Conditions of Employment
The work is wholly indoors, under temperatures which, although not excessively high, may be somewhat above normal. The odor of the solvents and materials used in insulating and painting is offensive to some, but does not appear to affect others.
Qualifications
This work can be handled by men having minor physical defects. The loss of one eye or one leg will not disqualify. The loss of an arm or hand would not be an insurmountable obstacle provided the member is replaced by an artificial one.
Wages and Hours
Wages are often paid by the piece under a premium system. A helper may expect to receive from $12 to $17 a week, an experienced man from $16 to $24, and a foreman from $22 to $37. Usually the day is nine hours, but may be eight and a half. The work is wholly indoors. The trade is seldom unionized.
PLAN No. 1075. COIL PLACING AND CONNECTING
After the coils have been wound and impregnated or otherwise treated, they are arranged in place on the iron cores of the electrical machines under construction which have been designed to receive them. The placing of a magnet coil in an assembled device which requires but the one small coil involves but little skill and labor. But the arranging, placing, and connecting of the large number of armature coils which are necessary to complete an armature winding of a direct-current or alternating generator or motor requires considerable skill, experience, and ingenuity. The connections in such cases may be quite complicated.
Connections between coils are effected by soldering together the ends of the copper conductors. However, the man who makes these connections need not be competent to plan for himself the scheme of connections, inasmuch as he is supplied with a diagrammatic blue print from the engineering department. This indicates how the coils should be connected. He must be competent to read and understand this print. On all but the simplest machines and devices the coil placing and connecting is done by men.
In some shops coils are placed in the armatures by one group of men and are connected by another group who receive slightly higher pay.