Evening star., 1942-02-28


put in some Davo Lawrence
swing shifts but some unions are in
sisting that if a shift of workers
happens to work from Tuesday 10
Tuesday, for instance, on a rotation
basis, they should be paid double
time for work done on Saturdays
and Sundays.
Considerable success has been at
tanned by rotating shifts with l6o-
hour week of four shifts OF 40 hours
each. President Roosevelt was
asked at his press conference yes
terday about the petition OF the
citizens of Warwick, R. l., with
reference to a 168-hour week. He
either did not understand the ques-
ton or is unfamiliar with the prob
lem because he answered that tne
168-hour week would mean no time
for eating, He asked if it was in
tended to work 24-hour days. But
the 168-hour week proposal means
four shifts of AZ hours each. Pre-
sumably this would mean elimlna-
ton of me-and-a-half and instead
the workers would be paid AZ hours
straight time.
Slows Production.
Such a proposal is an attempt to
find a compromise on the present
system of 4O-hour weeks, which
penalties extra production by fore
ing the employer to pay tlme-and-a-
half for all overtime. While nor
mally this is desirable as a means OF
spreading the work, it tends in war
time to slow down production be-
cause of the heavy expense OF time
and-a-half. With manpower scarce,
the present law means that long
shifts will be worked and time-and-
a-half will have to be paid. This
means that the expense to the tax
payer will be materially increased
and that America will pay much
heavier bill for armament than any
other nation in the world.
The principal argument advanced
ia the House against the proposal
to suspend the 4O-hour law was that |
it would reduce total wages. Actual
ly it works today against increase in
the total pay envelope, because
many an employer cannot afford the
extra time-and-a-haf payment and
yet he hasn't enough work perhaps
to put on two shifts or else he can
not get sufficient manpower for an
extra shift. So he doesn't try the
longer day.
Thus is a bottleneck created by
a rigid law which should be flexible.
The proposal that the President be
given the power to suspend the 40
hour work week in defense indus
tries only and that the authority
be employed in his discretion was a
sensible one, but it was defeated in
the House by the labor lobby.
The two big labor organizations
swung into action in order to de-
feat any and all attempts to amend
the 4O-hour law. Inasmuch as the
farm bloc insisted on special ad-
vantages in the Senate the day be-
fore, the activity of the labor pres
sure group was not surprising.
Piles Up Difficulties.
But all these things merely mean
an accumulation of difficulties for
the war production program and a
slowing up where there should be
, a speeding up. The whole man
power situation will shortly become
acute and the administration will be
compelled to face it squarely.
This is another example of the
lack of leadership on an industrial
problem. The President was doubt
less caught unawares by the pro-
posals in the House and the admin
istration may have felt the best
thing to do for the moment was to
defeat all attempts to change the
4O-hour law. But very soon some
sort of substitute program will have
to be drafted by the administration
itself to bring about lengthening
of the work week without unduly
raising the cost to the taxpayers.
While there was much demagoguery
about the intent of the proposed
bill to increase profits, the fact is
that management is constantly hav-
ing its profits reduced and stock
holders are about to get the most
severe cut in the wages of capital
that this country has ever witnessed.
With selling prices fixed and costs
of labor and production unregulated
and with tax rates going higher
and higher, there is certainly a
woeful absence of coordination in
the economic side of the war by the
administration.
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