The building trades are among the most strongly organized in the city. It is estimated that their unions at the present time include about 90 per cent of all the men engaged in building work. Practically all the large contracting firms employ only union labor. The few non-union workers are employed by small contractors.
Requirements for admission to the different unions vary to a marked degree. If the union is strong and has a good control over the labor supply, admission fees are higher and regulations as to apprentices and helpers are more stringent than if the union is fighting to gain a foothold.
No industrial workers in the city are paid better wages than those employed in the building trades. More than one-half of the skilled workers are in trades that pay an hourly wage of 50 cents or over. The hourly rate in each occupation is shown in Table 25.
TABLE 25.--UNION SCALE OF WAGES IN CENTS PER HOUR MAY 1, 1915
_70 Cents_ Bricklayers 70.00 Hoisting engineers on boom derricks, etc. 70.00 Stone masons 70.00 Structural iron workers 70.00
_From 60 to 70 Cents_ Marble setters 68.75 Inside wiremen 68.75 Plasterers 68.75 Slate and tile roofers 67.50 Parquet floor layers (carpenters) 62.50 Lathers, first class 62.50 Plumbers 62.50 Steam-fitters 62.50 Stone-cutters 62.50 Hoisting engineers, brick hoists 60.00 Elevator constructors 60.00
_From 50 to 60 Cents_ Tile layers 59.38 Lathers, second class 56.25 Carpenters 55.00 Cement workers, finishers 55.00 Sheet metal workers 50.00 Painters 50.00 Paperhangers 50.00
_From 40 to 50 Cents_ Asbestos workers 47.50 Composition roofers 42.50
_Under 40 Cents_ Cabinet-makers and bench hands 37.50 Machine woodworkers 37.50 Electrical fixture hangers 37.50 Hod-carriers 35.00
Union organization is a more powerful factor in determining wages in these trades than technical knowledge and skill. A high degree of skill in a given trade brings little advantage in the matter of wages. By establishing a minimum scale below which no journeyman shall work, the union secures practically a flat rate of pay for most of the men in the trade. When there is much building work and good men are scarce, contractors sometimes pay higher wages to highly skilled workmen in order to secure their services. As a rule, however, their reward comes in the form of steadier employment. The less skilled man is the first to be laid off when business is slack, while the first-class workman, for the reason that he is so hard to replace, is the last to be discharged.