Evening star., 1938-04-06
NEW WAGE-H0UR
BILL IS DRAFTED
House Subgroup Favors
Graduated Pay Scale,
90 to 48 Hours.
BACKGROUND

Controversy orer administrations
sponsored TRACE and hour bill uds
begun more than year ago. but
measure uas passed BY Senate.
Chairman OConnor of the House
Rules Committee. aided BY an an
tagonistic Southern bloc. then sue
ceeded in bottling up the bill
Since then, sporadic efforts hare
been made by administration sup
porters on the House Labor Com
mittee to get revised bill reported.
BY TIE Associated Press.
A House Labor Subcommittee today
recommended a drastically-revised
Wage-hour bill which would provide
for a graduated minimum wage and
work week ranging from 40 to 4s
hours
The groups action ended weeks of
haggling over fundamentals and was
taken only after the Democratic men,
bers agreed separately on the terms of
the new bill. Two Republican men,
bers attended the meeting, but no re-
cord vote was taken.
Chairman Ramspeck told reporters
the new bill provided for creation of
an independent five member board to
administer its provisions. To meet
charges that the board would have
excessive power the committee stipu-
lated that the President would have
power to require the board to report
through the head of any executive de-
partment he chose.
Weekly Reports Desired.
The effect of this special provision,
RamSpeck asserted, was to make pos
sible weekly reports on the board by
a designated cabinet officer attending
Friday cabinet meetings.
The chairman said the minimum
wage provisions would require the
board to fix an average wage for each
occupation in given industry and
asserted the minimum fixed could not
60 below that average
The bill provides that the board,
in its first minimum wage order, could
not fix a wage more than cents an
hour above the weighted average wage
and could not further increase it be-
fore the expiration of IL months. At
the end of each such period, it could
increase the wage by not more than
5 cents an hour until the minimum
reaches 40 cents an hour.
Mr.. Ramspeck explained the weight
ed average wage for given occupa-
ton was the average of all employees
in that occupation in given indus
try at all wage classifications.
Would Fix Work Week.
The board would have power to fix
the length of the work week between
40 and 48 hours.
All power of the board to prescribe
labor standards for employers engaged
in purely local business merely because
they compete with interstate commerce
was stricken from the bill.
Agricultural workers and those en-
gagged in handling farm products in
their natural state would be exempt
from the bill. Railroad employees and
workers engaged seasonally in canning
and packing foodstuffs would be ex-
empt as to hours, but not as to wages
Mr.. Ramspeck said the bill would
permit wage differentials, but only
where the facts justify them-not on
a geographical basis.
He said the Democratic members of
the subcommittee decided to draft the
new bill without consulting the minor
ity members because they felt they
were not making progress when all
members of the subcommittee were
present at meetings.
Ramspeck Hits Delay.
Il am taking full responsibility for
this course of action" Mr.. Ramspeck
added. Il thought there was too much
delay under the old method" :
The bill requires appointment of the
Administrative Board on a geographic
cal basis-one member each from the
Northeast, Northwest, Southeast,
Southwest and central sections of the
country.
The board would be required to ap-
point director for each State, Ter
ritory and the District of Columbia to
assist in administration of the law.
Questioned whether he thought the
bill was changed sufficiently to assure
its passage, Ramspeck said:
Il don't know. It's the best we
could do."