CHAPTER X 

 Apprenticeship and the Helper System 



The Iron and Steel Workers, unlike many trade unions, 

 have never attempted to establish a general system of ap- 

 prenticeship. Certain apprentice regulations have from 

 time to time been suggested for various branches of the 

 industry,^ but they have not met with favor in the annual 

 conventions, except in the case of the nailers. In 1881 it 

 was provided that " no nailer shall be allowed to take on 

 an apprentice without the consent of three-fourths of the 

 nailers in the factory in which they are employed," and the 

 number of apprentices that might be taken on was fixed at 

 " two per cent of the machines per annum." The follow- 

 ing year, the convention passed a provision to the effect thar 

 a nailer having a son eighteen years old might teach him 

 the nailing trade, but he was not allowed to instruct more 

 than one son in three years. Furthermore, a nailer having 

 a son who had reached the age of fifteen was not permitted 

 to teach any other person.- In case the workmen did not 

 take on the required number of apprentices, the employer 

 had the right to do so, if he desired, up to the two per cent 

 limit. This ruling, however, caused considerable friction, 

 and was responsible, in part, for the secession of the nailers 

 several years later. Thereafter, the Association judiciously 

 avoided any national apprenticeship regulations for any 

 branch of the trade. 



Where rules for apprenticeship were needed, the matter 

 was dealt with locally. There have been several instances 

 in which local unions have thus legislated. For example, 



^Vulcan Record, 1870, no. 6, p. 20; Proceedings, Iron and Steel 

 Roll Hands. 1873, p. 8; Proceedings, Amalfiamated Association, 

 1890, p. 3134, for wire drawers; 1900, p. 5930, for tin plate mills; 

 1902. p. 6471 ; 1909, p. 8715; 1916, pp. II, 825. 



2 Proceedings, 1881, p. 709; 1882, p. 972. 

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