St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-28
wORKSIENIN EUROPE.
Condition of hricklayerS and Wa
sons in london, Paris and berlin.

Condition of l1ricklayeFS and Ma.
sons in london. Paris and berlin.
A page and a half of the New York
Herald is devoted to showing the condition
of brcklayers in London and Berlin and
the masons of Paris. AS an exposition of
the condition of these workmen compared
with bricklayers in this country the article
is extremely interesting, as it contains many
interviews with maSOnS as to their wages.
methods of living and average Of work per
day.
In London the trouble is not so much bad
pay pr long hours, but rather lack Of en-
pioyment. All the London bricklayers are
paid by the hour. The general rate is 9
pence (about IS cents an hour. In some
cases the rate is cut to ~ or pence, but
this is only by the small builders. The
working hours ale. by the trade rule, 5215
a week in summer and II in winter; many
builders. however. work their men from 90
to 60 hours week. Brcklayers fully en-
plOyed work. therefore. 81 to 1917 hours a
dav for SO to S11 week with halt holt
day on Saturday. A bricklayer is very
lucky if he gets work 100 days in the YEAR
A man and his family usually live in one
room for which he pays rent at the rate OF
SIS Cd a week. They save absolutely moth
ing and 90 to the work house when old.
There has been no general strike since 1872.
Of %, 900 bricklayerS in London 2.400 be-
long To the Operative Rricklayers' society,
formed to control wages and insure its
members against illness. lack of work and
pauper burial. The society OWNS its large
hall on the Southwark Bridge road and has
ef5 600 invested. 1t grants 12S per week
for sick benefit. S75 for funeral benefit and
Is Cd per dap 10 members seeking work.
The superannuated benefit varies from As to
IS per week.
In Paris there are really very few brick
layers, hardly any houses being built of
brik. but the maSUns correspond to the
brickayers in London and this country.
The average pay is 8 francs for the very
best wOrkmen and francs for assistants
and green hands, but pay is usually based
on so much per hour. The average day is
ten hours in summer and nine hours in
winter About two hundred aud fifty days
work is the average for the year. They
get up at o'clock in summer and $50 in
winter The Paris masOns have Union
syndicate or kind of masons
parliament for the general welfare
of the craft There is also q Ma
sons Savings bank. which also insures
masons against accidents. This is supported
BY the retention of sou a day from al
masons in active work. This institution
provides half pay for six months to mas0ns
out of work. and pays to mason who loses
a leg or an arm a round sum of 600 francs,
and pays 1000 francs to the widow or heirs
in case of a fatal accident happe ling in the
performance of daily work. There has
been no important strike since 1S4S. By
the stTicteSt economy man with family
can save nothing, and all he earns is hardly
sufficient to keep want from the door.
The majority of Berlin workmen are open
socialists but few are members of socialist
organizations. while some are diStinctively
anti-socalists. The labor organizations
have only taken part in three strikes out OF
263 in tie past five years. These masons
have on the average go working days in
the wear of ten hours in summer and eight
or nine in winter. They receive 42%
pfennings an hour, or about 10 cents. max
ing the annual earnings about 1865. In this
CITY as in London and Paris, the women earn
what they can. if not tied at home with a
large family. A mason gets one square
meal a day. no amusement and pays $3.50
for a rough suit of clothes.