Arizona republican., 1910-08-07

before the strike. 4,725 men, or Ia
 per cent of all employees. worked 12
 hours a day: 220 workmen had 12-
 hour day excepting on Saturdays,
 when their hours were either 10 or
 II; 4,2O3 employees had workday of
 1O1s to II hours in length, generally
 with half-day off on Saturday; and
 47 worked on other schedules not
 specified. Beyond, and intensifying,
 the evils of a 12-hour day was the
 existence in many departments of a
 7-day week. Twenty eight per cent
 of all employees worked regularly '
 days in the week, but in addition
 were those who worked on Sundays
 regularly as overtime. The total num-
 Der working on days in a week.
 both regular and as overtime, during
 last January, was 4041, or 43 per cent The situation with regard to
 Sunday work in Bethlehem is worse
 than that found in the Pittsburg steel
 mills. as discovered by the Pittsburg
 survey The committee asserts that
 while it is claimed by the manage
 ment that Sunday and overtime work
 is, in some departments at least. op-
 tional with the men. it is neverthe
 less true that foremen and gang
 bosses have compelled men to work
 on Sunday against their protest upon
 pain of discharge. It was a case of
 this kind which precipitated the
 strike
 With regard to wages, the com
 mittee declares that 61 per cent of
 the 9,1S4 employed earned less than
 1S cents an hour, or S216 for a 12-
 hour day; and 319 per cent earned
 less than 14 cents an hour, or less
 than s16S for a 12-hour day. The committee declares this is wage scale that leaves no option to the common laborers but the boarding boss method of living with many men to the room When a man has family with him they take in lodgers, of even the woman goes to work. It is reported that immigrant parents send their little children back to the old country to be reared while the mother goes to work
 Tt is asserted that during the last year there were 927 injuries in the Bethlehem plant, of which 754 in- volved the loss of more than one weeks time; 3S of these lost bodily members and lost an arm or leg; 21 lost their lives
 Among the practical suggestions made are the following:
 Tt declares that a 12-hour day and a 7-day week are alike a dis grace to civilizations; that there is a way of avoiding each. but they will 1 not be avoidable until society re- quires the backward members of the i to conform to the stand ard recognized by decent men It | recommends that there should be | laws requiring three shifts in all in dustries operating 24 hours a day and | that there should be laws requiring | one day of rest in seven for all work | men in 7-day industries. The fed | eral government should be urged to | include in it's specifications for arm | or-plate. war vessels. construction | work. and the like, that the work be | done on a 6-day basis and that where operations are necessarily continuous the 24-hour day be split into three shifts of hours each. It would | seem that the United States govern ment could provide for certain mini mum labor conditions in it's con tracts. as well as minimum specifi- cations as to materials. As it is now, the progressive employer who wants to be fair to his men must for contracts at levels set by the least scrupulous.'
 The committee also recommends that day be set apart at church for the discussion of in- ;ol la of the church to them: that the churches of America be urged to in itiate a movement for 6-day legisla ton. comparable with the old Sunday observance movement which resulted in the placing of Sunday laws on the statute books of most states. These laws were sustained by the courts up to the federal supreme court, not on the grounds of religious but on the ground that toll debases man. There fore, the report says, the courts could not be expected to sustain by similar 6-day legislation. provided that, when an industrial operation is necessarily continuous, each man shall have one day free"
 In view of the reputed cause of the strike, this recommendation is made:
 Tt is essential that there be some method whereby employees may ap- proach their employers with their grievances without prejudice against those selected to represent them. The committee would raise the question of the recognition of the right of all workmen to organize in such manner as may seem best to them, provided that they keep within the limits of the law. and we recommend that employers of labor recognize such or1 ganizations when they speak in be- half of their members"