The Washington times., 1938-06-28

Congress passed the wage-hour
bill to provide framework for the
directing mechanism of the expert
ment. President Roosevelt signed
it, and the latter part of October
1t will go into effect, titled Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1885,"
BILLS PROVISIONS
Broadly, the bill provides:
!. Rigid work week maximumS
of A hours for the first year, AZ
for the second, and 40 thereafter,
with numerous specified exemp
tionS.
2. A minimum wage basis of 25
cents an hour for the first year,
with the laws administering au-
thority empowered to fix rates at
or above this figure, up to top
minimum of 40 cents, and stays
there for six years. Then, un-
der the law 40 cents an hour
minimum becomes mandatory.
The administrative authority,
comprising an administrator and
industry committees he will name
with equal representation for the
public, labor and industry, has
power to fix wage differentials in
each industry, where living costs
and competition differ.
8. Child labor provisions pro
hibiting employment of children
younger than 16 and, in industries
designated as hazardous or mimi
cal to health, younger than 18.
Confidential estimates prepared
by Federal StatiSticians showed
that during the first year of oper-
alton the act would shorten the
work week for little less than
100000 workers.
If a wage standard of a little
more than 80 cents is fixed-and
Labor Department research Of
ficialS felt this was as high as the
wage-hour administration was
likely to go the first year-about
100000 wage earners would win
pay increases.
A flat Is cents an hour mini
mum, the StatiSticianS said, would
give pay increases to only about
200,0 A flat 30 cents minimum
would help 100000, and a 40 cents
minimum would affect 1,250,00O
employees.
Heaviest impact OF the new law
will fall in the South, even when
wage differentials, permitted in
the act, are applied. In the South,
in some industries, even the 25
cents an hour minimum-beloW
that the administrator cannot go
would bring material increases
in pay.
Figures so far compiled disclosed
that lumber, fertilizer and the
cotton textile industries will bear
much of the brunt of the in
creased wage and lowered hour
standards imposed by the law.
BENEFIT FIVE MILLION
Hour standards in the second
year-a ~ hours per week maxi
mum-would help more than
100000 of the $4,000 wage
earners engaged in manufacturing
industries If employment levels re.
main where they are expected to
be this fall. In the third year,
under the same conditions, the
40-hour maximum of the hours
provisions would benefit nearly
10000 workers.
Government StatiSticianS, inde-
pendent research institutions and
industry alike agree that the
numerical effect of the child labor
provisions will be slight if not
negligible. Enforcement of this
phase of the law was lodged in
the Children's Bureau Of the Labor
Department. Constitutionality of
this section of the act was vigor-
ously questioned.
Information available disclosed
that few children younger than
16 are engaged in interstate COM
merce and the law effects only
employees engaged in interstate
commerce industries. Even among
the few below IS so engaged, the
majority were shown to be en-
ployed in either industries or q
type of work exempted from the
law.
Preparations for putting the
new act into effect were well
underway in the Labor Depart
ment's wage-hour statistics diVi-
sion, which has existed for some
time. Much of the work involved
in enforcing the wage-hour act
will be executed by this division,
working in cooperation with the
wage-hour division set up in the
department to administer the law.
SURVEYS STARTED
Comprehensive surveys have
been started for the data and
statistics on which the industry
boards and administrator will base
minimum wage limits.
Labor Department officials were
unanimous in predicting that the
administrator would "go easy" in
working toward minimumS higher
than the 25 cents an hour basic
rate in the law for the first year
of operation.
The whole project, they said,
was "too new" for a sensible ad-
ministrator or industry board to
shoot these minimums up too
abruptly, particularly in view of
the laws provision that once fixed,
the minimum may later be raised
but not lowered, except upon court
order after a complainant has pro-
tested the rates in court and won