Boxing Day, Foundation Day (Jan. 26), Eight Hours Day (Apr. 21), but if any other day be by act of Parliament or proclamation substituted for any of the above-named holidays the special rate shall only be payable for work done on the day so substituted. Piecework. This board has determined that the employer may fix piecework prices to be based on the wages rates determined. EFFECT OF WAGE DETERMINATIONS IN INCREASING WAGES. The effect of the determinations of the wages boards upon wages in the early years of the operation of the act was shown by the chief factory inspector in his report for 1900. While, as the chief factory inspector remarks, it is not to be supposed that the increases in wages shown are due solely to the determinations of the boards, yet the figures are of interest as showing the course of wages in the years immediately following the fixing of wages in the six industries where the earliest effort was made to regulate wages. A table making these comparisons follows: AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN INDUSTRIES SUBJECT TO THE DETERMINATIONS OF SPECIAL BOARDS, 1896 TO 1900. [Source: Bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Labor, No. 38, Jan., 1902, p. 157. Quoted from Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, Workrooms, and Shops of Victoria for the year ended Dec. 31, 1900.} The most recent report of the chief factory inspector, that for 1913,1 shows for each trade or industry the rates prior to the first determination and those during the last year. These figures are of special interest in some of the trades where wage determinations have been longest in force, and the facts as given in the report are reproduced in full for several of these trades. It will be noted that some very large increases in wages have occurred within the period covered. In some cases the mere averages do not bring out the facts very satisfactorily, as is made clear in the explanations which are given in the column for remarks. 1 Victoria. Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Shops for the year ended Dec. 31, 1913, Appendix E, pp. 140-155. 82843°-Bull. 167-15-9 AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE PAID BEFORE AND AFTER DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM WAGE IN EACH INDUSTRY (ALL EMPLOYEES). Remarks. 1 4 1 1 69 ($6.51) 8 4 ($2.03) 7 0 ($1.70) The minimum wage for adult males in this trade has been raised gradually since 1897 from 36s. (88.76) per week of 48 hours to 54s. ($13.14) per week, as at present. The leading manufacturers declared in 1897 that the trade would be seriously injured if the minimum was fixed at 45s. ($10.95), and satisfied the department that such was the case, yet by 1908 the minimum wage was raised to 48s. ($11.68) without objection on the part of employers. The improvement in the trade is indicated by the In 1907 the bread board, on the casting vote of In August, 1910, as a result of an application by It will be noted as one of the curious changes Prior The average wage in this trade is lowered by the very great increase in the number of juveniles employed. It is one of the original trades brought under the special board system, and there is no doubt a great deal of sweating has been abolished. The average wage paid to 1,103 adult males in 1913 was £3 Os. 4d. ($14.68), and to 4,683 adult females £16s. 9d. ($6.51). In 1896, before the board came into force, wages records were received regarding only 3,383 employees, at an average wage of 20s. ($4.87), whereas last year there were more than that number of adults employed at the rates given above. The total employees for whom wages records were sent in last year were 8,359, an increase of over 145 per cent as compared with 1896. AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE PAID BEFORE AND AFTER DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM WAGE IN EACH INDUSTRY (ALL EMPLOYEES)-Concluded. The report of the chief factory inspector for 1913 shows for practically all of the boards which have issued wage determinations the average weekly wages of employees before the first determination and during 1913. These figures, with the date of the first determination in each case, are given in the table which follows: AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES OF ALL EMPLOYEES IN TRADES UNDER WAGES-BOARD DETERMINATIONS BEFORE DETERMINATIONS AND IN 1913. [Source: Victoria. Report of Chief Inspector of Factories and Shops, 1913, pp. 140 et seq.] AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES OF ALL EMPLOYEES IN TRADES UNDER WAGES-BOARD DETERMINATIONS BEFORE DETERMINATIONS AND IN 1913. OPERATION OF THE LAW. The following list of questions concerning the operation of the minimum-wage law in Victoria was sent by the New York Factory Investigating Commission to the chief factory inspector at Melbourne: 1 First. Does the minimum wage become the maximum? Second. How far are the unfit displaced by such legislation? In response the following statement was received: FIRST QUESTION. It is frequently asserted in this State that the minimum becomes the maximum, but our official figures show that this is not the case. I am sending by separate packet a book containing all the existing factory laws of Victoria, and a copy of my latest annual report. If you will kindly refer to Appendix B you will see what the average wage in the trade is. A further reference to Appendix D will give you the wages in any particular trade. I regret that I have not figures which will precisely answer your question, but a careful comparison will show that the average wage in a trade is invariably higher than the minimum wage. I do not know that there is any exception to this in Victoria. SECOND QUESTION. Legislation which fixes a standard wage undoubtedly has the effect of displacing the unfit. Our experience, however, shows that this dislocation is not serious, and that as a rule things regulate themselves fairly satisfactorily. It is true, however, that in Victoria for some years there has been a shortage of labor, and this fact probably has a good deal of bearing on this point. I do not think there is any evidence that philanthropic agencies have ever been called upon to increase their work through minimum-wage legislation. There is, however, a section in our law which enables a license to be issued to a defective worker to permit a lower wage than the minimum to be paid to him (see sec. 202 of law). This power is only sparingly used, as it is regarded very jealously by the trades-unions, and this department requires very strong evidence before it will issue a license to work for less than the minimum. THIRD QUESTION. There is no evidence to show that our labor legislation has driven any industry from the State, nor from Victoria to any other part of the Commonwealth. As a matter of fact, labor laws are in operation all over the Commonwealth, so that, if our legislation had any such effect, the industry would have been driven to other countries. There has been an increasing amount of imports in the last few years, but I think I can safely say that the evidence tends to the belief that that is caused more by our general prosperity than any other factor. Side by side with the increasing proportional imports has been a great increase in production and in the number of factories established. 1 Third report of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission. Appendix III. Minimumwage legislation, by Irene Osgood Andrews, pp. 228-231. 2 See pages 124 to 129. For comparison of wages prior to wages-board determination and in 1913, see pages 131 and 132. |