In the shoemaking industry, there is great division of labor, and accordingly, the amount of skill or technical knowledge required of the workers in many of the shoemaking operations is so little that it may be acquired in a few days or weeks at the most.
However, a few of the occupations require both manipulative skill and technical knowledge, and call for the quick exercise of sound judgment. These are the occupations that pay well. Training for them is necessary. The period of training, of course, depends in any case, partly upon the person taking it. But in general, there are two groups in which the skilled occupations fall, namely, those requiring less than a year’s training and experience to make a thoroughly competent operator, and those necessitating a year or over. Roughly, those who receive less than 50 cents and more than 40 cents an hour fall in the first group, while those receiving 50 cents or more an hour come in the second group.
Wages, Hours, and Working Conditions
In 1918, according to unpublished figures of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the highly skilled operators the hourly wage ranged from 43 to 62 cents. In this range, the following occupations were covered—Goodyear welters receiving the highest, channelers the lowest, and the others in a descending scale intermediate wages: Goodyear welters, rough rounders, edge trimmers, heel trimmers, Goodyear stitchers, edge setters, machine pullers-over, heelers, turn sewers, bed-machine operators, hand vamp cutters, hand-method-lasting-machine operators, hand pullers-over, machine side lasters, hand turn lasters, McKay sewers, machine vamp cutters, vampers, hand side lasters, heel scourers, channelers.
The hours of labor are somewhat dependent upon the occupation, with the general average for the whole country about 55 hours per week, which usually means a 10-hour day with a Saturday half holiday. For some factories, hours in a few occupations are nine per day for six days in the week, which makes a 54-hour week.
For the highly skilled operator, the shoe industry is a desirable occupation in peace times and will continue to be so in the future. With the growth of population and the higher standards of living comes an increased demand for shoes of the better sort, which means that greater skill must be employed in their production than in those of the coarser sort. While the work in the shoe factory is somewhat seasonal, the slack season comes in the summer time, when other occupations are open, and when the worker may frequently engage in gardening during the time he is not busy in the factory. The busy season comes in the fall and winter. The work is all performed indoors.
Disabilities
The shoe industry can not use all classes of disabled men, but those it can use, if well trained, will find in it a desirable occupation. In general the disabilities that will bar a man from engaging in this occupation are the loss of eyesight, the loss of both legs, or of both arms, nervous afflictions, and weaknesses that prevent a man from standing at his work or from doing it rapidly. For some of the work, the use of both hands is highly desirable, and the loss of certain fingers from a hand would tend to be a handicap. Good eyesight, steady nerves and dexterity of motion are essentials in shoe workers. Good hearing is not highly important to the well trained. For the man who has lost a hand, there are devices, such as certain forms of hooks that could be used, for instance, by the machine cutter to operate the arm to the machine. Pincer-like devices may be used for other work. An artificial leg of a certain type may be obtained for a man who has lost a leg, and this will enable him to stand without undue fatigue.
Promotion
There are two ways in which advancement in these occupations may be secured. A worker who learns rapidly may advance from a less skilled to a more highly skilled occupation. For instance, he may advance from a position as a turn sewer to one as a Goodyear welter, and thus receive approximately a 25 per cent advance in wages. Or a workman with the ability to direct others may become a foreman and thus obtain higher wages. With this ability and a general knowledge of the industry, or high skill at some of the occupations, he might become an instructor, or, with sufficient ability and education, he might go into the office.