The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-14
Pittsburgh Relief Jobs Withheld As Destiton Rises
More Poverty
Cases Listed
In Steel Town
Budget Basis Keeps Pay
On Projects at Low
Hunger Level

PITTSBURGH, Pa, Nov. 49,
Facts revealed during an investiga-
ton Of relief work activities in Al
legheny county show that even the
miserable wages paid for this type
Of employment are being consistent
ly denied jobless workers of this
district, only 956 out Of 10000 avail
able jobs having been filled as of
Nov. Z.
Despite the increase in county
destitute from $4,000 families in July
to the present total of $4,000, the
work relief authorities have man
aged by means Of a mass of red
tape to deny jobs to applicants for
one reason or another.
Allotment of work is based on
what is termed by relief authorities
the Judiciary deficiency" Of GER
tain families. Under this scheme,
carefully designed so as to Keep
capitalism's reserve army" in Al
legheny county as large as possible,
extensive statistics are compiled on
each individual applicant before he
is even considered for employment.
Hunger Standard Determined
Only those actually drawing re-
lief at present can apply for work
relief. As soon as the application is
turned in, Investigators begin a
minute search of the case records
for that family. A budget is laid cut,
on which the worker and his depen-
dents can barely stay alive. Against
this amount per month is placed
what scanty funds the worker might
be able to earn at regular" odd
Jobs. Earnings from odd jobs are
subtracted and the remainder is the
amount which the worker will be
allowed to earn on relief job.
OF course, in the compiling of
these estimated budgets and nett
culous re-checking over wages earn
ed in past months, the case of the
applicant is passed back and forth
between various Offices of the relief
apparatus, and long weeks slip by
before the applicant is certified"
CertiflcatiOn Delayed
In many cases this certificate of
pauperism arrives too late for the
project in question to be under
taken. Many of the projects APP
proved for Allegheny county were
such cases. Plans were originally
laid for work to begin around Sept.
Is. and by the time enough appli-
cants we're certified to start work
Nov, was we'll past and weather
conditions prevented opening Of the
project.
It is significant, however. that
Philadelphia county. which was
compelled to work within the same
skein of red tape, was able to place
$4,000 men at work on the hunger
dole in the time Allegheny has
placed 1000. Undoubtedly, fear of
unsettled labor conditions" by the
Western Pennsylvania coal and
steel bosses would account for most
of the delay in placing unemployed
coal miners or steel workers on
work relief rolls.
Public sentiment finally became
so aroused at the interminable de-
lay of Work Administrator James
L. Stuart and his staff that State
Relief Director Eric Biddle was
compelled to send in a special"
deputy administrator to shake up
local officials. Now Stuart has been
forced to admit that $4,000 can be
placed to work almost Immediately,
but complains that skilled workers
are reluctant to apply for the work
relief Most Of the latter category,
though expelled from trade unions
because of non-payment of dues,
refuse to work at anything less than
union rates on the federal projects.