America Must Chose Between Chaos and Reemployment of Millions
America Must Chose Between Chaos and Reemployment of Millions Thirty-Hour Week Catted Urgeat To Rescue Jobless from Misery A. F. of L. Demands Congress Pass Measure as Economically Sound and...
...The real significance of the ruling in its application to the other social legislation' lies in the fact that toe majority of the court-not only invalidated the entire railroad retirement act on the ground it was objectionable to the "doe process" clause of the Constitution, bat went on to rule that Congress lacked- power to enact any compulsory pension act for railroad employees...
...They oppose it without offering anything toatssd...
...We lose in morale and we lose in vision, we lose in hope, we loae ia manhood and in womanhood, sad the loss to this nation cannot be properly appraised when we take those intangible values of human life into account and into consideration...
...Average 35-Hour Week The figures, which are based on reports made to the Bureau by 20,536 factories this year and 11,820 last year, cover 3,127,990 employes...
...We lose more through the destruction of intangible values than the mere paltry sum of a hundred and seventy-two million dollars represeventy-two million dollars now being spent each month in the nation on relief...
...It is net necessary for me to make an extended argument in support of the Wagner Disputes Act This is the major piece of legislation ia which the American Federation of Labor and toe workers of toe nation are interested...
...America Must Chose Between Chaos and Reemployment of Millions Thirty-Hour Week Catted Urgeat To Rescue Jobless from Misery A. F. of L. Demands Congress Pass Measure as Economically Sound and Essential to Nation's Morale— Insists on Right of Toilers to Jobs—Hits Failure of NRA to Provide Work—Warns of Upheaval...
...Labor's Strong Opposition to THE entire' Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor visited President Roosevelt last week and presented the following statement: ¦ "The Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor is deeply concerned over the action of the Senate Finance Committee in approving a resolution extending the National Recovery Act for a period ef ten months...
...We mast know whether the Congrass of the United States is going to measure up and meet the requirements of this most extraordinary situation...
...It is quite evident that if % hours of labor imposed by sE plovers on the workers in than industries hsd been reduced te H per week, there woald have MsjH much smaller unemployed army...
...By Benjamin Meiman Our Washington Correspondent it-r - - *?"HE old insurmountable ob* structton to social legisfation, the Supreme Court, returned to its traditional role and dealt a severe blow to the New Deal's entire program of social security ' and industry control legislation in the 5 to 4 decision declaring unconstituional tfee'entire railroad retirement Art, 4b...
...A more starfBag and clear-cat indication that the codes have failed to establish a shortened work week is to be found in the fact that in no month since August...
...Many members of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor, now in session in Washington, expressed opinions closely akin to those of the railway spokesmen...
...That is the question we ask of Congress...
...Nothing...
...They have afforded neither permanent nor sufficient security for our vast army or unemployed...
...hotel employes, $13.50...
...It is estimated that it will deprive seventy-five per Cent of working people of the benefits of Section 7A, child labor prohibition, minimum rates of pay and maximum hours of employment as incorporated in industrial codes of fair competition...
...The address of President Green, delivered with an earnestness and passion befitting the importance of the subject, gave the occasion e truly memorable character...
...Through the application of the provisions of the National Recovery Act which has been in effect since June 16, 1933, constructive plans have been followed and practical methods have been employed in all the heroic efforts which have been put forth to overcome unemployment...
...Tho meeting was a joint undertaking of the trade unionists and Socialists of Philadelphia...
...Warns of Upheaval **I would rather create work opportunities for all who are willing and able to work than to resign ourselves to the hopeless situation of maintaining constantly an army amounting to eleven millions of idle-men and women...
...What can the opposition say...
...When the child labor law was passed by Congress the Supreme Court came to the aid of the merciless exploiters of youth and declared toe child labor law unconstitutional...
...A strong indictment of industrial employers for imposing an increasingly long work week on millions of employes when millions of others are jobless-and being supported by the government together with their dependents is contained in the Bureau of l^abor Statistics of the Department of Labor in its report on wages and, hours in.the manufacturing industries in January, 1935, compared wrtij January, 1934...
...meat-"'the urgent needs of the serious unemployment situation winch prevails throughout the na> tfcm...
...A greater degree of ajsjsjaj security mast be accorded to the masses of the t^nf^ttam^m all justice and fairness, respond to the iiasnosMn demands of the masses of the people...
...At a meeting in Philadelphia, President William Green of the America* Federation, of Labor delivered an historic address in behalf of the 30-hour work bill in which he learned that a political and •octal upheaval in this nation was inevitable if the millions of unemployed did not get jobs at decent -pay...
...ft is the emphatic opinion of* the Executive Council that a continuation of the National Recovery Ast for a period of ten months, as provided for in the Joint Resoiution recommended by the Senate Finance Committee, will be regarded by Labor throughout the nation as a Congressional abandonment of your National Recovery policy and as the liquidation of the National Recovery Act...
...George M. Harrison, chairman of the Railway Labor Executive Association, characterized' the ruling as "one of the most reactionary decisions handed down by the court": and contended that it "shows a total disregard of the social obligations of industry to its workers...
...Tragedy of Crisis "The tragic effect of continued unemployment upon the millions of our population must not be underestimated...
...Among the arguments in favor of fixing maximum hours of work through the codes at fair competition, instead of by Federal law, was that the aseds of each industry could be considered separately and the desired flexibility could thus be achieved...
...I want yon to do year part and we will do our part, and if we all work together, each doing oar parti we will -find that we have achieved for Labor, throughout America, the greatoat legislative victory it ever realized in the history of oar nation...
...Sabotage of Employers "Now, the need for flexibility was one of the major arguments against the thirty-hour work week two years ago...
...Labor Is Bitter OPOKESMEN for the railroad workers were bitter in their denunciation of the ruling...
...Characterizing the 30-hour week as essential and economically sound, Green declared that "it is impossible for industry, geared as it now is...
...For the first eleven months of 1934 the average actual hears of work in all industries— all Industries, mind yea!—were only thirty-seven and live-tenths per weak...
...telephone and telegraph service employes, $27.75...
...In the opinion of the Executive Council, it represents a total disregard of the seriousness of the unemployment situation which prevails throughout the nation and a lack 'of appreciation of the value of the remedies which, under your Executive authority, have been applied to the economic ills of the nation...
...The fundamental consideration which supports this type of legislation is that industry should take care of its human wastage, whether due to accident or age," the minority declared, adding that "the expression of that convietien in law is regulation" and when expressed in the government of interstate carriers "is a regulation of that commerce...
...History repeats itself...
...Employers who control the no*durable industries were compsoai to grant pay raises varying from 65 cents a week in the cotton goon industries to $5.10 in the tire sM inner tube factories^ For the lengthened hours of work per week in typical industries the following average wages wan paid: Bituminous coal miners, $19.30...
...only, "We are opposed to it.' Well toe workers will not accept that an an answer...
...One member said: "It's the old story...
...The National Recovery Act for the next ten months would be a skeleton, a shadow, applicable to a small minority of workers employed in industries engaged in only what might be technically determined as interstate commerce.' "The Executive Council would rather see the National Recovery Act abandoned, terminated or repealed than emasculated and adopted for a ten-month ' period, as recommended by the Senate Finance Committee...
...Let by Chief Justice Hughes, the minority—including Brandeis, Stone and Cardoso—took a more liberal view of the powers of Congress under the commerce clause, holding that the majority had departed "from sound principles and places an unwarranted limitation upon the commerce clause...
...The reason why our standard codes have failed to give mere employment is dominance at employers in code making...
...dyers and cleaners, $17.50...
...It was held in tho Academy of Music, stone of i My historic gatherings...
...It must give dte workers of this nation toe thirty-hour week and the Wagner Disputes Act...
...Had the NBA accomplished its primary purpose of —Irhn the problem of unemployment, the American Federation of Labor would not, today, lend its suppers to a thirty-hour bill...
...mechanized as it has been made, equipped with mechanical devices as it is now equipped, to furnish work under our present economic set-up to all these million* of workers who are idle on the basis of the old fortyhour week or the long work week that has been in effect fat the last century...
...He demanded also tho adoption of the Wagner labor disputes bill...
...gaining real in America, secure the enactment of the Wagner Disputes Act, salt we are going to serve Labor in demanding that this Act be enacted into law, just as we are' in behalf of the thirty-hour workweek bill...
...We 'have passed beyond the, period where we can supply work mm these millions of working men sad women on the basis of the forty-hoar work week, and so we are tarn to face with the choice— America must choose—we must deeide whether we are going to maintain the 40-hour week, the long work week, and the more than 11,000,000 unemployed, with 40,000,000 dependent upon them, or whether we are going to make an equitable distribution of the amount of work available by reducing the hours per day and per week so that all may he accorded an opportunity to work...
...Small Wane I scream When it comes to wages," a> Bureau of Labor Statistics fosad that increases were relatively ts> consequential...
...The Joint Resolution, if adopted by Congress, will take the heart out of the National Recovery Act...
...Thus, led by Justice Roberts, who sometimes votes with the conservatives and sometimes with the liberals, the majority, comprising also Justices Van Deventer, McReynolds, Sutherland and Butler, based their ruling on a narrow and strict construction of the commerce clause...
...Work, Not Doles, Wanted "Doles and emergency public works are merely temporary palliatives...
...During the past four and onehalf years, a large portion of our population has been sinking further into hopelessness and despair...
...Every .year daring which these men and women remain without work makes the problem of their ultimate rehabilitation and adjustment to a normal life more difficult...
...Substantial increases in production can, under the codes, be taken care of without increase in the number of workers...
...Shorter hours and adequate wages, which are the cornerstones of the economic lecoveiy reform, which President Roosevelt recommended, and business sad the NSA code Authorities rejected ia March...
...And we want mere democracy in industry, because the lives and the services ef toe manhood and the womanhood ef this country, these men and women who work far wages, da' not yet belong- to the corporations...
...laundry workers, I $15...
...It represents, ia our opinion, the end of the definite economic policy inaugurated under the New Deal and a return to the old industrial, social and economic policies administered by the reactionary forces of the nation and which human experience and history show were direetly responsible for the distressing unemployment situation through which the nation has passed during the last five years...
...Even the most uncompromising foe of the National Recovery Act is forced to admit that through its operation child labor has been abolished, minimum, rates of pay for unprotected workers have been lifted to a higher leveL hours of labor have »eew raHucedr many "reprehensible unfair trade practices have been eliminated and work opportunities created for millions of unemployed...
...Employers $tiH Lengthen Hours i#jir|rfiiBArmy of Jobless Government Report Strengthens Argument for 30-Houj Bil^-Sbsses Imposed Loafer Week on Telephone, Power and launchy Employes—Wages Only Slightly increased, Pi psslintul of Labor Study Shows By A. F. of L. New* Service WASHINGTON...
...sigfied id" set up a pension fattier for rail workers over 65 years of age and all railroad employees with 30 years of service...
...Now, 1 have made the argument in behalf of the thirty-hour work-week bill...
...We must, if we are to make collective bar...
...exemptions of many groups of workers from hours regulation, together with loose averages in provisions, have made it possible to go far beyond the forty hours per week, in a great many industries...
...Well, that is not true, unless the wet Iters ef toe nation want the American Federation of Labor in preference to the company union...
...We refuse to accept it, and we are going to center ear efforts, mobilize ear strength, develop public opinion, and center It upon the Congress of the United States until they respond to ear appeal to enact the thirty-hour work-week bill into law...
...Chief Justice Hughes attacked the position taken by Justice Sutherland, citing excerpts from a report made from a senatorial committee of which the then Senator Sutherland was chairman unholdiag the authority of Congress to enact a compensation act for railroad workers...
...Briefly, the majority held that, while under the commerce clause of the Constitution Congress has authority to regulate interstate commerce, it has no power to place a financial burden on railroads for a pension system which does not contribute to economy, efficiency or the safety of transportation...
...A strong Intimation is given in the A. F- of L. statement about "resentment, protest, social uhrest and industrial strife" if Congress adopts the compromise instead of the original NRA bill...
...Your recommendation that a more effective and more constructive National Recovery Act be enacted by the Congress of the i United States for a period of two years represents, in our opinion, the minimum legislative requirement which should become operative at this most important period in our national life...
...It will be most difficult for Congress to enact any Social legislation that requires employers' contributions and, therefore, it is a serious obstacle to the consummation of the whole New Deal- pregrara," he said...
...Experience of the Cadet "A general survey of the hours provisions of the codes can lead only to the conclusion that that portion of the Recovery Act which provided for reemployment through a shortening of the work hours has not been fulfilled in actual code making...
...1983, have the average hears actually worked been equal to the forty-hour week which has been generally established by the cedes...
...I hold that while the government does not owe any man a living, it does owe him an opportunity to earn a living for himself and for his family...
...Nothing less will...
...la seems to me that oar government, facing that situation, ought to be willing to atop halting and hesitating bat boldly and courageously meet this situation and give the workers of this nation, who are honest, an opportunity to work and earn a decent living...
...47 Hours for Hotel Employes Although the miners in the bituminous coal industry were employed an average of 27.5 hours a week, the other industries tell a different storyi Employes in the telephone and telegraph services and power and light industry had the 38-hour week imposed on them...
...Hew much more serious shall we permit this problem to become before we take the necessary action...
...Failure of NRA '•We'are now asking for a workweek reduced sufficiently to reemploy the men and women who have now been oat of work for four or five years...
...The' opposition to this bill consists of toe manufacturers' ssss ¦ ciations of the nation, toe Chambans of Commerce, toe employers of the country...
...and that Is democracy...
...Those who dominate the 'a under 4nd dyeing and cleaning esuetafcy* ments worked their employes sa average of 40 hours a week...
...Wagner Disputes Bill "Now, I"want to speak just briefly upon the other measure...
...It occupies a strategic position in the parliamentary procedure of the United States Government...
...It is equally apparent that tat refusal of employers to redoes ttf length of the work week makesH imperative for Congress pronsay to enact into law the Black SO-hoar week bill...
...The hotel owners topped the Kst and imposed an average 47-|?r week on their employes...
...the 40-hour maximum work-week has been written into the majority of the codes...
...It continues to fee a criticism leveled against tot present measure...
...With an average maximum workweek of forty hours provided by the codes, in October, 1934, the actual average hours of work were only thirty-four in manufacturing industry...
...Our 30-hour bill was sidetracked two years ago, after we secured the passage of the bill in the Senate of the United State*, because they substituted the National Recovery Act instead, and we were told that through the code-making- process the hours of labor would be so reduced as to accord work opportunities for the millions of unemployed...
...it Is the failure of the NSA to achieve say real gain in reemployment which makes imperative toe thirtyhoar law...
...THE demands of the work1 en of this country mast be met," President Green said, m part...
...And the government that fails in this respect, with a social order that cannot meet the requirements of the situation, where men and women, eager to work, arc net accorded an opportunity to work, is a failure...
...The minority of the court seemed outraged by the conclusions of the majority, for at the outset of his opinion Chief Justice Hughes asserted that "the gravest aspect of the decision is that it does not rest simply upon a condemnation of particular features of the railroad retirement act, but denies to Congress the power to pass any compulsory pension act for railroad employees...
...So that the workers themselves may decide fey majority veto...
...the Supreme Court being the bulwark against social legislation...
...They say that if it is passed it will mean the domination of the American Federstion of Labor, the monopoly-ef the American Federation of Labor...
...and if it is a failure, then those who nuke ap the government will aheadse that form of government and Sad a way by which saea sasy be accorded an opportunity to earn a decent living...
...They show that the employes worked an average of 35 hours a week during the year and an average of S3l/i last year—an average increase of an hour and a half in the length of the work week...
...The 3,127*9* MM ers covered by the report mhm paid an average of $20 a week tht) January and $18 a week in Jans-, ary, 1934—an increase of only $1 Employers who dominate lib) durable goods industries were cosv pelled to grant pay raises which varied from an infiniteemsl K cents a week in brick manufacturing to $4.50 a week in the automobile industry...
...But the Bureau's revelation of the long work week which employers imposed upon workers in various industries contains the most glaring indictment of this anti-social policy...
...The hours ran as high as 47 per week in the face of the fact that over 11,000,000 workers were pounding the pavements in every part of the United States looking for jobs which these same long-hour employers refused to give...
...1934, should now be provided by the enactment of the thirty-hour work-week bill...
...We interpret such action as an abandonment of the Administration's National Recovery Program...
...That prophecy has not been fufilled and that hope has not been realized...
...It's a statement with teeth in it...
Vol. 18 • May 1935 • No. 19
