222
ELBERFELD.
employs large numbers of workers ; there are several machine works of
some size ; the largest brewery of the Rhineland is here, and among other
manufactures those of paper of various kinds and leather belting are deserving
of note.
The classification of the “ industrial workpeople ” of the town, employed in
factories and workshops under inspection, is shown in the following table :—
Group of Trades.
Building
Metalworking
Machine, implement and apparatus
making.
Textiles
Clothing and cleaning
Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c
Paper ... ... ... ... ».
Woodworking and carving
Chemicals ...
Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c
Stone and earth
Food, drink and tobacco ...
Leather ... ... ... ...
Total ...
N umber
of
Establishments.
36
105
51
239
136
41
21
84
13
5
24
284
15
1,054
Number of Workpeople.
Male.
855
2,055
688
4,214
344
730
636
955
1,919
170
421
897
146
14,030
Female.
238
8
3,684
1,726
269
513
146
54
9
64
20
6,731
Total.
855
2,293
696
7,898
2,070
999
1,149
1,101
1,973
179
421
961
166
20,761
Of the workpeople here enumerated 7,898 or 38 per cent, belong to the
textile industry, and of these 46 6 per cent, are females, though the proportion
of female workers in general is only 32'4 per cent.
Returns have been obtained concerning the wages paid in over twenty
representative factories and other works. These returns are of the earnings of a
full normal week, exclusive of overtime, since in the industries affected the piece
wage system is most general. In the textile trades male weavers in general
earn from 18s. to 19s. 3d. per week, but plush and ribbon weavers, 25s. to 30s. ;
25s. may be regarded as an all round average for weaving. Dyers earn 25s. and
26s. if independent men, except silk and plush dyers, wdio earn up to 32s.,
though the majority, who are unskilled, earn only 21s. and 22s. ; finishers
earn from 22s. to 23s. 2c/., and cotton printers, 35s. In the engineering
trades, skilled men earn from 27s. to 35s. 5c/., and labourers from 22s. 6c/.
to 24s. 6c/.
The rates of wages in some of the building and allied trades are fixed by
agreement, the hourly rate for masons and bricklayers being 6c/., for carpenters,
6ic/., for painters, 5and for stucco workers, 8JcZ.
A ten hours day is almost universal. Work begins as a rule at 6 or 7 a.m.
and continues, with intervals of two hours in the aggregate, until the same
hours in the evening, save on Saturday, when it ceases half-an-hour or an hour
earlier. In the textile trade a fortnight’s notice as between employer and
workman is customary, but in most industries no notice whatever is given on
either side. Wages are for the most part paid weekly, except in the textile
factories. There are no local holidays, but the statutory ones amount to eight
days in the year, viz., New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day,
Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Penance Day, and Christmas and Boxing Day.
