Evening star., 1940-06-11
Minimum Wage
Law May Boost
Jobs for Women
Mrs. Kitt|e DiscIoses
Results Of Survey
In 7 Large Stores

mas DeeN 10 increase TaUrer Jna0
decrease feminine employment and
has added to the number of women
receiving wages above the minimum,
Mrs. William Kittle, member of the
District Minimum Wage Board, told
the Institute of Management Policy
at George Washington University
today.
Mrs. Kittle cited survey which
showed there were 5,185 women en-
ployes of seven large stores the year
before the law went into effect and
$500 a year later.
There were. she said. 1850 women
who got more than the minimum
wage when enforcement of the law
was started and 2,400 who exceeded
the fixed wage year afterward.
Maximum Wage Ahead.
"Our survey showed that the
minimum was putting the maximum
wage up ahead Mrs. Kittle COM
mented.
There were $500 getting below the
minimum before the law was placed
on the books, and 500. mostly part
time workers, year later, she said.
Displacement of women by men had
been rare occurrence. she added.
She said the local minimum wage
vas based on a careful survey of
living costs.
DR.. Isidore Lubin, director of the
Labor Departments Bureau of La
Dor Statistics, who reviewed State
labor laws for the institute, pointed
out that to make the cost of living
In a locality the basis of minimum
wage was, in a way, arguing in
circle. since the wage to a large
extent shaped the family budget.
He suggested that flexible. rather
than fixed, minima. taking into ac-
count regional differentials, were
more feasible.
Labor Setback Seen Needless.
Confidence that the national de-
fense emergency program can be
carried out swiftly and efficiently
without sacrificing the principles
Of existing Federal labor legislation
was expressed at last nights session
by Senator Ellender, Democrat, of
Louisiana: L. Metcalf Walling, ad-
ministrator of the Public Contracts
Division of the Labor Department,
and Marion Hedges. economist of
the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers.
Referring to the Wage-Hour Act.
the Wagner Act and the Walsh
Healey Government Contract Act,
Senator Ellender said it was difficult
to say what effect the war and
Americas consequent decision to
rush adequate defense measures
would have on the various labor
laws, but it was safe to assume
that their principles should be main
tanned" He expressed doubt that
Congress would complete pending
legislation for changes in the wage
hour or Wagner laws at this session.
Mr.. Walling said the only obiec-
ton to the wage-hour law which
could be urged was the overtime pro-
vision, which might make national
defense more expensive, but Ought
not to be a hampering restriction"
Predicts Aid From Labor.
Mr.. Hedges cited that Hitler was
reputed to have spent $4,000 ,OO0,-
600 to prepare for war and that a
similar military peak in this country,
with its standards, would cost an
estimated 100000 100000, which
would present "a dramatic and
rather staggering dilemma"
Our economy is going to be
changed" he said, but 1 hope not
all our values"
He predicted that labor would do
all it could to aid the defense pro-
gram, because it realized it had
something vital to fight for and de-
fend in this democracy.
Ultimate effects of the Wage Hour
Act were called into question sharp
ly by V. P. Ahearn of the National
Sand A Gravel Association. Dis
cussing Relations of Wage-Hour
Standards to Industry" he said the
law was, in some respects, revolu-
tionary measure.
Since Congress can set a 40-hour
maximum week, at 80 cents an hour
minimum it may legislate a 3O-hour
week, with a 60-cent minimum, he
pointed out, declaring Congress
may upset the national economy
each year by lowering hours and
raising wages or by lowering wages
and raising hours
He saw this as retarding business
commitments. asserting that no
one in his right mind would make
long-range investment in face of
such an uncertainty.
Sees Unions Displaced.
Another trend of the act was de-
scribed by Mr.. Ahearn as the ulti-
mate displacement of unions by the
Federal Government. "A great ma
jority Of the A. F. of L. and the c.
I. o." he added, look to the Gov
eminent, not the unions, for relief"
Baird Snyder, acting deputy ad-
ministrator of the Wage-Hour Ad-
ministration, said the Government
was trying TO enforce the act in
cooperation with business and as
fiexibly as possible, with the least
discomfort to industry, unless a
very willful and flagrant violation is
shown"
o. J. Lilbert chief of the field
review section. said the vast majority
of employers ARE in sympathy with
the law and are complying with it."
Violators, he said, usually are those
who always have paid the lowest
wages.
DR.. L. p. Afford of New York
University, who is chairman of the
Management Planning Committee Of
the American Society Of Mechanical
Engineers. presided at the opening
session yesterday afternoon. The
purposes of the institute were out
lined by Frederick M. Feiker. dean
OF the school of engineering at
George Washington.
The institute is sponsored by the
University's school of engineering
and the management division of the