Evening star., 1940-06-23
THE SUNDAY WASHINGTON, c. JUNE 49, 1e4o-PART ONE
Mobilization Of u. S. Labor
For Defense Needs Foreseen
Maximum Plane Production Under
Present Setup Pictured as impossible

"recuperative" period for the over
haul Of machine tools and equip
ment. This work has got to be done
periodically and. in some cases, it
Is more ef1cient to shut down pro-
duction and overhaul all equipment
at one time than to carry on over
haul work simultaneously with pro-
duction, according 70 officials of the
Aeronautical Chamber.
| At the Bell plant, for example,
factory floor space now is being
doubled and the vacation shutdown
period will be used to install new
machine tools. to overhaul present
tools and equipment. to install light
ing for night work and for interior
painting and repairs.
Trend to Six-Day Week.
Although five-day weeks still are
general In the industry, there Is an
increasing trend toward q six-day
week when sufficient skilled work.
ers can be found to put the plant
on such schedule. Under the ex-
isting wage-hour law, personnel
rolls must be increased 20 per cent
to extend the working week of the
factories. In view of the difdculty
Of finding skilled labor. many plants
have been unable to undertake q
six-day program and none, so far as
Is known here, has established a
seven-day week. Many of the plants
are working two shifts and some
are on 24-hour, 5-day week, with
three full shifts.
"Flve-day weeks and vacation
shutdowns are not, In any case, the
result of not having enough busi-
ness" according to the Aeronautical
Chamber.
In the case of plants shutting
down for vacations, many of the
employees are expected to remain on
duty IN connection with the over
hauling and repair of equipment,
drawing double pay while so en-
ployed.
Any "full-out" war effort on the
part OF the United States, or any
other nation under modern condi-
tions, is expected to require as COM
plete a mobilization of labor as Of
military man power. Whether the
present national defense emergency
in this country demands a full or
partial mobilization of labor is one
OF the problems which must be con-
sidered seriously in the near future,
IN the opinion Of defense leaders.
Industrial Conscription Possibility.
During the World War, Germany,
to solve its wartime labor problem,
required that all male civilians be-
tween the ages of is and 60 render
compulsory service, in the armed
forces or in industry. England,
France and the United States
undertook to deal with the labor
problem on more democratic basis
but by the end of the war all three
had nearly attained a status of in
dustrial conscription.
The United States, during the war,
faced serious shortages of both
skilled and unskilled labor and con-
ditions became chaotic. The United
States Employment Service was set
up January 8, 1918, and it enlisted
the aid Of organizations of all kinds
and took over municipal and State
employment exchanges in an effort
to bring about an orderly supply of
workers for key industries. It
registered more than 100000 appli-
cants for work and placed nearly
2,700,000 Of them in jobs during the
war period.
A work or fight" order became
effective in May, 1918, and added
teeth to labor control methods. The
order permitted draft boards to call
workers in "non-essential" employ
ments for military service if they
refused to transfer to essential war
industries. Later the Government
attempted to set up priority system
for labor. which permitted the most
vital war industries to have first call
on available labor. Finally, after
the war had been in progress year,
the National War Labor Board was
created. The whole history was
toward an increasing labor compul-
sion.
New Plans Set Up.
National defense legislation since
the World War has not left the
labor problem very clearly defined
or near final settlement. The first
industrial mobilization plan, adopted
In 1881, had weaknesses which re-
suited in new plan two years
later. This plan, too, was sharply
criticized by congressional commit
tees and a new plan. in 1896, set
up war labor administration, in
dependent of the Labor Depart
ment.
The latest labor plan was adopted
only last year, but it does no more
than mention a selective service
administration as among those
which may be required to handle
labor and other problems. A war
labor administration is authorized,
with the mission of providing "the
machinery for the equitable and
voluntary distribution of labor to
industry and agriculture during war
by maintaining close cooperative
relations between labor, industry
and the Government.
Conditions in the aviation industry
are regarded as evidence that new
labor legislation will be required
before the United States can hope
to attain war or even an emer-
gency pre-war status. In other
defense industries, the need for such
legislation is regarded as even more
acute. This may become one of
the major emergency problems of
the near future if the Nation Is to