JLt-'Vl

290

KÖNIGS  HUTTE.

ai

%

g

Group  of  Trades.

Number
oF
Establishments.

Number  of  Workpeople.

Male.

Female.

Building  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...
Mining  and  smelting
Metal  working
Machine,  implement  and  apparatus
making.
Textiles
Clothing  and  cleaning
Printing,  lithography,  bookbinding,  &c
Paper
Woodworking  and  carving
Resins,  varnishes,  soap,  oil,  candles,  etc.
Stone  and  earth  ...
Food,  drink  and  tobacco
Total

203

176
4,492
666
1,959

16
502

123
21

8,178

891

Total.

192
4,994
666
1,960

9,069

In  the  above  table  trades  are  represented  only  in  co  far  as  they  are  carried
on  in  establishments  subject  to  inspection,  and  this  largely  affects  the  figures  for
some  trades.  In  the  building  trades,  for  instance,  the  important  groups  of  bricklayers ­
  and  labourers  are  omitted,  nor  is  it  possible  to  state  even  approximately
the  numbers  employed  in  these  two  occupation  groups.
The  great  preponderance  of  the  coal,  iron  and  steel,  and  engineering  trades,
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  7,620  of  the  total  of  9,069  workpeople  fall  within  the
three  groups  in  which  those  trades  are  comprised  (¿.e.,  the  second,  third,  and
fourth  groups  in  the  table).
The  largest  blast-furnace  works  in  Silesia  are  situated  within  the  town  and
in  connection  with  these  are  puddling  mills,  steel-making  (Bessemer,  Thomas
and  Martin  processes),  iron  and  steel  rolling  mills  and  tube  drawing  works.
There  are  also  six  pit  shafts  of  state-owned  collieries  at  work  within  the
municipal  area.
The  workpeople  of  Königshütte,  being  for  the  most  part  Polish  and
Roman  Catholic  in  sentiment,  have  kept  aloof  from  the  German  labour  movement
as  represented  by  the  great  national  federations  of  Social-Democratic  Trade
Unions  (Gewerkschaften)  which  have  gained  a  footing  in  every  industrial  town
in  other  parts  of  the  Empire.  Strikes  are  extremely  rare  and  collective
agreements  fixing  standard  rates  of  wages  and  other  conditions  of  labour  are
unknown  except  in  the  printing  trade,  in  which  the  men  are  organised  in  a  branch
of  the  National  Federation  of  Printers  and  Typefounders.  In  the  building
trades,  however,  certain  rates  of  time  wages  are  recognised  by  the  masters  of  the
various  trade  guilds  as  locally  current.  The  following  table  shows  the  rates  of
wages  current  in  various  building  trades  at  October,  1905,  together  with  the
number  of  hours  usually  worked  in  those  trades  per  week  in  summer.  The
minimum  rates  for  the  printing  trade  as  fixed  for  Königshütte  by  the  general
agreement  operative  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Germany  are  also  shown.

Predominant  Weekly
Rates  of  Wages.

Usual  Weekly  Hours
of  Labour
(exclusive  of  Mealtimes).

Building  Trades*  :—
Masons  and  Bricklayers.
Carpenters
Joiners
Plumbers
Painters  (Fine  work)
„  (Rough  work)
Labourers
Printing  Trades  :—
Hand  Compositors  ...  )
Machine  minders  and  pressmen  \
Machine  Compositors  j

22s.  Id.
22s.  Id.
27s.  0  d.
19s.  2d.
22s.  lOd.
21s.  Od.
15s.  Od.

23s.  8d.
29s.  6d.
30s.  9d.

54

The  wages  and  hours  of  labour  stated  for  the  building  trades  are  for  a  full  week  in  summer,