Montana labor news., 1938-01-27
SHORTER HOURS and
W 6 PROTECTION
URGED BY VIM. GREEN
CONTINUED from Page d

Continued from Page u
tend coverage in the payment of I'M
employment benefits and 0ld-age
benefits; to provide for payment of
larger old-age benefits; to put in
effect a system of extended bene-
fits for a limited period beyond the
present limit of employment benefit
payments, and, to integrate the adj
ministration of unemployment com
pensati0n and relief.
"(7) Resumption of the work re-
lief program on an extended scale
during the immediate period of
emergency with increased appr0pri-
alton for that purpose"
Unemployment Demands Shorter
Hours
In considering the paramount ne
cessity of shortening the hours of
work in industrial employment by
maximum hour regulation the A. F..
of L. president said:
"The unemployment situation
presents a gloomy and discouraging
picture. It strikes a final and I'M
bearably cruel blow at the men and
women who have barely had a
chance during the brief period of
increased economic activity to liqui-
date the deficits run up in the years
of the last depression from the in
comes secured out of their meager
earnings. 1t is an even worse blow
to those who have not had the OPP
portunity of obtaining re-employ-
ment provided by our private in
dustry.
Increase of archaeological TN
employment
part of the current unemploy-
ment is unquestionably due to the
increased productivity resulting
from chronological changes.
we still hear persistent discus
sion of bringing industrial activity
back to normally invariably based
on comparisons with the ~so-called
normal year of 1929.
"In considering such statements
we must bear in mind two funda-
mental facts: First, that since 1925
the number of wage earners seek
ing employment has increased by
nearly five million; and, second, that
the chronological changes and the
resulting increases in productivity
have made it possible to produce the
same volume of goods with a con
~siderably smaller labor force.
During the eight years since the
beginning of the last depression, We
have failed to apply any remedy
sufficiently effective to halt the rise
in unemployment. We have nov
accumulated an additional force O.
job-seekers, some five million il
strength, whom industry must alb
sorb.
Shorter Hours by Legislation Is
: Imperative
On dealing with employment il
the depression and the %possibilitie
of a return to even 1929 conditions
Professor j. M. Clark of Columbii
University in his notable study mad
the following significant statement
/, Improvements have been
made since 1929, enabling a CIV
en- output to be produced with
less labor, and many more prob
= ably stand ready for introduce
i, ton when confidence revives
, sufficiently and when the con-
; dition of the capital market
) makes it possible to raise the
necessary funds. Thus, unless
+ there is a shortening of hours in
, industry there may be a
considerable amount of unem-
ployment even after the current
revival has gone as far as it
f can
Labor maintains that the short
ening of hours of work in industr
, is an essential prerequisite to tn
reduction of unemployment. Legis
lative action to make effective thi
shortening of hours should be Tier
' Number One on the agenda of thi
Congress-"
: Workers Buying Power Must Be
Protected
Turning to the equally importar
question of Continued expansion {
buying power of the workers It
re-establish recovery" Mr.. Gree
declared:
q "Our best NEAR of providing re
employment and business revival
c through sustaining the p%urchasin
power of the vast mass of the Amer
lean wage earners.
Z Drastic chronological change
which have taken place have result
r ed in greater productivity per ma
per hour in all of our major indus
tries.
9 New strip mills currently in
! stalled by steel manufacturers ca
for twenty-five workers in the
a operation where more than on