KÖNIGSBERG.
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Königsberg, all of whom belong to the union. According to the same authority
there are some 400 grain, &c., carriers, of whom 300 belong to the union, while
of about 400 men working inside the granaries and warehouses only 150 are
organised. In addition to the groups just named there is that of the transport
workers engaged in the conveyance of goods in vehicles (other than railway) by
land and water, and of these some 1,400 are organised. Thus it is certain that
there are at least 2,500 men engaged in labour of a more or less casual nature
directly connected with wharves and warehouses, and the probability is that this
number is much greater. Among what may be termed industrial occupations
the most important group is that comprised under the heading “ Metal-working
and engineering,” including more especially the construction of railway rolling
stock, in which some 1.900 men are employed by two firms. After metalworking
and engineering comes the food, drink, and tobacco group employing
over 3,000 workpeople, of whom the greater number work in breweries and in
tobacco and cigar manufactories. Saw-milling and wood-pulp making swell the
figures of the wood-working group, which ranks third in local importance.
Among the other trades affording a considerable amount of employment in the
town, tailoring may be said to be the most important. The one really distinctive
industry with which the name of Königsberg is associated—the amber industry
—affords but little employment in the town. Since July 1st, 1899, the amber
mines in the Samland district east of Königsberg have become the property of
the Prussian Government, from whom the firms engaged in the manufacture of
amber goods obtain their supplies of raw amber direct. The actual processes of
manufacture, grinding, polishing, turning, &c., are however, for the most part,
performed by home-workers, including women. The building trades, as already
stated, are not properly represented in the table. That they afford employment
to a very large number of workmen in Königsberg is beyond question, for they
have been greatly stimulated by the necessity of providing house-room for the
increasing population. The number of workpeople employed in the various
branches of the building trade at the end of 1905 cannot have been far short of
5,000, for at the date of the occupation census in 1895 it was 4,145, and must
have increased much more rapidly than the population as a whole, which was
14 per cent, greater in 1905 than in 1895.
The relative importance of the various groups of trades in Königsberg is in
some degree reflected in the grouping of the organised workers, of whom there
were close upon 10,000 at the end of 1906 distributed in the manner shown
below :—
Membership of Königsberg Trade Unions at end of 1906.
Group of Trades.
Building
Metal and engineering
Clothing
Transport and dock labour
Printing and allied trades
Woodworking
Food preparation (bakers and millers)
Municipal workmen
Other (including unclassified) ...
Total ...
Membership of Trade Union.
2,555
843
644
2,497
392
1,201
132
600
992
9,856
The principle of fixing the conditions of labour by formal wages and hours
agreements has been considerably developed in Königsberg, especially of late
years. General agreements affecting the whole of the trade are in force for the
plumbers, painters, joiners, and cabinet makers ; also for the fitters and smiths
in the smaller establishments engaged in iron-construction work ; for the
stevedores and for the bespoke tailoring trade. Most of the greater firms
engaged in the timber export trade have separate agreements with their men.
The following table gives the predominant wages and hours of labour in
the principal occupations :—
