Evening star., 1940-09-17

the reason why A
the workers are
begin ming to David Lawrence.
lose confidence in the man they
supported so overwhelmingly IL
1896.
The customary split of labor ha
been so per cent Democratic anc
40 per cent Republican. But in 1885,
the labor vote was anywhere from
80 to IS per cent for Roosevelt. Ir
many industrial plants which wer.
polled four years ago, the figures
showed IS per cent for Roosevelt
This contributed in no small meas.
ure to the Roosevelt victory.
This time the latest Gallup polls
show all labor as "a per cent fol
Roosevelt and 36 per cent for Will
kie, which is about what it has beer
In many campaigns. Among some
Of the c. l. o. groups the vote is
still rs to Is for Roosevelt, whereas
the A. F. L. groups are 81 to 38
but the tendency is toward the Re-
publican nominee.
Overtime Cut Down.
The main reason for this defec-
ton is that the administration
while friendly to the cause of labor
has failed to give labor what II
really wants-steady jobs at higher
pay. The wage and hour law which
was hailed as a boon for labor has
turned out to be a restriction on
the pay envelope of the skilled
workers. Company after company
which otherwise would not have
paid much attention to labor
saving devices or to the efficiency
requirements of tight schedules has
been compelled to find ways to avoid
overtime. The time-and-a-half pen
atty has been handicap to labor
though ostensibly benefit.
The test of what labor is doing
today is to be found in compari-
sons with 1929. Industrial produc-
ton is around 1929 levels, but the
totals Of the pay envelope aren't.
AS production has gone up man
agement has been compelled by the
time-and-a-half penalty to find
other ways Of getting the work
done. No greater stimulus to labor
saving and mechanical devices could
have been given than by the wage
and hour law.
In innumerable instances in the
white collar businesses and light in
dustries, where time and half has
had to be paid because no extra
shift could be employed, labor costs
have risen 50 that instead Of being
able to give wage increases that
otherwise would normally have
been forthcoming, management has
had to try to absorb the time-and-
a-haH penalty first.
The more discriminating Of the
workers are not being bamboozled
this year by talk Of social gains"
These are important only If they
are reflected in the pay envelope,
and it seems indisputable that If
American workers could get 48
hours work at straight time they
would infinitely prefer it to the
wage and hour limitation of 40
hours, which imposes penalty of
time and a half on all operations
continued beyond that hour.
Restrictions Understood.
Workmen are beginning to un-
derstand the restrictive process
which is holding their wages down.
The leaders of the A. F. L. fore
saw this in their early opposition
- Low hut
when the statute was adopted they
hoped it would, on a fair test, work
out ultimately in their favor. They
are not yet ready to advocate re-
vision, because the difficulties are
not widely enough understood, but
It is inevitable that as the arma-
ment program demands better
industrial output way will be in
sisted upon that lengthens hours
and increases the pay envelope ma
terially
The time-and-a-haf penalty has
also tended to prevent the natural
rise Of wages. Instead Of bein-
able to increase wages and count
on a higher output per man, the
wage and hour law has compelled
many employers to accustom them
selves to the 40-hour week-an ad-
justment which will take many
years and greatly enlarged de-
mand for labor before it can work
out as the theorists have contended.
Meanwhile the hours of labor in
all the war countries are much
longer than in America. Labor
fought conscription because of a
fear that eventually labor would
have to forego present wage levels
and be drafted in large part into
the Government just as are soldiers
Playing Favorites.
All the talk of conscription of in
dustry because man power is be-
Ing conscripted Is a good deal of
bunkum. For the truth is man
power isn't being conscripted as yet,
and that's what modern war really
demands-energetic labor at long
hours for the industrial production
that makes mechanical weapons.
Labor, especially the A. F. L., has
found that the New Deal, despite
its protestations of friendship for
the worker, doesn't hesitate to play
favorites as between labor factions
Thus the A. F. L. building trades
unions are being prosecuted, If not
prosecuted, by the Department of
Justice, while the G. I. o. is being
encouraged by the New Deal to 90
into the building trades and or
ganize rival unions against the A.
r. L. 1t would not be surprising