The Commissioner of Labor responded in the following letter, ordering an investigation of the causes of the strike by the Board of Mediation and Arbitration: ALBANY, January 11, 1912. Mr. William C. Rogers, Chief Mediator, Bureau of Mediation and Arbitration, Department of Labor, Albany, N. Y.: DEAR SIR. Your communication of even date in regard to the strike of laundry workers in New York City is now before me. After careful consideration of the matter, I have come to the conclusion that the causes of said strike, as stated by you, are of such a nature as to warrant an official inquiry. Therefore, under the provisions of sections 141 and 143 of the Labor Law, you are hereby directed to institute and conduct a public inquiry into the causes of the strike of laundry workers now in progress in the City of New York; and for the purposes of this inquiry I hereby designate Messrs. M. J. Reagan and James McManus to serve with you as the Board of Mediation and Arbitration. You will notify them of such designation. You will make such arrangements as may be necessary for the service of stenographers to take and transcribe the testimony of witnesses, and for the place and time of the sessions of the Board of Mediation and Arbitration while conducting the inquiry herein ordered. Yours very truly, In accordance with this order, the Board held public sessions on January 16, 17, 19 and 24, 1912, examining some 95 witnesses. The Board presented their report to the parties in dispute and announced to the public their findings of fact and recommendations on January 28, 1912, in the following letter: January 27, 1912. Mr. Julius Langfelder, President New York Association of Steam Laundrymen, 312 East 92d Street, New York City. Mr. William Armour, President, Mr. A. H. Davidson, Secretary, United Laundry Workers' International Union, Locals Nos. 34, 37, 126; 2438 Eighth Avenue, New York City. DEAR SIRS.— In accordance with the requirements of section 144 of the State Labor Law, the Board of Mediation and Arbitration announce to you our findings of fact and our recommendations based on the Board's investigation of the causes of the strike of laundry workers in the city of New York. The principal causes of the laundry workers' strike were found to be long and irregular working hours, small wages, and refusal of employers to recognize and treat with the union. The Board find that six individual employers have signed agreements with the union and are operating under union conditions. The other steam laundries are running nearly full handed, non-union workmen being employed. in the opinion of the Board the conditions of long hours and low wages disclosed by the evidence, justify the complaints of the striking laundry workers. These conditions are the result of unreasonable competition among the proprietors of steam laundries to obtain the business of washing and ironing clothes from the so-called “hand laundries" in the city of New York. As a matter of fact the "hand laundries" are for the most part mere collection agencies for the steam laundries, their advertised "hand work" being almost exclusively ironing of shirts and underwear. The steam laundries do practically all washing and most of the starching of all goods, for the "hand laundries." The steam and "hand laundries" engaged in the rough dry business must compete (as to prices charged the public) with the steam bundle laundries engaged in the direct family trade, so that the excessive number of “hand laundries" conducting a business based on misrepresentation has reduced profits of employers and wages of employees. The larger steam rough dry laundries collect from one hundred or more "hand laundries," while the equally large steam bundle laundries have about ten branches each for collection and delivery. Both steam laundry employers and striking laundry workers agree that all laundries and laundry agencies should be prohibited from sending out or receiving colored nets, and that nets be restricted to white goods exclusively and weigh not more than ten pounds. The colored nets are insanitary, heavy, incapable of being thoroughly washed, and are a direct financial loss to the steam laundry workers and employers, as well as a serious menace to health. The Board recommend that all employees on strike be returned to their old positions; that the employers declare their willingness to deal with the union where it has been organized, and that the union and the association of employers agree to settle questions of present and future disputes by mutual recognition and final arbitration; that the scale of wages be adjusted to correspond generally with that paid in the shops where the highest rate now prevails. That working hours be arranged between 7.30 A. M. and 6.30 P. M. daily with four hours Saturday A. M. and overtime pay for work later than 6.30 P. M. (or 12 noon Saturday), at the rate of time and one half. Respectfully submitted, State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. The strike was successful in obtaining union conditions in six of the laundry establishments and was successful in effecting a general change in hours of labor and working conditions in several of the others. The strike was closed on the records of the Bureau on January 31, 1912, when the employers reported all strikers' places were filled, and the union reported 92 men and 218 women were still without work. An analysis of the testimony taken at the investigation showing working conditions in the laundries is given in following pages. WORKING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK CITY STEAM LAUNDRIES. In response to a number of requests on behalf of the general public, a formal public investigation of the laundry workers' strike, which occurred in New York City on January 2, was conducted by the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration on January 16, 17, 19 and 24. An account of the dispute together with the board's findings as to causes and recommendations for settlement, may be found in preceding pages. But aside from the dispute aspect of the matter, a desire has been expressed that the facts as to working conditions in the industry brought to light by the investigation might be made available for the general public. Such publicity would seem to be in keeping with the spirit, if not the letter, of the law providing for such public investigations. It could, doubtless, be most fully secured by publication in full of the testimony taken in the investigation. But difficulties lie in the way of this course owing to the time and expense required for printing in separate form the nearly 600 typewritten pages covered by the testimony. Furthermore, with the testimony published, it would still be necessary for any one interested to analyze and summarize the same in order to arrive at definite conclusions. Accordingly a summary of the testimony is herewith presented as being at once most practicable and most useful. The subjects specially investigated were, naturally, those prominent as issues in the dispute, and these were, principally, hours of work, wages, weight of "nets," and sanitary conditions. Hours of Work, In view of the large number of women employed in laundries (about two-thirds of the laundry workers in New York City are women) coupled with the fact that hours of work in factories (including laundries) are limited by law, the greater part of the testimony as to hours concerns the hours worked by women, and the chief matter of interest in connection therewith was as to how far the women's hours did or did not fall within the limits established by law for women's hours of work. Testimony as to hours was taken from 50 female witnesses,* employed in 11 different steam laundries. Three of these witnesses were between 14 and 16 years of age, and 26 were 16 years of age or over, while age was not stated for 21. The testimony of witnesses indicates very clearly that hours of work are more or less irregular due to the irregularity from day to day in the receipts of work to be done. Accordingly the general plan followed was to question each witness as to time of beginning and ending work, and time for noon-day or evening meal, on each day of the week. The hour of beginning work in the morning was usually fairly regular, the variation in the length of the day's work resulting principally from variations in the time of ending work in the evening. Under these circumstances it is necessary to consider both maximum and minimum. hours indicated by the testimony, as nothing more definite than variable hours between such limits was testified to in nearly every case. WITNESSES UNDER SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE. Of the three witnesses under sixteen, two were collar machine workers and one a mangle worker. The three were employed each in a different laundry. Section 77 of the Labor Law limits the hours of work of children under 16 in factories (which includes laundries) to 8 per day, 48 per week, and to the hours between 8 A. M. and 5 P. M. According to their testimony all three of the witnesses under 16 years of age had worked contrary to all three of the legal restrictions. The minimum and maximum hours per day, on days other than Monday and Saturday, were given by these witnesses as 10 and 11 by one, 10 and 141⁄2 by a second, and 1014 and 14 by the third. The minimum and maximum hours per week shown by their testimony were 50 and 521⁄2 in one case, 511⁄2 and 534 in another, and 5234 and 571⁄2 in the third. On days other than Monday and Saturday, the hour of beginning work in the morning was given as 7 o'clock by two and 7:30 by the other. The earliest and latest hours of ending work in the evening were given as 6 and 7 o'clock by one, 6 and 11 by a second, and 6:30 and 9:30 by the third. In addition to the 50 female witnesses testimony was received from 19 male employees in steam laundries. WITNESSES SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OVER. Assuming that the witnesses whose ages were not given were 16 years of age or over, there is testimony by 47 witnesses as to hours worked by women in this class. These 47 were distributed among 11 different laundries and in the following general occupations: Section 77 of the Labor Law specifies four distinct limitations upon the working hours of women in factories, namely, (1) an absolute limit of 60 hours per week; (2) a limit of 10 hours per day if the same schedule of hours is followed for six days in the week; (3) an absolute limit of 12 per day in any case; (4) prohibition of work between 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. for women under 21 years of age. Weekly hours are indicated for 43 women stated or presumed to be 16 years of age or over, and a summary of weekly hours indicated by their testimony is as follows: WEEKLY HOURS TESTIFIED TO BY FEMALE WITNESSES OVER SIXTEEN. |