One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

by Harold Morse Dunphy

PLAN No. 1026. OCCUPATIONS IN NAVY YARDS

Acknowledgment

This monograph was prepared by Charles R. Allen, special agent of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Acknowledgment is due to Dr. John Cummings, of the Research Division, for editorial assistance.

Perhaps you have been on a ship when she was in the yard. In that case you have some notion of the various jobs that are carried on. Perhaps you have seen in one part of the yard a ship under construction on the ways, and have seen and heard the riveters, bolters up, chippers, and calkers at work. Perhaps you have been in the shops and have seen the boiler makers, the sheet-metal men, the machinists, the jointers at work. In short, perhaps you already have a pretty good idea of the different kinds of work that are carried on in a navy yard, but would like to know more about it.

Perhaps you never were in a navy yard, or if you were, you were too busy to notice what went on. In that case you may be still interested in knowing how many different trades are carried on in a navy yard, and how they are carried on. In either case if you followed a trade before you entered the service, if you learned a trade while you were in the service, or if you intend to take advantage of the opportunity offered to you by the Federal Board for Vocational Education to take further training in your trade or to take training for some new trade after your discharge, you may be interested in finding out what a navy yard is, what trades are carried on, how they are carried on, what their requirements are, what a man must do to qualify for a navy-yard job, what sort of working conditions he would work under, what the chances of promotion would be, how much pay he could get, and, in general, whether there is anything in navy-yard employment that appeals to you and that you would want to try to get into.

This pamphlet gives you some general information about navy-yard employments, and tells you how you can get more detailed information if you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for navy-yard employment.

General Working Conditions

If you go to work in a navy-yard you get an eight-hour day, with Saturday half holidays from June 15 to September 15. You can be granted 30 working days leave of absence each year without loss of pay during such leave, but it would be lawful to allow you pro rata leave only after you have served 12 months or more. During the second year of service you could be allowed 60 days leave with pay, 30 days at any time during the year and 30 days at the rate of 2¹⁄₂ days a month as earned from the beginning of the service year. After two years of service you could get 30 days’ leave per year, at the rate of 2¹⁄₂ days per month. Should you be injured in the usual course of employment you would be entitled to receive compensation under certain conditions.

Stability of Employment

Of course, during the war navy-yard work has been rushed and a large number of extra men have been taken on, but under ordinary conditions, such as existed before the war and will exist after the war, navy-yard work is pretty steady, and if you are a good man when you are once employed you are likely to hold a steady job. Should you be laid off on account of lack of work, you can get your name on a furlough list for reinstatement.