Montana labor news., 1937-09-09
GERMAN WAGE SCALE
Continued from Page y


velope that contains $10.47 are:
Taxes and insurance, $1.38; dues to
the labor front, Is cents; contribu-
ton to the winter relief fund, 6
cents; miscellaneous (air defense
levy, radio in shop, party collec-
tons, etc., 81 cents; making a total
Of deductions of S1.91, and leaving a
balance of net earnings weekly of
1885.
Out Of this annual income Of
S44l.80 he must pay his living ex-
penses, which divide themselves as
follows: Rent, $57.71; light and heat,
SOTO; food, S244.O6; clothing, $56.83;
miscellaneous, including transport,
washing, furniture, education and
amusement, $61.26. This makes a
total Of $44O.56 out of $44l.80. He
has $1.24 left to do with as he will
in the course of a year.
Now, to keep within this budget,
he must house his family in two
rooms and kitchen and toilet in an
old building. There is no bath. For
heat, this budget will provide eighty
five kilos of hard coal, twelve Chm
Of gas and IA XVIII of electricity.
For food for the family, this budget
will buy weekly 1877 pounds of
bread, g of a pound of sugar, %
pounds of potatoes, 5.5 pounds of
fresh vegetables, S pounds of meat
and sausage, 8.5 quarts of milk, 3
pounds of butter, seven eggs, one
pound of coffee and lis quarts of
beer.
For clothing, he can spend in a
year $56.83, which would provide
the man with one street suit and
one work shirt every eight months
one suit of underwear, four pairs of
socks and one pair Of shoes yearly.
For the wife it would provide one
rayon dress, one wool dress, one
house dress; two shirt waists yearly.
two pairs of Knockers, three pairs
Of rayon and two pairs Of cotton
stockings and one pair of shoes every
eight months.
For miscellaneous expenditure he
has left $50, and from this he mus
pay for furniture and repairs, bath
ing Ctwo baths at the municipal.
baths monthly for the whole family
education, recreation, street cal
transportation or a bicycle to ride tC
and from work.
1t must not be overlooked tina
the case l have cited is that Of {
highly skilled worker. He received
$45 monthly. According to the reicF
statistical office, a government.
source, the average monthly earn.
ings of German laboring men in 1885,
we're only $31.9O, approximately one
third less than the linotype oper.
ator cited. Accordingly the sample
budget must be reduced by one
third if the average is sought.
Meager as are the material com
forts of the German worker undel
Nazi domination, his individual
rights as a worker are less. For the!
are substantially non-existent. Whel
the Nazis assumed control they sup
pressed the former unions, took owe.
their assets and set up the labo.
front in their stead. Members o
unions automatically became mem
bers Of the labor front Except TO
Jews and elements reputed hostil
to the s~tate). Anyone who with
drew from the labor front thereb,
automatically lost all his benefits
such as insurance and other pay
ments due him from the unions
Also, it became increasingly diff
cult for non-members to secure EN-
ployment. Starvation was the al
tentative to submission. In actua
effect, membership in the labor from
is compulsory, and the labor from
is completely controlled by politi
clans Of the Nazi regime.