oliday or over-time
work the men receive either pay and a half or double pay.

REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT

Due to the seasonal character of building work, it is next to
impossible for a building contractor to keep a large force employed
all the year. One result of this situation is that the men change
employers more than any other workers in industry. Irregularity of
employment is greater in building construction than in any other of
the principal industries of the city. A comparison between the
different branches of building work as to regularity of employment is
presented in Diagram 11. The best showing is made by electrical
contracting, in which the average number employed is 93 per cent of
the maximum working force, and the poorest by plastering in which the
average is only 66 per cent of the maximum.

HEALTH CONDITIONS

Nearly all of the building trades are open air occupations, much even
of the inside work being done before the buildings are closed in. For
the most part the materials used are not injurious to health if
reasonable precautions are taken and ordinary habits of cleanliness
observed. In general, health conditions are better than those found in
the factory industries.

[Illustration: Diagram 11.--Sections in outline represent percentage
of men employed, and sections in black percentage of men unemployed in
each of nine building industries at the time when each industry showed
the largest percentage of unemployment]

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT

The building trades offer many opportunities for advancement. One
reason for this is the large number of supervisory positions made
necessary by the wide range of building activities. A foreman in
almost any of the trades must be able to read plans, as he must lay
out the work. It is not necessary for him to be the most skilled
mechanic in the force. Employers and superintendents say that in
selecting foremen they lay about equal weight on skill and on ability
to handle men.

As a rule, foremanship carries with it higher wages, although in some
cases the pay is the same as that of the regular journeymen. The
reward for the added responsibility comes in the form of steadier
employment. It is not uncommon for a foreman to be hired on a salary
basis and carried on the payroll throughout the entire year.

Small contracting offers another form of advancement. It requires but
little initial investment to make a modest beginning, because
individual wo