PART II

Employment, Working Hours and Wages on Steam Railroads in New Jersey

Retail Prices of Food Supplies in New Jersey

The Fruit and Vegetable Canning Industry of New Jersey-Pack of 1914

9 STAT.

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Statistics of Employment on Steam Railroads of New Jersey for the Twelve Months Ending June

30, 1915

The statistics of employment, working time and wages on the steam railroads of New Jersey, which for many years back has been a feature of the annual reports of this Bureau, are presented in the customary form in the series of tables which follow. The report of each line is given separately, but one summary table shows the aggregate totals for all the lines considered.

The following table shows the principal totals and features of the compilation for the twelve months ending June 30, 1914, in comparison with the similar data for the next preceding twelve months. Such increases and decreases as have occurred in 1915 are shown in absolute numbers and their equivalent percentages.

The table above shows the total mileage of steam railroads operated within the territorial limits of New Jersey to be 2,166.07 in 1915, against 2,246.44 miles operated in 1914; there is therefore a net decrease of 80.37 miles, or 3.6 per cent. in the

trackage in use in 1915. The aggregate number of persons employed in 1915 is 44,898 against 48,389 in 1914, a reduction in the working force of wage earners employed in 1915 of 3,491, or 7.2 per cent. The aggregate number of days on duty in 1915 is 12,589,358 against 13,660,333 in 1914, a falling off in 1915 of 1,061,975, or 7.8 per cent. The average number of days worked per employe in 1915 is 281, against 282 in 1914, a reduction of one day, or 0.3 per cent. The average working time per day in 1915 is 10.1 hours, against 10.2 hours in 1914; the working hours for both years of comparison were, therefore, practically the same.

The aggregate amount paid in wages in 1915 is $35,586,727, against $37,447,087 in 1914, a reduction of $1,860,360, or 5.0 per cent. The average wages per day is $2.82 in 1915, against $2.74 in 1914, an increase in daily wages, in 1915, of eight cents, or 2.9 per cent. In 1914 the average annual earnings per employe were $773.88. In 1915 the average is $792.61, an increase of $18.73, or 2.4 per cent.

The aggregate number of employes who suffered accidental bodily injury during working hours and while on duty was 2,641 in 1914, of which number 82 suffered death at the time of the accident or shortly thereafter. In 1915 the number of sufferers from accidental injury was 2,437, and the number of fatalities among them 53. The reduction in the number injured in 1915, as compared with 1914, was 204, or 7.7 per cent. The number of those who suffered fatal injuries was reduced from 82 in 1914, to 53 in 1915, a difference on the right side of 29, or 35.4 per cent.

The comparison of data for both years shows 1915 to have been a far from prosperous period for the railroads. Of the eleven items shown on the comparison table, there are only two in which the figures of 1915 are not lower than those of 1914, with which they are compared, and these are the average daily wages and yearly earnings of labor, which show increases of 2.9 and 2.4 per cent., respectively.

The decrease in the number who suffered accidental injuries while on duty, 7.7 per cent., corresponds very closely with the reduction in the number of persons employed, so that the actual proportions of the working forces reported as having been injured are almost exactly the same for both years.

The average yearly earnings of railway employes, $792.61, are much higher than those of factory and workshop operatives, a large proportion of whom are highly skilled mechanics. That these earnings are steadily advancing year by year is probably due to the influence of the various unions of railroad trainmen. Few other railroad employes have unions, while, with the exception of few occupations requiring a high degree of skill, there are no unions among factory workers.

Working hours per day in railroad service show practically no variations from year to year.

The series of tables which follow, prefaced by a summary of the data relating to all lines, will convey a clear understanding of steam railroad conditions in New Jersey, so far as wages, earnings and the working time of labor employed on the several lines are concerned.