Registry No. 1640-04 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

( 

C·ODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

/ FOR THE 

I 

PIANO MANUFACTURING 

INDUSTRY 

AS APPROVED ON NOVEMBER 4, 1933 

BY 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT 

3. Code 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PlUNTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON: 1933 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - - Price 5 cents 
I 

This publication is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government 

Printing Office, Washington, D.C., and by district offices of the Bureau of Foreign 

and Domestic Commerce. 

DISTRICT OFFI~ES OF Tirn DEP ARTMEN'f OF COMMERCE 

Atlantn, Ga. : 504 Post Office Building. 

Birmingham, Ala.: 257 Federal Building. 

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Charleston, S.C.: Chambe1· of Commerce Building. 

Chicago, Ill.: Suite 1706, 201 North Wells Street. 

Cleveland, Ohio: Chamber of Commerce. 

Dallas, Tex. : Chamber of Commerce Building. 

Detroit, l\Iich. : 2213 First National Bank Building. 

Houston, Tex. : Chamber of Commerce Building. 

Indianapolis, Ind. : Chamber of Commerce Building. 

Jacksonville, Fla.: Chamber of Commerce Building. 

Kansas City, Mo.: 1028 Baltimore Avenue. 

Los Angeles, Calif : 1163 South Broadway. 

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Memphis, Tenn. : 229 F-edera.1 Building. 

Minneapolis, Minn.: 213 Federal Building. 

New Orleans, La.: Room 225-A, Customhouse. 

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Philadelphia, Pa. : 933 Commercial Trust Building. 

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St. Louis, Mo. : 506 Olive Street. 

San Francisco, Calif. : 310 Customhouse. 

Seattle, Wash.: 809 Federal Bu:lding. 

(n) 
EXECUTIVE ORDER 

ConE OF FAIR COMPETITION, PIANO MANUFACTURING INnusrny 

An application having been duly made, pursuant to and in full 

compliance with the provisions of title I of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, for my .approval of a Code 

of Fair Competition for the Piano Manufacturing Industry, and 

hearings having been held thereon and the Administrator having 

rendered his report containing an analysis of the said code of fair 

competition, together with his recommendations and findings with 

respect thereto, and the Administrator having found that the said 

code of fair competition complies in all respects with the pertinent 

provisions of title I of said act and that the· requirements of clauses 

(1) and (2) of subsection (a) of section 3 of the said act have beer1 

met: 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of 

the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by title I 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, 

and otherwise, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations, 

and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said code of 

fair competition be, and is hereby, approved. 

THE ,v HITE HousE, 

November 4, 1933. 

Approval recomme1ided : 

HUGH S. JOHNSON' 

Administrator. 

19511°-188-152-33 

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. 

{111) 
The PRESIDENT, 

The White House. 

Srn: A Public H earing on the Code of F air Competition for the · Piano Manufacturing Industry, submitted by the National Piano 

Manufacturers Association of An1erica, located nt 45 '\Vest 45th 

Street New York, N. Y., was conducted in '\iVashington on the 27th 

of September 1933 in accordance with the provisions of the Na- tional Industrial Recovery Act. The Association claims to represent 90 percent of the Industry. 

The maximum hours permitted under this Code are forty ( 40) 

per week, with a tolerance of eight ( 8) hours per week in cases of 

emergency, provided that time and one half is pa id for all hours in 

excess of eight (8) per day. The __ minimum wage is forty cents 

(40¢) per hour or sixteen dollars ($16.00) per week for all faetory 

workers and thirty-five cents (35¢) per hour or fourteen dollars 

($14.00) per week for all other employees, except that not more than 

5 percent of each group may be paid not less than 80 percent of the 

minimum wage and shall include only learners for a period of not 

to exceed six ( 6) weeks and office boys and office girls between the 

ages of sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) years. 

In this regard it must be noted that compari on of 1929 figures 

are not applicable due to the fact that statistics show that the peak 

year for the Piano Manufacturing Industry was 1923, and that since 

that time the number of employees has declined steadily until in 

1929 only 45 percent of the 1923 wage earners were employed and 

in 1933 approximately 17 percent. This decline is largely due to 

the development of radio and mechanical musical devices as well as to 

the general slump in business. This has resulted in a decrease in the 

value of products of about 61 percent. 

Factory workers constitute approximately 90 percent of the wage 

earners in the Industry. A statistical analysis by the Division of 

Economic Planning and Research indicates that the percentage· of 

factory workers in the Industry now receiving less than the forty 

cents ( 40¢) minimum is 22.5 percent. At least 75 percent of the total 

factory employees are highly skilled and provision is made that 

employers shall endeavor to increase the pay above the present rates 

when already in excess of the minimum. 

Since the volume of business in this Industry has decreased so 

radically, it is not anticipated that any great number of wage 

earners will be reemployed as a result of the provisions of this Code 

as a greatly increased cost of labor will decrease still further the 

number of sales to consumers. 

In 1923 the total number of wage earners in this Industry was 

22,206, decreased to 9,970 in 1929, and to approximately 3,710 in 1933. A decrease of approximately 85 percent. 

To rai e employees to the 1929 level would require the establi hment of a 10.G hour week. Since the cost of labor constitutes about 

(IV) 
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33 percent of the total cost of the finished article, the increased cost to 

the consumer would be prohibitive. 

The value of products in the Piano ~1anufacturing Industry in 

1929 was $42,500,000 and declined to $15,000,000 in 1931, a decrease 

of approximately 65 percent. 

FINDINGS 

The Administrator finds that-

( a) The Code as recommended, complies in all respects with the 

pertinent provisions of Title I of the Act, including, without limitation, subsection (a) of Section 7, and subsection (b) of Section 10 

thereof; and that-

(b) The National Piano Manufacturers Association of America, 

the applicant group herein, imposes no inequitable restrictions on 

admission to membership and is truly representative of the Piano 

Manufacturing Industry; and that-

( c) The Code as recommended is not designed to promote monopolies or to eliminate or oppress small enterprises and will not operate 

to discriminate against them, and will tend to effectuate the policy 

of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

This Industry has cooperated in a most satisfactory manner with 

the Administration in the preparation of this Code. From evidence 

adduced during this hearing and from recommendations and reports 

of the various Advisory Boards it is believed that this Code as now 

proposed and revised represents an effective, practical, equitable 

solution :for this Industry and its approval as herewith submitted 

is recommended. 

Respectfully, 

HUGH s. JOHNSON' 

Administrator. 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE PIANO 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 

ARTICLE I-PURPOSES 

To effectuate the policies of Title I of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, the following provisions are submitted as a Code of 

Fair Competition for the Piano Manufacturing Industry and, upon 

approval by the President, shall be the standard of fair competition :for this Industry and shall be binding upon every member 

thereof. 

ARTICLE II-DEFINITIONS 

1. The term "Piano Manufacturing Industry" as used herein includes the building, fabricating, repairing, reconstructing, remodeling, and the assembling of pianos, and/or materials, supplies, and 

parts thereof, and the branches or subdivisions thereof. 

2. The term "employee" as used herein includes any person engaged in any phase of the industry, in any capacity, in the nature 

of employees receiving compensation for his services, irrespective 

of the method of payment of such compensation. 

3. The term "employer" as used herein includes anyone by whom. 

such employee is compensated or employed. . 

4. The term "member o:f the industry" includes anyone engaged 

in the industry as above defined, either as an employer or on his own 

behal:f. 

5. The terms "President", "Act:,, and "Administrator" as used 

herein shall mean respectively the President of the United States, the 

National Recovery Act, and the Administrator of said Act. 

6. The term "learner", as used herein, shall mean an employee 

without previous experience or employment in the industry. 

7. The term "finishing departments" as used herein shall include 

the following operations in manufacture: 

(a) Side glueing or building of upright piano cases 

(b) InstaHation of keys, actions, hammers, and dampers into 

the strung piano case 

( c) Regulation of keys, actions, and dampers 

( d) Tone regulation 

( e) Final rubbing and polishing 

( f) Fly finishing of the strung piano case (legs, trapwork, 

hinges, tops, etc.) 

(g) Tuning 

(h) Final finishing, inspection, and retouching of keys 

(i) Final assembling, adjusting, and inspection of piano 

actions 

( j) Final inspection 

(k) Packing and shipping 

(1) 
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ARTICLE III-HoURs 

1. No member of the industry shall employ or cause to be employed, factory or mechanical workers or artisans, except emergency 

repair cre"s, more than :forty ( 40) hours per week nor more than 

eight (8) hours per day; provided, however, that employees engaged 

in operations in finishing departments shall1 be permitted to work 

not to exceed forty-eight ( 48) hours per week for a total of six ( 6) 

"ITeeks during each twelve (12) months period following the effective 

date of this Code; provided, further, that time and one-half shall be 

paid to such em ploye"s for all hours per week over forty ( 40) and 

all hours per day over eight ( 8). · 

2. No member of the industry shall employ or cause to be employed office or salaried employees or other employees not otherwise 

specifically referred to herein for more than forty ( 40) hours per 

week, averaged over any consecutive three (3) months' period, provided that no such employee shall be employed more than forty-eight 

( 48) hours in any one week nor more than eight (8) hours in any 

one day; and provided further, that the total number of hours 

worked by such employee shall not exceed five hundred twenty (520) 

hours in any thirteen ( 13) weeks' period. 

3. The maximum hours provided shall not apply, however, to employees in managerial, supervisory, sales, or executive capacities, outside tuners, and technicians on research and engineering staffs, who 

now receive thirty-five ($35.00) dollars or more per week, nor to 

outside salesmen, nor outside service men other than tuners. 

4. vVatchmen shall be employed in pairs and shall work not more 

than thirty-six (36) and forty-eight ( 48) hours on alternate weeks, 

or an average of forty-two ( 42) hours per week. 

5. Employers shall not reclassify employees or duties of occupations performed by employees so as to defeat the purposes of the Act. 

6. No employee shall work, or be perrn.itted to work, for a total 

number of hours in excess of the number of hours herein prescribed, 

whether he be employed by one or more employers. 

ARTICLE IV-WAGES 

1. The minimum ·wage that shall be paid by any employer to any 

particular factory worker shall be forty ( 40¢) cents per hour. However, learners may be paid not less than eighty (80% ) percent of the 

minimun1 rate; the number of learners shall not exceed five ( 5%) 

percent of the total number o.f employees engaged in the processing 

of products and in labor operations directly incident thereto; the 

period of learning shall be limited to six (6) weeks. 

2. The minimum wage that shall be ·paid by any employer to all 

other employees, except as already noted, shall be at the rate of fourteen ($14.00) dollars per week, provided, however, that office boys 

and office girls who shall be between sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) 

years of age may be paid not less than eighty (80%) percent of such 

minimum wage, but the total number of such office boys and office girls 

shall not in any calendar month exceed fi, e ( 5o/£) percent of the total 

number of all employees covered by the provisions of this article. 

3. The minimum pay for female labor on such light nonhazardous 

work as has customarily been performed by female workers shall be 
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thirty-two (32¢) cents per hour. Female employees performing substantially the same work as male employees shall receive the same 

rates of pay as male employees. 

4. The rate o,f wages for various classifications of employees receiving more than the minimum wages herein provided shall not be 

reduced below those in effect for such classifications on June 16, 1933, 

notwithstanding that the hours of work in such employment may be 

reduced; and the minimum wages above set forth shall be made to 

u_pply as well to compensation for piecework, and all members o:f this 

industry shall endeavor to increase the pay of all employees in excess 

of the minimum wage as herein set forth by an equitable adjustment 

of all pay schedules proportionate to the increase in compensation as 

determined by the minimum wage herein provided. 

ARTICLE V --GENERAL LABOR PROVISIONS 

1. No person under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed in 

the industry, nor anyone under eighteen (18) years of age at occupations or operations hazardous in nature or detrimental to health. 

The Code Authority shall submit to the Administrator within sixty 

(60) days a list of such occupations. In any State an employer 

shall be deemed to have complied with this provision if he shall 

have on file a certificate or permit duly issued by the authority in such 

State empowered to issue employment or age certificates or p ermits, 

showing that the employee is of the required age. 

2. Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively, through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be 

free from interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, 

or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in selforganization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining. or other mutual aid or protection; 

3. No employee and no one seeking employment shall be requfred 

as a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of 

his own choosing; and 

4. Employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, 

minimum rates of pay, and other conditions oi employment approved 

or prescribed by the President. 

5. Each employer shall post, and keep posted in a conspicuous 

place, full copies of the wage, hour, and labor provisions of this 

Code. 

6 .. If any employer of labor in the Piano Manufacturing Industry 

is also an employer of labor in any other industry, the provisions 

of this Code shall apply to and affect only that part of his business 

which is included in the Piano 1\1:anufacturing Industry. 

7. \iVithin each State, members of the industry shall comply with 

any laws of such State imposing more stringent requirements, regu-

]ating the age of emnloyees, wages, hours or work, or health, fire, or 

general working conditions, than under this Code. 

ARTICLE VI-· Am,nNISTRATION 

To further effectuate the policies of the Act, a Code Authority is 

hereby established to cooperate with the Administrator in the Administration of this Code. 
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1. Organization and Constitution of Code Authority. 

(a) The Code Authority shall consist of five members of the 

industry, or such other number as may be approved from time to 

time by the Administrator, elected by a fair method of selection, to 

be approved by the Administrator and not 111ore than three members without vote to be appointed at the discretion of the 

Administrator. 

(b) The National Piano Manufacturers Association of America is 

hereby designated the administrative agency for carrying out the 

provisions of this Code under the direction of the Code Authority, 

subject to the approval of the Administrator. 

( c) The National Piano Manufacturers Association of America 

shall submit to the Admi1tistrator its Article of Association, ByLaws, Regulation , and any amendments when made thereto, and 

such other information as to its membership, organization, and 

activities as the Administrator may require to effectuate the purposes 

of this Act. 

( d) Any member of the industry may receive the benefits of the 

activities of the Code Authority by paying his proper pro rata share 

of the cost of administering the Code or by becoming a member of 

the National Piano Manufacturers Association of America and there 

shall be no inequitable restrictions on such membership. 

( e) In order that the Code Authority shall at all times be truly 

representative of the industry and in other respects comply with the 

provisions of the Act, the Administrator may provide such hearings 

as he may deem proper; and thereafter if he shall find that the Code 

Authority is not truly representative or does not in other respects 

comply with the provisions of the Act, may require an appropriate 

modification in the method of selection of the Code Authority. 

2. The Code Authority shall have the following duties and powers 

to the extent permitted by the Act, subject to the power of the 

Administrator to modify, disapprove, or revoke any Act of such 

Code Authority. 

(a) To require and receive sworn or unsworn reports as to wages, 

hours of labor, conditions of employment, number of employees, shipments, production, sales, stocks, prices, and other matters pertinent 

to the purpose of this Code. 

(b) To transmit to the Administrator from time to time such 

reports as he may desire. 

( c) To make investigations as to the functioning and observance 

of any provisions of this Code at its own instance or on complaint 

by any person affected and report the same to the Administrator. 

( d) To formulate and prepare for submission an amendment to 

this Code, providing for the prohibition of unfair trade practices 

in this industry. 

( e) In addition to the information required to be submitted to the 

Code Authority, there shall be furnished to government agencies 

such statistical information as the Administrator may deem necessary for the purposes recited in Section 3 (a) of the Act. 

ARTICLE VII-MODIFICATION 

l._ This Code and all the provisions thereof are expressly made 

subJect to the right of the President, in accordance with the pro~ 
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v1s10ns of subsection (b) of Section 10 of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, from time to time to cancel or modify any order, 

approval, license, rule, or regulation issued under Title I of said 

Act and specifically, but without limitation, to the right of the 

President to cancel or modify his approval of this Code or any 

conditions imposed by him upon his approval thereof. 

2. This Code, except as to provisions required by the Act, may be 

modified on the basis of experience or changes in circumstances, such 

modification to be based upon application to the Administrator and 

such notice of hearing as he shall specify, and to become effective 

on approval of the President. 

3. Any member of the industry who, prior to June 16, 1933, contracted to buy or sell any goods; wares or merchandise at a, price 

fixed as of the date of said contract for :future delivery, shall make 

a bona fide effort to arrive at an equitable adjustment on the price 

thereof as fixed by said contract to meet any proper increase in the 

cost of such goods, wares or merchandise imposed by virtue of any 

provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act and in the event 

such effort fails to result in the mutually satisfactory adjustment 

either party to faid contract may refer the same for adju~tment 

to the Code Authority of the industry which, with the aid and assistance of the Administrator or his properly designated agent or agents, 

shall endeavor to arrive at an equitable adjustment thereof. 

ARTICLE VIII-MONOPOLIES, ETC. 

No provision of this Code shall be so applied as to permit monopolies or monopolistic practices, or to eliminate, oppress or discriminate 

against small enterprises. 

ARTICLE IX-PRICE INCREASES 

"'\Vherea s the policy of the Act to increase real purchasing po-wer 

will be made impossible of consummation if prices of goods and 

services increase as rapidly as wages, it is recognized that prjce increases should be delayed and that, when made, the same should, so 

far as reasonably possible, be limited to actu'al increases".in the seller's 

costs. 

ARTICLE X-EFFECTIVE DATE 

This Code shall become effective on the second Monday after its 

approval by the President. 

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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 

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