The labor standard., 1918-09-01
UNSKILLED MEN
 IN SHIPYARDS
Time Taken to Train Them in
 Their Work Given as Main Cause of Delay in Shipbuilding Program of the United States
Christian Science Monitor)

Christian Science Monitor)
 (Note. An employe tells the fol- lowing story regarding the delay in the government shipbuilding pro- gram.) ..
 SAN FRANCISCO-I am on duty at desk in the open steel yard where I spend sometimes an hour and a half without an order to fill; and the |. filling of an order is often a matter of two or three minutes only, writing dozen words and figures, or less, and directing ready hands to where they can find the size of steel wanted, which they carry into the blacksmith or machine shop, or to 'layout" place. We are working overtime daily now, making good efforts to launch two ships and put one in com- mission on the Fourth.
 While work duplicated and work done and undone and work done wrong is disheartening, so far as I could see, the men were not guilty of intentional errors. This wonderful plant con- structed and put into operation in so short time seems like miracle to me, also the organizing into effective crews of 1000 men, many of them unskilled.
 thought I was quite clever when it occurred to me in the first place to go to the carpenter "faring up" (ad justing to position) the frames of the "poop," and to ask him when he would be through, when the frames would be in the permanent position to re- ceive the plates. It was a spark of shipbuilding intelligence. He said that he had fared up those frames every day, for it was three days or more. I assumed that he was regu- lar shipbuilder, but, aside from his being a carpenter, found out later that he was as green as I was when he asked a question revealing an igno- rance of an essential point in his work, and then confessed his ignor- ance. then realized that he was no more engaged in sabotage (shall I say time sabotage?) than was.
 He said some. one undid his work every day. I can see that the most apparent reason was that, like mine, his work was either wrong or un- timely. We were both learning by experience. But so was almost every body. While for the first few days I felt like the only green hand in the yard, then I later realized that real shipbuilders were few and far between. One day thought I had found one. He was a mechanic, know, for he used to work near our shop in Los Angeles and often came in. We were surprised to meet. He proudly con-. fessed. "I anl Tn charge of the teffca.- ward part of this hull. will keep an eye on you," meaning to help kindly. admitted frankly to, him my ignorance of the craft. "Oh, that's nothing" he said, none of us know anything about shipbuilding. You will learn. I knew nothing about it myself month ago." In a month, with only the trade of machinist back of him, he had risen to foreman over 300 or more men; and men of even his knowledge and skill and ability to handle men were scarce.
 This was revelation to me. Everybody looked so wise, but half of them hardly knew the port from the starboard side of a ship.
 Unskilled men focked about the yard like sheep without shepherd with willing hearts and hands. For several months the yard was little more than a shipbuilding school. It has been so easy to see things going wrong and to lapse into a critical vein as to become obsessed with the faultfnding habit. Seeing ten men standing at one machine waiting their turn to use it or to get service. One could figure $5 or more wasted in waiting. No one could deny vast