Evening star., 1933-10-02
FAITH IN NEW DEAL
ASKED BY GREEN
A. F. of L. Head Urges 30.
Hour Week at Labor
Session.
Continued From First Page)

not get back to work until we face the
! issue boldly and uncompromisingly and
1 establish in these codes q six-hour day,
five-day week."
| I'VE must realize that mistakes will
be made and we must have patience"
he emphasized.
Labor must have faith in the new
President Of the United States"
Recalling labor's traditional stand
| against rapid cheapening Of money,
] Green told the convention:
| I'VE are against unrestrained infla-
tion until they assure us that labor
will get more of these cheap dollars
to meet the higher costs. In my judge
| ment, labor must stand unflinchingly
against rapid imitation.
The records show that wages re-
main static while prices 60 up.
Urges Sound Dollar.
I'VE do not oppose credit expansion
through sensible and sound means,
but when the worker earns a dollar
| he wants to be sure that 1t represents
| real dollar"
Referring again to the recovery codes
Green said they were drafted hurriedly,
while an administrative organization
| was being set up in the midst OF great
confusion. allowing no time for wise
counsel or deliberation in all cases.
ANY reasonable man or woman
| could not fail to realize that mistakes
would be made-and they have been
made
We find it advisable to call on the
administration for a revision of many
OF these codes so labor will get the
benefit of the new deal
But despite these mistakes, we have
passed definitely from the stage Of in
| nocuous desuetude and tnaction to q
| stage OF action, action, action all the
| time"
Since March, Green said, 2,soo. 900
people had gone back to work and buying
| power In dollars has increased Is per
cent. Deducting increased living costs,
he estimated increased buying power
amounts to II per cent.
Besides that benefit the labor chief
also saw encouragement in the fact
that "in practically every N. r. A.
| code adopted so far there Is q section
| providing for the abolition of child
labor"
Old jurisdictional problems. plus the
/ new ones added by the recovery act.
promise to fulfil predictions that the
| federation convention will be at least
as momentous as those during war days
This was the forecast Of its officers
and President Green was hopeful that
a little adept reasoning would induce
the approximately 500 delegates to lay
aside their factional disputes and work
together in a recovery war as they had
in the last real war.
He and his aides were confronted
with q number of major problems
I no
that the recovery program is moving
too slowly and that only forceful show
| Of strength, possible through strikes,
| will bring the desired speed.
Previously Green had issued an ap-
peal that organized workers use strikes
| only as a last resort, after taking their
problems to the new Federal agencies
labor boards-set up to mediate be-
| tween employers and employe. But
thousands Of workers still remain on
strike.
] Code Revision Seen Needed.
Further, some Of Green's aides held
that the annual report Of the Fedora
tons Executive Council had not made
| his work any easier, for the council held
| that all the recovery codes now operat-
| ing must be revised to assure higher
wages and shorter hours. It added, too
q criticism of delay in the expenditure
Of money on public works, ending with
the statement that I'VE urge action"
| Green close to the situation and re-
peatedly protesting knowledge Of the
| difficulties encountered by recovery OFF,
cials, on and off the record has been
advocating patience" He agrees that
the codes must be revised, but feels that
if the convention formally adopts any
such recommendation, 1t should at the
same time give credit to those who are
trying to make it work.
There will be renewed arguments
among various afiliated unions as to
which has control of workers on speci-
fed projects, an issue that already has
intruded itself into the Government
building program here.
Additional difficulty will come in diff
| ferences over the fact that since N. L
r. A. the federation has been chartering
many new Federal unions, directly al
flliated with the American Federation OF
Labor instead Of with subordinate inter-
national unions. The new unions, too
are organized by industries rather than
trades, leading opponents Of this
method say, to more jurisdictional
problems.
A spirited but more friendly contest
will be waged over the 1884 convention
city. st. Louis and San Francisco ap-
pear the leading contenders, the latter
pointing to special $4,000 city appro-
priation.
Green expects to be reelected presi-
dent without particular difficulty. John
L. Lewis, president of the strong United
Mine Workers, recently emphasized that
he would support Green instead OF
beinr n candidate himself
N. r. A. Work Focused.
The Executive Council report focused
the attention Of delegate on N. r. A.
activities.
while the act was intended to alb
sorb the unemployed by reducing the
work day, SO that more persons could
be employed and national purchasing
power increased by raising wages" 1t
said, some of the codes adopted have
so perverted the purpose Of the recov-
cry act as to actually increase hours
and decrease wage-earners' incomes
Most flagrant instances Of such per-
version have occurred under mod1nca-
tions Of the re-employment agreement
| But even tn some instances the code
proposed by specific industry sug-
gests q work week considerably longer
than the number Of hours actually be-
ing worked and rates that reduce
earnings under code conditions.
T11esfacts are, the council contended,
that hours of work are too long to
assure absorption Of the millions with
out jobs" and minimum wages are so
low that purchasing power lags behind
production" It was added:
TT is obvious that such codes must
be reopened for constructive revision
The future of the recovery act de-
pends upon the honesty and impair
tiality Of such revisions and the in
creasing development Of balanced par
ticipation In decisions Of policy and
standards"