Montana labor news., 1939-03-16
open FORUM
Union Asks Changes
In WPA Procedure
Addresses Letter to Harrington
INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
LABORERS, 1853
Carpenters Hall, Butte, Mont.
Feb. 25, 1899.

LABORERS, 1853
Carpenters Hall, Butte, Mont.
Feb. 25, 1899.
Mr.. Harrington,
Works Progress Administration,
Washington, D. c.
Subject: Recertification of Men
Leaving WPA for Temporary En-
ployment in Private Industry.
Dear Sir:
We wish to call to your attention
a condition that has arisen in our
community, a condition that we feel
to be an act of discrimination against
members of our organization. In
order to make the situation clear to
you we are going to delve into past
happenings leading up to this con-
dition, so we ask you to bear with
us in this rather lengthy letter.
The members of our organization,
due to the inclement weather con-
ditions existing here for about five
months of the year, are part time
workers. There are a few who are
steadily employed by the various
utility companies, but these men
constitute a minor group Of our or
ganization. We also had quite g
large number Of our members who
were more or less steadily employed
by the city, county, state, and schoo
board, but with the coming of the
WPA these men lost their jobs be.
cause the above-named agencies be.
gan sponsoring WPA projects anc
having their labor performed by
WPA labor.
Due to inclement weather condi
tions and loss of jobs because oi
WPA Intervention these men wen
to work on WPA. They went t.
work there not because they wanted
to, but because they had no othel
alternative.
The members Of our organization
enjoy their jurisdictional privileges
while working on WPA and ge
along quite well there. However, i
a man accepts a temporary job il
private industry he is Immediately
placed on 6O2 by the Department o
Public Welfare and receives a 40;
from the WPA. When this tenn
porary employment is finished, re
gardless of the length Of time o,
amount of money he receives from
private industry, he is forced to wal
six weeks or longer before he is re
certified for WPA. Furthermore, h,
has to wait until all persons VIII,
were certified while he was EN-
ployed temporarily at private indus
try are employed on WPA before h,
is able to get back on the job h,
left temporarily on WPA. Some
times he may have to wait for thre,
or four months before being abb
to get back. We feel that this prac
tice has a tendency to discourag
members of our organization from
seeking employment in private in
dustry. Just recently our bushes
agent has received calls from variou
employers for certain men who ar
at the time working on WPA. Thes
men were reluctant to leave WPI
for temporary employment becaus
they feared they would have to wal
too long to get back to their jobs o.
lWPA. The employers became slight
lily incensed and threatened to re
port these men to the Department
| of Public Welfare and the WPl
which would result in the disrnissa
of these men from WPA. However
when the situation was explaine
to the employers they immediatel
realized that the fault lay not wit
the men, but with the Departmer
of Public Welfare and the WPA an
several employers expressed opir
ions that this condition was unfai
to both them and the men.
The WPA has just issued a neV
form called DE-12 for men VIII
leave WPA for temporary employ
ment. This form shows how muc
money the individual has earned i
private industry, length of tim
worked, and reasons for leaving pr
vate employment and is signed b
the employer We have had man
instances where our members aft6
a period of temporary employmer
have filled out these forms an
turned them in. These forms wer
received and then held up by tn
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