The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-16
Rv A. b. MAGH


THE auto code, which puts the Off
i cial N. r. A. eagle on one OF the
worst open shop industries in the
country, does not substantially change
existing conditions in the auto plants
except to make possible new reduc-
tions in the living standards Of tens
Of thousands of workers. Let us ex-
anime its outstanding features.
L. 1t does not establish the 35-hour
week.
1t merely provides for an average
of 35 hours a week during the period
that it is in force Sept. to Dec. 81,
1889, while the maximum work week
is actually 48 hours.
2. 1t does not increase wages.
It sets minimum Of from 40 to AZ
cents an hour. At 43 cents an hour
this means $15.05 week, or about
S65 a month. On this question con-
f1dential letter of the General Motors
Corp, issued July 81 to department
managers and signed by F. A. Ober-
heu, general manager, declares:
'In our entire organization, in
Guiding service department en-
ployees, we only have a few hun
bred people not now receiving at
least SOS as fixed rate"
Moreover, the reduction in hours
means q reduction in the weekly
wage At the Briggs Waterloo plant
in Detroit, for example, the introduce
ton Of the 40-hour week has resulted
in a cut in the weekly wage of from
Is to 40 per cent.
In addition, the code provides that
apprentices and learners and females
not doing the same work as adult
males shall be paid not less that 87h
per cent of said minimums" The
fact is that all such workers do prac-
tically the same work as adult males,
and though the code provides that
this group shall not exceed 5 per cent
of the total number, trust the auto
manufacturers to get around that.
| What about the wage increases of
is to 20 per cent that were put into
effect by nearly all the companies
except Ford's at the time when the
auto manufacturers first adopted
their code? Let the confidential letter
Of General Motors speak on that:
&c. let us say that all service
department clerks, helpers, porters or
mechanics could be placed on a sos
per month basis and then take that
into consideration at the time of fig
uring out adjusted compensation or
bonus at the end or each month. |"
| INV emuhaSis b M
The auto workers, too, can speak
on this question: At Hudson's, ct the
Dodge plant, at practically all the
factories where wage increases were
given, the bonus was cut and the
workers wages remained substantially
the same.
8. The auto code win not result IN
the unemployment Of many thou
sands of unemployed auto workers.
Even the Detroit capitalist press
admitted shortly after the code was
signed that only IS, 600 would be hired
immediately. But even this figure
may be taken with barrel OF salt
Says the General Motors letter;
"Of sourse, there may be some folks
on your payroll whom you would not
figure worthy Of a S65 per month
minimum even though you never fig
ured on giving them bonus. IN such
cases there would be only one thing
open or left for you to do. This would
mean an elimination OF this cheap
help or placing them on part time.
(My emphasis.-A. B. M
4. The auto code will not result In
proportionate increases In pay for
those getting above the minimum.
In fact, quite the contrary. The
code states:
Equitable adjustment In all pay
schedules Of factory employees above
the minimums shall be made on or
before Sept. Is, 1888, by any employ
ers who have not heretofore made
such adjustments"
Under this vague equitable" Ian
guage is concealed an attack on the
wage standards Of the better-paid
workers. For if it does become neces-
sary to employ larger number of
! men to keep up production schedules,