The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-12-28
Security Wage" Is
Continued From Page One)


workers is mot to be varied for work.
ers of the same type in different geo.
graphical areas to any greater ex-
tent than may be justified by differ
ences in the cost of living
Harrington Establishes Sixty Different
Regional Security Wage" Schedules
"Under the provisions of the new
law the Commissioner must require
all workers to work 130 hours per
month except that relief workers with
no dependents may be required to
work less and have their earnings cor
respondingly reduced.
Regulations necessary to carry out
the new statutory provisions were
embodied in General Order No. 1 ap-
proved by Commissioner Harrington
on August Is to take effect on Sep
tember 1, 1889.
"This order provides for three geo.
graphical wage regions: Region l in
cluding the northern States, Region
II including Pacific and mountain
States, and Region III including the
South.
"Within these wage regions, five
classifications of workers are estab-
lished: professional and technical,
skilled, intermediate, unskilled a.
and unskilled 'B' In addition, each
of the wage regions is broken down
by counties into four population clas-
sifcations.
"These population classifcations es-
tablish wage differentials by counties.
Lowest in the scale are counties with
no town of over 5000 population;
second, those with the largest town
between 5000 and $4,000; third, coun-
ties with cities of between $4,000 and
100000; and fourth, those in which
the largest city has 100000 or more
population. Under this system 60
different wage schedules are to be
effective and will bear no relation to
the prevailing hourly rates..
Monthly Wage Rates Vary In
Different Areas
GAS the result of this order the
monthly rate will be drastically
raised in the South and somewhat
lowered in the North. Unskilled
rural wages of workers in the South
are jumped from $26 to $35 month,
while in the cities of the South they
will be raised to $5070 a month. In
the North a number of reductions in
the monthly wage will take place
under the order.
"The introduction of new skilled
classifications and the requirement
that the monthly rate be paid for 13O
hours of work per month has resulted
in drastic curtalment of the hourly
rates. The hourly rates in the North
will range from 30 cents per hour for
the unskilled workers in small towns
to 40 cents per hour to such workers
in large cities while the northern
rates for the highly skilled workers
will range fcnu aa2, cents per, .hour in
small towns to 50 cents per hour in
large cities.
Harrington's "GOst-0f Living" Wage
Schedule Menaces Prevailing Wages
Rate in Private Industry
although no representative figures
showing the differences in the cost Of
living throughout the nation are
available the new schedule is alleged
to reflect only differences in the cost
of living applicable to the same type
of work.
GLOW the new schedule accom-
plishes this is Extremely difficult to
determine. For example, an un-
skilled 'B' worker in New York or
Ohio in town of say 10000 would
receive $42.9O per month. Such a
worker employed in town of SINH
lar size in Colorado or Arizona will
receive $46.S0 for the same amount
receiving $74.10 in such town in
of work. Similarly, a skilled worker
New York or Ohio would receive
$79.3O in Colorado or Arizona.
''If we compare towns of 10000
population, however, we find that the
workers are to be paid an identical
amount in New York, Ohio, Colorado
and Arizona for the same type of
work done.
"One thing is lcertain-no available
data on the cost of living heretofore
assembled can justify the absurdities
of such schedule nor it's destructive
effect upon the structure of prevail
ing wages in all communities.