Registry No. 1401-1-01 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PR·OPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING 

INDUSTRY 

AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 31, 1933 

WE DP OUR PART 

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The Code for the Aircraft Manufacturing Industry 

in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisions contained therein are 

to be regarded as having received the approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFI CE 

WASHINGTON : 1933 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D.C. • 

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- - - • Price 5 cen tg 
SUBMITTED BY 

THE AERONAUTICAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF AMERICA., INC. 

(II) 
PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 

ARTICLE I 

This Code is adopted pursuant to the I ational Industrial Recovery 

Act. It is presented by the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce 

of America, I nc., the recognized trade association of the aircraft 

manufacturing industry, and shall apply during the period in which 

the N.I.R.A. is in effect. I t has been approved and agreed to by the 

Aircraft Manufacturing Section of said Chamber. It purpose is 

to effectuate the policy of the N.I.R.A. insofar as applicable to this 

industry. 

ARTICLE II 

SECTION 1. The basic proce es in the aircraft manufacturing 

industry are of a continuous character and cannot be changed in this 

respect without serious adverse effect on production and employment. Having this in nlind, and with the exception of executives, 

of those em.ployed in technical work and other supervi ory and/or 

administ~ative positions, emergency and maintenance work, no member of this Code shall employ any worker for more than an average 

of forty ( 40) hours per week for fift -two ( 52) weeks. 

SEc. 2. No member of this Code shall knowingly employ any 

person under sixteen (16) years of age. 

SEc. 3. Pursuant to ·sub ection (a) of Section 7 of N.I.R.A., and so 

long as this Code shall be in effect, this Code hall be subject to the 

following conditions : 

(a) That employees shall have the right to organize and bargain 

collectively through representatiYes of their own choosing, and shall 

be free from the interference, re traint, or coercion of employers of 

labor or their agents, in the designation of uch representatives, or 

in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose 

of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; 

(b) That no employee and no one seeking employment shall be 

required as a condition of employment to join any c01npany union 

or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of his own choosing; and 

( c) That employers shall comply with the maximum hours of 

labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, 

approved or prescribed by the President. 

SEc. 4. The plants of the industry are open to capable workmen, 

witho~t ~egard to their membership or non-membership in any 

organ1zat10n. 

9944-33 (1) 
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ARTICLE III 

SECTION 1. Until changed by amendment of this Code, the minimum rates of pay per hour which shall be paid for labor in thi 

industry by members of this Code shall be not less than forty ( 40) 

cents per hour, unless the hourly rate for the same class of work on 

July 15, 1929, was less than 40 cents per hour, in which latter case 

they shall be not less than the hourly rate on July 15, 1929, and in no 

event less than thirty (30) cents per hour. It is agreed that this 

paragraph establishes a guaranteed minimum rate of pay. 

SEc. 2. Members of this Code agree not to pay any of the following classes of employees-accounting, clerical, banking, office, service, 

or sales employees ( except outside salesmen) in any office clepart1nent, or establishment, or in any other place or manner-less than 

$15 per week in any city oYer 500,000 population, or in the immediate 

trade area of such city; nor less than $14.50 per week in any city 

of between 250 000 and 500,000 population, or in the immediate trade 

area of such city· nor less than $14 per week in any city of between 

2,500 and 250,000 population or in the immediate trade area of such 

city; and in towns of less than 2,500 population to increase all wages 

by not less than 20 percent, proYided that this shall not require 

wages in excess of $12 per week. 

SEc. 3. Any attempt to evade the minimum rates of wages by improper designation of employees as apprentices or semi-skilled work-

~rs, or by other methods, shall be a Yiolation of this Code. 

ARTICLE IV 

Where, prior to the effectiYe date of this Code, any member of this 

Code had contracted to purchase or supply articles, materials, and/or 

services at a fixed price to be delivered during the period of this Code, 

an appropriate adjustment of such fixed price will be made to equal 

any increase in cost caused by the operation of the National Indu trial 

Recovery Act. 

ARTICLE V 

No member of this Code shall sell off er to sell, or make aircraft, 

aircraft engines, aircraft parts and/ or acces ories fr01n another 

member's design data, drawings, or copies thereof whether patented 

or not, in any competitive way prejudicial to the interests of the 

original producers thereof unless directly and specifically licensed by 

the owner thereof so to do; nor shall any such member sell a license 

to make, have made, or sell any such aircraft, aircraft engines, aircraft parts, and/ or accessories to another without definite and separate agreement in writing providing equitable compensation to such 

owner directly and specifically for such license. 

ARTICLE VI 

Failure to comply with any of these Articles shall be a violation of 

this Code. 
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ARTICLE VII 

The effective date of this Code shall be ten days after its approval 

bv the President of the United States. · The forty-hour week is necessary in the aircraft manufacturing 

indu try because: 

a) The aircraft manufacturing industry is a comparatively new 

indu try. It has, through experience, largely adopted the practice 

of manufacturing only on advance order and will therefore probably 

not be again confronted with the problem of overproduction; 

(b) There exists no large amount of unemployment in the 

industry; 

( c) Aircraft fabrication i practically all skill'ed hand labor, 

because production has not reached the stage of mass production 

where machine labor can be employed; 

( d) The number of workmen employed on a given aircraft is 

limited in assembly and installation to those who can physically 

work thereon ; 

( e) Since so much special engineering is necessary during contruction, skilled labor must be available constantly to facilitate 

intricate technical installation, e. g. radio instruments, armam.ent . ._ pecial fuel tanks and leads, etc. 

( f) Synchronization of fabricating labor with engineering installation is absolutely essential to the finished production of aircraft, because engineering must follow through actual fabrication 

before it can proceed further. 

(g) In any regulation of the aircraft manufacturing industry the 

dominating consideration must be safety. Slipshod workmanship, 

whether the cause lies with the capabilities of the individual workman or with an attempt to have two men share the responsibility 

of one, takes an exacting toll of death. 

(h) Military and air mail and passenger aircr,aft take many 

months to design and build even where factories have been working 

more than fifty hours per week, and :forty hours extends what is 

already an unfortunate delay in striving to meet requirements; 

(i) A working week averaging :forty hours against an old week 

exceeding, in many cases, fifty would give employment to virtually 

all trained aircraft mechanics in the country i:f the Government 

goes ahead with the military and naval aircraft construction recommended by its aviation chiefs. 

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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 

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