover: State of Ilew York, Department of labor. Special bulletin... no. 100, July, 1920. \ lIlliMl MKJ I >H RESTRICTIONS ON USE: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZEi^^Wjs^ REDUCTION RATIO: \'Xt IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA (MA) IB IIB DATE FILMED: ^AU A^ INITIALS: vl.vi TRACKING # : At3Jii a2Q^( ^ FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES. BETHLEHEM. PA. en 13 3 a Is |M en ho ■>■ cn KJ-< 00 M o 3 > o m CD O (jj. , ^ o O X N M o; o^' A^ ^. ^^ 'V; %f^ c^: >ro c^ ^.^ c^^ ''^ ^v^ > Ui o i 3 ^\r o o 3 3 Ol O frpimpi?!^!-!- I s fc o> 00 b to bo ro 1.0 mm 1.5 mm 2.0 mm ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghi|Klmnopqrstuvwxyzl234567890 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzl234567890 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 2.5 mm ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 ^o ?d. ^f^ ^^ i& ♦J «« r^ .1. r^ ko ^fcP ^^ ^tr m o ■o m -o > C CO X T) ^ m D m w^ "^tp *■ 1— » hO CJl o 3 3 E I? ^^ ^-< OOISI O O >> I" °i ^£ cap a>x ^-< OOISI O '^. ^^^. Hi or HEiW YORK. DEFARTMENT OF LABOR » SPECIAL BULLETIN Issued Under the Direction of THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION HDWARD F. BOYLF, Oiairuian JilMHS M. LYNCH FRANCES PERKINS HENRY D. SAYER CYRUS W. PHILLIPS EDWARD W. BUCKLEY, Secretary BERNARD L. tHlLMAG, Counsel ^*-i2 Hi; in: f No. 100 JULY, 1920 THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY A report svibmitted to ALFRHD E. SMITH Governor of the State of New YorK Prepared hj THE BUREAU OF WOMEN IN INDUSTR7 1 fcniwagAwBuitii' .!.'»,taaa ^B^S W^ LIBRARY School of Business REPORT SUBMITTED RELATIVE TO THE Telephone Industry New York State IN TO HIS EXCELLENCY. THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK PREPARED BY THE BUREAU OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY ALBANY J. B. LYON COMPANY. PRINTERS 1920 N I ti ! o:) /JU^J-^^'^J'^^^<:) -3) xgS" ^9 -" ?N^- TABLE OF CONTENTS ^ Kecommendations Introduction 7 Scope of Study " -^ Systems of Employment and Training it For New York City Advertising ^ - Dormitory ,/, Employment Standards j^ Training School -.r. For Up-State 23 Labor Organization: The Operating Force 04 Loading ^5 Basic Hours of Labor vs. Actual Working Hours 30 One Day's Rest in Seven 00 Absenteeism ^a Broken Time oc Wages ^ Labor Turnover and Length of Service * " * 39 Working Conditions: Ventilation .- Seats ^ Washing FaciUties and Toilets ^g Lockers ^ Night Accommodations ^ Rest Rooms ^q Lunch Room Service t^ Supervision c* The Public's Part -■■■yy.....................^^ 52 Rest Periods ro Medical Department ^4 Employees' Benefit Fund: Pensions ^ Death Benefits rq Accident Disability Benefits 59 Sickness DisabiUty Benefits \ 59 Miscellaneous Benefits: Anniversary Payments g2 Other Benefits ^o Employees' Representative Plan ^4 [3] m\ I!! APPENDIX — STATISTICAL TABLES PAGE Names and approximate size of exclianges covered in hour and wage inquiry qq Schedules of wage payments 72 Total hours worked by those working a full week 75 Number of operators working overtime 76 Number of operators working overtime 78 Showing number of days worked by regular time operators 80 Table showing percentage of operators on split trick 82 Table showing percentage of absentees December 8, 9, 10 83 Table showing percentage of operators with broken time December 8, 9, 10 83 Productive hours lost 84 Number of times days of absence and broken time were or were not paid for by company 85 Table showing number of workers at each basic wage 86 Increases above basic wage 88 Earnings 9I Earnings 93 Cumulative table of earnings 93 Table showing period of service, exclusive of students in training school . . 94 [4] RECOMMENDATIONS The Bureau of Women in Industry recognizes that recommenda- tions for the improvement of the labor policy of the Telephone Company fall under two general headings : First, reduction of labor turnover. A telephone operator is not a real asset to the Company until she has been with it for one year. Therefore, eveiy effort should be made to retain the operators. Second, an increased number of operators. Traffic has increased 27.5% from January, 1919, to January, 1920. It is necessary, therefore, that the number of operators increase proportionately to the increase in traffic. As means of meeting the problems presented by these two fac- tors, the Bureau of Women in Industry would therefore recommend : (1) Scientific selection of suitable operators by the Employ- ment Department in order to decrease the labor turnover within the Training School itself. (2) A re-organization of labor management, so that the same depai^ment, preferably the Employment Department, is responsi- ble for employing, dismissing and accepting resignations of operators, thus securing co-ordinated methods of handling labor supply. (3) The limitation of the number of working days to six. (4) Compulsory rest periods of 15 to 20 minutes'^ at reasonable intervals for every operator, preferably splitting the trick in two equal parts. (5) The elimination of all overtime, and the gradual establish- ment of a seven-hour shift for the day and the night operators similar to the seven-hour shift for evening and split-trick operators. (6) A higher maximum wage rate, and a faster rate of pro- motion for an employee who has been in the service two years. Increase in wage, after this period, which marks the beginning of 100% efficiency, should be such that it will l>e an incentive to remain with the Company. 6 (7) The extension of the facilities of the Medical Department to give operators periodical physical examinations with particular reference to nervous strain and its effect on health and efficiency. In order to make this effective, complete medical records for each employee should he kept. (8) A democratic system of organization and representation among the employees, through v^hich they may express their de* sires and hy which they may acquire a sense of responsihilrtj toward iheir work. The Bureau of Women in Industry would recommend further : (1) An amendment or amendments to the Lahor Law which shall include telephone exchanges as subject to the supervision of the Industrial Commission as prescribed for factory and mercan- tile establishments under Section 51-a of the Labor Law. (2) The serious consideration by the Public Service Commis- sion of the items in this report which have a bearing upon the much complained of inadequacy of the telephone service, with such action to remedy these defects as is possible under its broad powers. 5S^raSi- INTRODUCTION The service which the public received from the Telephone Com- pany in the pre-war period was almost above criticism. In the last two years, especially during the year 1919, the service deterio- rated to such an extent that business was crippled and the public seriously inconvenienced. By December, 1919, the situation had become so acute that the Governor, desirous of throwing some light on the relation of the working conditions of telephone oper- ators to the increasingly inefficient service rendered the public, sent the following letter to the Industrial Commission of the State of New York : December 22, 1919. The Honorable, The State Industrial Commission, 230 Fifth Avenue, New York City: You are hereby directed to request the Bureau of Women in Industry to make an investigation of the conditions of employment for women in the telephone exchanges throughout the State with especial reference to Ist — ^Wages 2!nd — Hours of labor 3rd — Sanitation 4th — Labor turnover and its causes; that this special investigation be made for the purpose of supplying your Commission and the Public Service Commission with necessary information. According to the newspapers some investigation of the telephone exchanges has been made by the Health Commissioner of the City of New York. I am also informed that the employees of the telephone companies have asked for a hearing on the question of their wages, before the Public Service Commission. I am given to understand that this hearing is to be held some- time in January. Truly yours, ALFRED E. SMITH. On December 23, 1919, the Industrial Commission of the State of N'ew York passed a resolution requesting the Bureau of Women in Industry to make the investigation of the conditions of employ- ment for women in the telephone exchanges throughout the State, with special reference to wages, hours of labor, sanitation, laboi turnover and its causes. Telephony is one of the newest of our large commercial indus- tries, dating only from 1876. In the earlier years of its history [7] •=t'' M ^i! fi 8 the telephone industry employed only men and boys, but in its development it has become one of the largest employers of women and girls. Executives in the telephone industry make the claim that women are much more successful and satisfactory operators than men or boys, and hence the replacement of men and boys by women and girls on the operating force. There is perhaps no other industry that has so rapidly increased in improvements and where invention has played such a large part. The farmer living in remote districts of the Middle West is in close communication, by means of the telephone, with his neigh- bor and the country store. The business man, spending his sum- mer on the coast of Maine, can be kept in constant contact, by means of the telephone, with his oifice in New York City. From coast to coast, all over the country, the telephone has come to play an important part in economic, social and industrial life. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company system prac- tically Tiontrols the great national net-work of toll lines. The !N"ew York Telephone Company is a subsidiaiy Company of the Ameri- can Telephone and Telegraph Company and in New York City handles only local and suburban calls. The telephone industry is a continuous one — it must operate twenty-four hours of the day and seven days of the week. Because of the fact that it is a public utility the fixing of rates and stand- ards is within the power of the Public Service Commission. This Commission, however, has never done anything more than the fixing of rates. It has never exercised its power to go. into the efiiciency of the organization from the point of view of the worker. The women who are employed by the New York Telephone Company are not subject to any of the regulations of the New York State Labor Laws. The laws limiting the hours of factory and mercantile workers to nine a day and fifty-four a week, and prohibiting their employment at night, do not cover the telephone operators. Two studies of importance have already been made. The first was published in 1007, and was a report of the Royal Commission on a dispute respecting hours of employment between the Bell Telci- phone Company of Canada and the operators of Toronto, Ontario. This dispute hinged on the point that the working time of the operators was to be lengthened from 5 to 8 hours. The operators contend* d that it was a physical impossibility to stand such long hours. The Company at that time refused to deal with them in any way and a strike was threatened, which would so seriously have affected the public^s interest that the Canadian Government stepped in to settle the dispute. The second investigation was that of the Department of Com- merce and Labor of the United States Government in 1910, after a resolution was introduced into the Senate asking that an investi- gation be made of the telephone companies engaged in the conduct of inter-state business as to their method of business, wages, hours, etc. Both these reports threw considerable light on telephony, and are significant in that these official bodies at that time argued that the wages of the workers were too low and the hours too long. N SCOPE OF STUDY Following the suggestions in the Governors letter, the points covered in the study submitted deal generally with hours, wages and labor turnover. Sanitation was not considered to any great extent in this investigation, because of lack of time and because the Board of Health of the City of New York had so recently made a survey of sanitary conditions in the Telephone Company. In conference between officials of the Telephone Company and the Chief of the Bureau of Women in Industry, the week ending December 13, 1019, was decided upon as a typical period of time in which to study the pay-roll and the hours of the operating force. The hour and wage discussions which are considered in this report cover only this week. The labor turnover, however, is taken on a yearly ba-sis for the year 1919, and in other parts of the report, wherever possible, records for the entire year are used. Roughly speaking the study covers two-thirds of the girls em- ployed in the exchanges of each geographical division, totaling 12,32G operators. The choice of exchanges was also reached in conference with officials of. the !N'ew York Telephone Company, in order that we might have a correct picture. In undertaking this study of the New York Telephone Com- pany, the Bureau of Women in Industry had the fullest co-opera- tion and support from the officials of the Company. An office was assigned to the Bureau in the New York Telephone Company's building and the officials of the Company gave unsparingly of their time and assistance. The Bureau of Women in Industry began this study on January 2, 1920, and is submitting the final report to the Industrial Com- mission of New York State on April 6, 1920. [10] SYSTEMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING The main difficulty in the Telephone Company in New York City at the present time is the fact that there is not a sufficient supply of trained operators to care adequately for the central office positions. The employment methods of the Company are then of paramount importance. Prior to July, 1919, the employment for the New York Tele- phone Company was handled locally through the division Super- intendents of Traffic in co-operation w^ith the Advertising and Publicity Departments and the Training Schools, and ordinarily there was a waiting list of girls who wished to become telephone operators. This is still true in some parts of the State at the present time. In Albany, for instance, there were 50 girls on tbo waiting list in January of this year. In New York City, however, the situation had become so serious by July of last year that the employment work was separated from the Training School and made into a department, with an Employment Manager in charge. In September, 1919, the main employment office for operators at 1158 Broadway wa-s opened, after some $5,600 had been spent on remodeling and furnishing the necessary rooms. A staff of seven are employed at this office, where everything has been arranged to show the applicants who come in that telephone operating is an attractive occupation. The policy of the Employment Department has been one made necessary by the desperate need of the Company — a policy of securing operators at any cost, by any legitimate means. No money has been spared. Few experiments in systems of advertis- ing, bonus plans, etc., have been left untried. The Employment Department, created because of the serious situation due to a shortage in operators, has had that unhappy problem of attempting to meet ever increasing difficulties. With the public clamoring on one hand for better service, with operators constantly and increasingly leaving, on the other hand, the Employment Depart- ment has had to struggle somehow to meet the situation as best it might, and its course has not been an easy one. By February first [11] ■,— 1f;-i i « j < U .-ii 12 the Department was maintaining six offices not ,•„<.!„ J- .l recruiting through the Co™ ' , '' "'^"'^^'^^S, and ing staff of ov° S ^ ' employees. A special recruit- whil ^ ? ""PP'''^* **"' ^*"^ established. Every due wh,ch may result m securing a new operator is followed u7 When one takes into account the fact that the head of th« Tram.ng School considers a girl an actual cost 7.., n until she has been with it at le'a st a year aldThat the t "i"'"' neers do not feel that a girl can earr; L^ompt J f, if^^ 1 tne r>gh type of worker seems of paramount importance With th genera, industrial situation such as it has bin Td is^nj with the former wages and increases offered by the Telenb!„ were giL almo"^: ,r^^^^^ "^^^ «^ '^^^^^ -^^ tests «ibie i seJct fi amonr;;:ir:7''"^^ r •* ^^^ ^'■ consideration the ones best fitted fn^. 1 f ' '"'^ '"^"'^^^ ''^^<'>- dition of social pos;L l^/lSd C ^ *^^" rounded the telephone oj^rator an'd ^^t^XZ^^^" nun^r ad .ual^y of theTSiclt—It^ranl X^ Of the applicants now l)einff obtained Kv fbp T.i i, .^ ^ ^ is different W the nnmbfr and oualUy '^^;.^:^?^-\^^-P-y the telephone service a few years a^o ' ^ ^"'^^^ "'^ ^^^^^^^ In order to know something of The tvne of rdination " axe the most important factors t effi- cient telephone operating. The education and general intelligence of the operators is therefore significant. The application blanks in 801 ca.es contained a statement made by the mtervievver as to the girl's general intelligence. Five hun- dred and si^ty (560) times this general intelligence was rated as frn: A . ™'^' °l ';/* ^^ '''°' °^ *^ *'^'^' i* ^«« questioned or marked as doubtful, and in 55 cases it was defixiitely stated ^at the girl was not " bright." Only 27 times were the applicants rated as good " as to their intelligence. Of course these ratings vary with the interviewer, and it was noted that in some cal an applicant who had been turned down as ineligible by one inter- viewer, would be reconsidered and classed as " eligible" by some- one else. *^ ov^im?- It was also significant that in a large number of cases the inter- viewers had recommended that the girl return and re-apply after some minor difficulty had been adjusted, such as securing glasses for some minor eye trouble, or seeing to some matter of clelnliness. Apparently every eifort was being made by the interviewers to secure whatever material seemed possible. Oncean applicant has been rated as eligible, everything possible IS done to have her enter the school at once. Aside from former employers a reference is usually desired from the minister or priest of the girl^s church. A reference from an employee of the Company is considered sufficient, and additional information in these cases is seldom secured. Form letters are, of course, sent out in many instances to secure recommendations, but often the replies o those do not come in until sometime after the girl has been ])laced in the training school. The fact of the matter is that absolute necessity for securing operatoi. without delay has governed every experiment or policy of the Employment Department, Girls must be brought into the 16 service of the Telephone Company; no cost in efforts to secure them is too great. Once secured, they must be pushed into the school quickly and standards which at a more normal time in the employment situation of the Company would be rigidly upheld, are modified or waived. The large labor turnover in the training school may be in a measure accounted for by the attempt to try out girls whoso ability is questioned from the first, to make the neces- sary physical examinations after the girl enters training, rather than before, and to secure the minimum in the way of reference, in order to save time. Advertising, For the months of October, November and December, 1919, the Company spent in " help wanted " advertisements in the iNew York daily newspapers $37,564. Added to this, it spent, over the same length of time, $14,600 for its recruiting system, that is sending out special agents to recruit girls for the service. The Company also paid, during the same period of time, $1,125 as bonuses to the people in their employ who brought in new workers. Five hundred and fifty-four (554) days off were given to em- ployees bringing in new recruits, which, figured at about $2.50 per day, makes this cost approximately $1,385. In addition to this, the Company utilized $3,200 worth of news- paper space a week, fox which they had formerly contracted, which up to this time had been used for purposes other than advertising for help; making a total for 12 weeks of $28,400. Thus the sum total of $93,074 was spent during the last three months of the year 1919 in attempts to secure operators. According to the Company's own figures for these same three months, the total acquisition to their operating force was 592 operators — gaining 1,549 to their force and losing 957. Newspaper " ads " is one of the most common and successful methods of securing young and unskilled workers. Its greatest weakness is that it is indiscriminating and entails considerable expense in the weeding out of undesirable applicants. Thero were 19,862 applicants in the year 1919. Out of this number, 7,810, or less than one-half, were notified to report for training. Not a stone has been left unturned by the Company to secure '■ ,'J> 16 operators. A large sum of money has been spent and the number suisSuf T? Tf 7 "'^""'"^ '•PP^^'^*'"'^ '^^^^ ^- highly su«;essiul. The outstandmg weakness has been the lack of a well dew and well-applied policy to retain the girls and the elb l^hment of a goal in length of service that is wLh; :f attatmrnJ." Ihnnitory, In an effort to increase the number of operators, the Telephone Company entered upon a policy in New York City whtl wal adopted dunng the period of the war in Washington to me^Th emergency of increased traffie. This was the " living i„ " . T^e Cathedral Dormitory was o^nj:ZTZ;,i::cIX and opera o,, were brought to New York from up'state, living in the dormuozy entirely at the expense of the Compan; tL e perators received the same rate of pay which they had be'en rie " ng for woxk up-state. Although in the majoritv of instTi this rate waa lower than that paid the New York City g rt^ taken together with free living, it became a wage out of aU prL portion with that paid the regular New York City operato!L' Ihe Company spent $14,313.95 in alterations to make 'the bui dm, adaptable for dormitory use; $18,822.77 was the" ncquwmg the dormitory with the necessary furniture, making the total initial expenditure on the part of tl,« A $33,196.72. P '''^ Company In September the average number of operators accommodated in the dormitory was 109; in October, 138; in November 1« and in ecember, 145. Over against 1Q9 a^commodaTed b sL tember ^lere was a total expenditure for supervision, m^^eelk- neous and house service of $8,941.85 ; in October over a^ai JTss Z^:z: T "'^"''"'^ "' ''''''■''■' "^ ^ov7mw oJ!; against 155, there was a total expenditure of $9,086.64; and in Dec^n^. over against 145, there wa« a total 'expenditure :f the $33,196.^2 spent on alterations and equipment the Com- pany^has been able to increase its operating U app'roxLatTy at ^^ ;j:sc^-^ '^' '^' '-'' '' ''''-''-'' 17 Employment Standards. The Company definitely desires a certain type of girl — in age she should be between 16 and 23, with exceptions for night work operators, where the maximum is 35. The Company has in mind the growing policy of the State on the prohibition of night work, particularly for younger women, and is endeavoring to raise the age of night workers to over 21 years. Sixteen (16) is, however, the predominating age for the bulk of the new employees, accord- ing to actual figures. During December, 1919, for instance, of 512 girls who reported for work, 409 were 21 years of age or under. So far as experience goes, the Company much prefers girls who come direct from school, without industrial experience. Such girls are more amenable to instruction and discipline, and can fit into the Company's organization with less effort. The Company also desires girls who are living at home, and who have had at least a good grammar school education. The fact that the average telephone operator is so young and so inexperienced has undoubtedly had much to do with the develop- ment of the spirit of the Company toward its employees. This spirit is of great significance in considering the problems con- fronting the Telephone Company at the present time. It is keenly felt in every branch of the service. It is the spirit of a kindly guardian, who will plan what is best for those under his care, down to the minutest detail. From the moment the applicant enters the Training School she is made conscious that she has become a member of an army where obedience, loyalty, and appre- ciation are expected. Rest periods are arranged for her, her meals are planned, and she is, in the words of the Company, " sheltered and provided with every comfort and convenience." The operator needs ]ittle initiative at the switch board where she has been drilled in set phraseology, and even in the tone of voice which she is to use. Just so, initiative is at a discount when she is off duty, for her needs have been arranged for, and are adequately supplied. She is, in a sense, still going to school and her attitude is that of the school girl. She is part of an institution which publishes a paper for her, gives her parties, tells her what she should and what she should not do. Young persons are preferred by the Telephone Company because of the greater facility with which they learn to work and -^..4. 18 acquire dexterity, and because their reactions are much quicker thap the reactions of older girls. Yet the years 16 to 23 are those during which the nervous and physical system of a woman is peculiarly sensitive to strain and susceptible to injury. Injury sustained at this time of life is apt to be more far-reaching than would l)e the effects from similar causes in maturer years. The effects upon posterity caused by undermining or weakening the constitutions of these young women gives rise to serious consideration. In connection with the youth of the operators, attention must also be called to the fact that telephone operating does not seem to fit a woman for any other occupation or calling. Additional significance is, therefore, to be given to the fact that the average time spent by operators in the service is from 2 to 3 years and that the period of service is usually given at the time when a young woman is best able to learn with advantage the trade or calling which is to put her in the way of acquiring a livelihood during the years of her life. Training School. In the Manhattan-Bronx Division of the New York Telephone Company in 1902, the training of girls for telephone service was recognized as a definite problem and the Training School was opened, where girls were given a carefully planned four weeks' course of study before they were sent to central offices. This was a radical change from the former system of training, where the girl learned as best she could from her fellow workers and super- v^ors, and secured her training by working directly at the central office positions. At the present time the Training School for New York and vicinity is in New York City. The school has grown so that it became necessary in the fall of 1919 to open a second small school m Bowling Green. This school is used, however, simply as an over-flow, accommodating at the most but 100 students, and u tinder the supervision of the Director of the main Training School on Houston Street. The school staff at the present time numbers 140, 10 of whom are doing clerical work in connection with the school. Fourteen 19 (14) of the staff are designated as lecturers and the balance are instructors in the practice room. The training staff is flexible and interchangeable. The average instructor has had at least five years' experience with the Telephone Company, and when the entire staff is not needed at the school, the instructors are used as supervisors in the central offices, but remain constantly on call. The scliool is able to accommodate 500 students. It is aimed to tnake the classes no more than 50 each, and in the practice room each group oi 3 girls has a special supervisor so that individual attention and special help is possible. The school has six class rooms and one large lecture room. The most complete possible equipment is available in the practice and repetition rooms, where the girls are taught the actual processes of telephone operating. The Company furnishes text books, and the practice work on the switch board follows each day the text book lesson and the class lecture. The girls are all taught at the present time "A'' board operating. If they become efficient "A" board oper- ators it is a simple matter for them to acquire a knowledge of the " B " board work, and they can be assigned to the " B " board in the central offices as the need arises. The Company is now work- ing out a special text book on " B " board operating and it is pos- sible that in the near future special training will be given for " B " board operators, just as special training is now given in " long distance " operating, outside 'New York City. In ^N'ew York City and vicinity, the " long distance '' work is at the present time handled entirely by the American Telephone and Telegraph Com- pany, and consequently the training work of the New York Bell Telephone Company in these divisions is confined to local operating. The only lectures coming into the school course which do not bear directly on the technical knowledge necessary to telephone operating are the lectures given by the Company physicians at the training school. These lectures seem of particular importance when one considers the needs of the average girl who is now a student in the school, and it is to be regretted that the doctor can meet the girls only once a week, which means but two lectures at the present time, when the training course is reduced to two weeks. In these two lectures she attempts to give them general health 20 principles in the n.ost elementary w..y. 8Lc discusses with them the care of the sk.n, questions of cleanliness, and the unfortunate results of using too much paint and powder. Such things as proper shoes „,Hi 1 tting are considered, and she tries to tell th^ What the outstanding essentials of healthful living are The school day is divided into periods approximately an hour in ength. The girls assemble between 8:30 and ,9:00 a. m., when the first period begins. After an hour's lecture, they go to the practice roo^ for an equal period, then back for anoTher lecture or to the repetition room. The day continues in this manner until five o clock, with some irregular periods due to appointments for physical examinations, etc. The students always have an hour room r ' . ' T^'l' ^'""^ ''^'" "^^ ' ''^ - 1910, shows that in the Man- hatta^-Evonx Division there were 4,H4 day operators, 2,205 even- 7 T:T' ''.' "'^'' °P^'-^*°^^' -^^-g « total o 7 152 T the Westchester Division there were 210 day operators 43 even Long Island Division there were 1,200 day operators, 1,407 even- 2 ZZ:i '■ ""'.* °^"'^^°^^' '"^^''^ ^ ^'^^'^^ "^ 2 ^^r In «l2 -Tr" *'"' ""^ *'' ^^^ •'P^-t-' 438 evening operatois, 02 night operators, making a total of 938. In the Oe^ tT'^itZ^D^rretei ;:? ^^^ ^'^^^ t^^- ^^ onerator, 9^6 . '^''^ operators, 733 evening operators, 236 night operators, making a total of 1,708 In the mu^ th'T "^i""""' "'''=' '"'^'"'^- «*^*- Island aid must therefore be taken into consideration, but which also mcludes suburban New Jersey, there were 884 day opeTatot 887 evening operators, 250 night operators, making a toSTfoso Therefore in what is the New York Telephone Company TiL operating force for the month of November there were 8 263 dav operators, 6 373 evening operators and 1,856 night Ipera Ss mal' m l^CVTf '''''' T-*- The split tHck oTiat^'s lau either in the day or evening group. The industry is necessarily continuous for the mibli,. oi Wn ^^PP^ '^'' '' "'" 1^"°^^ ^h''" to expect the Jeak of the oad" in each central office. In other wVds it must know that the down-town business district of New York 01^! busiest between 10 -00 and 1 9 -no ; ^u ■ ^ 4-30 Jr. fin. ff ? "" *^^ mormng and 2:30 and In nearly all telephone offices the operating force is divided into four divisions or shifts - day, evening, nifht and split S 25 It is tlie universal policy to have employees in any exchange, except the all-night operators, come in a few at a time so that the change at the switch board will be made gradually and with- out interruption of service. Although definite hours will not be discussed here, the following general definition of operators may be assumed for the different shifts: Day operator (basic 8 hour day) — an operator who begins work not earlier than 7 :00 a. m. and stops not later than 7 :00 p. m. Evening operator (basic 7 hour day) — an operator who begins work not eai-lier than 11:30 a. m. and ends not later than 11:00 p. m. Split trick operator (basic 7 hour day) — an operator whose work is separated into two divisions by a period of more than two hours and not more than five hours. Night operator (basic 8 hour day) — an operator whose work begins not earlier than 7 :00 p. m. and ends not later than 7 :00 a. m. The New York Telephone Company, in so far as is practicable, permits the operators to select the exchange in which they will work, and makes every reasonable effort to get girls into exchanges near their homes. The split trick operators who live farther than ten blocks from their exchanges are paid 10 cents car fare per day to allow them to go home between swings. A choice of tricks or operating shifts is very often granted to girls, although this depends, of course, on the need of operators and it also depends upon the co-operative spirit of the supervisors. There seems to be no general rule of the Company about the length of time a girl shall work on a particular shift. The most difficult trick to fill is the evening trick, which for the most part breaks into the girl's afternoon and takes up the whole or part of her evening. Oirls of the age of telephone operators quite naturally wish their evenings free for recreation. The Telephone Company has offered special inducement to evening operators by placing their evening trick on a basic 7 hour day and paying $1.00 more than to day operators. Strange to say, the split trick is very popular among telephone operators. One of the favorites is working all morning, off all I I 26 afternoon coming on duty about 5:00 or 6:00 p. m. and workinL^ until 8:00 or 9:00 p. m. This gives the girl practically all her afternoons and evenings free. Many of the girls on the spht tricks testify that it is a great physical relief to have anywhere from two to five hours off between swings, that physically they The most unpopular shifts are naturally the ones which call for baturday afternoon or Sunday work, as Saturday afternoon and Sundy IS the tn„e when the girls' friends are free and ha. come to be thought of as the play time of working men and women. It IS oxtromoly hard foi- the telephone operator on duty that after- noon to be content with her "lot. Sunday employment is divided among the operators. In some exchanges where the traffic is light on Sunday, as for instance those in the down-town business section, the operators take turns working on Sunday and it may mean working only every fifteenth week. In other exchanges, where the Sunday " load " is heavy, such as the up-town apartment- house districts, an operator may be on duty once or twice a month. Ih.s, too, IS regarded as a hardship by the operators, even though time and a half is paid for the first Sunday and double tin.e for bundays m excess of one in any calendar month, and manv em- ployees leave the Telephone Company for no other reason than that It means Saturday afternoon and Sunday work Whilo numbers of the night and evening 'operators change to the day force, those dropping out of the day force drop out of the service altogether, except for the few going into suix-rvisorv groups. ' It is not difficult to find operators who have left the Telephone Company and gone into private exchanges or into other work not that the new work always offers better opportunities or higher wages but that they are free from Saturday afternoon and Sun- day labor. A corresponding day off during the week, even though It brings rest and relaxation, is in no way fully compensates for feunday work. Loading, o.r''' iTTT ""^""'^ •^'"' ^^'- ^'^^^'^''^^^'^'^ at Madison Square 0500, call Beekman 3000 is something like this: taking do^vn your receiver ^^auses a small light to flash at number 9500 in 27 front oi an "A" board operator in the Madison Square central office. The operator takes up an inside cord, known as an answer- ing cord, inserts the plug beneath the lamp signal, opens the cor- responding listening key which is toward the face of the switch- board, thus putting out the light and permitting her to talk to the subscriber. Central says " .Number please " and you say " Beek- man 3000." The operator then closes the listening key and presses a small key marked " Beekman," which is on her table board. The "A" board operator at the Madison Square exchange is in this way connected with a " B " board operator at the Beekman exchange, and the Madison Square "A" board operator gives the " B " board operator at the Beekman exchange the Beekman num- ber. The " B " board operator at the Beekman exchange then assigns to the "A" board operator of the Madison Square exchange a trunk line number, as, for example, trunk line 30. The " B " board operator at the Beekman exchange puts a plug, which is numbered as trunk 30, into Beekman 3000 and the Madison Square "A" board operator takes the connecting cord correspond- ing to the answering cord connected with Madison Square 9500 and places it in trunk line 30, closes the listening key and the connection is made. When both parties are through talking and hang the receivers on the hook a light flashes on the disconnected signal of the "A" board operator, who disconnects by taking down first the inside cord, then the outside cord. The removal of the outside cord by the "A" board operator at Madison Square gives a disconnect signal to the " B. " board operator at the Beekman exchange, who takes down the trunk line cord and returns it to its original position. The "A" board operator, thei-efore, in making a connection under normal conditions, with everything favorable, must go through fourteen processes in order to complete a call. In smaller cities it is not necessary to have the " B " board, as the majority of local calls can be completed on the "A" board, and therefore the work is less complicated and the human factor does not play so large a part in the service. While considering the operations necessary to complete a call, it is significant to bear in mind the number of calls a a hour which an operator can handle efficiently. The engineers in the Traffic De- partment have fixed 230 units per hour as the theoretical " load." i 28 This is applicable ou the "A" board with all positions filled The Sr r '"''" "''''^'"^ *^^* ^ g-1 ^ *he empW of the Telephone Company for one month is able to car^ whhreasln- able proficiency 25 '/o of this load; that a «rl i/flT o months is able to carry 54% • that a lir in^h '""''''" ^ is able to carry Tof^^hat a ^irlL thT Lrvict^TT:!' "°t^ to carry 90% ; that a girl in the servir^Tonth K ! " ^ '' ^aa% Th; 1- ^ i'crvice ^^ months is able to carry unS 1? f*/°"«^^««P«'«' they fiugure that a girl can carry 230 units per hour with reasonable proficiency after bein„ in .1, ernploy of the Company 18 months' In muhi'S, cYt2 si a w ws onteSrbr:!^:!;;? ^^^^ ^^"^ ^-^"^ *^^ Cortlandt 246 John 254 261 228 Murray Hill 257 Longacre 182 Rhinelander 258 243 232 Forsyth 239 Stuyvesant 284 213 Columbus 231 Lenox 230 Harlem 202 Rector 232 Canal 264 Chelsea 270 Fordham 233 Cathedral 212 Melrose 203 183 183 259 218 229 195 277 208 G-«-^ ^c*„.W^ ^„^„j^ '"' 266 2J4 260 170 C^rcU Wadsimrm Olenville 232 224 180 Two hurjdred and thirty (230) units do not mean 230 calls For example, a connection between a subscriber of the MadTson Square exchange and Beekman would be 1.55 units but a all from a pay station, where money would have to be 'returned"" he call was not made, would be 1.70 units. As will be noted from the above figures, the load carried by the operators during he bu" 29 hour is often in excess of the theoretical " load " established by the engineers in the Traffic Department irrespective, in most in- stances, of the length of service of the operator. This is one explanation of the inadequate and inefficient service that the public has been receiving during the past few months. In the matter of efficiency of service rendered it is the experi- ence of the Company that an " under-load " is almost as bad as an " over-load ; '' that unless an operator has enough to keep her busy she is inclined to do poorly the little she has to do. Operators very generally agree with the management on this point. The standards were worked out, so far as can be learned, solely by the Traffic Department. Apparently the emphasis has been placed largely on the degree of efficiency and speed possible trom each position, and little consideration has been given to the human element. The scientific measurement of fatigue of the operator should certainly be considered in relation to scientific measure- ment of a possible " load." Though it is true that the ordinary methods of measuring fatigue are of little value in the telephone industry because of the large personal factor involved — the pos- sible emotional strain from dea-lings with irritable subscribers, uncongenial supervision, etc. — these very difficulties make the study of the problem all the more essential. The work of telephone operating under any conditions entails some strain on the nervous system; the faculties axe kept con- stantly on the alert, there is high tension on the special senses, and a certain amount of mental worry. The strain is in propor- tin to the nervous force exhausted, and exhaustion is a matter only of degree depending upon the duration and intensity of employment. Telephone operating differs from most other occu- pations in which women are employed in its call on the special senses of sight, of hearing and of speech. Even when not actually busy, operators are not resting or relaxing, because they are neces- sarily on the alert. The Telephone Company has tried to overcome the physical strain of continuous sitting by allowing the girls to stand at inter- vals. It has also tried to reduce the physical strain of stretching and reaching by limiting the size of the board which the girls operate. In a sense, these efforts have been successful. 30 The liability of injury from shock, the harsh words and abuse from telephone users, the intense strain due to the constant flash- ing of the lights by impatient subscribers, the sense of crowding when work accumulates, and the inevitable anxiety in seeking to make the necessary connection whenever a rush takes place all combine to accentuate the strain of the work, and are all factors more or less absent in other callings in which women are enga-ed The question of " loading " and the physical strain upon the worker should be most carefully considered in connection with the hours of work of the operator. Bask Hours of Labor vs. Actiml Working Hours The double heading of this section suggests the complexity of the problem of liours in the telephone industry. In considering the matter of overtime, it m^ust be remembered that operators are supposed to have one day's rest in seven. For operators on the day and night shifts, overtime means any time worked over 8 hours a day or night for six days a week. For operators on the evening and split tricks, overtime means any time worked beyond 7 hours six days a week. It must be understood that all switch board employees on a given shift do not come to their work at the same time, work a given time, take their lunch at the same time and then return and work until the same quitting time as do emplovees in most other industries. They come on one or two at a time, get their relief periods at different times, have different hours for lunch and get off at different hours. For this reason, while the basic hours of labor might be the same for all, the actual working hours would be very different for the different employees on the same shift. The number of operators required in an excliange at a given time depends largely upon the " load " that the particular ex- change carries during certain hours of the day. For example, the doivn-town business district requires eveiy position filled from 10 :00 to 12 :00 in the morning and. from 2 :00 to 4 :30 in the afternoon, but requires very little evening service and next to no night service. Just the reverse might be true of a suburban district. PERCENTAGES OF OPERATORS WORKING OR NOT WORKING OVERTIME OPERATORS HAVING PERFECT ATTENDANCE OPERATORS HAVING IMPERFECT ATTENDANCE TOTAL OPERATORS ■ji^::sj.Si^St ij3S!Z£^Z gjE^y -V 'T H y ^ tfy -'"-;'*^'' V^^ii ?:,^.-''^^. ai The number of split trick operators in the State of Xew York is indicative of the fluctuation of ^' loads," since the number of split trick operators in the different localities depends largely upon the " loads '' the various exchanges carry at certain times of the day. In ^N^ew York City, according to figures sent in from the exchanges, about 6% of the operators are split trick operators. The number of split trick operators throughout the rest of the State is considerably larger. In Brooklyn and Queens about 27%% are split trick operators, while in the western division 231/2%, and in the Westchester Division about 31% are split trick operatojs. Taking as a basis of computation 12,156* operators studied by the Bureau, 29.84% of the total operating force worked overtime during the week ending December 13, 1919. In general, a little over one-fourth of the operating force in New York State worked some overtime. The amount of overtime varied considerably in the different localities. In the Manhattan Division (Schedule I), 30% of the operating force worked beyond their regular assignment of hours ; in Brooklyn and lower Bronx (Schedule II), 51.65%. Under Schedule III, which includes part of Westchester and Long Island, 31.8% of the operating force worked beyond their regular assign- ment of hours. Under Schedule IV, which includes Albany, Buf- falo, Little Falls, Syracuse and Utica, 10.46% of the operating force worked beyond their regular assignment of hours. Under Schedule V, which includes Auburn, Binghamton, Dunkirk, Ithaca and Watertown, 6.4% of the operating force worked beyond their regular assignment of hours. Under Schedule VI, which includes Bayshore, Canandaigua, Geneva, Glens Falls, Hunting- ton and Hornell, 8.55% of the operating force worked beyond their regular assignment of hours. The highest peak of overtime for the entire State is reached by the number of operators (35.76%) who worked from 3 to 6 hours beyond their regular assignment. The next highest peak (35.02%) is reached by those operators who worked from 6 to 9 hours beyond their regular assignment. • The records of 170 operators presented difficulties in interpretation of time worked. 32 The largest amount of overtime existed among the evening operators, of whom 2,381 worked overtime as against 1,035 dav operators and 211 night operators. In discussing the matter of hours in the New York Telephone Company, it must also be remembered that while the 48-hour week IS considered as the basic work week, about one-fourth of Jhe workers work a 44-haur week, having Saturday afternoon free The operators who work Saturday afternoon are practically paid double time for any time worked beyond the 44 hours. The Com- pany does this fully cognizant of the unattractivcness of Saturday afternoon labor. The Telephone Company has gone farther than many other industries in the State in the reduction of its basic work day from ,9 to 8 hours, and in the case of evening and split trick shuts from 9 to 7 hours; but the fact that over one-fourth of the opera- tors in New York State work beyond their regular assignment of hours IS indicative of a weakness in the labor policy of the Company. In the testimony of the Royal Commission of Toronto, Canada physicians recommended that the telephone operators should have a work day of 7 hours, spread over a 9 hour period, and that this time should be divided as follows: 2 hours work — % hour relief 1% hours work — % hour intermission 2 hours work — % hour relief 1% hours work They testified further, however, that this was simply a compro mise and that a 7 hour working day would still be too long for telephone operators. The working day should eventually te re- duced to fi hours actual labor, spread over a period of from 8 to 8% hours. It was not possible for the Bureau of Women in Industry in the short time allotted to it, to make any scientific study from\he point of view of fatigue and its relation to the working hours of the operators. The Bureau is convinced, however, as a result of this study, that the actual working hours of the operator should be considerably reduced. The Company might well begin tiring to eliminate entirely its overtime work. With almost one-fourth Show;n^ Overftme Worked Wy Qf>er«fof S w j ^H \ . ' .\ | Perfect AHendance ho tii!tin ' l '''' f'^'^tv '' |Tn ' t ' rn ■ — |.:^ ' i -irliii'i.';! ' !--^!::--!" Op«r> 120 r Uo6 Day Oper^Xor% ^ — ' •'I " ' M • ' !!i ' ! ' ;"! ': — r Hours . »*?' ope**- Sho W in ^V^rtime Worked Wy Operator* wi VhT~r X»nperfec+ Attendance fSoo |U)0 loot" £venIno O per-ators _ _ Niohl" ^Operators _ . t + \ • ' .| !'j :I ! 1 ~T r Wsr* Not Pa i d by CompartV ■ ! I I I I I I ! ' I llote ; l1oal>senc«. of less f\n»n encddy's durstion v© i5^|^l^- f .i.^^^frl*&- ^-'-jtag^.^- - •iiirinr~^ri r" 39 to. know whether further wage increase should mean an increase in telephone rates; but the Bureau is of the opinion that the cost to the Company of its high labor turnover, of its advertising, of its training of operators and the actual loss to the Company of the shoi-t-time operator could for the most part be eliminated with higher wage rates for longer service. The company, during the year 1919, apparently was blind to its real labor difficulty, and the increase in wage rates as effective in February may prove conclusively to the Company that something mere than a living wage must be paid to operators if the efficiency of its service is to be maintained. Labor Turnover and Length of Service For every three girls who enter the telephone service, one drops out in training, the second before the first year is over and the third stays longer than a year. Since the estimated cost of train- ing an operator varies from $68.00 to $100.00 per operator, the shorter the length of service of the operator the greater expense to the Company. Also, since an operator must be in the service of the Company two years before she can efficiently carry the theoretical load of 230 units per hour, the kind of service which the public receives depends very considerably on the length of service of the operators. Briefly speaking, this is an element which the Company cannot altogether cc ntrol, though, so far as the question of wages, age at beginning work, opportunities for promotion, fatigue and sym- pathetic treatment of employees enters into the problem, the answer lies with the Company. Other elements, like that of mar- riage, are beyond its control. In the city of Manhattan, 24.33% of the operators had been with the Company 6 months or less. This is exclusive of students in the Training School. What this means, interpreted in terms of service which the public receives from the operators, is that these operators are able to handle efficiently about 75% of the theoretical load of 230 units per hour. While about 24.33% of the operators had been with the Company less than 6 months, the next largest per cent is among the operators who had been with the Company over 6 months and through 1 year, 13.68% ; II I 40 and the next largest group had been with the Company over 1 year and through 2 years, 12.37%. In other words, slightly over one-half of the operating force in Manhattan had been with the Company less than 2 years. The situation of the Telephone Company, therefore, resolves itself into the fact that the important element in determining the efficiency of the service, from the point of view of the operator, rests absolutely on the length of service in the occupation. Under Schedule II, which includes Brooklyn and Queens, we hnd a still larger i>er cent of the oi>erators had been with the Com- pany 6 months or less, 28.22%; with 15.61% with the Company over 6 months and through 1 year, and 10.60% with the Coni- pany over 1 year and through 2 years, making a total of 54.43% who had been with the Company less than 2 years. Under Schedule III, which includes part of Westchester and Long Island, 23.89% of the operators had been with the Company for 6 months or under, 12.23% had been with the Company over 6 months and through 1 year, and 18.47% had been with the Company over 1 year and through 2 years, making a total of 54.60% of the operators who had been with the Company less than 2 vears. Uudcr Schedule IV, which includes such places as Albany, Buffalo, SyrHcuse, Little Falls and Utica, there was 17.20% of the operators who had been with the Compfmy 6 months or under, !>.C7% for over 6 months and through 1 vear, and 19.49% for over 1 year and through 2 years, making a total of 46.35% of the operators in the larger cities of the State who had been with the Company 2 years or less. Under Schedule V, which includes Auburn, Binghamton, Dun- kirk, Itha<'a, Poughkeepsie and Watertown, 11.95% of the opera- tors had been with the Company G months or under, 11.20% over 6 months and through 1 year, and 18.74% over 1 year and through 2 years, making a total of 41.88% of the operators who had been with the Company less than 2 years. Under Schedule VI, including such places as Bayshore, Canan • daigua, Geneva, Glens Falls. Huntington. Hornell and vSonth- ampton, 9.92% of the operators had been with the Companv C months or under, 7.14% had been with the Company over 6 "•-"UrioJ of S«rvU« tV\an Six Years Hzcp 3(>oo \ 3300 ^ 4 i fc wi : . . . > i>> i m ii A " j ' » «,. ni ■ w.t ;) i > l i ^O r ■ >< 1 . ■\iii\\^t^i^--V'-^ noc mt iO0 >ao > t u . i m w« n ^yi n i4# >^#* t * i t^ oM *-* » ' » 1> >l« Kn i t hrtiitiVrt-' liiiilTiiijliij fe rear5- - 43 to take positions on private switch boards. That 334 should leave to take positions on private switch boards is a natural advance. The pay of the private switch board operator is higher than in the Telephone Company, the hours are more regular, with Saturday afternoon and Sunday free, and the Telephone Company itself believes that when girls leave the Company to go to private switch boards it increases the efficiency of its own system. The most vital problem that the Xew York Telephone Company has is the short service of its operators and the high labor turnover resulting. It is, of course, recognized that the year 1919 was an abnormal year, with industry all over the country in a more or less unsettled state, and the Telephone Company has so far been unsuccessful in the efforts which it has made to materially reduce its labor turnover and to stop the ever increasing flow of girls out from its employ. The labor turnover records kept by the Company cannot be taken too seriously, as many of the girls fail to give their real reason for leaving. According to the Company's records, but 12 girls out of 2,675 gave " inadequate wages " a-s a reason for leav- ing. Yet the fact that two-thirds of these girls were receiving less than $15.00 a week when they left the Company is in itself a clear indication that wage conditions actually played a large part in causing loss among the operating force. Again, 379 leav- ing for " Home Duties " and 308 leaving for " Other Work Con- ditions " may mean anything. These figures unless more carefully analyzed are of no help whatever in securing a real picture of the Company's problem. The Company's system of receiving and recording the reasons for leaving is not one which will bring from the girl the real truth. If a girl is to leave the Company she talks first to the chief operator and tells her of her reasons for leaving. The chief operator cannot be a good chief operator and employ- ment manager at the same time. If a girl has worked under a chief operator for any length of time she is not likely to tell her the real reason, if it at all reflects n]>on the Company. If the reason is one that reflects on the chief operator, it is that much more difficult to get at the truth. The reason given by about 25 girls, interviewed by the Bureau of Women in Industry, who have left the telephone service and !♦ i tiinaawM^'*' 44 bave now taken other positions, is a lack of co-operation betwc>en the supervising and the operating force. Nowhere in the labor turnover record is there an opportunity for recording such a cause, and yet this is one which might bo very easily remedied by the Company if it were cognizant of this lack of co-operation. Many of the operators complain of the strict discipline and the lack of sympathy and understanding of the supervising force with the operating force. Naturally, a girl would not complain of this to her chief operator. Some girls interviewed by the Bureau of Women in Industry, have reported that they left because they could not get on well with their supervisors. This might not have been the fault of either the operator or the supervisor. It might have been simply a clash of personalities. Here is a group of girls leaving, whom the Company have taken in and trained at great expense, and who could easily have been retained by means of an intelligent and understanding system of inten^ewing. If some system of transferring girls from one supervisor to another were inaugurated, a certain percentage of the Company's losses would be eliminated. In other words, it should be the function of a well-organized and equipped department to interview girls as they contemplate leaving, to try to adjust grievances, having the power to transfer, etc. This might well be done by the Employment Department, and in this way that Department would have a much clearer understanding and vision of the elements that enter into the job of an operator. By a sympathetic and understanding inter- view by an impartial person, adjustment might be made very readily. Anyone who has worked with girls of the age of tnosc employed by the Telephone Company will not doubt the statement that girls most often leave their work for reasons which can be very easily adjusted, if understood. After eveiy effort has ])een made to retain the girl, the causes of grievances and of leaving should be carefully analyzed and the Company would then have a picture of the main problems of turnover that confront it. This picture of mal-adjustment will indicate remedies in some instances, and in others it will direct further study. The underlying canse should be sought out and removed whenever possible. In the Telephone^ rom])any, where the traininij of an operator is so expensive to the Company and where she does not reach the point 45 of greatest usefulness until she has been with the Company two years, too much effort cannot be made to retain an operator once she is employcxl. The method which the Telephone Company em- ploys along this line is indeed archaic. The students loss for the year 1910 was 33.7% of the total number of students, that is, approximately one-third of the students who entered for training never finished. Since the cost to the Company of training students varies anywhere from $68 to $100 per student, the cost of the one-third of the students who were lost during the year 1919 amounted to a considerable sum. In connection with the loss in the training school one must consider the Telephone Company's policy of selection. Many girls during the past year have been induced to apply to the Tele- phone Company by the Company's fascinating advertisements. Of course, in their policy of selection even the most careful scrutiny will not reveal in all instances that a girl is unable to qualify as an operator. The Company during the past year, owing to the shortage of workers, has been neccessarily less careful in its selection. It w^as practically willing to try out anyone, while previously it was able to pick and choose only the best. This accounts in part for the large turnover among its students. Of the 2,373 students in the past year, 837 resigned. The most significant reasons given are: Left to take other employment 109 Complained of hours of work ill Complained of " other working conditions " 190 1,536 students were dismissed; 831 for poor attendance, and 618 came under the miscellaneous group. In analyzing the miscella- neous group, we find that 463 of this number were physically unfit. More careful and thorough medical examinations, tests of the sight and hearing, given before the girl is taken on for train- ing, might liave reduced considerably the number of students dis- missed because of the physical unfitness. While up until this past year, the ^NTew York City Telephone Company has always had a w^aiting list from which it could pick and choose, this past year has seen it with an actual shortage of from 700 to 1,000 operators, a fact which has necessitated frantic I ':a^iSr_?«a=fc: 46 advertising for help. They have not secured as high a standard of workers as in the past, which has also reacted on the efficiency of the service. The officers of the Telephone Company have always taken a just pride in the type of operator which it secured fostering a tradition that it was a privilege to be employed by the Telephone Company. The war changed the status of the industrial woman, created new standards and opened up new opportunities. It placed the working women of this country on a new basis industrially and competition was more keen. The Telephone Company did not begin to consider its employment policy seriously until it was actually face to face with an emergency such as it had never before known in its history. WORKING CONDITIONS In order to fulfill ideally the Company's requirements, an oper- ator must be always alert, have quick vision, auditory nerves, always be ready to catch the words of the supervisor or subscriber, have steady hands, clear voice, and ability to keep her temper unruffled. Not only should she be alert in answering calls, but she must watch even when she sees no signal lest one escapes her notice. In view of the fact that it is necessary for an operator to be in excellent physical condition in order to come up to the ideals of the Company, the physical condition of the operating rooms plays an impoitant part in the health of the operators. In order to keep the physical condition of the operators at a high standard, good ventihition, freedom from irritating dusts and drafts must be striven for and ample light must be provided. Light, heat and ventilation and general comfort all play their part in the quality of service rendered. The Company itself recognizes these facts, for on the whole better working conditions exist in the telephone exchanges than in the average factory or office regarding lighting, heating and ventilation. There are exceptions to this statement, chiefly in the exchanges which are in rented quarters not built especially for the purpose to which they have been put. The day light in the operating room must not be too bright lest it make less noticeable the glowing of the signal lights on the switch board. Ventilation. Lack of sufficient ventilation seems to be one of the greatest faults to be found in the operating rooms. When the switch board is placed in a " U " shape around the room, the fresh air is largely cut off because the switch board makes an effective screen. The larger exchanges in New York City have systems of ventila- tion, forced systems of drafts, etc., which keep the air changed, but in other instances windows and fans have to be relied upon. It must be born in mind that operators are seated closely side by side and when the room is in constant use everv hour of the twenty-four, every day of the year, work day and holiday alike, [47] 4^ 49 I: there is never any considerable period of time when the room can be flooded with fresh air and all windows opened without causing it to be too cold or drafty. Seats, Operators are seated during working hours and special adjust- able chairs are provided for their use. The New York Telephone Company is to be congratulated on the standards of chairs used by operators. Every effort has been made by the Company, through seating arrangements, to make the operators as comfort- able as possible. Allowing her to change her position from time to time tends thus, as far as seating is concerned, to reduce fatigue to its minimum. • Washing Facilities and Toilets. In the majority of the telephone exchanges the wash-rooms and toilets are ample and usually are of tile or marble, and the rooms are kept in an excellent state of cleanliness. Lockers. In all exchanges of any size sej)ar{ite lockers are provided, one or two oi)erators to a locker. The lockers are made of open-work metal so as to be easily kept clean and well aired. Nigh t A ccomm odations. In the larger exchanges where night operators are granted some time during the night for sleeping, some arrangeinent is always made for the operators. There is a certain health hazu'xl in the majority of arrangements, however, as operators coming in for relief at a different period use the same pillow as used by the previous occupant. Where some operators are scrupulously care- ful others are decidedly careless, and the dangers of infection can easily be realized. However, the Xew York Telephone Company has gone mucli farther than the majority of large employers of women in paying particular attention to the physical conditions imder which their employees work. Best Rooms. The necessity for a place of rest during rest periods is uni- versally recognized, all exchanges that were visited reserving some space where operators may spend reliefs and rest periods. The type and number of rest rooms vary with the size of the building and the number of girls who would be using such a room. In many instances the rooms are most attractive and have been designed to enable the girls to have a comfortable place to which to go during their rest periods and extra time at meal hours. The girls in any exchange can have either a victrola or a piano in their rest room if they request it, and the Company plans to work out some routine for getting new records for the victrolas from time to time. One employee, at a salary of $32 per week, devoted full time to planning, inspecting and maintaining retiring rooms for the exchanges in the Manhattan and Bronx Division. The general supervision is under the manager of the lunch room service, although the different types of expenditure in connection with the furnishing and maintaining of these rooms are charged to different department accounts. Some of the rooms have a goodly supply of books and current magazines. During 191.9, three completely new rest rooms were opened and furnished at a cost of almost $10,000. In addition to this, seven rooms were partially refurnished or improved, making a total cost during the year for new furniture and furnishings for the rest rooms of $12,070.32. The most attractive and newest of these rest rooms is the one for the pupils of the training school which was opened last year. More than 500 girls are in the position to use this room at inter- vals during the day, and because of the somewhat irregular periods which often occur in the training school, girls are found there almost constantly, and it is quite evident that the comfortable chairs and couches, soft colors, low lights and restful atmosphere are fully appreciated. The rest rooms in many of the older build- ings are much less attractive. Although always comfortable, they are often furnished with a view to strength and durability rather than the complete restfulness in which harmony of color and lighting plays such an important part. The $4,800 expended last year in furnishing the rest room for training school girls might 50 51 almost be considered in the light of a business advertisement. Such a room certainly does much to minimize the discQuragemc-nt and fatigue of the girls just entering the telephone industry. Ininch Room Service, For many years the Telephone Company has provided lunch rooms for its operators where free tea, coffee, sugar and condensed milk was served. The girls brought their own lunches or went out for the more substantial part of the meal. The Company came to the conclusion, however, that it would be well worth while to install a regular cafeteria service where food could be served at cost, or less than cost. While the tea, coffee, sugar and con- densed milk is still continued as a free service to the girls, in the Manhattan and Bronx Division two complete cafeterias were opened in 1915, four in 1916, seven in 1917, four in 1918, and nine in 1919. At the present time in the thirty buildings in which there are exchanges in the Manhattan and Bronx Division, twenty-six have a regular cafeteria service. Three small exchanges still maintain only the free service of former years, and one exchange, in which but six girls are employed, has no service whatsoever. The lunch room service was designed primarily to meet the needs of the operating force, but in the buildings where a large clerical force was employed the service included them, so that at the present time all women employees are permitted to use the lunch rooms, and in special instances some of the men may obtain food from the lunch rooms at certain times. Ten thousand seven hundred and sixty-one (10,761) employees of the Company are provided with this s'^rvi'-e at the present time. Eight thousand eight hundred and seventy-six (8,876) of these are on the operating force. For the 2,725,898 meals for which CHsh was paid by the employees, $354,575.58 was received, an average expenditure of 13 cents per meal. An examination of the menu offered with their food prices will show at what ridiculously low rates food is furnished em- ployees in the Company. During 1919, the expenses for the lunch room service an^.ounted to $591,720 and the Company had a deficit of $237,144.42. At the present time there are 214 employees engaged in running the lunch rooms, and in addition to these there is a force of 13 in the lunch room managers office and 8 special employees assigned to the dormitory. The Company is now considering extending the lunch room service so that a table-d'hote meal can l>e served for the sum of 10 cents or 12 cents, in this way insuring a proper food balance ration to the girl for a price so low that she will take the full meal. This will mean even greater financial loss to the Company, in all probability, but they consider it a worth wnile expenditure. Outside Manhattan and Bronx, the lunch room service has not been developed to any extent. Three buildings in Brooklyn now have cafeterias and practically all exchanges of any size throughout the State are rendering the " free service " of tea, coffee, sugar and condensed milk. In some up-state exchanges the girl? themselves have worked out a plan whereby they can serve themselves crackers, cake, etc., at cost. The night operators are supposed to have the full benefit of the lunch room service. In the large exchanges, someone is on duty to furnish them food, but in most instances meals are left for them in the ice-box, and they serve themselves. Supervision. The most common complaint and criticism of the Telephone Company which the operators express is that supervision is unsym- pathetic and over-strict. Fox every 8 to 10 girls there is a supervisor, walking back and forth behind their chairs, assisting in handling calls when neces- sary, and helping in adjustment of difficulties. The assistance the supervisor renders the operators is incalculable. Her presence however, adds materially to the mental and nervous strain of the operator, especially if she herself is nervous and irritable. The cx)ntinual presence of a supervisor, if she is not a person of under- standing and sympathy, creates in itself an element of nervous strain. The position of observer is a second supervising position. There are fewer observers than supervisors and they are not visible to i 52 the operators. The observer has a board which is called an observ- ation board and from which she can plug in on any operator, fol- low her work in detail, time her calls, hear her remarks and also those of the subscriber. There is no doubt that close supervision is necessary. It is true, however, that this close double supervision which the Com- pany gives the girls plays a very large part in the nervous strain on the operator. One supervisor has been reported as walking back and forth behind her 8 or 10 girls saying in low monotonous voice, "Hurry girls, hurry girls." With a girl answering calls as rapidly as possible, and with lights flashing in front of her eyes continually, and the buzzing in her ears, the fact of being driven from behind irritates many of the girls to the extreme. The Public's Part The impatience of subscribers is the next important cause of nervousness. With each call a light flashes in front of the oper- ator, severj>l of these lights flashing simultaneously show that a number of subscribers are calling for numbers at the same time. The operator is expected to give the quickest possible attention to each, and to remember which light flashed first. When several signals come at once, and others come before these can be cared for, the order is necessarily lost and her effort is concentrated on clearing the board. When an impatient subscriber jiggles his receiver he not only flashes the signal light in front of the oper- ator, but when the operator opens her key to learn his wants, a clicking sound is caused in her ear every time the subscriber moves the receiver up and down. Consciousness that a number of subscribers are waiting to have their calls attended to, their growing impatience emphasized by the constant flash of lights before her eyes, and the incessant buz- zing in her ears, together with the knowledge that the supervisor is standing behind her either hurrying her or asking other oper- ators to attend to her numbers, and that the observer may plug in to criticize at any moment, causes strain which might in some degree be lessened if subscribers learned to be a little more patient. 53 The operator is allowed to respond in certain set phrases such as " Xumbc^r please,'' " Excuse it please," etc. She may not " talk back " no matter how much she is being abused by a subscriber, and any abuse which the subscriber may heap on the operator only delays her operations and clogs her switch board. Rest Periods, The policy of the New York Telephone Company requires a 15 minute break during the first half of the day's service and another 15 minutes during the second. During the year 1919, because of the shortage of labor, this policy has not been uni- versally practiced. In some New York City exchanges and in the exchanges of the up-state cities it has been possible to adhere to this rule, but in far too great a number of the exchanges the rest periods have been entirely eliminated or only one period of rest given during the entire working day. Telephone operating, entailing as it does such physical and nervous strain, shows imperative need of establishing 15 minute i*est periods in each half of the shift. That four hours operating without any cessation from work or any let-down is too long, is the testimony of the medical authorities of Toronto on the study of telephone operating made by the Royal Commission. The strict observance of rest periods would materially benefit the efficiency of the telephone service] Wi MEDICAL DEPARTMENT The records of the Medical Department are considered by the Company as strictly confidential and very little information can be obtained about the girls reporting disabilities of various kinds and seeking medical treatment. Certain it is that the Medical Department should play a very important part in determining standards of any sort in the telephone industry. The operators are subjected to peculiar conditions because of the nature of the occupation. They are employed at an age when they are particu- larly sensitive to strain and nervous exhaustion. The telephone industry imposes upon the girls conditions which subject them to eye strain, ear strain, and nei-vous tension. Rest periods have been found essential from the point of view of service. The Medical Department of such an industry has a peculiar responsibility in adding constantly to the scientific knowledge now available on the relation of working conditions to health. This knowledge at the present time is all too meager and is largely composed of the opin- ions of medical men rather than carefully worked out studies covering periods of tim.e long enough to make the results of great value. Dr. Richardson, of the JSTew England Telei)honc Company, found in examining the Benefit Fund records of the New York Telephone Company for 1917 that there had been 631 cases of nervous disability, including neuralgia and neurasthenia. Among the employees of the Company this was a rate of 55.8 per 1,000 employees per annum eligible for sickness disability. The rate for the total Bell system was only 33.4 per 1,000. The need la very obvious for special study of fatigue in an industrv- in which nervous tension is so omnipresent. At the present time in the Xew York Bell Telephone Company the Medical Department is made up of 27 physicians, each of whom is on duty for three hours a day, and 15 graduate nurses, who are on duty for full time. The doctors and nurses are cen- tered in New York, Brookl\^l, Newark and Mt. Vernon, one to ten doctors in each district, and from one to seven nurses. In the parts of the State where no regular Company physicians are employed arrangements are miido by the Directors of the [54] 55 c Medical Department with practising physicians in the different districts. These physicians are then on call for the necessary emergency work in connection with accidents and examinations of Telephone Company employees. Outside New York City and its outlying di.-^tricts the Company's medical service has not been extensively developed. The Medical Department in New York City has complete equipment for making blood tests, taking X-rays, etc., and where examinations of this sort prove to be needed, the Company makes them. In special cases, also, the Company supplies needed medi- al care from outside specialists when the employee is unable to afford such care. The cost of these special cases is not included in the budget of the Medical Department. In 1918 this budget amounted to ap proximately $93,000.00. $75,000.00 of this went into salaries and wages, $3,000.00 was spent for equipment, and $15,000.00 was charged to miscellaneous items such as printing, house charges, etc. The Medical Department has complete supervision of the health of employees. Every employee of the Company is eligible to medical service and a medical examination is one of the require- ments of employment. These physical examinations are given tor the operators in connection with the training school by women physicians. If the applicant for a position is employed at the time of her application, she is given a physical examination be- fore she enters the training school, so that she will not have left her other work while there is a chance that her physical condition will bar her from employment with the Telephone Company. If she is not employed at the time of her application, however, she enters the training school immediately and some time during her training course an appointment is made for her physical examina- tion. The examination is short and of necessity superficial, last- ing usually about 15 minutes and rarely more than 30 minutes. A brief medical history of the girl and of her family is made out by the nurse before she is examined by the doctor. Particular em- phasis is placed on heart and lung conditions and oar and e^-e trouble. An eye test is always given either by the interviewer in the Employment Department or by the physician examining lier. 66 Very often the girl is advised conceruiiig slight disabilities which can be easily remedied by prQi>er treatment — such as bad condition of teeth or throat. In 1919, of the 9,428 applicants examined for operating ix>si- tions 815, or 8.6% were rejected because of i>hysical disability. One-fifth of these rejections were on account of lung conditions, one-tenth on account of nervous disorders, and 18% were rejected because of under-development ; yet at the present time the examin- ing physicians are taking girls who are obviously below par physi- cally if they think the girl is at all able to do the work, and can be gradually brought up to physical standards while she is employed. 'No treatment other than emergency treatment is given by the Medical Departm.ent, the work is confined to diagnosis and the employee is referred to her own private physician for whatever treatment is needed. Additional physical examinations can be made from time to time in individual cases whenever the doctor feels it necessary or when an employee requests it. Often these examinations are in connection with employees receiving medical benefits where any question arises concerning their exact physical condition. The Medical Department is also supposed to serve in an advis- ory capacity concerning the general sanitation of the Company's plants, but does not have direct charge of such things as disinfect- ing rooms, buildings, etc. It is extremely unfortunate that the records of the Medical Department and those of the Employment Department are so unstandardized that very little material of significance can be secured from them. Losses because of physical condition form such a large proportion among the students in the training school that careful analysis and records would seem essc^ntial, yet the largest number of these losses are classed with the miscellaneous group of reasons for resignations and dismissals from the student force. An analysis of the miscellaneous ^onp of causes for dis- missals for the year 1919 discloses the fact that among 618 students who were dismissed, 473 had to leave because they were physically unfit. In addition to these there are six other groups 67 with physical disabilities. Among 23 groups of causes for stu- dent resignation in the miscellaneous group no less than 10 deal with physical conditions. The same haphazard arrangement of causes of losses from the operating force occurs throughout. A more careful analysis of these losses and the causes for them with a uniform and detailed classification of reasons for leaving would seem one of the first essentials in intelligently approach- ing the employment problem now confronting the Telephone Company. There is no doubt that the number of losses from the operating force could be considerably reduced if the Telephone Company undertook a more thorough medical supervision of the operators, and that the efiiciency of the workers could be kept nearer its maximum. The Medical Department should study very closely working conditions and apply the information they gain to the practical fitting of the operator to her job. This, of course, could be done only by periodical examinations and would entail a much larger medical force than the Company now employs. The whole trend of telephonic invention has been of a nature to intensify the strain by heightening the possible speed at which the opera- tion may be carried on. But little attention has thus far been paid to the inimical effect upon the constitutions of women engaged in such a calling and the possible effects upon their children. The problem from this point of view is medical rather than economic and the full determination of the effect of telephony upon the health of those engaged in it can be had only as a result of expert medical study. The Telephone Company has a w^onderful oppor- tunity, through its Medical Department, to make a very genuine contribution to the all too meager knowledge on this subject. m EMPLOYEES' BENEFIT FUND The New York Telephone Company established a plan for employees' pensions, disability benefits and death benefits which went into effect January 1, 1913. The same plan applies to the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company. The public report of this benefit fund is little more than a financial statement and in many in- stances statistics regarding the operation of the fund are given lor the three companies together. The general plan of the Company makes it possible for the interchange of benefit obligations between the three companies directly concerned and the American Tele- phone and Telegraph Company, its associated companies in the United States, and the Western Electric Company. The initial appropriation made by the Companies of the Bell System in establishing the benefit fund amounted to $8,855,000. The plan is financed entirely by the Company and the employees make no payments whatsoever to the fund. Each company guar- antees to credit to this fund interest at the rate of 4% per annum on the average unexpended balance and to also make such addi- tional appropriations at the end of each year to restore the fund to its original amount, provided that such appropriation shall not exceed 2% of the Company's pay-roll. The plan provides for pensions, death benefits, accident disability benefits and sickness disability benefits. (1) Pensions — Pensions are provided for employes who have been in the service 20 years or more. Special disability pensions may be granted, at the discretion of the benefit committee, after 15 years of service. The employees are divided into four groups which are determined by the age of the employee and the length of his service. -^i-^— ^-?«^ The amount of the annual pension is 1% of the average annual pay for 10 years multiplied by the number of years in the em- ployee's term of employment. The minimum pension is $20,00 per month, but this minimum does not apply to special disability pensions which may be granted to employops of loss than 20 years of service. 15S] 59 (2) Death Benefits — Death benefits are payable only to the wife or husband or dependent relative of the deceased employee. They are limited to one year's pay not exceeding $2,000.00 if the employee hajs been in the service 10 years ox more, or to 6 months' pay not exceeding $2,000.00 if the employee has been in the serv- ice from 5 to 10 years. In the case of death by accident, the bene- fit amounts to three years' pay, not exceeding $5,000.00, and the necessary expenses of burial up to $150.00. (3) Accident Disability Benefits — In the case of accidents, the benefits stai-t from the first day. With total disability, full pay is given for 13 weeks and half pay for the remainder of the disability, with a maximum cash Ixmefit of $20.00 per week after 6 years. In the case of partial disability, 100% loss in earnings is paid for the first 13 weeks and 50% of loss capacity for the remainder of the disability up to 6 years. (4) Si-ckness DisahiUiij Benefits — Sickness disability benefits apply only to the employees who have been in the service of the Company at least 2 years. The benefits begin on the eighth day of absence on account of sickness and vary in amount according to the term of service. Every employee of 2 to 5 years' service receives full pay for 4 weeks and half pay for 9 weeks. For those whose service is between 5 and 10 years, full pay is given for 13 weeks and half pay for a similar period of time. For those whose term of employment has been more than 10 years, full pay is given for 13 weeks and half pay for 39 weeks. The Benefit Fund and its administration is under a committee of five appointed by the Company. The committee employs the secretary of the Fund and other help necessary to the administra- tion and decides all special questions which may arise. The last figures available for the Fund are those for 1918. They apply to the New York Telephone Company, which operates partly in the states of New Jersey and Connecticut. The figures, therefore, include employees in the Company working outside of New York State. The average number of employees in the New York Telephone Company in 1018 was 30,101.* Nineteen thotisand eight hundred and ninety-four (19,894) of these were women. All • This number was obtained by overaging the total number of employees at the beginning of the year and the total number at the end of the year. 60 employees are eligible to the aceideut benefit, but, as has been stated, only those employees with a service record of two years or more are eligible to the sickness benefit. The estimated average number eligible to these sickness benefits during the year 1918 was 19,835, or 65% of the total number of employees. Of this eligible number, 11,246 were women and 8,589 were men. This would indicate that some 76% of the men had been with the Com- pany at least two years, while only 58% of the women had served that long, although the women constituted 66% of the labor force. This would emphasize again the fact that the serious problem of labor turnover in the Telephone Company is due to the fluctuation among the women who have been with the Company but a short time. During 1918, 1,093 accidents were reported, but in only 151 cases were women injured. In spite of the fact that there are almost twice as many women as men, it is quite natural that the men should have suffered approximately six times as many acci- dents as the women, for practically all of these accidents came from work on poles or with wires. In the sickness cases, however, of which th(»re were 7,375 re- ported for the year, 5,62.9 occurred among the women employees. Approximately two-fiftlis of the sickness cases among women were due to influenza, pneumonia, tonsilitis or bronchitis. The num- ber of eye and ear diseases was surprisingly few, considering the nature of the work, but the cases of anaemia numbered 235, the largest single group outside those sicknesses connected with the influenza epidemic. One hundred and twenty-three (123) of the girls were reported with tuberculosis and in some c^ses special treatment was secured for these tubercular girls. It is unfortunate that no report is available of the sickness cases of those employees who have been with the Company too short a time to be eligible for benefits. It is also unfortunate that there is no way of securing any knowledge of the len^h of disability"" During 1919 the Benefit Fund ])aid out $667,991.26, of which $475,164.02 went to sickness disability benefits. The death bene- fits amounted to $97,623.40; the pensions $25,175.87; the accident disability $56,396.78, and special disability expenses 61 $13,631.19. The financial statement of the Fund did not include any amount of over-head or administration expenses. The Benefit Fund and the Medical Department are supposed to woi'k in close co-operation and the Medical Department goes over the requests for benefits from sick employees and whenever question arises a special diagnosis is made. The administration of the fund is entirely in the hands of the committee. Benefits may not be refused or suspended, nor can an employee be taken off the pay-roll during a period of disability, except upon the approval of the committee. The officers of the Fund state that it is the policy of the committee to make a very careful and thorough investigation of each case before permitting the removal of an employee's name from the pay-roll while that employee is away from work because of sickness. Any special grievance or difficulty which an employee has con- cerning the administration of the Fund is brought directly to the committee. Question has been raised as to the propriety of hav- ing no representative chosen by the employees on this committee, which is appointed by the Board of Directors of the Company t(> administer the fund. Since the Fund is not a mutual organization in any sense, but is financed by the Company for their employees, it seems quite logical that the management should be in the Cimi- pany's hands. 63 MISCELLANEOUS BENEFITS Anniversary Payments An anniversary gift is given to each member of the operating force who has been in the service of the Company two years or more. At the end of her second year of service she receives $25.00; at the end of her third, fourth, fifth and sixth year of service she receives $50.00; at the end of her seventh year and each year thereafter she receives $100.00. In 1919 the anniversary gifts given out by the Company to the operating force of the Manhattan and Bronx Division amounted to $283,075.00. Four thousand four hundred and thirty-eight (4,438) people received these gifts. Eight hundred and sixty-six (866) were gifts of $25.00, amounting to $21,625.00 ; 1,015 were gifts of $50.00, amounting to $95,750.00 ; 1,657 were gifts of $100.00, amounting to $165,700.00. Other Benefits It is the policy of the Company to care for its employees when- ever the home conditions of the employee seem to indicate that out- side help is needed. Since the Employees' Benefit Fund covers only those who have been in the service of the Company two years or more, a schedule of benefits exists for those of less than two years of service, but these benefits are paid at the discretion of the depart- ment head, and, therefore, there is no uniform policy throughout the Company. The schedule of benefits enables a department head to pay an employee in the service less than one year a regular wage for one week and one-half her regular wage for two addi- tional weeks if she is out ill and in need. If the employee has been in the service more than one year, but less than two years, the department head may at his discretion pay her her regular wage for two weeks and half her regular wage for four weeks. Payments made for the first seven days are charged to the regular department expenses and are not placed in a separate account, but all other allowances for the sickness of employees in the serv- ice less than two years and expenses in excess of payments made from the Employees' Benefit Fund, such as extension of regular [62] pensions, sickness, accident, death, etc., are charged to a special account. In 1918, $47,693.35 was spent by the Company on these " other benefits " in Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens Divisions. When a girl is away from the office an investigation is made after three days. This investigation is made from the central offi<5e in which the girl belongs. It may be made by the chief operator herself or by someone designated by her to do this visit- ing. As a rule, one person in each central office makes all the necessary visits, although the locality in which the sick employee lives or some special circumstance may make it wise to allot par- ticular visits to special people. The visitor fills out a special form for the Company and on the basis of this visit special benefits, if necessary, are recommended. While the Bureau of Women in Industry commends the Tele- phone Company for its generous and liberal system of benefit funds, it nevertheless wishes to point out a weakness in the bene- fits as they are administered to persons who have been with the Company less than two years. This is apparently done in a spas- modic and hit or miss way and does not relieve the operator of the bugaboo of workers — anxiety and worry in case of illness. Some system should be worked out whereby the operator of under two years' service would be assured that she would be taken care of during illness. It may be perhaps too much to ask that the Telephone Company assume this heavy financial burden. Some co-operative scheme of health insurance between the workers and the management might be worked out which would be most effective. EMPLOYEES' REPRESENTATIVE PLAN In line with the policy of many other large companies, in the spring of 1919, the Telephone Company undertook a scheme of representative organization among its employees. In its declara- tion it is stated that since the interests of the employees and the management are so interdependent, the Company desires to secure and further its present cordial relationship upon a definite and durable basis of mutual understanding and confidence. In general, the outline of the organization of the employees' representative plan is as follows: Every employee who has been three months or more in the serv- ice of the Compjmy is entitled to vote with his voting section for a representative of the Employees' Council Committee. Any em- ployee is eligible for nomination and election as an employee representative of the Employees' Council Committee who has been with the Company one year or more and is, if a woman, over 18 years of age, or, if a man, over 21 years of age. The management, on the other hand, elects a Management Council Committee. The employees' and management committees may have joint confer- ences and consider any such matter for ox in behalf of employees represented by such Employees' Committee, and the management " makes such final disposition thereto and enter into such agree- ments with respect thereto as the management representatives may have authority to, make and enter into." Consideration of any matter may be initiated before the Employees' Council Commit- tee either by the Employees' Council Committee itself, or by the managomont, or a management representative for such council, or by an employee who may desire to bring before her Employees* Council Committee anv matter which such emplo^^ee has been unable to adjust satisfactorily through the regular channel of Company administration, and may direct the Employees' Council Committee to call a meeting for that purpose. Is the Company sincere in its desire to establish a well dis- ciplined and responsible representative plan among its employees ? It must be realized that such an organization would raise the morale of the operators and increase the efficiency of the service. [04] 65 The working plan of the employees' . representative plan raises, however, one or two serious questions. It is very clearly stated that the management representatives are empowered to act in making agreements in so far as '* the management representatives may have authoiity to make or enter into." This reservation is in a sense perfectly permissible, but, on the other hand, it does not leave the joint body as one really capable of coming to any a<''reement on any vital issue under discussion. It means that the management representatives have to take all issues, which in Ihe regular course of their authority they cannot handle, to some higher power for action. This one point in itself robs this plan of any real possibility of functioning democratically. The plan states very clearly that discussion is permitted on " any matters of interest." This clause forestalls further criticism of omissions because all such important matters as causes of dis- charge and arbitration by some agent outside the Company can be taken up and decided in the Committees. However, many similar representative plans have specific clauses covering these points. Under this plan, the Company assumes the entire cost connected with the organization and administration. This immediately stamps it in the imagination of the worker as a Company activity and she does not instinctively look to it as her own independent vehicle of expression. The plan has been in operation too short a time to warrant judgment on its practical working. However, this scheme has great possibilities, but where so many thousands of girls are em- ploved, distributed as they are over a dozen or more central ofiices and working on throe diiTerent shifts, it will be difficult to establish a democratic, workable and effective system of repre- sentation among employees unless much time and attention is given to strengthening this organization. Among tele])hone or)erators there is a tremendous latent and creative force which is not being fully utilized. This latent and creative force should be harnessed in such a way as to give the operators an opportunity to share in the responsibility for the conditions under which they work. There is a growing and legiti- mate desire among workers to do things for themselves, rather than accept what is done for them. This impulse toward self- 3 GC . expression must be recognized and met. Excellent working con- ditions, when those conditions have been "handed down from above/' are sometimes relatively unimportant compared to the satisfaction of the workers in having a voice in their i^gulation. The Telephone Company cannot rest under the impression that the new wage rates will settle all their employment difficulties. Some truly democratic machinery for the consideration and pre- vention of grievances is essential. i t APPENDES AND STATISTICAL TABLES [07J NAMES AND APPROXIMATE SIZE OF EXCHANGES COVERED IN HOUR AND WAGE INQUIRY (Males and females) Manhattan and Bronx Division 1. Audubon 186 2. Bowling Green 258 3. Broad 259 4. Chelsea 252 6. Circle 160 6. City Island 5 7. Columbus 213 5. Cortland 28'0 9. Franklin 166 10. Greeley 211 11. Intervale 152 12. John 210 13. Lenox 163 14. Madison Square 258 15. Melrose 238 16. Melrose Toll 179 17. Morningside . '. 171 18. Murray Hill 352 19. Orchard 1«7 20. Plaza 196 21. Rector 338 22. Schuyler 141 23. Schuyler Inform 70 24. Spring 193 25. Stuyvesant 167 26. Tremont 126 27. Vanderbilt 263 28. Wadsworth 116 29. Worth 271 Total 5,761 1. Astoria 2. Bay Ridge 3. Bedford 4. Bensonhurst . .. 5. Bushwick 6. Coney Island . . 7. Decatur 8. East New York. 9. Evergreen 10. Far Rockaway . 11. Flushing 12. Greenpoint 13. Hamilton 14. Hammels Brooklyn a/nd Qiieens Division 15. Jamaica 95 16. Long Island Toll 162 17. Main 260 18. Newtown 54 19. Prospect 183 20. Prospect Inform 101 21. Richmond Hill 91 22. South 118 23. Stagg 119 24. Sterling 42 25. Williamsburg 119 62 164 21.3 113 139 48 78 172 77 73 69 122 68 25 Total 2,767 1. New Dorp . . . 2. Tompkinsville Staten Island, New Jersey Division 17 3. West Brighton 42 70 Total 129 [69] If I 'S ii 70 Long Island Suburban Division 1. Bay Shore . . 2. Kasthampton 3. Garden City 4. Glen Cove , . 5. Greeiiport . . 6. Huntington . 7. Long Beach . 8. Patehogue . . . 0. Port Washington 11 6 38 14 7 11 2 12 9 10. Riverhead 11. Rockvillc Center 12. Roslyn 13. Sayville 14. Souilianipton . . . 15. Yaphank 10 24 7 5 8 10 Total 174 Westchester Division 1. Briarclifl" . . . 2. Haverstraw . 3. Mt. Kisco . . 4. Mt. Vernon . 5. New Rochelle 6. Nyack 7. Piermont ... 1. Auburn (local) 2. Canaseraga (Federal) 3. Canastota 4. Corning 5. Binghamton 6. Cortland 7. East Syracuse S. Elmira 9. Endicott 10. Geneva 11. Hornell 12. Horseheads 13. Ithaca 1. Albany. 1. Main . . . . 2. West Catskill .... I>elmar 4. Fort Edward 5. Glen Falls . . 6. Goshen '^. Roosick Falls 2. 3. 5 7 14 92 68 19 6 8. Port Chester 9. Scarsdale . .. rO. Tarrytown . . 11. White Plains 12. Yonkers .... 25 10 19 56 84 Total 405 Central Division 45 2 8 27 93 43 3 86 10 8 27 5 23 14. Ithaca (Federal) 15. Little Falls 16. New Hartford . . 17. Norwich 18. Oswego 19. Rome 20. Syracuse. 1. Toll 2. Warren . . . 21. Utica (Toll) ... 22. Watertown 20 19 3 17 43 26 86 209 55 56 Total 913 Hudson Division 163 90 11 3 7 53 9 8 8. Kingston 43 9. Poughkecpsie ^4 10. Saugerties 10 11. Schenectady 127 12. Troy .....' 13^ 13. Waterford 5 Total 733 71 Western 1. Albion 18 2. Avon (Federal) 4 3. Batavia 27 4. Brockport 6 5. Bufifalo. L Abbott 50 2. Howard 107 3. Seneca 266 4. Toll 142 5. Tupper 169 6. Canandiiigua 7 7. Charlotte 7 8. Dansville ( Federal ) 5 9. Dunkirk 14 10. East Aurora 15 11. East Rochester 6 12. Fairport (Federal) 5 13. Geneseo 9 14. Hamburg 10 15. Honeoye Falls 7 Division 16. Le Roy (Federal) 5 17. Lockport 46 18. Medina ^^ 19. Mt. Morris W 20. Niagara Fails SS 21. Olean 40 22. Penn Yan 22 23. Pittsford (Federal) 6 24. Rochester. 1. Chase 73 2. Genesee ^6 3. Main 149 25. Rush 5 26. Salamanca 1® 27. Silver Creek 6 28. Tonawanda 26 29. Victor 6 Total 1,456 SCHEDULES OF WAGE PAYMENTS Wage payments for operators are set according to certain sched- ules, which are different in various localities, depending really upon the labor market of each locality. Into the wage payment of the chief operator another item enters, it being dependent upon the size of the exchange or upon the number of subordinates over whom she must exercise control. As it happens, wage schedules of operators and chief operators in the same locality uniformly bear the same numerical denota- tion. The Telephone Company, for its detailed needs, marks the one by use of an Arabic figure, the other, by Roman. For our convenience, no such separation is made ; the Roman figure is used. The places and the number of persons (males excluded) at each exchange are listed below under wage schedules where they fall. 1. Manhattan. 1. Audubon 186 2. Bowling Green 258 S. Broad 259 4. Chelsea 252 5. Circle 160 6. Columbus 213 7. Cortland 280 8. Franklin 166 9. Greeley 211 10. John 210 11. Lenox 163 12. Madison Square 258 13. Morningside 171 Schedule I 1. Manhattan — contd. 14. Murray Hill 352 15. Orchard 167 16. Plaza 196 17. Rector 338 18. Schuyler 141 19. Schuyler Inform 70 20. Spring 193 21. Stuyvesant 167 22. Vanderbilt 263 23. Wadsworth 116 24. Worth 271 Total 6,061 Schedule II 1. Brooklyn. 1. Bay Ridge 164 2. Bedford 213 3. Bensonhurst 113 4. Bushwick 139 5. Coney Island 48 6. Decatur 78 i 7. East New York 172 8. Evergreen 77 9. Greenpoint 122 10. Hamilton 68 11. Long Island Toll 162 12. Main 260 13. Prospect 183 [•72] 1. Brooklyn — contd. 14. Prospect Inform 101 15. South 118 16. Stagj^ 119 17. Sterling 42 18. Williamsburg 119 2, Lower Bronx 1. Intervale 152 2. Melrose 235 3. Melrose Toll 179 4. Tremont 126 Total 2,990 73 Schedule III 1. City Island 2. Mt. Vernon 3. New Koehelle 4. Queens. 1. Astoria 2. Far Rockaway 3. Flushing 4. Hammels .... 5. Jamaica 6. Newtown .... o 87 68 U2 73 69 25 95 54 4. Queens — contd. 7. Richmond Hill . . . 5. Staten Island. 1. New Dorp 2. Tompkinsville . . 3. W. New Brighton 6. White Plains 7. Yonkers Total 91 17 70 42 56 84 898 Schedule IV 1. Albany. 1. Main 163 2. West 90 2. Buffalo. 1. Abbott 50 2. Howard 107 3. Seneca 266 4. Toll 142 5. Tupper 169 7 3 3 19 3 88 25 3. Charlotte 4. Delmar 5. East Syracuse 6. Little Falls . . 7. New Hartford 8. Niagara Falls 9. Portchester . . 10. Rochester. 1. Chase 73 2. Genesee 66 3. Main 147 11. Scarsdale 10 12. Schenectady 127 13. Syracu«r. L Toll 86 2. Warren 209 14. Tarrytown 19 15. Troy 135 16. Utica Toll 55 17. Waterford 6 Total 2,067 Schedule V 1. Auburn (local) 45 2. Batavia 27 3. Binghamton 93 4. Briarcliff 5 5. Dunkirk 14 6. East Aurora 15 7. Elmira 85 S. Endicott 10 9. Garden City 38 10 Glen Cove 14 11. Haverstraw 7 12. Uhica 23 13. Ithaca (Federal) 20 14. Kingston 48 15. Long Beachr 2 16. Lockport 17. Mt. Kisco IS. Nya<5k 19. Olean 2*0. Piermont 21. Port Washington 22. Poughkeepsie . . 23. Rockville Center 24. Rome 25. Roslyn 26. Salamanca 27. Tonawanda .... 28. Watertown . . . - 46 14 18 40 6 9 64 24 26 7 19 26 56 Total 801 I w 74 Schedule 1. Albion 18 23. 2. Avon ,{ Federal) 4 24. 3. Bay Shore 11 25. 4. Brockport 6 26. 5. Canandaigua 7 27. 6. Canastota 8 28. 7. Canaseraga (Ftnieral) ... 2 29. 8. Catskill 11 30. 9. Corning 27 31. 10. Cortland 43 32. 11. Dansville (Federal) 5 33. 12. Easthampton 6 34. 13. East Rochester 6 35. 14. Fairport (Federal) 5 36. 15. Fort Edward 7 37. 16. Greneva 8 38. 17. Genesee 9 39. IS. Glen Falls 63 40. 19. Goshen 9 41. 20. Greenport 7 42. 21. Hamburg 10 22. Honeoye Falls 7 VI Hoosick Falls 8 Hornell 27 Horseheads 5 Huntington H Leroy ( Federal ) 5 Medina 16 Mt. Morris 10 Norwich 17 Oswego 43 Patchogue 12 Penn Yan 22 Pittsford (Federal) 5 Riverhead 10 Rush 5 Saugerties 10 Sayville 5 Silver Creek 6 Southampton 8 Victor 6 Yaphank 9 Total 509 75 TOTAL HOURS WORKED BY THOSE WORKING A FULL WEEK (t.e. by those who were not absent at all nor had any broken time) l|5 Shift 38i to 42 42 to 46 46 to 50 1 50 to 54 54 and over Total Schedule No. % No. % No. % No. % No. 153 86 7 246 3 % No. % D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* D* E* N* T* 988 210 1,649 543 313 2,505 779 935 237 1,951 207 139 64 410 574 13 88 675 228 6 59 293 136 19 49 204 3,573 1,655 810 60! is 83! 48 57.99 76 19 49 144 44 1 15 60 13 1 1 15 10 3 'ZAG I 73 • • • ■ ■■'■73 1.75 1,198 181 99 28.76 5.90 4,i66 100 II 43 .... ".'.'. ■■■"43 ■■i!84 280 76 164 11.98 2.57 '2'.i2 3 2 1 1 4 11 .13 2,337 iou III 38 '■"38 5.37 240 128 617 33.95 .57 707 lUU IV 41 18 29 10 , , ■•••4i ■■2!73 "■745 56 233 49.57 44.91 is 6 .86 1.93 i,563 100 V 14 • • • ■ '***i4 2.29 289 25 102 47.22 47.88 57^95 66.61 48.58 89.40 6 6 3 1 10 155 27 66 248 .98 '2.85 2.89 .79 7.29 2.56 10 3 1 4 8 182 88 39 300 i.63 6i2 ioo VI 3 • • • • 3 .85 127 1.454 1,425 36.08 27.11 41.83 2.27 352 3.39 5,364 2.58 3.407 3.31 906 3.10 9,677t 166 100 100 100 Total 212 6.22 212 2.19 2,879 29.75 6,038 62.40 100 ♦ Day, Evening, Night, Total. . x 1 4. t Exclusive of 234 (2.36%) women for whom information was not complete. ■im I '--- ?:i..v--Lr, -^ m » Q^ CO i PE4 76 ^ CO M 6C .>.H u OS CO fe? oc CO CO »c 94 to CO >o «o •ox CO CO o-t Otp C* QO OO •^CSl CI 05 to CO CI CO»H to to to to 00 t^1-l 00 CO •^<-l to X 00 (N •*co s 00 00 to O-H N»H CO 00 s CO CO tOM to s CO COO) M CO CON .o> CO CO to coco s ^ OS X X CO CO « CO u X CO 05 to X to X'^ CI CO CO CI X r'.ci t^co 8 CI Cl'^Jt to to OCO lO CO XtO OS CO CO CO CI coos OS Clio X pt-o CI t« CI CO CI to X CI toco X »o to CO CI to OS CI CI >•= ^ w cox CI CO s X X CI »Ht>. coos CO X CI CI OCO CO OS CI OS CO coo to to CO CO CI co^ t^CI OS r>.ci I OS lO^ I CO s OS to OS CI CI t: a ^ s ■ a) Ohi-i H o a; t: a •mCS o (£1 OS « CI CO P>4HH a >>z o •^1 4> H CO 77 S? 8 1 8 l-H : 1 ; 1 :l ' 8 6 15 xt>. <-4 to 1-4 osco CI CI to CO •O I ^'1 x-^ CI to CI CI X ^Cl CICS 1-H CO C4t^ CS r>.cO CO COTt* qio CO t ■ c. 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N CO r^t* U3 COCO CSI^ t>.I-l iZ o 0.^ 1*- o I CQ ^ « a V V hi 0) 6^ CO ^ •3 11 I PQ CO li< 80 I I • • • 8 • • • 8 8 : : :8 8 <-H 1-4 »^ ^H l^ . . ! i . 11 S M — -^ ■* oe^r* ■* ecus CO r>. r^oOOeo aaiO) Q . C<5 fC-^^ C^ XClt^ CC ©coo JS H o a: q MCOCO CI CO** X 05'X)MO coco AVINQ 8 AND Time 2 2£ Is. • ■ -X r« £^ o o . . .^ • • -CI X Kg?: A U K 1 'O QM»0 r>. 1^— lO X ICWOSO © -^IC •O © S 2 n n es o g X ccx^ 1-1 COOXM XX l>. l-N ^<;Ci t CO •< vO CO s 1-4 : : :§ 00 Q o^ f^ M 00 o . . -r* © u a , s u 00.H . 05 NCO • «o ©lO . »o CscO -lO ©^ • CO M M • N.O ■ r* C:^ • CO 1^6*1 • 05 CJCO •« tC-H . r^. H K o OJ*^ • o i-< e^ •^ • t^ O S5 rt . ' ' M ' * • ' II S 00 r* O) . . .CO l^ o* « •d u. Q H 0» II H t4 9. lO-^ . «o ^?§ : « — (N • CO xic -co 0^ o CO •* ^1 f-H . «D < II K fi II ^■♦•o CO cocoes «c r^e«>o s •<«n H s o QMr* s 05a«5 looses ■* «OcO OM-^M •^ O o: ^i>.eo o MJO ifS iCC—iCO (NCI •o K o ^ - - O ^ i-< M M 1-< u, o M •< C: f^ CO • • -x CO ^^ 6 d • ■ • d U ■^ a • • • 0. O g- 6 g CO • . «o •M • N t^X—iXi • ^N 1— 1 ^ • S5 •< o» -♦ 1© ■ ■ •« >c < I? d d d <; t>. Q bi wr^<-i 1-^ MiN • •* ^n<-t W5 i«0^» .«o • « it ^ ■*o> ■>*" f-1 f-» ee o 1-^ M o '^, tf —" "3 "3 "3 "3 "a QK^ 1 CW^: 1 QW^J 1 PW:?! QWZ 1 QQ H H H H H 81 GM^ QWZ • • • • • • 8 888 8 • • • • * • • • • »-H rH F-4 l-H r-i * «NOCO X »0,-t i-H t>. © 6,69 4,32 1.19 CI ■«f > lO ,- U5 VH© -H >-« X-HX r^ «t<^»o I-H ©o^ coo© 1-H ix i-l CO CO coco 1^ s xcor* 1—1 . . . OX—i © • • • • • • ^^ ^OO o tN'* • CO r^co ^H ox© ^ • • • X cot^o • • [ 1-^ cvicio CM COW* © SS^ 1-1 X 1-H 1^ M v CO IN CO ci" © © a V V PQ i 82 TABLE SHOWraO PERCENTAGE OF OPERATORS ON SPLIT TRICK (Taken in exchanges where number of split trick operators was reported) DiviaiON 5'i 'If Manhattan and Bronx (No. of exchanges, 29)*. Brooklyn and Queens (No. of exchanges, 25)* Long Island (No. of exchanges, 15)* Staten Island (No. of exchanges, 3)*. Central (No. of exchanges, 23)* Western (No. of exchanges. 35)*. . . . Hudson (No. of exchanges, 14)*. . . Westchester (No. of exchanges, 12)* Number of exchanges Total number of operators in exchanges Totel number of split trick operators ♦ Numbers of exchanges taken in investigation. Per cent of split trick operators 5.95 23.67 27.90 34.11 25.45 23.63 22.64 30.85 83 00 Pi m (A O < » (£100 ■«*< eo-«t<»o o* H wcot*r>.o»o CO ■<1< OS CO O (N 1- oc >» 04 •<«< a Q * t^ lO O CD OS OS 1-H ^-*v ^^ Tj< « CO ■* ec cs 00 ST .2 COM i-l o o> H CO ^(N«0»OM(N QO 4J ■*ao t^ H «0 W t^OiOt^NOJ CO eooeccoc^r- 00 Q tq COOMOOlO'H •«f< O CO CO 1-1 M CO 00 >> e^i-i •* e« Q 9 > [1 9 es II ii ■«j [1 u O 1 03 H I I »- i_i_K'K»; I i-m-H»-^ !»<• HN eo a o :3 o, S o o o 09 PQ * 0\ 00 pa u H o CO o H o o pa o pa o pa P4 CD H O c3 O eO'Hoooo-^'* 00» o J3 bO to c c > »-l COt>. r^005 es wooi-o m O H OS OS i-i CO »o •* 2g CO o M M 2" a > 00 CO »0 ■* t>- CO N M .-1 8 ^ fHCOCOOSOOO Q o c3 O N. tN. O •-• O <-" * o 60 tifO a •s 0) b- CO 00 cot* OS O H Q n 02 ■»Jo IN 3 N CO H CO "^ 1^ IS^ N* I— ^ > £:• ^ >4 O Pk CO to CO ^ p< cot* Q II -^« 5 ij ^ ::§8 8 1 S c (N?5 T»< Z W IN 00 (N 8 cir» {; ^ C0 5O 8 •< *^ ?5S 1—1 00 (O o — i(N CO z * IN 00 «C0 8 o Ha i^ OCO COO 8 — II «»< CO N CO r* CO OS <© t- U5 lO ''J'fNQ — (N-^ »-i f-^ IC 00 co> OSNOiO lOOO'^OS N ^ 00 051^ coe«« QCO ■^«ooo«o«oo Qr^«oooooi>. ^^c^co>-iio CO 00 OS 00 (35 CO !8 oosos'^eo^ <-H0SQ. 00 h-t^C^M^ --M c3 -" -^ ■* ¥S> 8 O 00 « -H « lO 00 c » 1^ (M CO Ul OO ?, «^ 1- •» 8 r5»Oi(3i2Q — ^ ■* CO « M N ^_^ ^ •= •o OS r H i-< •* r^ 00 o^^^. 5 N • ■ • • • • OS f-< •* • • • S S jCO'^iOiCOS 5 1^ .1 M CO »H CO o« * N 00 9 I-H t^ t>. f-4 w» ■■-*- S c ISCO -r^rli-l ^H r-'' ICO • CD .-« «» 1 8 » CO ■«>< CO (N O CO ►^ 5 5 OS-* cocoes CO 1^ •« »^ (N O «» ^H S Cn IMOSO • • CO t^ CO • • t-< CO ^ i-H 4 • • PI «» 8 )r>.cocOiOco ^ 2 5 • 05 I"" >-H OS 'O < rH I-H 8 «• I-H • • • a •4 u a Ul o: ES U ' " o H I-H NH NH > >> a> 09 PQ H 4> a> CO I M CO 87 NOSKJCO OSCOOO OS OS 00 •^S*eo Oh-'* 'H 00 eo o 8 •T* r^ 8 CO •* •* 8 •»H ^H 8 1-4 COCO CO 8 S • tH ^H 8 e< CI 8 00 Cl^ I-H •* 8 »H r^ CI 8 NN CI CO 8 ^•* •CI "»* 8 • tH CI CO 8 CO eo ^i-HrH CO 8 CI S3 NPKN CO 8 I-H coiN-^ei •H «-4 8 1* t» CI »H PI .H .-t ^ iH « I o eo CI « g S P4 I 3 « » •'"""' ►^ ►^ I-H 1-41-^ ^ i^ H o 1-4 < n 5 CO 8 ^ 0.2 00* is J:- ^s «o 8S ^s o> is 00 » 8 EC o 88 C9 0> <-< A CO Oi !>• ;0 !>• O CO ^ t» »H 1^ ^H .-( .iH •»-t?l 'H M rt b» t^wa»«oo»<-f»Hro 1(5 «o X 9 X >0 A <-* I r-i O •-< CM <-i ^ (O (N «0 t- (N « •»(< ■»!< X p Tf »-t Tt« XCO'-i o ■3 V :2 S o o t •a » > II V ^ , V 2?= 8 CO CO 8 CM CO 8 CO 8 a> •S o lA 0) CO (A 0) 8 oi CM 8 X CM 8 CM 8 CM 8 CM 8 CM 8 CO CM 8 CM CM 8 CM 1 89 (D »o »o o CO CM i-i'* CO X -^CM CM CO «0 O O CO t>» CM CM «-l CM •-" iti CO t-iiOW CM CM CO »0 •-< CM CO X CM »o X »o CO ■CM CM i-H eo .-I iC 05 t* «0 X »0 CM ^ CO CM l-H -CM •<-< 1-t eo CO CM ^ OS eo ft* CM 03 O O t» t^ O •-< 10 CO •-< XiOt^^COO/5i-i 1-1 ii X eo c» a> E^SojSaa)a>05C5050sOiOJO>o>cso5 ^q .H2^c.,co^.o^t>:xoio-2co;2;ocOjj S|J.c!|cJs4.J5ci,tlokc^ O P CA n 09 (O at 8 8 8 CO 8 IN 8 8 8 CO 8 00 8 w 8 8 CO 8 CO 90 «e »>. CO o 00 »c (N .H S CO CO M (N C^ ■IN s a> S"''i!2.^'^'*''"®*^**0'-«c^co^u5 tt ot 6 m ¥» i OS OS ^ OS OS CO i» t» 8 OS OS C^l ^'^ «« «» OS «»' i OS OS ob 1—1 1-< OS 03 OS OS iy» 8 00 OS OS 00 ^ OS OS w o 5; t». -rf ~J "Xl CO (MM (M CO I f5 1-1 CO cot* CO lOpcoooeoco c< S 00 CO QOO»OOSCO»H eoO>OOscoco U3CO '-I ;S ^ooocsco CO 56 CO t>- CO Tt* CO 00 8 c>^ OS m CO o CO OiMOOt>>0 COCOi-<.o r-» "O f 1 lO O -^ "«*< 'O ■* COi-< »-< OS OcOcot^co t* CO IN C^^ lO ■>*< IN CO TjtOSOOCOiNO CO CM t>- CO CO 1— « CM t>. CM GO CM ■>* CD t* ;>^ ,i3> ^ OS ^ OS OS ^! ,os i CM OS OS CM 8 CD CM OS OS CO CM CM OS OS »o CM 9» 8 OS CM CM OS CO CM CO CM 8 OS CM CM ^ w o jCOCM )oot*( CO COOOi-lCMi 001 Tj^eO'tooco b-eo CM CM cooocooco (N 00 h* »0 C'l (>• ' OS ^ "^ '-^ OS CM ■* CD t* CM 00 OS C< CO CO II ^ OS CO OS «5 «? "^l r>» ic CO ■* »-' CM CO lO t* CO 00 OOCM Tj<00CM CMi W5 cooceooo^( osr>.CMooeo> CM 1-1 CO CI CS J>>t ims^ itf is « CO ss is 05 i s;^ Q W E O 92 Total No. 4,383 2,655 784 1.790 695 424 CO o ,— 1 « $45 00- $45.99 •!-••••• ^H is ii • ^ CO 8S C^i-i . . . ; CO SI is CO CO CO J^ $36 00- $36.99 WCO -N • • t» $35.00- $35.99 lO'Tjt -c^ . . $34.00- $34.99 f^CO — CO • • '■ '• i OS g a o 2 cs c a- d 0) .£3 O) U5 O a o a 1— i>-ii-<^»^j,*^ cs ♦J o es a o c a 3 £ eS a- S? (A O 91 ^•^ S| •§^ §1 ^ o 2 c h8 • S a o 93 EARNINGS WAGE GROUP Under $12. $12-$14 . . 16. 18. 14- 16- 18- 20 20- 22 22- 24- 26- 24. 26. 28. 28- 30. 32. 34. 36. 38. 30- 32- 34- 36- 38- 40. 40- 42. 42- 44- 44. 46. Total . Schedule 32 482 677 669 793 572 453 287 187 115 54 25 12 7 8 6 4 II III 47 234 193 609 501 385 285 139 111 87 26 17 10 4 1 4 1 1 46 68 149 173 121 64 78 39 17 14 8 6 1 IV 4,383 2,655 784 85 204 470 373 285 151 136 48 18 6 4 2 5 2 1 63 98 186 139 100 49 38 14 6 1 1 1,790 VI 63 69 85 102 64 23 13 3 Total 695 424 CUMULATIVE TABLE OF EARNINGS 336 1,155 1,760 2,065 1,864 1,244 1,003 530 339 224 94 50 28 13 10 10 5 1 10.731 WAGE GROUP Schedule I II III IV V VI Total Under $12 32 514 1,191 1,860 2,653 3,225 3,678 3,965 4,152 4,267 4,321 4,346 4,358 4,365 4,373 4,379 4,383 4,383 47 281 474 1,083 1,584 1,969 2,254 2,393 2,504 2,591 2,617 2,634 2,644 2,648 2,649 2,653 2,654 2,655 46 114 263 436 557 621 699 738 755 769 777 783 784 784 784 784 784 784 85 289 759 1,132 1,417 1,568 1.704 1,752 1.770 1.776 1,780 1,782 1,787 1,789 1,790 1,790 1,790 1,790 63 161 347 486 586 635 673 687 693 694 695 695 695 695 695 695 695 695 63 132 217 319 383 406 419 422 422 423 424 424 424 424 424 424 424 424 336 Under 14 1,491 Under 16 3,251 Under 18 5,316 Under 20 7,180 Under 22 8.424 Under 24 9,427 Under 26 9,957 Under 28 10,296 Under 30 10,520 Under 32 10,614 Under 34 10,664 Under 36 10,692 Under 38 10,705 Under 40 10,715 Under 42 10,725 Under 44 10,730 Under 46 10,731 I,i O » 94 '4' COrHOOQOOOtf? CO C» »0 -^l^ i-H 00 s «o CO t^ >-i OS r>. ^ t>. i^ r» i>. CO CO It^ ij ««< iO CO 5; Xi r^ OS 3 COC^ i-H 00 55 (N >0 ■«*< CO C(? CO 00 a> iNcor^OusffO OS K oi u < •< 'O ® CO ■*' M M ■<*« U H o ;h iM Ch -*«0 It 1 iC lO CO CO 00 (N lO GO CO (X C-1 .-1 o X! OS S (M-^ o Oh :3 i-S OS t^ »C ■«*' C^l IN 00 00 0) t-XiMt>.CS-H 00 K K w < < os' -x) X 00 d d 00 » M o r-i rH CO-"** CU o Old CO pr>.i-i t^ cr. t^ 3c QO »o IN CO C -•i* .-1 r-t o PS a 'A O H 3 ^H OQ 00 C QCOCS-^COQ CO •>*« OS CO 00 o b' cs u Q •< ■«! t4 OCSOC^iNrH o ;e Ed M V T-" l-< 1— 1 »-H i-H ^H "< a. so 0) ^ K 5g CO o r^ -^ M »o OS JD O r^ OS «o o 'C 00 B 3 "?(N Cv|»H H >5 £: (14 ^ a r^.QOOS'^os CO O Tt< Tj< t^ l^ CO V CO 1^ IN o 00 OS ao' co' •* V 1-1 fi i^ »-( l-H C< I-l ^ JN a. -^M k< PS 3 " a si a< ■'}' OS CO »-< OS lO 1-H J3 QO«O'*C0 CO CO il Ij* 1-1 rl CO a t^ 3 T^ >5 <4-J a ao ri CO r* O •* COCOfNCO Wr-I IN OS h5 CO >0 IN 05 f-i t^ IN o 1-H i-H r-l I— ( f-H CO D a^ ;^ P3 V 00 to QO OS OS CO «0 i-0 O OS 00 CO »o « H -Q • "3 » H 50^1-H F-l «o > 3 55 l-H ••-> a '♦'COOSO'OC^ rH COWQOC^IOSOS CO H U (_l •^XCOh-^OS (N ^ 5 01 IN'NIN'^^ ? ^ 00 C^ --^ lO Ci lO Ol 3^ a >-<00NCO r>. 3 •-< N 55 P Q H » ^ 1 HN l-H l-H l-H > •-1 > l-H > I I ca a> CO CO 4> CO o o 00 H -! •< H H too wco «B OH 00 go < < »o CI OH s oo «B > n OH a *«2 95 g 0* V « « « » g j» 9 OS OS « g V « V & I^ i QQ ^i-tt^'*iO00 W5»OCO^t>.OS coci'-t CO 0»>4>OOSCOtO X 888888 888888 8 8 SB c«iceoxiO' ' i-H00 05( OSXOt^i eo M M OCO CO CIfH COt» e« 8 «(N S CO "5 55 (» t« CO l> '<• lH CO ff? t«ooiocoa» — tot«iO St* 00 coi-< eo Qoesi'^ ^i- ^io>o>ocoo> »H-^e«cOfH< O «©' CD* ^' d N d CO CD ^O »-»rH »-C» xoQeo>oeo 00 ^ l-H ^ i-i •-! e« N 1 CO eo ss g X 3 eo (N s 3 a ■\ COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES DATE BORROWeo m AEfi_UJ2SQj C28(747. MlOO r TlH-S COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 041393511 '•KJL 011994 NEH \^ of)i *** i ■ 1 END OF TITLE