23311 THE STANDARD RATE 10 1 



the scale as foot-notes. They cover a variety of subjects. 

 Several examples will illustrate. In the boiling and bushel- 

 ing department, the employer agrees to do " all necessary 

 fixing, including the cutting of grates, hanging of doors, and 

 all new brick work on bridges," except " the usual fixing 

 between turns and heats." All heavy scrap for busheling 

 must be cut into eight-inch pieces or smaller, and all mate- 

 rials placed within ten feet of the charging door.^^ 



The payment of helpers and assistants by the recipients 

 of the piece rate has been for years an important feature 

 of the working system in the Amalgamated. In the early 

 days of the union the puddler and the roller were recog- 

 nized as being in complete charge of the work of their 

 respective departments. They hired the necessary helpers, 

 and also paid them from their own wages.^^ The puddler 

 paid his helper; the roller, the members of his crew. 

 Scales have since been adopted for these workmen, first for 

 the heater, then gradually for those employed about the set 

 of rolls ; and they are now paid by the employer.^^ Since 

 the scale explicitly stipulated by whom the regular members 

 of the crew should be paid, there has seldom been occasion 

 for disagreement. Disputes have occurred chiefly over the 

 payment of " extra " men who are needed on orders for 

 heavy material. 



Unless the employer furnished additional help when thus 

 needed, or increased the rate, a reduction in the roller's 

 wages was made. An extra man was usually required to 

 handle the heavier sizes, and the difficulty of handling was 

 greater than the increase in tonnage. Not infrequently, 

 upon the request for extra help, the employer insisted that 

 the roller should pay for it. Every branch of the trade ex- 



s*"' Western Scales of Prices, 1916, p. g. 



^"^ ]. II. Ashworth, The Helper and American Trade Unions, p. 72. 



''** Not until recently were scales made for the catcher, the rougher, 

 and the hook-ui)s in the bar mill ; and for the roughers, catchers, and 

 the slranders in the guide mill. The only workmen now paid hy the 

 roller are the straightcner and the fmisher. Sometimes, particularly 

 in the mills of only one furnace, the roller does the work of the 

 finisher himself, since the output is small. 



