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CLOTHING (WOMEN'S WAISTS)
Location of Buildings:
New York city (sic) is the greatest center of the women's waist trade in the
United States. The 228 shops inspected were on Manhattan Island, south of 35th street,
(sic) in the most congested portion of the city. Ninety-one per cent of the establishments
inspected were located in loft buildings, and of the 11,000 odd workers in those
shops, one-half were employed above the sixth floor. This overwhelming proportion
of loft shops is characteristic of all branches of the clothing trade in New York
city (sic). The Asch fire disaster of last March threw a lurid light on the fearful
risks to the workers involved in such a situation.
Condition of Work Places:
It is remarkable that a very large percentage (62 per cent) of the waist shops inspected
used artificial light in the daytime, while 60 per cent had no protection from glare
ñ this, too, in a trade where proper lighting would seem to be a prime necessity
for efficient, accurate work, to say nothing of the effect of such inadequate illumination
on the eyes and health of the workers.
A larger percentage (28 per cent) of extremely dirty shops were found than in any
other trade employing over 50 per cent of women workers, with the exception of the
artificial flower and feather industry. Thirty per cent of the water closets were
in a filthy condition and had no light or ventilation whatever.
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Processes of Manufacture:
The waist trade has had many vicissitudes of late years, owing to changes in the
market, and many shops that formerly made only waists now make waists and dresses,
either together or as supplementary trades. The processes do not differ greatly from
the other branches of the clothing trade. Men are always employed to do the cutting
of the materials, and a small proportion of men operators is found in some of the
shops, particularly those making the cheaper grades of waists and dresses. Women
are employed at the different branches of operating; such as lace running, tucking
and machine button-holing, and also as finishers and hand button-hole makers. In
making the cheaper grades of waists, the subdivision of processes is carried very
far, and a waist may pass through the hands of a dozen workers before it is finished.
This "section work" is nearly always piece-work and requires very little
skill, speed being the prime necessity. The better grade of waists and dresses, however,
cannot be made in this way, and one girl will make the whole garment, or a large
part of it. Such workers are usually paid by the week, since greater skill and carefulness
are required.
Dangerous and Unhealthy Elements in the Trade:
In common with the other branches of the clothing trade, the dangers to the women
workers are not inherent in the industry itself, but are due to the conditions under
which manufacture is conducted. The hazards of death or injury from fire that must
be daily assumed by the women worker in loft factories on Manhattan Island are terrific.
But the overcrowding of work rooms, long periods of overtime, with irregular daily
schedules, running from ten to fourteen hours, with consequent over-fatigue and exhaustion,
the speeding up of both workers and machines, which keeps nerves and muscles in continued
tension, are factors that from day to day seriously impair the health and vitality
of the women workers. No amount of cleanliness and convenience in the work rooms
can offset the injurious effects resulting from long, irregular working hours and
nervous strain.
