239^ THE WORKING DAY IO7 



has always been accustomed to arrange for himself the 

 time for starting and quitting. He objects to being hur- 

 ried in order to produce a reasonable output. For these 

 reasons,* the three-turn system is considered impracticable. 

 The Amalgamated has succeeded in resisting the demands 

 of the manufacturers for three turns in union plants f there 

 are, however, a few non-union mills employing three shifts.® 

 In the busheling department, the workmen generally 

 work three shifts. This is explained by the fact that bush- 

 eling requires only a few minutes for a heat. Scrap and 

 swarth are used very largely, and the iron is not fomented. 

 Consequently, bushelers need not come to work until about 

 fifteen minutes before the muck mill begins to roll.'' The 

 eight-hour system for bushelers has become so well estab- 

 lished in practice that no specific rule is necessary. Prac- 

 tically the only exception among union plants is the Empire 

 mill, Cleveland, where the nine-and-a-quarter-hours' rule 

 obtains.® 



Finishing Mills. — Long hours have been a characteristic 

 feature of the work day in practically all finishing mills. 

 In 1877 instances of heaters and roll hands working a 

 fifteen-hour day were not uncommon. The Columbus ses- 

 sion of that year provided, as a restrictive measure, that the 

 first heating furnace should quit charging at three o'clock 



* A minor obstacle to the three shifts was the fear of introducing 

 more men into the trade than could be absorbed (Proceedings, 1894, 

 p. 4562). 



° For instances of disputes over the three-turn system, see Pro- 

 ceedings, 1885, pp. 1559-1560; 1893, pp. 4267, 4335-4336; 1894, pp. 

 4561-4562. 



" Several mills of the United States Steel Corporation, as for ex- 

 ample, the Frankstown mill and the Wharton plant, both of Pitts- 

 burgh, and the A. M. Byers Co. of Girard, Ohio, work three shifts 

 of eight hours. 



'' The scale does not prescribe three turns for muck-mill hands, 

 but it is provided in a foot-note that " on muck or i)udilie mills on 

 which three crews are employed three rollers shall also be em- 

 ployed" (Proceedings, 1904, p. 6850; Western Scales of Prices, 1916, 

 p. 14). 



** The nine-and-a-quarter-hours' clause was adopted in 1892 for 

 scrapping and busheling departments to apply to mills not working 

 shorter charging hours (Proceedings, 1892, p. 3856). 



