The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-09
Ignores
Research Data
Continued from Page y

board" with broader powers to re-
place the Auto Labor Board. This
recommendation Of the N. I. R. B.
was rejected by Roosevelt in his
decision.
The regulations of the Auto
Labor Board, the report said. were
administered SO as mot to meet
the needs of those workers who
have voluntarily presented their
problems to those conducting the
survey"
The restriction of the age limit
at which workers get jobs "un.
doubtedly exists with increasing
rigor in most automobile plants
with the speed-up of today" said
the report, and this problem has
not been solved by the Auto Labor
Board, it was added
Admits Requirements
Large numbers of workers have
been replaced by new mechanical
devices and speed-up, it was adj
mitted. The speed-up was beyond
human endurance" and the spv
system sis bitterly resented by the
workers as un-American." A man
forty years old finds it almost i'm
possible to get work, and ut is
socially and economically indefens-
ible for the automobile industry to
say that old age comes to its work
ers from ten to twenty years prior
to the time it comes to any other
group of similar workers in the
United States"
The employees are in ignorance OF
what pay is coming to them, it was
pointed out, because of the vicious
group and bonus systems. Genuine
collective bargaining cannot exist,
under these circumstances, where
the men complain of terror and
discrimination" it was stated.
Monopoly Control
The increase in monopoly control
under N. r. A. was admitted in that
section Of the report which adj
mitted that the three biggest auto
concerns, General Motors, Ford and
Chrysler, are increasingly getting a
greater and greater share of the
total business of the auto industry.
This concentration of business,
should not be accelerated by the
government" it is recommended.
The proposal of the report to
change the code against the aver
aging of hours over a long period,
was ignored by Roosevelt, who pro-
vided for the averaging of hours
over the life of the code Ito June
49, thus making it possible to work
the employees almost unlimited
hours.
THE insecurity of the workers
has been tremendously increased in
recent years" it was admitted.
Profits are "far greater than the
average industry and a high per-
centage of the profits having been
retained in the industry" it was
revealed.
Speeding Admitted
Examples Of the terrific mecha-
nization with accompanying speed
up) were given, showing that for
example: in 1929 the labor cost OF
producing a door was S4, and in
1885 the labor cost is fifteen cents.
In 1929 the labor cost Of hand fin-
ishing oody frames OF wood before
panelling cost three dollars, today
it cost twenty cents. In 1929 body
framing cost So, in 1895, 35 cents.
Trimming the body cost $12 in
1929 and 81 today. Less than five
years ago a manufacturer finished
100 eight-cylinder motor blocks
with $50 men on given lineup and
today the same line finishes $50
motor blocks with only nineteen
men, and using 20 per cent more
operations.
In all spheres of production, SIM
liar labor saving was cited
Uncertainty of employment" was
declared to be the rule in the in
dustry Thirty per cent of those
on relief in Detroit are automobile
workers, it was reported.
1t was also claimed in Washing
ton today that Frances Perkins
learned of the decision of Roosevelt
extending the auto code through the
press, and failed when she tried to
consult with Donald Richberg.