The Status of Labor in Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii
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The Status of Labor in— P u e rto Alaska Hawaii Reprint from the Monthly Labor Review Bulletin No. 1191 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR James P. Mitchell, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Commissioner Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis The Status of Labor in— PUERTO RICO ALASKA HAWAII R eprint from the M onthly Labor Review Decem ber 1955 Bulletin No. 1191 January 1956 UNITED STATES DEPARTM ENT OF LABOR Jam es P. M itchell, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Ewan Clague, Commissioner Por sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C, Price 55 cents Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Contents Page A prefatory note_______________________________________________________________________________________________ vi Contributors to the special section_____________________________________________________________________________ vm Puerto Rico The labor force and level of living_____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Population and labor force______________________ 1 Industrial development____________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Improvement in economic well-being______________________________________________________________________ 5 Tables: 1. Industrial distribution of employed persons in Puerto Rico, April 1940, 1950, and 1954_____________ 3 2. Employment and unemployment in Puerto Rico, April 1950 to October 1954_______________________ 4 Charts: 1. Relationship between net migration from Puerto Rico to United States, and mainland unemployment, 1945-55_________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 2. Distribution of w^,ge earner’s family income, Puerto Rico, 1941 and 1953___________________________ 6 Migration to the mainland_____________________________________________________________________________________ & Farm labor migration_____________________________________________________________________________________ 8 City migrants_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Dispersion of the migrants________________________________________________________________________________ 10 The Commonwealth migration program___________________________________________________________________ 10 Labor unions and labor relations_______________________________________________________________________________ 13 Union organization and membership_______________________________________________________________________ 13 Union structure and collective agreements_________________________________________________________________ 14 Arbitration and conciliation_______________________________________________________________________________ 15 Labor disputes____________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 Future course_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Labor laws and their enforcement______________________________________________________________________________ 17 Minimum wages__________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Hours of work____________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Workmen’s compensation_________________________________________________________________________________ 18 Vacations, sick leave, and severance pay___________________________________________________________________ 18 Collective bargaining______________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Employment of women and children_______________________________________________________________________ 19 Other labor laws_______________________________________________________________________ 20 Enforcement of labor legislation___________________________________________________________________________ 20 Wage structure and minimum wages___________________________________________________________________________ 22 Wages by industry________________________________________________________________________________________ 22 Occupational wages_______________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Minimum wage legislation_________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Tables: 1. Number and average daily wages of wage and salary workers in agricultural industries, Puerto Rico, 1945-46 and 1953-54____________________________________________________________________________ 23 2. Number and average gross hourly earnings of production workers in manufacturing industries, Puerto Rico, April 1946 and April 1955__________________________________________________________________ 23 3. Minimum wage rates in Puerto Rico under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended_____________ 24 4. Minimum wage rates in Puerto Rico under the Commonwealth Minimum Wage Act_______________ 25 5. Number and straight-time average hourly wage rates of workers in selected nonprocessing occupations in manufacturing industries, by major industry groups, Puerto Rico, October 1953________________ 26 Alaska The economy and the labor force______________________________________________________________________________ 29 Physical characteristics___________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Economic characteristics__________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Population________________________________________________________________________________________________ 31 Labor force and employment______________________________________________________________________________ 33 m Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis IV Alaska— Continued Tables: Page 1. Relative differences in costs of goods, rents, and services in selected Alaskan cities and Seattle______ 30 2. Federal obligations in Alaska, fiscal years 1948-54__________________________________________________ 31 3. Alaska’s income from production and other activities, by region____________________________________ 32 4. Alaskan civilian population________________________________________________________________________ 34 5. Distribution of Alaska’s population, by military status, race, and place of residence, by regions, 1950. 34 6. Average number of workers and wages in covered employment in Alaska, 1940-54________ __________ 36 7. Seasonal variation in covered employment in Alaska, selected years_________________________________ 36 Charts: 1. Alaska’s population, total and military, monthly average, 1940-54__________________________________ 33 2. Percentage distribution of average monthly employment in Alaska, by industry division, 1940, 1943, and 1954________________________________________________________________________________________ 35 The U. S. Government as an employer_________________________________________________________________________ 37 Classified and wage-board employees______________________________________________________________________ 37 Employee attitudes_______________________________________________________________________________________ 37 Territorial pay inequalities________________________________________________________________________________ 38 Working rules_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 39 Problems of recruiting____________________________________________________________________________________ 40 Table: Paid civilian employees in executive branch of Federal Government in Alaska, by agency, compen sation authority, and residence, June 30, 1954_______________________________________________________ 38 Wages and working conditions_________________________________________________________________________________ 42 History of wage developments_____________________________________________________________________________ 42 Industry wage levels______________________________________________________________________________________ 43 Underlying factors________________________________________________________________________________________ 43 Typical wage scales_______________________________________________________________________________________ 44 Alaska-stateside wage differentials_________________________________________________________________________ 46 Hours of work____________________________________________________________________________________________ 46 Workinging conditions____________________________________________________________________________________ 47 Tables: 1. Average weekly earnings in employment covered by the Employment Security Act of Alaska, selected industries, 1940 and 1954________________________________________________________________________ 43 2. Wage and salary scales for selected occupations, by industry category, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Ketchikan, May 1955___________________________________________________________________________ 45 Labor law and its administration_______________________________________________________________________________ 49 Equal rights and child labor_______________________________________________________________________________