Conditions of Employment
Machine operators work about nine hours a day. They receive in wages from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour. The man who cuts up good lumber with a swing saw may receive more than the average because he must know how to avoid wasting expensive material. His good judgment is his capital.
The machine woodworker often moves from one factory to another, but he is usually in demand and may count on steady employment without much regard to the season.
Re-education for Machine Operating
No apprenticeship is usually considered necessary for machine operators. A try-out period of a few weeks will decide whether a man is likely to make good or not. A short period of training in a school where a variety of different machines is provided will help a man to get a real insight into his prospective occupation.
The training required is usually obtained in the factory, but disabled men can shorten the period of training necessary in their case considerably by taking a short course in a well-equipped school under an instructor who is a practical woodworker. The course taken will be planned to prepare the pupil for a definite occupation. An agreement may be made with a prospective employer before the course is undertaken, so as to provide opportunity for overcoming any handicap in a definite way.
The same results may be secured by short tryout courses in the factory itself and in most cases this will appeal both to the man himself and to the employer. But in order to guarantee an adequate course of training the factory must be required to make definite preparations to train disabled men under an agreement as to the instructor, the length of the course, and the subject matter of the instruction.