A Rational Wages System

W

rominently, and there is a consensus of opinion that it will be necessary to adopt them v

the worker can produce far more than he does, but from his point of view there is no

in higher wages with better conditions of work, and if the worker doe

e giving the description it will be well to examine briefly the existing

Day

of wage payment in the United

d., 1s. an hour, or whatever it may be. As wages are paid wee

kind and class of labour get approximately the same wa

; a good workman received more wages than a poor one. But the trade-unions have stopped that as far

great many cases it cannot be avo

aking generally, the employer looks upon the worker as a necessary evil, and treats him accordingly. The worker must produc

. Many workers spend as much energy and time in avoiding work as they do in executing it, and it is absolutely nece

d a standard rate of wages for all men working at any one particular trad

and to the employer, and it gives the employer a very soun

ng for the good man to know that the slacker gets the same wages as himself. It tends to make the good man indifferent to his work, and it needs a good deal of moral courage and great force of cha

and if he is producing more than a certain quantity he is told to ease up. There is no possible excuse for this attitude, and it has done more to discredit

e factor missing, a factor that is all-important even in the best type of day work and

he job many times and knows the short-cuts, another man is new to the job and goes slowly; one man tackles the job haphazard, another spends time in considering the best way of doing it; one man believes that one form of tool is the best for certain metals, another man

it goes

t him to work quickly all the time, but more generally bullying the slow man into working a bit faster. An

ood guide, but it means trying a speed before he can be certain. And trying a speed means a certain amount of care and watchfulness; then it pr

king, and if all men became highly efficient, one could at least say that the result justified the method, in spite of the enormous waste of time and talk and tempe

th no variation, no release from the fixed hours, no inducement to do one

what his production may be; but in practice this is impossible, hence one is driven to the conclusion that day work, as it is practised

iece

r day work-namely, the worker is paid

could do, and that price always held good, piece work would have the additional advantages that both worker and employer wou

nd the objections to piece work are, if anything, greater than the objections to da

e is under the impression that, within small limits, any man can produce the same amount of work as any other man in a given time. This is entirel

eek will earn about 50s. a week on that job by diligent work. Then a really first-class man comes along and earns 80s. What follows? "If Smith can earn

irst, he always works slowly on a job until it has been priced. In this way a good price is obtained, a price which enables the slowest worker to earn his wages-and a bit above-easily. Second, the worke

be dishonest to his employer or unfair to his fellow-worker. And, again, in piece work all prices are arbitrary. Even if one shop gives a reasonable price, other shops in the sa

work method and the dishonesty of both parties to

ofit S

oyer, from motives which may be good or bad from the standpoint of the worke

orker to stay with the firm, and to make his interest so large that he dare not be independent in case he sh

cts that concern us her

ertain length of time before one comes under the scheme. So that it holds out little incentive to efficiency until the worker has

e payment of wages is by day work or piece work, and these have the defects already mentioned. There is no direct and immediate incenti

position, men who look forward to being employed in one factory all their lives, otherwise they would not be chosen. They are not necessarily the best men; indeed, they cannot be the best men because only a wide experience of different factories and methods produces the best men. B

-the worst form of slacker, that is-and there are cir

tends to show that profit sharing is not a method

by a large firm of engineers in March, 1916, an

ith the employees, the shareholders

e twelve months ending June 30 of that year, as follows: (A) Employees who have been continuously in the service of the company for at least two years prior to July 1 will receive dividends at the same rate as the shareholders. (B) Employees who have been continuously in the service of the company fo

e of their distribution, except that employees laid off owing to lack of work or sickness will be entitled to the

of the company or dismissed or discharged will

other than the profits shared in this plan, except through dividends of stock, if a s

he three preceding sections shall be eligib

he plan as they may consider desirable for the best interests of the organisation. The fact that any employee is receiving the dividends in this profit-sharing plan shall not deprive the company of the right at

-partn

worker to become more efficient. It i

direct interest in the success of the firm. The idea is that the harder they work

res, and allows the worker to share this profit. But he gets no money, the profit being paid in shares. For instance, if a worker's share of the profit at the end of twelve months be ￡10, he gets ￡10 worth of sha

ngth of time, and, in some cases, if he leaves he loses his shares. If he dies, his wi

cent., and also an additional dividend if there is any profit aft

r of his shares, and can dispose of them by will

ducting the price of the shares from wages

e can never become a large shareholder, the extra benefit is not very great. He is rendered quite dependent on the firm-even more so than the profit sharer-and can exert no p

ich is a good thing and gives him a real interest in the affairs of the firm; but such cases are uncommon, and even then there are so many

o-ope

to methods of wage payment,

ties they require, and to distribute them at the least expense. By these means

commodities for themselves, as well as buying and selling. Having amassed a large capital, and being certai

o better and no worse. They do not even adopt bonus or profit-sharing schemes except in one ins

of the society's members enables the society to know just what goods and w

ond place, even if a factory could be started, the competition of the open market would throttle it in its birth. The keen buying and selling and manufacturing need highly educated and highly skilled men. Capable men are to be found in the ranks of the workers, but men with the necessary technical and commercial knowledge to run a large compe

f a co-operative society's need of machinery of various kinds, b

ness has in the first place been built up privately, and the capital has afterwards been gradually transferred to the workers. There is n

nus Sy

t follow that because an employer gives a bonus on work done that the conditions of work in his factory are good. Even with the best bonus sys

of the worker. I refer, of course, to those systems which have no connection with profit sharing or co-par

aranteed minimum wage attached to it. Whatever happens, the worker gets his guaranteed minimum, and if he produces more work than is allowed for in that min

uarantees to turn out a certain job in a certain time, and in order to induce

ting times or rates, and conditions general

Reward

the system for the purpose of this descriptio

certain standard quantity of work be produced, the standard being considerably in excess of the minimum, the proportionate additional wages, or reward, amounts to at least 25 per cent. of the day rate-that is, of the trade-union rate. Also, an equal opportunity of reaching the

escribed in the