The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-03-20
|A.E.L. PRESIDENT
 HTS LABOR BILL
tcontlnued rom Page il

~S-~~~* "% E@-% v 7 tive bidding, and failure to make full use of stbcontracting.
 A8 Co 60 Hours
 Actually" Green said, "work hours prevailing in war industries today range from 48 to 60 hours a week. Payment of overtime is not standing in the way of increased war production. Out of $50 employ CTS polied by the bureau of labor Statisticss 840 replied overtime pay- ments did not restrict production, They blamed shortages of materials and other unrelated causes for de- lays"
 Excessive work hours, he asserted, bring less production. Great Britain tried to increase the work week from SO to 70 hours after the out- break of war only to find that 1t hurt production and impaired health, be said, adding that hours have been reduced twice since then and production has gone up each time.
 "Onlcial government statistics show that time lost by strikes in war work during January was four tfiousandths of one per cent of time worked" Green said.
 "The record of performance proves that the workers of the United States have rallied in 'de- fense of free institutions"
 President Philip Murray of the Congress of Industrial Organize tons also was scheduled to give his views to the subcommittee, which has been studying protests against war production lags.
 The committee hopes to conclude its hearings today, although some members want to extend 1t to ira- clude the testimony of @ represen- tative of the National Association of Manufacturers.
 Smith Bill Hearings
 The House Naval, Affairs Commit tee continues It's hearings on the Smith bill to suspend closed shops and time and half for time work ed in excess of 40 hours a week in war industries, and limit war profits to six per cent of the cost of co1- tracts.
 Witnesses today were Undersec- retary of the Navy James r. For- restal, assistant Secretary Ralph Bard and Rear Admiral Samuel Robinson, chief of the bureau of ships. Undersecretary of War Ro- bert P. Patterson told the commit tee yesterday that the bill sponsored by Representative Howard w. Smith, D., Va, would hamper ra- ther than speed production.
 Smith said he had heard reports that labor plans g general strike if congress suspends the 40-hour week and outlaws the closed shop and suggested that If we have an in. surectionist spirit in American La- Dor, for Gods sake let's know 1t now"
 Some members of the senate con- mittee expressed interest in the source of a report issued by the National Association of Manufac- turers relating to strikes. Senator Burnet R. Maybank, D., s. O., if1- serted South Carolina newspaper dispatch in the congressional rec ord which quoted 1t that strikes In war production plants during Feb- ruary increased 77 per cent over January and affected such products as bomber parts, anti-aircraft guns armor plate, machine tools and dies.
 Senator Francis T. Maloney, D., Conn, asked War Production Board Chairman Donald M. Nelson yester- day about a radio report to the ef- feet that 100000 man hours were lost in February, the equivalent of 2,000 bombers.
 Nelson said that while thSre was a considerable increase" in strikes during February, "unqualifiedly( we did not lose 2000 planes" assert ing that 1t was nothing like that number"
 Secretary of Labor Frances Per- kins, who said she had copy of the original NAM release, asserted