INTENSIVE TRAINING OF UNSKILLED WORKERS AS A MEANS OF OVERCOMING LABOR SHORTAGE

The Committee on Labor, Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense, of which Samuel Gompers is chairman, authorizes the following from the Official Bulletin of August 14:

The grave situation of shortage of labor (it now being estimated that there is a shortage of 250,000 skilled workers[3]) is being met by a new quick method of training operatives. All over the country, day by day, one factory after another falls into line and puts in a training department to train its own people—the same sort of quick, intensive-training plan to meet the same sort of situation which the regulations in France prescribe for every manufacturer employing 300 people or more, and the English ministry of munitions requires in its contracts for materials. And the situation must be met in greater degree and substantially all factories must train their workers if the 750,000 new skilled workers which the country needs by January 1 are skilled and efficient and standing at their job by that time.

FOOTNOTES:

PROVED BY THE FACTORIES

To-day 100[4] important factories making war orders are proving that it is possible to train their own men. They do not assume to teach a worker a whole trade in the brief time available. They do teach him by the methods of the training department how to master one process or one machine in a few weeks or a few days. These 100 factories are spending, or preparing to spend, at the rate of $1,500,000 solely in this business of intensive training of new workers. This training investment is not an expense, as the training is immediately upon production and the product from the training room is expected to equal that in the factory. All the training departments mentioned are on a production basis at all times, with speed and accuracy as the watchword.

FOOTNOTES:

DECLARATION OF POLICY

One year ago that section of the committee on labor of the Council of National Defense which has been instrumental in developing the training department or vestibule schools above noted recorded the following as its declaration of policy:

“The Section on Industrial Training for the War Emergency is concerned with industrial training only as a war measure. It is not concerned with vocational education in general. In all cases in the existing crisis shortage of labor must be met first by training operatives from allied trades who are unemployed and by advancing operatives of ability from lower to higher positions in the occupation itself. For instance, apprentices should be advanced rather than outsiders. It is possible that many sewing women will be without work, and many men in the building trades. For all such, new and fitting places must be developed where possible. Non-wage earners must not be trained to take places for which unemployed wage earners may reasonably be trained.”

At the same time the section on industrial training stated the following to be its plan and scope:

1. Increased use of the public vocational schools through the co-operation of local manufacturers. This is being done very fortunately in Worcester, Bridgeport and some other cities.

2. Introduce new workers, men and women, into industry through these schools.

3. Arrange for the training of present mechanics and others in existing workrooms in connection with regular production, and by more scientific procedure than heretofore.

4. As of particular importance, act as a clearing house, that the judgment and experience, good and bad, in each locality may be available to all.

The section on industrial training, a part of the welfare division of the committee on labor, is composed of one-third representatives of labor, one-third employers and one-third experts in factory training. State committees similarly organized have been developed where war products are being made. There are at present nine associate branch committees of the section on industrial training, which are Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New England, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

KEEPING CHECK ON TRAINING

The section recommends three checks on the factory training department, to be made daily by report:

1. How many operatives are sent into the factory? (If this were the only test they might be sent in too fast and only partly trained.)

2. Cost, net, after crediting production which should equal the shop average.

3. Wastage.—There should be none. There should be 100 per cent. Government inspection.

These training departments, because of the thorough training given, have yielded from 10 to 40 per cent. increase in production, both for men and women, and the labor turnover has been reduced materially thereby.

Great care has been taken to advocate that unemployed men be adapted and trained in new trades for the period of the war and that unskilled men be educated wherever possible before resorting to the employment of women.

POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPMENT

As an indication of the possibilities of this development, the experience of the State of New Jersey co-operating with this section may be cited. In order to overcome possible objection which labor might have to the introduction of emergency training a program was agreed on, after a series of conferences, which was heartily approved by all the employers and by the representatives of the employees. Some of the clauses of this agreement are as follows:

“All skilled labor available within the surrounding territory should be brought into the essential war industries before it is unduly diluted by the introduction of unskilled labor. When such dilution is necessary, and in the opinion of the committee that time has already arrived, the more skilled activities should be supplied by training those already at work and successful in handling the lesser skilled activities of the same general type. The lesser skilled activities should be supplied by training those already skilled in non-essential activities and not engaged at present in essential war industries, and who, because of such skill, are peculiarly capable of quickly learning the rudiments of the new activities.

“Exploitation of labor and reduction of wages through dilution for war purposes is to be avoided, and to this end persons brought into an essential industry, or promoted from one grade of work to another, are to be paid the prevailing rate of wages for the class of work for which they have been trained, after a training period of reasonable duration.

“Dilution of labor by the employment of women when necessary is recommended, provided women receive wages equal to men for the class of work performed by them, and provided the working conditions surrounding their activities are carefully controlled for their comfort and well-being.”

ELIMINATING HOUSING PROBLEM

One interesting result of training resident unemployed is the practical elimination of the housing problem in certain instances.

This is exemplified in the city of Detroit, where it is estimated that 50,000 additional mechanics will be needed before the end of the year. If those now engaged in the war plants could be advanced to more skilled positions, and their places be filled by present residents of Detroit engaged in non-essential or unskilled industries, or those not now at work, the need for housing of the 50,000 mechanics with their families could be, if not entirely, at least, in part, eliminated.

All who have tried these intensive methods of training are happily surprised at the shortness of time required to make skilled operatives for precision work in tool room and factory of men from non-essential trades and of the more intelligent women now entering industry for the war.

ACTIVITIES OF THE CHAIRMAN

To stimulate effort and arouse interest in training the idle and potential workers in each community, as well as to facilitate the up-grading of the old operatives, the sectional chairman has traveled from one manufacturing center to another for the past 12 months, addressing leading metal, machine-tool, and other manufacturers’ associations. He has also actually assisted in the establishment of vestibule Training Departments in the plants.

Both single shops and great industrial communities are acting upon the advice of this section, which will furnish experts for investigation and planning upon request.