263] APPRENTICESHIP AND THE HELPER SYSTEM I3I 



the work of a helper is made definite, it is done to prevent 

 misunderstandings. The union encourages the promotion 

 of helpers in regular order according to seniority, provided 

 the workman next in line of promotion is able to handle the 

 work/ The advancement of helpers, however, is for the 

 most part left to the employers. There is little or no com- 

 plaint heard, since helpers are advanced automatically as 

 vacancies occur. No helper can be employed who is under 

 sixteen years of age. 



The development of the helper system among the Iron 

 and Steel Workers has been marked, in general, by two 

 problems: (a) the organization of the helper, and (b) the 

 hiring and paying of the helper. 



(a) The early unions in the iron industry excluded un- 

 skilled and semi-skilled workmen from their organizations 

 on the ground that the welfare of the trade demanded it.* 

 The Amalgamated Association changed this policy, and 

 made helpers eligible to membership in the union.^ The 

 term "helper" was defined as "the underhand or the as- 



^ In earlier times, however, the union placed certain restrictions 

 upon the promotion of helpers. In 1872 it was provided that any 

 puddler allowing his helper " to ball heats," without the consent of 

 the mill committee, should be fined or expelled (Vulcan Record, 

 1872, no. 10, p. 43). As late as 1891, a resolution was discussed re- 

 quiring each puddler's helper to " help one year and be six months 

 a member of the association before he be allowed the privilege of 

 boiling a heat." But the motion was lost (Proceedings, 1881, p. 682). 



The policy of the union with reference to the promotion of its 

 members, as stated by the secretary-treasurer, is as follows : " The 

 ranks of skilled workmen are filled by men who fill the minor posi- 

 tions ; hence, we endeavor to prevent men from learning the skilled 

 positions before they have served in the minor ones. If they are 

 permitted to learn the skilled jobs, it would necessarily mean that 

 those holding the minor positions would have no opportunity for im- 

 provement " (Report of Industrial Commission, 1901, p. 214). The 

 line of promotion in the bar and guide mills is as follows : roller, 

 catcher, rougher-down, roughcr-up, hooker-down, hookcr-up, straight- 

 cner, and finisher. In the guide mill, the workman analogous to the 

 hooker is called a " stranner " ; otherwise, the seniority ruling is 

 identical. Frequently a roller docs not employ a finisher, but does 

 that part of the work himself. 



8 Minutes of Heaters' Convention, 1874; Proceedings, Iron and 

 Steel Roll Hands, 1874, p. 20; Vulcan Record, 1872, no. 10, p. 23; 

 1875, no. 16, pp. 42, 44. 



° Constitution, 1876, art. I, sec. I. 



