Evening star., 1923-01-29
CARTER SUPPORTS
CLASSIFY FY|NG BILL
Public Printer Points to Need
of Legislation for His
Establishment.
REMEDY FOR INJUSTICE
Plea for Enactment of Sterling
Lehlbach Measure, Which Is
Pending in Senate.

40 S~@ANSS'
That the Sterling-Lehlback reclas-
sifcation bill. now pending in the
Senate, will remedy an unjust situa-
tion in the government printing Of
fee is explained by Public Printer
Carter in his annual report to Con-
gress, made public today.
If the Sterling reclassi-
fication bill Is not passed, the public
printer urges that Congress should
at once confer on him authority to
| readjust the wages OF printers. press
men and bookbinders from time TO
time, as that official has always done
Uncle Sans big printing establish
! ment.
Extract From Report.
In his report Mr.. Carter says:
1.-The wage question presents an
odd angle as it affects the govern
ment printing office. Here the wages
Of the three principal groups of en-
ployes-printers, pressmen and book
binders-are fixed by act of Congress,
while, on the other hand, the wages
of all other groups of employees, includ-
ing electrotypers. stereotypers. photo-
engravers, machinists. electricians,
carpenters, plumbers, bindery workers
and press feeders, are determined by
the public printer. Thus more than
half of the total pay roll is based
upon wages granted in the discretion
of the public printer, and less than
half of the pay roll consists of wages
risidly fixed by act of Congress. As
ra III eft 1t nf
from time to time. to meet new con-
ditions is difficult to obtain. the result
is an almost constant inequality be-
tween the statutory wages for certain
crafts and the discretionary wages
for all other trades in the government
printing Office.
'In justice TO all concerned, either
the wages of every employe should be
fixed by law or else power stould be
vested i'll +O,SA Ae<sscy e. r:sjust
all the wages in this Office as occa-
sion may require. obviously, Con-
gress cannot undertake to determine
the rates of wages TO be paid all
classes and grades of workers in this
great establishment. This has not
been done for any other industrial
plant of the government, such as the
navy yards and the bureau of en-
craving and printing. which are en-
powered to ADJUST the wages of their
skilled trades to meet changing con-
ditions. The government printing Of
flee alone is restricted by law as TO
| the wages to be paid three of its
principal crafts-printers, pressmen
| and book bind ders-whose compensa-
| ton was fixed by the act Of August
| 2, 1919, at the fiat rate of 40 cents
| an hour, which cannot be changed
except by Congress itself.
,. situation for Many Years.
"Tehis situation has existed for many
years and had its origin at a time
when the government printing office
was rather a small affair WITH rela-
lively few employees, confined mostly
| to the groups named in the law, the
| fixing of whose wages was a COM
| paratively simple matter Now, how
! ever, practically every branch OF the
skilled and unskilled trades is re
| quired in the vast and varied work
| of the government printing ofnce, ano
! the settlement of wages is no minor
matter or one which can be deter
mined without due consideration oil
| the relative rates of pay for all the
\ groups.
| The Sterling-Lehlbach reclassifi-
| cation bill, now. pending in the Sen
ate, proposes to remeCy this unjust
| situation by making the wages OF
all the skilled and unskilled trades
| subject to collective bargaining be-
! tween the head of an establishment
! like the government printing offiee
| and a representative or the trade
! concerned, their agreement or dis
| agreement to be subject to approval
by the director of the bureau of the
! budget in consultation with the Civil
Service Commission.
| 'If the Sterling -Lehlbach or some
similar bill fails to become law. 1t Is
| respectfully recommended that Con
1 gress at this session confer authority
1 on the public printer to readjust the
wages of printers, pressmen and book
! binders from time to time, the same
! as he has always done for every Other
| trade employed in the government
printing Office:
Right Of Review.
| "If II Is deemed desirable 10 have
the wages as agreed upn by the pub
1 lie printer made subject to the ap
proval of somes other agency of tht
| government before they become eff
fective, 1t is suggested that this righ
! of review be vested in the joint com
,mittee on printing, which acts as /;
board of directors in numerous othel
matters affecting the government
printine; office and is eminently wei
| Qualified by a thorough knowledge o
! this office to pass upon the question
4 of wages for it's employees. In fact
| the joint commxtee on printing
! through it's close Afiliation with ant
membership on then printing commit
tees of the Senate and the House, ha
\ on several occasions advised Congress
as to fixing Of statutory wages for tn
| government printing oldce. In Viev
| Of this recommendation, and the fac
| that it appears to be thA intention o
| Congress to soon relieve itself of th
task of fixing by law part of tn
wages to be paid employk s of thi
office, shall refrain from ma king an
| specific recommendations as to wae'