The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-11

S6V61l-INOi II 0Hna1e EAeAp to
 Be Employed in the Evening
 Shift Wages to Remain
 Same Even With Reduction
 of Hours.
 Shelton. June 11.--One Of the most npoEtant announcements. having a bearing on the industrial situation in Shelton. is the one made by Sidney Blunaenthal Co, which is, that just as soon as it is practical the working force of the plant of the company will be divided into two shifts, one shift andEthe other working 47 hours per week as an evening shift, with paygof each shift equal to the pres ent 57 hour scale. The announce Inent states also that the working of tn plant in two shifts is to be a per- nanent thing and an arrangement which will work out to the profit and advantage Of both the company and the employees. The new schedule, and plan sz outlined by an official Of the company has several features to commend it. not the least of which is the evening or night schedule, which begins at 5:10s, o'clock, a. n1., and ends at 1:3O o'clock a. m., and which affords an opp ortunity for the ambitious to devote several hours of the day time for profitable purposes of seIf-improvenen of any character
 Reason for Change.
 The reaaon for the new plan Is ex- plained in the company's statement that, This, company feels that, fo- the better balancing of the vafi ous Activities andS in order to make as permanent as possible the work of the employees tn it's dyehouse and finish ing department, it would be advanta= geous to increase the production and after consi derabIe thought. has work ed out a plan which should appeal materially to all employees.
 sIt is the intention to have two shifts. bit instead of having a night shift,2there will be a second day shift or evening shift. The working hours, for the evening shift will be from ruptfon for lunch; and on Saturdays from 1 p. m. to 8 D. m., the total Working hours of this second shift being about 10 per cent. less than the workfng hours of the. regular day shift; wages will be so adjusted ass to give them an opportunity to earn the same amount of pay.
 ..In this nanner. those who work in the second shift can have their nights sleep, beginning at 2 o'clock day as is left to them for profitable purposes of self-imrrovement of any character.
 Permanent Feature.
 'gThis new schedule will at the same time enable the company to make the working hours of all day operatives terminate at 5 o'clock in the evening by starting one-quarter of an hour earlier in the morning. In. the summer half of the year, begin ming April 1st, this Is feasible, and in a F1f al feF-s Now let time of starting will be changed to z a. m., with a corresponding adjust ment to make up for this change.
 t1t is the purpose of the company to make this feature of a double shift permanent.
 '.Preferenee will be given to those now working on the day shift who de sire to take advantage of this, after noon shift
 .HThe new schedule of hours Is as follows: Day shift, 6:45 a. n., to IT na.. from D. m, to p. na.; Satur- day 6:45 a. sn1s, to 12:3O D. n., making total of 52 hours for the weeks work
 p. m, from 10: 80 p. m.. to 1880 p. m: Saturday. 1Np. m. to 8 D. m. making a total of AT hours of work for tho evening shift for the week. =
 Considered Some Time.
 The proposed plan mas been under advisement among the officials of the company for some time past The difficulty has been to insure perma- nert employment to employees of cer- tain departments and to- otherwise balance the plant operations so that the production up to the capacity of the different departments might be hads- thereby increasing the output Of the plant. The plan was submitted Lat a meeting of the officials of the company and the foremen were fa- vorably impressed with the plan and seemed glad to. know that it would be- put into effect.
 4 The new schedule grants a conces- sion of three hours less than the pres ent working week of 55 hours with the same pay, a fact which undoUbt-s edly will be appreciated by the hun dreds of employees of the mill eThe new schedule when in full operation will mean employment of additional help, all men, hecause there will be no female help whatever among the entire force which will work during the evening shift.
 It is expected that the evening shift will prove popular not only be cause the hours are short but because of the opportunities which the shift loffers for self-improvenent or the de- ve1opment of some private Enterprise, for instance a, small farm or the like
 The introduction of the new sched- ule by the Sidney Blumenthal Co, marks the beginning of a new epoch in factory operation around here. it is believed. The local plant is the first plant where this system has been tried on so extensive a scale. Its operation will undoubtedly be watch ed with the keenest interest by stii- dents of shop management.
 POINTS OF INTEREST. '