--------+-------------+
Lathe hands | 18.8 | 3,384 |
Drill press operators | 17.9 | 3,222 |
Bench hands | 13.4 | 2,412 |
Machinists | 12.7 | 2,286 |
Screw machine operators | 9.4 | 1,692 |
Milling machine operators | 8.6 | 1,548 |
Tool makers | 8.3 | 1,494 |
Grinding machine operators | 6.2 | 1,116 |
Planer hands | 2.2 | 396 |
Turret lathe operators | 1.8 | 324 |
Gear cutter operators | .7 | 126 |
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+
Total | 100.0 | 18,000 |
--------------------------------+------------+-------------+

Specialization has operated to lower standards of skill and keep down
wages. The average wage of the "all-round" machinist is very nearly
the lowest found among the skilled trades. The union scale is but 14
cents an hour above that paid unskilled labor, while the average
earnings of machine operators range from four to 12 cents above
laborers' wages. Only among the highly skilled tool makers do the
wages approach those received by skilled labor in most other
industries. Table 19 shows the average, highest, and lowest rates per
hour for all branches of the machine trades in the establishments from
which data were collected during the survey, with the per cent
employed on piece work and day work.

TABLE 19.--AVERAGE, HIGHEST, AND LOWEST EARNINGS, IN CENTS PER HOUR,
AND PER CENT EMPLOYED ON PIECE WORK AND DAY WORK, 1915

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+
| | | |Per cent|Per cent|
| | | |on piece| on day |
Workers |Lowest |Average|Highest| work | work |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------+
Tool makers | 25.0 | 39.0 | 50.0 | .. | 100 |
Machinists | 25.0 | 33.2 | 50.0 | .. | 100 |
Planer hands | 20.0 | 32.2 | 42.0 | .. | 100 |
Grinding machine operators | 20.0 | 32.0 | 50.0 | 70 | 30 |
Bench hands | 17.5 | 29.6 | 45.0 | 48 | 52 |
Screw machine operators | 17.5 | 2