180

DORTMUND.

commonly  piece  wages  paid  to  a  gang  (“Kameradschaft”)  of  from  4  to  10
workmen  ;  the  price  of  the  particular  piece  of  work  is  settled  between  the
manager  and  the  eldest  workman  in  the  gang  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his
fellows.  Wages  are  paid  monthly,  but  an  advance  is  generally  made  halfway
through  the  month.
The  workmen’s  unions  in  Dortmund  are  not  very  strong.  The  branch  of
the  Socialist  German  Metal  Workers’  Union  has  only  some  1,800  members,
and  the  “  Christian  ”  or  Roman  Catholic  unions  are  much  weaker.  The  miners’
unions  are  also  very  small,  the  strongholds  of  the  miners  being  at  Bochum  (for
the  Socialists)  and  Essen  (for  the  “  Christian  ”  movement).
There  are  two  Workmen’s  Secretariates  at  Dortmund.  One  of  these  has
been  founded,  and  is  maintained,  by  the  various  Socialist  unions,  which
contribute  according  to  their  membership.  In  1905  there  were  8,186  clients
who  made  personal  visits,  connected  with  8,579  cases,  in  addition  to  411  cases
dealt  with  by  letter.  The  great  majority  of  the  clients,  6,355,  were  miners,
and  32  per  cent,  of  the  cases  were  concerned  with  compulsory  insurance.
There  is  also  a  Secretariate  established  by  the  Catholic  organisations,  which
deals  with  some  3,000  cases  a  year.  One  result  of  the  activity  of  these  two
agencies  is  that  the  municipal  authorities  have  themselves  recently  established
a  bureau  for  free  legal  advice.
In  the  coal-mining  industry  hewers  earned  in  October,  1905,  from  30s.  to
36s.  and  trammers  from  17s.  8d.  to  19s.  10d.  per  week  of  six  shifts,  each  of
eight  hours,  excluding  the  time  taken  by  the  descent  and  ascent,  which  makes
about  half  an  hour  a  day  extra.  Surface  labourers  earned  from  18s.  Id.  to  21s.  0d.
for  60  hours’  work.

The  following  Table  gives  the  average  number  of  shifts,  the  average  wages
per  shift,  and  the  average  net  earnings  (after  deduction  of  insurance  contributions, ­
  &c.)  of  each  workman  in  the  entire  Dortmund  mining  area  for  the  years
1900-1905*  :—

Group.

Underground  Workers  (Hewers
and  Trammers).

Other  Underground  Workers  ...  ^

Above-ground  Workers  ...

I

Year.

1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905

Average
Shifts
per  Workman.

Average
Wages  per
Shift.

309
291
288
304
296
283
327
306
297
311
301
291
339
325
322
332
333
334

s.  d.
5  2

4  10
3  4
3  4
3  3
3  3
3  4
3  5
3  4
3  4
3  3
3  3
3  4
3  5

Average  Annual
Earnings
per  Workman.

£  s.
79  12
72  7
65  14
70  11
70  15
68  10
54  16
51  4
47  15
50  17

50
49
56
54
52

54  14
55  16
57  3

*  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  number  of  shifts  and  the  total  earnings  in  1905  were
affected  by  the  great  coal  strike.

In  the  engineering  trades  skilled  men  earn  as  a  rule  from  27s.  to  32s.  per
week,  moulders  and  smiths  going  up  to  36s.,  while  labourers  earn  from  20s.  to
23s.  In  the  iron  and  steel  works  first  smelters  earn  from  33s.  to  36s.  and
second  smelters  from  24s.  to  27s.,  first  and  second  puddlers  from  33s.  to  37s.  2d.
and  from  27s.  to  30s.  respectively,  while  leading  rollers  earn  from  57s.  to  63s.,
second  men  from  36s.  to  39s.,  and  other  rollers  27s.  to  29s.  5d.  In  these  works
the  wages  of  unskilled  labourers  range  from  18s.  to  21s.
It  should  be  noted  that  wages  agreements  are  usual  in  the  building  trades,
these  being  concluded  between  the  employers  in  the  several  trades  and  the  two
groups  of  trade  unions  (the  Socialist  and  Christian)  jointly  ;  the  two  societies
of  bricklayers  have  together  some  2,400  members.