The Washington times., 1937-04-23

BY A. N WECkSLE&
First step in making the mini
mum wage law effective in the
District will be the appointment
Of q minimum wage board by the
Commissioners.
When that board is appointed
its members will have only one in
deX for proceeding in establishing
q minimum wage for women here.
In effect, this board will be
somewhat Of a small MIRA unit
and will follow the same general
course in employer-emplOye rela-
tionship as did the Recovery Ad-
miniStration.
However, the model for its de-
hberationS will necessarily be the
actions Of the original board ap-
pointed in 1918, when the law was
enacted. The old board had five
years experience in dealing with
minimum wages. Unfortunately,
the records of the old board were
destroyed in the fire in the De-
partment OF Labor Building in
1880.
Use Annual Reports
There do exist the annual re-
ports of the original board, and
from these a general knowledge
of its problems and the results of
its administration can be obtained.
Former members of the board are
further sources Of information.
From these sources it was pos
sible to learn the steps taken by
the 1918 board to make the mini
mum wage law operate.
No sooner was the board ap-
pointed than q special study was
made Of the cost of living. Pri-
marily this study concerned the
living cost of woman living alone,
without any form of income other
than one job.
The possibility Of q girl living
with parents or working at two
jobs was not considered as a fac
tor in establishing a decent liv-
ing wage standard" If the cost
of living Of q girl living at home
was considered as a factor by the
board, it would amount to Sub
SlQy 10 INDUSTRY.
Having established O definite
scale Of living costs, the board
then proceeded to make q prelim-
mary study Of the various indus
tries in the District employing
women, and which Of these indus
tries were paying "low'' wages.
It was decided that the board
would first sharpen its teeth on
one Of the smaller" industries,
and to proceed to an industry EN-
ploying a large number OF. women
when it had obtained more expe-
rience in Negotiating . minimum
wage. s.
The printing and publishing
industry was selected for the ex-
periments and survey of the
pay rolls Of the printing and pub
fishing plants Of the city re-
vealed that at least half Of the
women W" king in this branch Of
industry were getting wages
below $12 a week.
To force q higher wage In this
industry, the board Immediately
No44CA q NO4A4C4C4ANCs
Spokesman Picked
Representatives of the industry
elected three persons to repre-.
sent their interest and to talk"
for the industry as a whole. In
like fashion labor selected a like
number of champions to argue
the rights of the women workers.
Added to these groups were
three private citizens who were
appointed by the board to be i'm.
partial participants in the con.
ference.
Several sessions were held and
the deliberations took in all
phases Of industrial relations;
howeve., the factor involved was
she cost of living to a woman
worker in that industry.
Each side presented its case as
to the cost of girls to live de-
Gently, and after several sessions
the conference finally arrived at
a conclusion.
The conference decided that
$3.50 a week was a decent"
minimum, and made recommen-
dations on this basis to the
board. A wage order was issued
and employers Of the printing
and publishing industry found
themselves charged with the re-
sponSibility of paying workers
no less than that amount.
The only exceptions made were
for learners, who were given a $40
minimum, but increases were
sharply graded. so that as soon as
they acquired experience they
would receive the full minimum.
So that the rights of learners
would be respected, certificates
were issued to workers in the cate
CORY and a copy Of these certifi.
Gates were retained by the EN-.
ployer and similar form submit
ted to the wage board. In it's re-
port, the board had the following
to say about the system Of learn
ers' certificates:
"This system Of certificating
learners greatly facilitates en-
fOrcement Of learners rates. In
the first place, It gives the
learner schedule by which she
can see when she is entitled to
an increase; in the second, it
makes It easier for an employer
to keep track of the dates when
increases are due: In the third,
It makes it possible for the board
to follow up each case and as
sure itself that the advance to
the minimum has been made"
IovinC established tho first