148 ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKERS [280 



rials. The footnotes also prescribe the number of helpers 

 in some branches of the trade, and the sources of their 

 wages; the number of rollers to be employed in each mill; 

 the proportion of helpers' wages to that of skilled men in 

 some instances, etc. 



In the case of steel-rail mills, and various other classes of 

 mills not covered by the uniform scale, the local agreements 

 establish sliding scales based either upon the general scales, 

 with allowances for local conditions and peculiarities, or 

 based upon the prices of steel rails and other articles as 

 published in standard trade journals. 



Since the consolidation of the several unions in the iron 

 and steel trade in 1876, the agreement has never been 

 allowed to lapse. It has always been renewed and has 

 steadily increased in scope. The agreement each year has 

 usually represented a compromise between what the union 

 asked and what the employers were at first willing to grant. 

 In addition to the reasons which make this true in every 

 trade agreement there are two reasons peculiar to the 

 Amalgamated Association. The scale is in two parts — the 

 base rate and the footnotes. Since there has been rela- 

 tively little change in the base rates during the life of the 

 agreement system, changes come principally through the 

 footnotes. The officials of the union have found it to their 

 advantage to demand a new agreement, even though few 

 changes are expected. Many footnotes are requested, 

 which the union leaders do not expect to be accepted. 

 Others are presented in the hope that they may be accepted 

 by the manufacturers on their face value or pass through 

 as "'jokers." A footnote once included is not easily 

 eliminated. 



The first scale was not signed for any partiailar period; 

 it was simply made effective from a given date, but it was 

 tacitly understood to last for a year at least. Ninety days' 

 notice was required to terminate the agreement. The ter- 

 mination period was reduced to thirty days in the 1867 

 agreement. In Alay, 1876, the union submitted to the con- 



