Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-03
WOMAN WORKERS
TOLL LONG HOURS
Female Employees in District
Labor More Than Forty
Eight Weekly.
BULLETIN JUST ISSUED
BY LABOR Department
Wages Shown to Be Less Than 81
by Three -Fifths of Those
Reporting.

Reporting.
That a large number of the woman en-
ployes of the District work more than
forty-eight hours a week under ordinary
conditions and that many of them worked
| more than seventy-five hours a week dur.
ing the Christmas season, is the state
ment made In a bulletin just issued by
the bureau of labor of the Department OF
Labor The bulletin, written by Marie
L.. Obenhauer takes up the question OF
| women's wages In the District. manner OF
living. vacations. lunch hours and other
pertinent topics
Following a statement made by the
bulletin as TO how the investigation was
conducted. the following explanation is
given: Over four-ffths of these women
in department and other retail stores
worked from fifty-five to fifty-nine hours
per week and nearly per cent worked
sixty hours or over. The amount of
overtime during the Christmas holiday
season is significant.
'Of those reporting on this subject On
per cent worked overtime during the
week preceding Christmas, "a per cent OF
these being duty from seventy to
seventy-four hours. and 35 per cent
seventy-f1ve hours or over" This relates
to the Christmas of 1911. While there
were evidences of some improvement,
there was no considerable reduction in
the overtime compared with that demand
ed year ago, according to the bulletin.
aside from the excessive overtime dur
ing the Christmas holida-s the most note
worthy fact concerning the work of wom-
en- in the department and retail stores Is
the prevailing long hours Saturday. Dur
ing the regular or normal season only l
per cent worked fewer hours Saturday
than on other days, and 81 per cent
worked eleven hours or over. OF those
who worked overtime, 81 per cent re-
ceived no extra pay for such work, and
for the small number who received extra
pay the amount in no case exceeded $15
for the whole season. OF the women who
reported an industrial experience of one
year or more, 80 per cent were employed
from forty-eight to fifty-two weeks dur
ing the year previous to December l..
1912. and the average duration of en-
ployment was 47.65 weeks.
Wages Shown to Be Small.
THE wages Of nearly three-fifths of the
store women reporting were less than 81
per week. The average weekly earnings
of 252 women furnishing individual re-
ports were S6.55, as against 1915 for the
2.67O women on the pay rolls.
According to the census Of 1910, SIS
women In the District Of Columbia were
employed in manufacturing and mechan-
ical Establishments, excluding laundries,
and 1t is estimated that the laundry
workers would increase the total to about
1.JOO. OF these women, 1874 were inter-
viewed. of whom "A per cent lived at
home. OF those reporting to age, -
per cent were under twenty and 36 per
cent from twenty to twenty-five years of
age; and of those reporting as to race
and conjugal condition. "a per cent were
American white. IS per cent were Amer
ican colored and IS per cent were single.
"Of the women in manufacturing and
mechanical establishments who reported
as to hours of work, 30 per cent worked
from forty-eight to fifty-four hours, p
per cent from fifty-five to fifty-nine hours,
and more than 10 per cetn worked sixty
hours or over per week. Fifty per cent
worked overtime. and of these nearly 43
per cent worked sixty-five hours or more
during overtime weeks. and 80 per cent
from sixty to sixty-four hours. In con-
trasting the per cent who worked over
time in this industry group with the 80
per cent working overtime In department
and other retail stores. it should be re-
membered that for the stores only the
women reporting overtime, during the
Christmas holidays are included. the
length of time during which overtime pre-
vailed never exceeding two weeks, while
in manufacturing and mechanical estab-
lishmentS women reporting overtime in
any part Of the year are included, over 40
per cent of these working overtime from
two to six weeks. and a small proportion
for a half year or more The average
duration of employment during the year
previous to December 1. 1912, was 45 %
worked from forty-eight to fty-two
weeks.
Some Paid for Overtime.
The average weekly wages of the
women reporting in this industrial
group were s7.13, or So cents mare
than the average for those in d
ment and other retail stores, I'll
ference being accounted for in
measure by the fact that 61 per q
of the overtime workers in manI
featuring and mechanical establish
ments received extra pay for overtime,
while only 8 per cent of the overtime
workers in stores received extra pay.
Pay roll data indicate an average wage
rate of only S5.14 in manufacturing
and mechanical establishments but
this is based upon fiat weekly wage
| and does not include overtime pay nor
wages of some Of the better-paid en-
ployes. such as those in the alteration
dividual reports.
Detailed information was secured from
| fifty women in hotels. restaurants and
miscellaneous establishment OF these
| 10 per cent We're under twenty, 2S per
| cent from twenty to twenty-five and 3G
| per cent from twenty-siX to forty years
| of age. 81 per cent of those reporting as
| To- race We're American white and 10 per
cent American colored: ~ per cent were
single. oS per cent married and % pei
cent widowed divorced or separated.
THE chief features of the working con-
ditions of this group are the Sunday work
and the frequency of night work. Thirty
per cent worked on the average from
fifty-five to fifty-nine hours a week and
| 2S per cent sixty hours or over. Seventy
| two per cent worked seven days in the
week and more than half Of these re-
ported no short day during the week
| Nearly one-third of all in this industry
| group reported maximum working days
of more than twelve hours. Eighty per
| cent of the women reporting as to dura-
/ ton of employment worked from forty
eight to fifty-two weeks during the year
OF those reporting as to earnings, 50 pei
cent earned from So to $3.50, but 1t should
be noted that nearly four-fifths OF these
rwere getting room and board in addition
! TO their wages
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