WAGES
When taking a position in a hotel the woman worker bargains as an individual for the wages she is to receive. She is without the support of a labor organization which would have set a standard for her occupation and would assist her in maintaining it. She applies for work in an industry where the wage scales are determined largely by the inclination of the hotel managers and by the labor supply. She must go from hotel to hotel to learn what is being paid, for the wage opportunities vary from establishment to establishment.
She cannot even estimate the value of the wage she is to receive in the majority of jobs. This is due to two uncertain elements in the earnings of hotel workers; tipping and compensation other than money in the form of board and room. Because she is not in a position to gauge the amount of the tips she will receive and the quality of the board and lodging, the only recourse of the applicant is to try out the job for a time. “Well, I’ll try it out for a week and see how I make out,” is the common expression of the new worker. If it is not a good house for tips, if she can’t eat the food, and if the living-in conditions are unbearable, she will go somewhere else and try again. By trying out job after job she loses time and greatly decreases her yearly earnings.
Cash Wages
Wages when the workers live out
In the smaller hotels of New York City and the hotels of the smaller cities of the State, a straight cash wage was paid to women workers in all occupations. The wages of chambermaids and bathmaids varied from $8.77 a week to $16 in the 46 hotels where wage rates were obtained. Of these, the one hotel paying $8.77 a week was the largest hotel of a second class city where two large factories employing great numbers of women had closed down. The housekeeper said, “The works have shut down, so you can get workers at any price.” The one hotel paying $16 a week employed only three maids on a long-hour schedule.
The straight cash wages paid to chambermaids and bathmaids in the 46 hotels are as follows:
| 1 | paid at least | $8 | but less than | $9 | per week |
| 9 | " " | 9 | " " | 10 | " " |
| 11 | " " | 10 | " " | 11 | " " |
| 9 | " " | 11 | " " | 12 | " " |
| 11 | " " | 12 | " " | 13 | " " |
| 2 | " " | 13 | " " | 14 | " " |
| 2 | " " | 14 | " " | 15 | " " |
| 0 | " " | 15 | " " | 16 | " " |
| 1[[6]] | " " | 16 | " " | 17 | " " |
[6]. The actual wage paid in this group was $16.00.