The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1939-07-07
GREEN CONDEMNS
SMALL BENEFITS
URGE STANDARDS
Congress Should Fix Minimum Benefit
At Not Less Than $500, Maximum
Rate OF Not Less Than $500.

| (By A. E. Of L. Weekly News service)
! Washington, d. C.-The altogether
too small benefits paid to unemployed
working men and women under most
state laws were roundly condemned
by William Green, president of the
| American Federation of Labor, in a
letter sent to Senator Pat Harrison,
chairman Of the Senate finance COM
mittee, which is considering the
amendments to unemployment COM
pensation provisions of the Social Sc
curity Act passed by the House of
Representatives
Mr.. Green's letter, which was read
to the committee by Paul Scharren-
berg, A. F. of L. legislative repre-
sentative, urged that the act be
amended by establishing definite fed
eral standards for unemployment
compensation with which all state
laws benefiting from the federal act
must comply.
| Importance of Federal Standards
On the subject of federal standards,
Mr.. Green said:
Because social security is only
meaningless phrase unless reasonable
benefits are paid the federation be-
lieves the federal law should estab-
lish certain benefit standards, the
adoption of which would be prerequi-
site to certification of state laws. The
federation believes that the standards
should not be inferior to the follow
| ing: a minimum benefit rate of not
less than $500, maximum rate of
not less than SIS, weekly benefits not
less than half the normal weekly
wage for full-time employment, a
waiting period not longer than one
week, benefits to be paid for not less
than 16 weeks in the year, partial
benefits to be paid when the weekly
wage is less than the full-time bene-
| fit rate, and no disqualification to be
more severe than an additional wait
| ing period of five weeks. If these
standards were written into the laws
our security system for unemployed
workers would take on positive mean
ing.
"The savings anticipated for bust
ness in the reductions of unemploy-
ment compensation taxes are largely
fictitious. Much of the tax is now
passed on and so does not rest ulti-
mately on business and cannot be
saved by tax reductions. The money
paid in benefits is all spent by un-
employed workers. The economy of
larger markets demands larger, not
smaller, benefit payments. Let us
look to increasing benefits and there
will be more profits for business.
"How can it be supposed that the
nations economy will profit by pen
sions to the aged and not by ade-
quate benefits to unemployed work
ers? The families of the latter, if
receiving reasonable payments over
the necessary periods of time, will be
good customers with every cent they
receive.
eff any state has excessive un-
spent reserves let it raise it's benefits
for certification of all state laws. The
gain to the community and to busi-
ness will far outweigh that to be
derived from tax reductions.
"The social security program was
enacted to bring some security to
workers who are in no position to
achieve it individually. 1t should not
be emasculated by tax reductions
either for individual employers or for
states, while benefits are admittedly
so far from adequate.
"The federation urges this commit
tee to strengthen the social security
program by recommending the estab-
lisihment of federal standards for un-
employment compensation benefit pay
ments as condition of certifcatior
of state laws, by refusing to approve
the new exclusions from coverage, BY
supporting the liberalization of the
program in those amendments affect.
ing old age insurance, and by pro
viding for the extension of the pro
gram to uncovered groups as rapidly
as possible, beginning now with de-
{ fning the term employer for unem
5 ployment compensation tax purposes
as it is for old age insurance-em
ployer of one or more persons"