British Dock Workers’ Wages
Referring again to the conditions in Great Britain, Mr. John I. Britton, in a despatch from London to the Hearst syndicate of papers, declares that full-grown, able-bodied men in the dock workers' strike were fighting for the right to receive $4.40 a week, and that week consisting of seventy hours; and he tells us this was not what they got, but what they were fighting to get. The former terms of the truck drivers were $5.60 to $6.15 a week, with no limit to the number of hours. They demanded $6.15 to $7.60, with seventy-two hours. Freight handlers' former terms were $5.00 a week of sixty hours; overtime for Sunday at seven cents an hour. They demanded maximum wages of $6.15 a week, with Sundays' overtime to be at twelve cents an hour. Wages for yard truck drivers were $3.75 a week, with no limit as to hours; and they demanded $4.40 for seventy hours a week. A broking clerk's wages start at thirty-five cents a day, and if he is faithful, after years of service, reach a maximum of $7.35 a week. If he is exceptional, he may become a clerk in charge, and receive $8.00 a week; and in his old age a possible $9.76 a week. No annual vacation is allowed until after ten years of service, for all grades of workers, and then from three to five days. One can see, in the light of these facts, somewhat of the tremendous force of the prophecy found in James 5:1-8.