Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-04-30
PACKING HOUSE WORKERS
Labor Conditions in Chicago, South
Omaha and Kansas City Plants
RACES REPRESENTED
Average Earnings of workers, How
They Live, and the Tendency 10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of
official Inquiry.

Omaha and Kansas City has been com
pleted under the direction OF the United
States immigration commission and will
aoon be issued from the government print
ing office The inquiry had TO do with the
nativity Of the worlzmen their disposition
toward American citizens, their living con-
dtions and earnings. Briefly the inquiry
shows:
Conditions Of family life among foreign
employees are much more normal in Chi
sago and South Omaha than in Kansas
City.
Average annual earnings of immigrant
employees in the packing houses at Chi
cago, 1904; South Omaha, S6sS; Kansas
City S5h
Average annual earnings Of all workers
IN packing houses at Chicago. $500; South
Omaha, $3.50, Kansas City, $7E2
Foreign born wage earners fully nat
urallzed, in Chicago and South Omaha,
three-fifths; Kansas City, two-fifths.
In the homes Of ~ per cent Of the for
eign born packing house workers In Kan
sas City dodgers are kept; In Chicago. 10
per cent; in South Omaha, II per cent.
In Chicago there are sixteen boarders
and dodgers in each 100 immigrant homes
OF packing house employees; in South
Ouldnh, IOTly~LWOf hdusdH lily go.
In South Omaha and Chicago the wives
of one-fifth of the married immigrant
workers are still abroad; in Kansas City
The percentage is two-thirds.
Many Races Represented.
As regards the industry as a whole the
striking fact is disclosed that about three
fifths or COT per cent of the total number
of wage earners in the industry are of
ond oNa
Europeans being represented principally
by the Polish, Lithuanian, Bohemian and
Moravian races and the older immigrants
from Great Britain and northern Europe
by the German, Irish and English. Only
81 per cent of the foreign born wage
earners in the industry had any expert
enoe in the same kind OF work before
coming to the United States, while 6s.4
per cent had been farmers or farm laborers
in their native countries. The average
daily wage in the industry was found to
be S2O4 the average annual earnings Of
male heads of families $57S and the aver
age annual earnings OF all male employees
Is years Of age or over $751; The average
annual income Of families the heads Of
which were employed in slaughtering and
meat packing establishments, was $751; OF
the total number of families studied. Ola
per cent depended entirely upon the hus-
band for support while 14s per cent de-
rived their income from the earnings of
husbands and payments or boarders or
dodgers, and III per cent from the earn
ings of husbands supplemented by the con-
tributions of children. OF the total num-
Der of wage earners in the industry who
were 90 years of age or over. COT per cent
were married. OF the foreign born en-
ployes, 6ls per cent were married. and
OF the native born ST. per cent. OF the
foreign born employees. $50 per cent were
able to read and s62 per cent to read and
write some language.
Household Congestion. a.
Among the households, tho heads of
which were of foreign BIRTH greater
degree Of congestion was found than
among those of native Americans. due
20 the practice of the first named class
of households taking boarders or dodgers
IN order to supplement the family income
or to reduce the rent outlay per person.
The average monthly rent payments per
CAPITA In households the heads of which
were immigrants, was only $.5S, as con-
trasted with $2.19 among native born
households. In the foreign born house
holds there was also an average of IL
persons per room and 2.74 per sleeping
room, as against O99 persons per room
and 2,A persons per sleeping room in
households, the heads OF which were ma
tive born. OF the households. the heads
OF which were foreign born, 500 per cent
used all rooms for sleeping purposes. The
ownership of homes was more genera
among the foreign born from Great Britain
and northern Europe than among the ma.
tive born families, 46.1 per cent of the
fJrmer and 17.3 per cent of the latter hav
ing acquired their own homes. Only g.
per cent of foreign born employees of non
English speaking races were able to speal
English. OF the total number of foreign
born wage earners in the industry a.
per cent were naturalized and 1s.1 per cen
had taken preliminary steps towards be
coming citizens by securing first papers
Only 25 per cent OF the employees of for
eign birth and Al per cent Of those of ma
tive birth were affiliated with labor or
carnations.
Racial Shiftings in the Industry.
The pioneer employees in the slaugh
terlng and meat packing industry wer
native American white person and rep
resentatves of the Irish. German, Eng
lish Swedish and French races. Mem
bers of these races were employed 4
greatest numbers during the period o
lSI5-lS9O The Bohemians first sntere
the industry in the year 1882. and the Pole
in 1851. Slovaks in considerable numbers
together with a few Ruthenians, Magyar,
Slovenians, Servians, Syrians and Croatiani
were at work in the packing houses b
the year 1880 but, with the exception c
the Slovaks, Poles. Bohemians an
Croatians races from southern and easter
Europe, did not assume an important plac
in the operating forces Of the industr
untn after the year 1900. The Lithuanian
first appeared in the industry during I'll
year last mentioned and have steadily IT
creased In numbers. During the last te
years, and especially since 1901, all III
labor for the industry has been drawn frol
races OF recent immigration from souther
and eastern Europe. Within the last fiV
years the races seeking employment
greatest numbers have been the Greek
Russians, Italians, Russian Hebrew
Japanese, Bulgarians, Armenians an
American negroes.
Up to 1880 the operating forces in n
establishments west OF Chicago WEI
mainly composed OF natives and the rae,
of older immigration. With the beginnir
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