Norwich bulletin., 1922-08-23

New York. Au=. g CBy the A. P.)-I Three big steel corporations. em7,oying normally nearly 300.0oO workers ttday announced 20 per cent wage increassI for all day laborers in their manufac- turing plants. The United States Steel corporation took the lead. but was quickly followed by the Midvale Stee. and Ordinance company and the Youngstown Sheet and Tube company.
 In the ahGenoe of Charles Schwab and Eugene Grace of the Bethlehem Steel corporation no other official of that company would commit himself Secretary Brown said. however. he did not know of any action that had been taken on the wage question. President Matthews of the Crudble Steel. corpora tion said his company had taken no ac- tion "as yet" It was generally be- lieved in financial circles that all i'm portant independent steel firms would announce inoreases within a few days.
 News of the increase came as a sur prise to the financial district. probably because wage adjustments in other in dustries have been generally downward It was followed by slight recess:ons ir the prices of steel shares.
 No explanation of the increase va. given by the steel corporations. How ever. it is known that the immigration law has cut off the supply of unszilleC laborers which formerly drifted to thu iron and steel centers. When the la 1 bor shortage became acute last spnn; and the steel industry began to show
 signs of rehabilitation. temporary re lief was afforded by the employment O men thrown out of work by the coa rstrike
 Resumption of coal mining and the in creasin demand for labor in other in due.ries. combined with the expectei business revival this fall Is reported L have caused apprehension among mil managers. who feared that the highe
 wages elsewhere would cause sufio.en
 assertions to hamper their operations a 1 a time when there was every prospect fo
 heavily increased orders
 The United States Steel comporatio employs approximately 220.0o0 men. (
 whom 156.000 are affected by the wag
 increase. the 64.e00 in the mining an :. transportation departments being exclut
 ed. Their rates will be "equbably at
 justed" the official announcement state<
 The increase will swell the company payroll by s35. 900 900 on the bass
 full time'.-that is twe,ve-heur da,
 but many of the men are now onl working eight hours a day.
 The corporation employed as high .
 27o.oo0 men during 1918. The highe!
 rate paid by the company for day labc l. was 47 cents an hour, from February {
 May. 1920. On May Is, 1920. a reductio
 of 20 per cent was anncanced. and n July of the same year overtime was elin 2 mated. On Aug 19. 1921. day labor ";
 reduced to 30 cents an hour. the rate no e in effect. The increase will bring u
 rate up to 36 cents an hour.
 The average payroll of the corporatlc r during 1918, the banner year. was ov 2 s45o, ,O0o. 900. but it dropped to abor e s332.00O,000 in 1921. when there we approximately 190.O00 men employed A forecast of what is to come is set in the large orders fer rolling stock r
 gently received by railroad equipme T, companies. The demand in other lin ', is also growing, and there is much ru v work on hand, which calls for forces n many plants iE excess of the number nt ? available. In this connection, it is T
 ported that little success has been 0 tained thus far in inducing men-laid v in the dull period a year ago to return :, the wages prevailing before the increa
 just announced. Many of these men ha ,, left the steel centers.