The Cairo bulletin., 1912-04-07
THE twelve
Hour SHIFT N
STEEL TRADE
John A. Fitch Of Survey Tells ]!
How Worlmen Often Labor
Thirty SIX Hours

An individual stCel'l2lder o'f
the United STAGES Steel corporation
has tried for two years 70 arouse
public opinion among his leiiow
stockholders with resp CT to labor
conditions and policies in TINS, the
largest emplo, 'ng io,~olaton y
America. The stakeholder, Charles
M Cabot of Boston, fighting SINGLE
handed to crystalline support among
progressive men and women VINO
have holdings in steel has mailed
to 1900 stockholders a letter asking
them to stand out not only for diYi-
dends but for progressive labor con-
ditions.
For something over a year the Of
firials of the company delayed Civ
ing Mr.. Cabot access 70 the com
pany's stock book, claiming that the
statement he intended TO mail with
his letter was unfair Finally con
sent was obtained TO mail state
ment prepared by John A. fitch al
thor CT volume ~ Of the piyts3drG
Survey The steel Won kers. In this
Mr.. Fitch with Mr.. Catot's approval
while r. commencing the corporation
for It's .cYosed elimination of seven
day work, condemns sharply the
twelve hour day which prevails ex-
tensively throul1out the industry
Their ere dozen or more indus
tries, or q - o. II America in
which meu wo,k lively; DIES dty
and seven I ~ II week. | thinT
that if the public knew ils "h'5
such a schedule of work means it
would not allow it II continue. |
am writing about the steel industry
instead Of the paper, cement or any
other industry in which thousands
Of men work twelve hours a day and
seven days a week, for the reason
that steel is the one | know some
thing about. in 1908 ! sIeht
eleven months in PittsbIrg and then
because want 1 to know whether
Pittsburgh was worse than the rest
of the county, Il spent eight months
in 1901 visiting other big steel
ccnters In the United States, ! vis-
tied Johnstown. where is 600 men
are. working in the famous food
ravaged country; Stcclton, close to
Pennsylvania capital; and Bathle-
hem, the old Moravian town now
turned over to the industry, | went
to Lackawanna. Buffalo's new In
dustrial suburb: to Gary, the won
der city: to South Chicago, home of
1900 iron and steel workers to
Pueblo. refreshing oasis in the
Colorado desert; and to Blrming-
ham, the industrial capital Of the
New south But in every town and
in every mill, | found men working
twelve hours a day and seven days
week. Not all the men worked
that way. In some places it was
worse than In others, but every
where it was the regular schedule
for large number Of men.
Now let's see what this means to
the men in the steel industry Steel
making Is continuous industry
For economical and technical rea-
sons 1t operates day and night.
There must lie workmen on duty
every hour in the twenty-four
There may be two shifts, each work
ing twelve hours or there may b;
three, each working eight The
steel industry many years ago gen
orally adopted the two shift. twelve
hour arrangement for the skilled
workers, But there are thousand!
OF men not directly concerned in
making STEEL or rolling shapes
These are shop men and day labor.
,ers and their regular day Is. ten
hours. N"MkWE
The Federal Bureau Of Labor ius Z
recent report to the United state,
Senate stated that out of l73,0Ot
steel workers in those branches o.
the industry covered in its inyesti,
cations, about 20 per cent worked
twelve hours day and seven days {
week. Ten hours an1 twelve hour!
are terms that indicate a minimum
either Is capable CT indefinite extern
son and IA often extended from ar
our or two on up to incredible
lengths. Shop men are sometime
tileed to work lmany hours be
yond the regulation ten hours, re
pairing breakdown or installing
new machinery.
A twelve hour man, you would
naturally think, would be relieves
by man on the shift at the en'
OF his twelve hours. He general.
is, but have talked in the last yea
with twelve hour steel workers VIII,