THE STEEL TRUST.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 30 January 1912, Page 5

THE STEEL TRUST.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

REPORT,

A SYSTEM OF SLAA rERY

*.aX CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPY3IGHT,

NEW YORK, Jan. 29

The Department: of Commerce, in a report, accuses the steel corporations -of maintaining a system of labor as -enslaving as the old-time galleys.

Only 14 per cent of the 173,000 employees in the blast furnaces, steel works and rolling mills worked less than 60 hours weekly. Forty-three per cent worked 72 hours, or over. Of 173,----000 employees, 13,868 earned below 14 cents an hour, and 20,507 below 16 cents, and 51,417 below 18 cents. The companies were gradually eliminating the skilled artisans and replacing them with unskilled at 7d an hour. These were recruited from recent immigrants. Their week consists of seven working days. General workers are moved each week from the day to the night shift, compelling them to remain on duty from 18 to 24 hours. Eighteen hour shifts were the rule on some plants.