One of the hand firms had a full-time designer who had been trained as an industrial designer with two assistants, all three being conversant with glass making. Before any design was accepted for production it was discussed with the Design Committee, which comprised the Vice-President in charge of sales, a foreman glassmaker, and the designers. The Vice-President thought there was a “new taste” developing which would generally incline towards simple form and decoration. The design department was, he considered, one of the most important departments in the firm.

This firm had a research laboratory dealing with the question of display, set up for the benefit of the retailer.

It was learnt that a considerable proportion of the current designs had come from outside designers; in some instances the firm’s designer had guided the outside man, who usually had no practical knowledge of glass. Ideas came from all types of designers, however, and all were considered. Both the Vice-President and chief designer were thoroughly up to date in their knowledge of what was happening in other sections of interior design.

The only firm making full lead crystal ware consider that their success is largely due to their approach to glass design. They set a team of young men and women to work for some time under an architect, first studying the history of glass design, then spending a substantial portion of their time working in close conjunction with the glass-blowers at the furnaces. The firm made a point that those chosen for training as designers were selected because of their general background, education and knowledge of the arts; their individual interests and talents have been encouraged, but they have been drawn by advanced study and skilful direction into a close working group with a common endeavour. The distinctive products of this firm are attributed to the way they have approached the question of design.

An interview with Mr. Kaufmann, the Director of Industrial Design at the Museum of Modern Arts, New York, revealed that very little had been done in America that was in any way revolutionary, with the exception, maybe, of Russel Wright’s designs, examples of which it was not possible to obtain. Mr. Kaufmann said that the best exhibition of glass that the museum had ever staged had been English.

In general, it can be said that the medium and better class of glassware in America sets a fairly high standard of design. The most important lesson to be learnt probably is the fact that a well-designed machine-made mass-produced article sells well.

At a meeting with retailers, importers and jobbers, one of the oldest im­porters of English (Stourbridge) cut-glass made an appeal for something that was away from the well-known English Diamond Cut, which he considered had long ago run its course.

(a) Welfare

In social legislation the United States lags behind the United Kingdom. This is just as true so far as regulation of working conditions and amenities in factories are concerned as it is in other directions, such as Old-age Pensions,

and National Health Insurance. There are no Federal laws affecting factories, nothing corresponding to our Factory Acts and Factory Inspectorate. There are, however, State laws and State inspectors, but so far as could be gathered the main factors which influence factory arrangements in providing good working conditions and amenities such as canteens and rest rooms, were the desire to avoid heavy payments under the workman’s compensation laws and the need to provide conditions under which the most efficient possible performance could be obtained from the workers.

This state of affairs appears largely due to the independent and individualistic attitude of the American worker. We were told so frequently as to make it difficult to disbelieve it that all the worker cares for is to get as much money as possible out of his work in the shortest possible time, and that he has little regard for the future. Certainly conditions under which high output was being obtained and high wages earned in hand operations in some of the factories visited would not be tolerated here. On the other hand, in both of the high-grade tableware factories we saw, the conditions in the glasshouses were much ahead of anything in this country. The shops were lofty and very well ventilated and a constant supply of air for cooling the workman and the ware was supplied from circular overhead ducts running around the furnaces from which at any point the air could be led to the place where it was required by flexible pipes or by deflectors. One firm had installed a high Robertson type ventilator roof which was found to give excellent results. The high temperatures met with during the American summer make control of the temperature in the glasshouse very necessary.

Lavatories and rest rooms seen were well equipped and were maintained by special attendants. Showers, which are an essential feature of American life, were of course provided.

Canteens were to be found only in the larger works. If the workers did not go home to lunch (in most instances they lived near their work or had cars which took them home quickly), packed lunch was taken and consumed in the workshop.

First-aid rooms were generally provided, with full-time nurses or even doctors when the staff was sufficiently large, e.g., in the case of the big automatic factories. In the smaller works a first-aid kit and a member of the staff trained in first-aid work were available.

Sickness pay is not common in the United States, and of the firms visited only one made provision for it for hourly paid workers through a group insurance scheme in which the company paid part of the premium. The scheme is a voluntary one, but over 99 per cent. of the workers belong.

Holidays with pay are not compulsory, and here again only one firm granted them to the hourly paid workers.

The U.S. Government has a pension scheme applicable to all workers, but several of the firms had a supplementary scheme of their own to which, in some instances, they and the workers contributed. Thus one hand firm operated a scheme which applied to workers 35 years of age and upwards with five years’ service, with retirement at 65. The firm paid 60 per cent. and the men 40 per cent. of the premiums, and the man drew five-eighths of what he had earned whilst contributing to the scheme, payment being spread over his expectant lifetime. If he died the sum went to his estate. In the case of one firm who bore all the costs, the man drew one dollar per month for each year’s service, up a maximum of 35 dollars per month.

Facilities for recreation are provided by some of the larger firms, but the most the ordinary firm does is to supply games equipment if their employees ask for it.

(b) Working Hours and Methods of Payment

In the hand shops the shift is divided into two four-hour moves with an interval, usually of an hour, between. Stops for rest of five minutes are allowed each hour; the manufacturers complain that these are extended to ten minutes. Also, setting up is done in and not, as here, before the move. The result is that only about three hours’ productive work is done in the first move and about 3œ hours in the second. Forty hours are worked per week, if possible in five days, and if over 38 hours work is done in five days, there is no Saturday morning work. In one firm two shifts daily were being worked, 7-4 and 4.30-1.15 a.m., but in the other firms only one shift, the hours in one instance being 7-11 and 12-4.

Some, but not all, of the automatic plants work the week round; thus one factory was working in the glasshouse three 8-hour shifts daily, seven days a weak and in the rest of the plant four 6-hour shifts daily. The working conditions, move figures and the price (wages) for each article are fixed each year at an annual conference held between the National Association of Manufacturers of Pressed and Blown Glassware and the American Flint Glass Workers’ Union. There are separate agreements for each section of the industry, and these are published as a series of booklets. Copies of the 1945-46 agreements were obtained and are available for consultation. The agreements specify the amount per move to be paid to each member of the chair for each article.

The managements encouraged and in general obtained outputs above the move figures; one factory was getting 30 per cent. above the move figures from their pulled and pressed stemware chairs, and another to encourage high output had a bonus scheme which made allowances for fatigue, preparatory work, mould changes, bad glass, defective moulds, etc.

Cutters are in the same union as makers and have a 40-hour week with a 48-hour maximum, eight hours to a working day. The agreement for the cutters indicates the amount to be paid per dozen for specified patterns. There is a minimum wage of 28.60 dollars per week of 40 hours, or 71œ cents per hour. For piecework jobs paying below a certain figure, an average wage per hour is paid determined by dividing the amount of money earned by the hours worked in the previous four weeks. For all hours worked beyond 40, and after the established hours per day, time and a half is paid.

Negotiations for new agreements were in progress at Cleveland during our visit, and resulted in a 12 per cent. increase in the wages of skilled workers and 12 cents an hour advance for unskilled.

We had it impressed on us repeatedly by factory managements that the margin between the earnings of skilled and unskilled workers was too low and that it was union policy to narrow it all the time. The result was a loss of incentive to acquire more skill and a tendency to decline the additional responsibility entailed in skilled work.

The use of time-study experts is common in American glass factories. One hand firm employed two. Another told us that they had so far failed to convince their workers that time study is any good to them. This firm estimated that labour costs accounted for 60-65 per cent. of the cost of the article.

The following tables show the United States and United Kingdom labour costs on some typical articles. The American costs run higher than ours, as might be expected in view of the higher cost of living. Against this, the higher output obtained in America should give lower charges for overheads. Unfortunately no costings could be obtained.

(c) Recruitment and Training

(i) Juveniles. Recruitment was stated to be difficult. The glass industry is not attractive and jobs of all kinds in other industries are plentiful at present. There was little of the sons following their father in the trade. No apprenticeship schemes were met with. The number of apprentices

is small since the union limits strictly the number which may be taken on, one to ten in the hand shops and one to four journeymen in the cutting shops; also according to the agreement with the union, apprentices are paid less than unskilled labour. In practice, it is found necessary to step up their pay or none would be obtained.

Training of the apprentice in the glasshouse follows the same lines as here. One factory worked “overturns” during which the boy was put to work at the next job above.

In one instance, high-school boys were being recruited for engraving work.

(ii) Men and Women. Skilled blowers and pressers were scarce and there was great competition for them amongst manufacturers. Unskilled labour was not difficult to obtain and was in one instance, due to considerable unemployment in the town, plentiful. The workers in the “hot end” or glasshouse were generally mostly middle-aged or elderly, and we were frequently told that glassmaking by hand-blowing or pressing was gradually dying out owing to the reluctance of the young people to enter the in­dustry. Despite this, the works visited had brought their labour force up to or above their pre-war strength. They had not suffered the inter­ruption in normal production which our manufacturers had to accept. They had, during the war, been able by recruitment of women workers to make up for losses of men to the Forces and to munitions production. In one important works, the proportion of women employees had risen from 3 per cent. before the war to 38 per cent. at the end. The men who had been withdrawn were now returning and the women were being displaced. Women were, however, still to be seen in the glasshouse, employed in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs, but not as gatherers. In the decorating, finishing and packing departments the majority of the workers were women.

Once in the glass industry, workers are not on the whole inclined to leave it. There is, however, a certain amount of movement from one factory to another, but as he gets to middle age the worker is inclined to settle down in one place.

It is usual to submit applicants for work to a medical examination, the principal objects of which are to see whether the applicant requires medical attention to improve his physical condition, and to help decide what job he is best suited to.

(d) Labour Relations and Trade Union Organisations

Relations between workers and employers in the glass industry have always been good. There has not been a strike in the industry since 1886. As has already been indicated, both sides meet annually to settle working conditions, rules and wages for the following twelve months, the result being a series of agreements, one for each section of the industry, which are issued in booklet form. Works Committees also exist for settling local matters.

The Union, the American Flint Glass Workers’ Union, is affiliated to the American Federation of Labour and covers all glassworkers other than those in the plate and window glass industry. These latter are covered by the Federation of Glass, Ceramic and Silica Sand Workers of America, a C.I.O.

Organisation which was formed as a result of a breakaway from the former Union. The Federation includes workers in a few plants which should be in the A.F.L. Union.

The glass industry is highly Unionised and all the works seen were either “Union” or “Closed Shops.” In both cases all workers had to join the Union after 60 days in employment, and the firm collected from them Union dues and fines and passed them on. In the case of the “Closed Shop,” the Union is responsible also for providing the workers, but if it fails the firm itself can hire them from any place. Union shops predominate. The Union officials said that labour in the United States had not yet reached the point where the employers were reconciled to working with the Union shop. The workers, on the other hand, 95 per cent. of the time, would not work with non-unionists. The Union officials admitted that in the dollar sense wages were up on pre-war, but in relation to the cost of living they claimed the position was not so good; it was considered that the full cost of living increase had outrun the wages increases.

A.F.L. policy is to make agreements for whole industries. The C.I.O., however, negotiates with individual firms only, and this we were told by a leading figure on the employers’ side was, in his opinion, the better way since it lent itself to increased efficiency in the industry by allowing the progressive firms to reap the benefit of their improvements.

Labour is unsettled in the United States; manufacturers everywhere com­plained that their employees did not work as they used to and that absenteeism was high. They asserted that agreements were binding on them but not on the workers, who could and did break them with impunity.

The United States is a truly democratic country, offering an equal opportunity to all. Class distinctions and snobbishness are practically non-existent. A high business executive points out with pride the streets along which as boy he used to deliver newspapers. A university professor recounts how he worked his way through college by acting as manager in a fraternity house. This magnificent spirit of the American youth which leads him in his spare time to do any menial work he can find, even waiting at table or shoe-shining, in order to earn sufficient to enable him to get a college education, gives him enterprise and self-reliance which he carries with him in his subsequent career. To this spirit much of the success of American industry is due. The men at the top almost invariably have won their way there, starting from scratch. One of the most efficient of the glass firms visited claimed that all their executives but one had risen from the ranks within their organisation. One large firm recruited as far as possible their supervisory grades internally. They also obtain technically qualified men by visiting universities each year to select suitable graduates. These are sent for training for at least six months in their many departments, at work or observing (to a considerable extent they are put to observe only), before being given a definite job to do. In some instances, the recruits from the universities are placed direct into jobs, e.g., of a technical nature. These recruits are mostly, but not all, technical graduates. This deliberate selection is small compared with the ordinary taking-on of applicants who come looking for work; they have many requests from people wanting to

enter their employment. They had a rule prohibiting relatives from working in the same department, but this did not apply in the case of those engaged directly on production, e.g., glass-blowers.

(a) In the Factory

As in most countries, the smaller units cannot afford to support their own research departments, but the larger factories have extensive research and development organisations. These can be supplemented by enlisting the services of the great research institutes, such as Battelle and Mellon.

(b) In Research Institutions

Industrial research associations for each trade, such as we have in this country, do not exist in the United States. Their place is to some extent taken by the great research institutes, such as the Battelle Memorial Institute at Columbus and the Mellon Institute at Pittsburgh. Here a firm or group of firms can have specific manufacturing problems investigated, paying the cost. These institutes are very lavishly equipped and are staffed by first-rate scientists and techno­logists. They also undertake fundamental research, but with an eye on the industrial possibilities arising therefrom.

(c) In the Universities

The universities carry out research, into purely scientific problems from the academic side with its normal relationship to its industrial aspect.

The number of people engaged on development research is very large. If pure research indicates an industrial possibility, this is worked out as far as possible on the commercial scale by the original research men. Mellon Institute, for example, has large laboratories where industrial scale trials can be pursued.

In 1936, about half the hand-blown section of the industry made a profit of not over 4 per cent. on sales turnover.

In 1937, 16 firms representing about 80 per cent. by volume of this section showed an average net profit on sales of 4.57 per cent. Nine of the firms made an average profit of 8.62 per cent., and the other seven an average loss of 3.02 per cent.

In 1938, 16 firms representing about 80 per cent. by volume of the industry showed an average loss of 3.59 per cent., six showing a profit of 4.53 per cent. and ten a loss of 13.44 per cent.

In 1939, 21 firms representing about 90 per cent. by volume of the industry made an average profit of 1.74 per cent., nine showing a profit of 8.84 per cent. and twelve a loss of 9.65 per cent.

In 1940, 22 firms representing about 90 per cent. by volume of the industry showed an average profit of 5.05 per cent., twelve showing a profit of 10.04 per cent. and ten a loss of 7.96 per cent.

All the above figures are based on factory cost of goods, selling expense and administration expense.

During the war the industry was very prosperous. The competition from cheap foreign imports disappeared. It had no raw material difficulties. Its only trouble was loss of labour through the demands of the draft and of war

industries. Transportation troubles developed from 1944 onwards. During the war most plants were running on a 16-hour per day basis, but they are now having to come down to one 8-hour shift a day, the continuous plants excepted.

With rising wages, labour costs have been rising. Only figures for 1937-40 are available. The following tables shows the percentage cost of direct labour on production cost, up to the shipping room door, and the percentage cost on production cost of all direct and indirect labour, including executives, etc.

In the period 1935-38 annual imports ranged between 1.3 and 3 million dollars foreign value, and 2.3-5.4 million dollars landed value duty paid. They were 15-30 per cent. of the sum of the U.S. production value plus landed value of imports, that is, of the total consumption value. Landed value of imports averaged about 4 million as against an average consumption value of about 16 million.

Imports, especially from Japan and Czechoslovakia, increased over the period 1935-37, but declined markedly from 1938-41, especially from those countries. After 1941, except for the United Kingdom and Sweden, they practically ceased. Meanwhile, U.S. annual production had advanced to 19 million dollars.

Assuming that U.S. national income will be 75 per cent. higher than pre-war, and that consumption will follow this increase, the U.S. Department of Com­merce has estimated that with the tariff the same as 1939, the annual consumption should be about 25 million dollars, of which about 7.5. million would be imports duty paid. If the tariff were reduced 50 per cent., it estimates that consumption might rise to about 26 millions with duty paid imports at about 10 million. If the tariff were increased by 50 per cent., consumption might be 24 million with duty paid imports of about 4.8 million, and the U.S. industry might be expected to expand. Employment in the U.S. industry would vary, according to these estimates, between 5,000 and 10,000.

U.S. exports of domestic glassware increased substantially during the war. By far the greater proportion was machine-made ware, but the proportion of hand-blown and hand-pressed, although small, has been increasing, as the following table shows :—

The chief markets are Canada, South Africa, Cuba and the Central and South American Republics.

EXPORTS OF BRITISH HAND-BLOWN GLASSWARE TO THE U.S.A.

Our exports to the market have of recent years been comparatively small. The latest figures are :—

The home industry, with one exception, is not now producing anything comparable in quality to our hand-blown ware. From what we saw and heard, it is clear that a vast market exists for our goods. Indeed, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the whole of our present production could readily be absorbed by the U.S. market, provided designs and prices were right. Traditional British designs simplified, with the quantity of cutting reduced, we were assured, would be welcomed. The retail price of the British glassware seen seemed very high, and if large scale exports were to be achieved it would be necessary to ensure that the goods reached the American public at a reasonable price.

There are two Trade Associations covering the domestic glassware industry, the National Association of Pressed and Blown Glass Manufacturers and the American Glassware Association.

1. The National Association of Pressed and Blown Glass Manufacturers has its headquarters in Pittsburgh. Its Secretary, Mr. Harry Dougherty, was unfortunately, during our stay in that city, absent in Cleveland negotiating the annual agreements with the Trade Unions. The Assistant-Secretary, Mr. J. H. Morris, was interviewed. This Association deals with labour problems only. Separate agreements dealing with wages and working conditions are negotiated annually with each section of the domestic and illuminating glassware industry. The membership is about 50.
2. The American Glassware Association has its offices at 19, West 44th Street, New York City, where we interviewed its Secretary, Mr. H. W. Dillingham. It covers the whole of the glass industry apart from the flat-glass section, which has no trade association, and the container section, which is organised in the Glass Container Manufacturers’ Institute with 50-60 members. The Association is split up into a number of groups, of which the automatic machine-made tumbler, tableware and kitchenware section forms one, and the hand-blown and hand-pressed domestic ware section another. The membership is 45 out of possibly 100 firms in its field, and covers almost 95 per cent. of the machine-made and almost 80 per cent. of the hand-made output.
   
   The Association deals with all the normal range of trade association work, excepting labour problems. There is thus no overlap between the two organisations. Mr. Dillingham pointed out as an advantage of having two associations that non-unionised factories, or factories whose labour was in the C.I.O. and not the A.F.L. Union, could belong to his Association.
   
   Encouragement is extended to the small factories to join the Association by keeping the membership fees low. These are :—

15. The pressing method enabled some articles to be produced which cannot satisfactorily be made according to present methods in Stourbridge.

16. On the hand side, blowing was decidedly speeded up by the introduction of machine pressing of the stem or stem and foot.

17. We see no obstacle to the introduction of the pressing operation in the hand-blown industry here which could itself probably develop other ideas for mechanical aids for the products in which it is interested.

18. The use of blowing machines such as the Dreshman and the Swissvale would allow different and less skilled labour to be employed, and release skilled labour for other work.

19. The standard of quality of the fully automatic ware was very high.

20. Extensive application of the fire-finishing process is of particular signi­ficance in relation to the quality of the product, being largely responsible for the excellent surface finish seen on American glassware. Given right conditions this technique could well be employed for certain Stourbridge products, such as trinket trays, powder bowls, etc.

21. We saw no evidence that burning-off will give the edge finish that we need. One completely mechanical unit still employed cracking-off.

22. Edge melting equipment seen was of a type to replace the human element as far as possible, giving excellent results.

23. Cutting was of a very light type; we have nothing to learn from the United States in regard to this type of decoration.

24. The more progressive firms had elaborate testing.

25. In all cases flow lines of production had been developed.

26. Packing off the lehr into cartons is not applicable to the Stourbridge type of production. It was not used in the better hand factories.

27. Much of the success of the U.S. firms seems due to their attention to marketing technique; this formed a very important feature of their organisation.

28. More concentrated attention than here was paid to design by creation of special departments dealing with it. The chief designers were very highly qualified.

29. The tendency seemed to be to use simple shapes; on the other hand, decoration leant towards the lavish as exemplified by the concentration on etching.

30. Apart from the provision of rest rooms and showers, we have little to learn from the Americans on the welfare side.

31. Working conditions in the best of the glasshouses in the hand factories were in advance of anything in this country.

32. The situation in regard to supply of juvenile labour was similar to ours.

33. The Americans seemed to lag behind us in the training of craftsmen, who were in any case not trained for the same types of production as ours.

34. The annual conference between labour and management seems to be a good thing.

35. The existence of a single union covering all workers in all sections of the

domestic glassware industry, negotiating annually with the employers uniform wages and conditions for each section of the industry, has a useful effect in obviating labour troubles, in establishing good relations between employers and workers and, by avoiding poaching of labour by the offer of inducements, preventing jealousy and suspicion arising between the employers themselves.

36. Management of glass firms in the United States is largely in the hands of men who have risen from the ranks, often within the firm itself; the ambitious worker is given every encouragement in his endeavour to rise to the top positions.

37. The financial experience of the United States hand-made domestic glassware firms between the two wars has been somewhat similar to ours. Acute competition on their home market from foreign low-cost producers made it difficult to work at a profit.

38. Nothing comparable to our hand-blown table glassware is being made in the United States, and a vast market still largely unexplored is open to our manufacturers provided they can produce designs which are attractive to this market and can arrange for the goods to be retailed at a reasonable price.