NEW YORK'S WATERSIDE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3012, 24 February 1917, Page 11

NEW YORK'S WATERSIDE

'CONDITION .'OF LABOUR v ' speeding the parting ■.■;. ship On the wharves at New York rapidity of discharge and loading aro the chief aim's;, and tuero ie a pilturesquoness in the very magnitude of the work and the speed at which it is/carried 1 out'. The men take a pride in. their skill) though their wages aro low as .compared with labourers"■■■: engaged in manual work in other industries. Before the war the.averago wage was about £2 10s. a''week,'.'and there, were more men than there 'was work for., These facts aro' taken, from "The Longshoreman, "a, book written by Charles B. Barnes, and published a little over a year ago. . ' <' -New York claims to be the largest port in the world, if Yonkers City, Greater New York, and Jersey City are included,. togothor with tho river mouths and adjacent waters. Tho shoreline of this area is 771 miles, of which 392 miles is developed, with-852' piers. Into this port in ono year came; ships of a net total tonnage : of 14,<164,161 tons, 1 all of which, had,fe> .bo worked.Statistics are vague as to the numbers of longshoremen— ds the waterside workers are oalled--but they number.. approximately 10,000, of every nationality under the sun. The entire hiring of foe New York'longshoremen is based oh the system oE hourly employment. At different times' shipping' companies have endeavoured to arrange employ mant' on a weekly system,, but "the men were not agreeable to this, m spite of the fact that they were on a more casual basis than the ordinary day-labourer. After work has begun on "the wharves, men are knocked off and rehired at any hour, according to the demands of the work. 'Sometimes men are told to : "go .to the corner," meaning the far side of tho street—. really the' saloon—until they are watiti«d. This definite mention of a certain locality ie : a relic of the days when, the longshoremen insisted , "EBali the boss 'must "- .come to them, _ to engage them, and they, always .awaited him on the comer of a certain street. They, may be kept waiting "on the corner" all day, but ,dar© not leave and seek work elsewherb for fear of gaining the ill-will of. the boss. Each foreman has Vjg, own following and the need for standing well with him is a consideration. -. i ; • Strenuous. Labour. Theoretically, the hours.of hiring aTC, for day work, 7 a.m. ,f6.,.l p.m., and for night work, 7 plm. The hours of work, also theoretically, are from 7 ajn. till noon, and from 1 to 6 p.m.—, a 10-hour day. At six olclock, the foreman blows his whistle and work' stops. As_ a matter of faot, there.is no 1 certainty of the hours of work. You are . often required to' work' through tho

meal hour, during tho night and on Sunday aud holidays. Two days and a'night are usually tho limit of a man's endurance, but many havo tcstifiod to having worked 35 and 40 hours at a stretoh. One .longshoroman told how, after tho Civil War, ho once' worked from 7 o'clock on Monday morning till £ o'clook oh Saturday afternoon—a total of 103 hours, limp for meals was taken off, the historian adds. After a long' strain of work, a man may oraok up and havo to go off for a spell. As a reprimand for this a foreman will sometimes loavo him out of his gangs for a' week. Longshoremen aro paid, every ovoningvat tho rato of Is. 4}d. per hour for day work, 2s. Id. per hour for night work, and 2s. 6d. per hour for working during meal hours. If a man has worked well, tho foreman'will op.ll out that he is io havo another nickel (2jd.) fpjr_tb« day. Foremen aro .paid by-the day or j\)aok, receiving from £3 12s. to £B'a week and occasionally £12. Tho usual rato is £5 a. week. "Must Sail on Time!" "Tho ship must sail on time" is the motto of Now York's waterside. This moans speeding-up and overtinio, not only causing severe wear and tear on the men, but to everyone concerned. Aforeman, does not willingly change gangs, he objects to doing'so if the stretch; of work does not extend ovor 24 hours\ The men submit, partly because -they want to "get in a good : week," and- '1 partly becauso they .are afraid of losing their place in the gang. The strain induces muscularinaccuracy, end carelessness,' and theu_ accidents happen. When a man is injured no compensation is offered or . expected, even though the worker may be laid up for weeks. And, more- I over, through a strange etiquette of ■ their calling, the men are loth to talk of their accidents, neither will they sho\v_fear,.or avoid! necessary danger. It is interesting to note that tho use of nets is not .considered dangerous by the New' York longshoremen, nor of Burton jhlocks. Their ■'• methods d handlhig cargo, are. very "similar to the New ZealancT methods. ,'Pwj o>- thrao men are assigned to sling the ropes round the loads or drafts, to use the' New York term: chain or wire slings are used' for machinery'and other heavy lifts. If the load consists of a number of small articles' a large net or a wooden box called locally "a fruii box," is' substituted for the sling./ 1 -Two "falls," or lifting ropes, are used, an up-and-down i fall, and the Burton. The up-andklown hoists and lowers the goods, while the Burton hauls the loads athwart the ship and acts as a'guy to prevent the load striking the side of the ship.' 'Two : gangs, working hide-, penderitly, .frequently .are employed "in eacli hatch,"''the coamings of which, in American-and foreign steamers, aro often very; low' or noticeable by their absence: Speeding-up of tired! men under .these conditions is a.sourco of danger. This risk: is added to by . a time-saving device known as a "hurryup." Itconsists'of an extra fall, worked by a third wincluhan, which is hooked on to heavy loads to raise thorn more quickly—a kind! of tip-horse.