The Jobs Associated with Building the Titanic
Workers building slipway for Titanic. Courtesy of titanicuniverse.com.
Below are the terrible work conditions that the workers who built the Titanic had to endure. With so many workers to pay (Harland and Wolff had more than 15,000 workers), and almost 7.5 million dollars being spent to build and furnish the Titanic, the cost of the Titanic was adding up quick. Harland and Wolff's answer to this problem was simple: pay the workers less and make them work more.
Total workers at Harland and Wolff: 15,000
Total workers for Olympic and Titanic combined: 8,000
Total workers for the Titanic alone: 4,000- about two times as many people that would be boarding the Titanic in April 1912.
Shipbuilding Working Conditions:
Hours:
-50-60 Hours a week
-Worked Monday morning to Saturday morning
-6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. everyday
Breaks:
-Two short breaks a day
-One break at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast
-One break at 1:00 p.m. for lunch
-Both lunch and breakfast were eaten next to the ships. Lunch and breakfast was not eaten in the company dining rooms, because those were occupied people higher up in management.
Money:
-$10.00 per week (about $230.00 in today's currency)
-Money was taken from your weekly paycheck if you...
-were late for work
-damaged any tools or equipment
-broke any company rules
Vacation Time:
-The workers were given very few vacations.
-One week off during summer
-Two days off at Christmas
-Two days off at Easter
-Total vacation days every year: 11
-If you took a day off, money was taken off of your paycheck
-If it started to rain outside, everyone was sent home and not payed for any work done that day, if any.
Dangers:
-Any job in the physical shipbuilding industry was a long, hard, dangerous job that was very common when steamships were becoming popular
-It was not uncommon for workers to die on the job.
-Eight people were recorded to have died while building the Titanic. Some of those people were:
-Samuel Scott- 15 years old: died from falling off of a ladder
-John Kelly- 19 years old: died from falling
-James Dobbin: died after wood beams fell on top of him
Total workers at Harland and Wolff: 15,000
Total workers for Olympic and Titanic combined: 8,000
Total workers for the Titanic alone: 4,000- about two times as many people that would be boarding the Titanic in April 1912.
Shipbuilding Working Conditions:
Hours:
-50-60 Hours a week
-Worked Monday morning to Saturday morning
-6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. everyday
Breaks:
-Two short breaks a day
-One break at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast
-One break at 1:00 p.m. for lunch
-Both lunch and breakfast were eaten next to the ships. Lunch and breakfast was not eaten in the company dining rooms, because those were occupied people higher up in management.
Money:
-$10.00 per week (about $230.00 in today's currency)
-Money was taken from your weekly paycheck if you...
-were late for work
-damaged any tools or equipment
-broke any company rules
Vacation Time:
-The workers were given very few vacations.
-One week off during summer
-Two days off at Christmas
-Two days off at Easter
-Total vacation days every year: 11
-If you took a day off, money was taken off of your paycheck
-If it started to rain outside, everyone was sent home and not payed for any work done that day, if any.
Dangers:
-Any job in the physical shipbuilding industry was a long, hard, dangerous job that was very common when steamships were becoming popular
-It was not uncommon for workers to die on the job.
-Eight people were recorded to have died while building the Titanic. Some of those people were:
-Samuel Scott- 15 years old: died from falling off of a ladder
-John Kelly- 19 years old: died from falling
-James Dobbin: died after wood beams fell on top of him
Riveting
-If you were in riveting, you were a man that "nailed" together the Titanic's sides with large 3" by 1" rivets (look like large nails).
-Dangerous job
-Expected to hammer in about 200 rivets a day
-Paid by the number of rivets they put in