Evening star., 1933-04-26
All but Agricultural and Do
mestic Labor Would Be
Affected.
GREEN VOICES APPROVAL
OF PRODUCTION CONTROL
But Expresses Opposition of the
A. F. of L. to Proposal for
Minimum Wage Law.
BY the Associated Press.

hour work week bill, under which all
but agricultural and domestic labor
would be limited to an average of 80
hours a week, was proposed to tie
House Labor Committee today by
Gerard Swope, president of the Gen.
eral Electric Co.
He advanced his program after Will
lam Green, president of the American
Federation of Labor, had pronounced
his organizations general approval OF
the pending bill. a six-hour day, five
day week proposal and of the change
advocated by Secretary of Labor Per-
kins for Federal control of production.
Green opposed Miss Perkins plan for
minimum wage legislation, saying it
had been the rule that minimums set
by the Government became the maxi
mum paid. He sought general apph-
cation of the 30-hour week, however,
while the bill as passed by the Senate
exempts many classes of workers.
Swope, too, sought this general ap-
plication and criticized the Black bill
as too rigid for practical application
and not sufficiently far reaching.
Working Time Limited.
The average working time he pro-
posed would be limited in this way:
No more than 832 hours per man III
any 26-week period; no more than 48
hours in any one week; no more than
eight hours in any one day.
The plan would be limited to two
years as an emergency program; the
Labor Department would have power
to set minimum wages by localities for
men, women or children; there should
be a maximum of cooperation and ad-
by chambers Of commerce
and trade associations.
The limit of application would be
such as to include all public and pri-
vate employment except agricultural or
domestic, for which earnings are less
than $1,000 per annum on full time
basis.
Green said he estimated universal
application of the 30-hour week would
re-employ $4,000 men, but he pointed
out that the bill as passed by the Sen
ate would apply the short schedule
only to manufacturing and mining.
Appearing the day after Miss Perkins
testified on the 30-hour-week bill and
the changes she proposed be made in
spoke on behalf of the executive council
of the labor federation.
Hits Minimum Pay Plan.
But of the Perkins proposal that
would let Federal wage boards fix mini
mum pay, Green said:
That would be a dangerous expert
ment While it might help some. it
would tend to injure the efforts OF the
great bulk of labor to bring about in
creased standards of living.
1T would be risky adventure. 1t
would tend to drive down the man at
the top. 1t would establish the mini
mum wage as the maximum wage.
I'VE, therefore, disfavor the proposal
to establish minimum wage boards ex-
cept that such boards could be estab-
lished to fix minimum wages for wom-
en- and minors"
Green said Experience with COM
modify price fixing worked out to estab-
lish minimums as maximums, and that
the wage plan favored by Secretary
Perkins would do the same.
He asked the committee to do every
thing it could to see to it that labor
has chance to organize.
Il wish you could make 1t possible
to deny to employers the right to keep
their employees from organizing, he
continued. If you do that, we'll fix
minimum wages"
Representative Ramspeck, Democrat,
of Georgia, asked whether labor favored
a ban against imports made by work.
men employed more than 80 hours a
week. Green answered:
I'VE think it should apply to goods
manufactured abroad. We understand
there is some opposition to that, par
ticularly by the administration, but we
believe it would be fair to prevent i'm
portation of goods made on a longer
work week basis
"a Good Beginning"
Although the Black bill would not
assure Jobs for these 6,600,000 because
it applies to selected groups, 1T IS a
good beginning" Green said, which
should be followed by additional legis-
lation in the States" But he pointed