I am pleased to advise you that we have been using many unskilled workers, also women, at both our Sarnia, Ontario, and Port Huron, Michigan, and Decatur, Illinois, plants and find that women are able to do the light operations on turret lathes quite satisfactorily.
Our greatest difficulty is in our Toolmaking Department, but we have lately installed the following plan.
We are selecting a good lathe hand from among our toolmakers and giving him from one to three students, paying him from 20 per cent. to 30 per cent., depending on the number of students he is able to take care of successfully, and we then pay these students about 50 per cent. of what the instructor receives with stipulated raises in pay until they have served two years, at the end of which time we pay them a very liberal bonus.
We have been able to secure some young men just out of High School who are going to make good workmen, but as the new draft will possibly take some of these boys we are now figuring on using women on this work and believe that they will be able to carry it on quite successfully.
(Signed) C. G. Heiby,
Vice-President and General Superintendent.
DETROIT LUBRICATOR COMPANY
Detroit, Michigan
New employees are started on simple work and given individual instruction. They are then advanced to more difficult work.
By this method of training we have operators giving top production who only a short time ago were automobile salesmen, cigar salesmen, letter carriers and watchmen.
The women trained in this way are producing excellent results and are making as good pay as the men on the same piece-work. At some types of inspection they excel any men we ever had on the jobs for speed and accuracy.