Evening star., 1940-12-09
M-Hour Work Week
Enough for Defense,
Miss Perkins Says
France No True Parallel,
She Tells Conference
On Labor Legislation

Under present defense needs there
Is no reason for undermining" the
wage-and-hour law by lengthening
the standard 40-hour work week,
Secretary Perkins declared today in
q talk before the opening session
Of the seventh national conference
on labor legislation at the Labor De-
partment. The conference was at.
tended by delegates appointed by
the Governors Of approximately 40
States.
THE security of Nation depends
not only on its physical defenses,
but on the well-being of its people,"
she said. Anything that contributes
to greater health and safety and
to more adequate standards of liv-
ing contributes to national defense.
There has been loose talk that
the hours of work, fair labor stand
ards, and public contracts act as
a hindrance to the defense program,
but there is no valid reason to un-
dermine the Wage-and-h hour legisla-
ton as defense needs shape up at
this time.
French Case Discussed.
1T has been said that one rea-
son for the collapse of the French
republic was the adoption of the
40-hour week. The French 4O-hour
week law was a rigid statute that
prohibited all overtime beyond 40
hours, not only for the individual
workers, but also for the entire in
dustrial establishment. 1t was so
difficult to obtain an exemption from
the Government to permit any vari-
alton from this inf1exible short work
week that as a practical matter
French industry was on a 40-hour
week.
1T is obvious that production on
that basis cannot equal production
on a three-shift basis of 40 hours
for each shift. The American hour
laws, however, were very carefully
framed to avoid this rigidity, and
any employer in the land can auto
matically work his employe as many
hours beyond 40 a week as he cares
to without asking permission of any,
body so long as he pays the over
time rate OF time and one-half.
1T would be natural to suppose
that man could turn out more
work during an 11-hour day than
he could during 8-hour day. But
experience proves the contrary. As
matter of fact. during the last war,
the British Munitions Commission
found that a reduction of working
hours actually increased production.
Nearly a tenth more work was
turAed out when hours were reduced
for Sc to 45i2
Same Experience Reported Now.
This is also the experience in the
present war. The British Minister
of Labor, Ernest Bevin, recently an
nounced that Britain, which under
the superhuman pressure to get
out more production, had abandoned
its wage and hour legislation, has
found it necessary to reinstate it in
order to keep production up to the
terrific pace necessary to win the
war. This is no matter of theory,
but question of hard fact, and a
realistic recognition Of the war time
necessity to shorter hours for greater
production"
Secretary Perkins praised the
work Of previous conferences on
labor legislation. and cited State
legislation enacted during the last
eight years in the interest Of wage
earners She also outlined the plans
of the Labor Department to pro-
tect workers ON defense jobs and to
prevent injury or death.
Continuing Committee Urged.
Appointment by the conference
of a continuing committee to study
the problem of postwar employment
and economic adjustment was urged
by Secretary Perkins.
I'VE must begin to make plans to
meet these problems now she said.
Wage and Hour Administrator
Fleming told the conference that
the wage and hour law is here to
stay and will be enforced. Investi-
CATION made during the recent COM
pliance drive showed that approxi-
mately 81 per cent of employers in