Evening star., 1943-02-16
tMcNutt Considers
p2-Hour Basic Week
Yin Critical Areas
I Monpower Chief Told
I 48-Hour Week Offers
/ Only Slight Relief
BY JESSE O. IRWIN.

n A 52-hour basic work week ii
$ssome sections Of the country wa
Szbeing weighed today by ManpowcI
spChairman McNutt after he hac
iebeen advised by two Government
ssstatistical agencies that the new
/ 4o-hour work week would produce
s.aonly a limited number of worker,
for war jobs in labor shortage area.
and would cause unemployment il
placed in effect in labor surplus
iareas.
Il The Labor Departments Bureau
lIof Labor Statistics and the VINO!
IBureau of Program Planning anc
lResearch drafted the report, which
iEalso included listing Of civilian
iiworkers in the War and Navy De-
apartments and the Office for Emer-
llgency Management, including the
IWar Production Board, the War
ltManpower Commission and the Of
liflce Of Price Administration as es-
itsential war workers.
Price Administrator Prentiss
Thrown meanwhile said he was op-
,,posed to allowing ANY general price
Increases to business forced to pay
Ilovertlme wages under the 43-hour
Iiweek order. Mr. Brown also sug-
lgested that Congress require work
sers to invest the overtime pay in
!War bonds.
IL Purpose of Order.
II The purpose of the work order"
he remarked, lis to conserve man.
tpower primarily. Businessmen who
must pay overtime wages under the
order are expected to reduce the
number Of their employees accord
ingly and should not be entitled on
that basis to increase prices"
Mr.. McNutt at a press conference
emphasized exemptions might be
given under :e 48-hour week order.
He declined to reveal what the ex-
ceptions would be but said he would
issue regulations within two or
three days" and agreed it would be
advisable for employers in the 80
areas where the 48-hour week has
been ordered into immediate effect
to await the new regulations before
changing current schedules.
1t was Indicated the exceptions
would be designed to cover cases
OF firms unable to work on 48-hour
schedules because of lack of ma
Iterials or other circumstances be-
yond their control and possibly
those who employ so few that ex-
tension of their hours would not
Tree any workers for essential tasks.
Regional Boards to Rule.
Decision on whether particular
employers should adopt a 48-hour
week will be made by Regional War
ManpoHer Commissions, using the
regulations as guide, Mr.. McNutt
indicated.
| At the outset, he said, the 48-hour
minimum will mean scheduled,
Rather than actual, working time,
but the schedule of hours may have
to be heightened later to get actual
working time up to the 48-hour level.
Mr. McNutt was informed by the
two statistical agencies that the
armed forces, munitions industries,
agriculture and essential non-agri-
cultural industries twill need to
have" s6,400,000 more men and wom-
en- in December, 1943, than they had
in December, 1912.
: 1t is estimated, the report stated.
that only half of the increase can
be provided by expanding the labor
force by 2,70O000 persons, mostly
women, and by reducing unemploy-
ment by 100000. The other half,
that is 100000, must come by re-
ductions in employment in less es-
sential industries" the report added.
The transfer of this number OF
workers to war plants, the report
added, will call for extensive con-
fractions in the civilian economy.
While curtailment of employment
In construction and trade, caused by
shortages of materials and a re-
duced volume of goods available for
distribution, will release some of the
workers required, many of those re-
leased will be outside shortage labor
market areas where the bulk Of the
increases in employment are expect
ed to take place. Many Of the work.
ers released, therefore, may become
temporarily unemployed, or with
draw from the labor force" the re-
port said.
Special Provisions.
ITO obtain 100000 workers for
transfer to expanding war indus
tries it will be necessary not only to
make special provisions for facilitat-
ing the migration of as many as
of rnlncrnI IN
labor shortage areas, but also reduce
extensively the production of civilian
goods in order to obtain additional
workers for transfer.
Increasing the scheduled hours Of
work to 43 or higher would reduce
somewhat the number of workers
that would have to be transferred
However, the gains possible from
such increases in hours are limited
by the fact that in labor shortage
areas the scheduled work week is
already around az hours or more for
a large proportion of all workers
Other workers are able to work only
part time becaue of family and
home responsibilities.
Increasing the schedule work
week in areas with a labor surplus
would merely create Unemployment
Nevertheless. if hours of work are
increased to a minimum schedule OF
48 hours per week in all cases where
the man-hourS gained would not bt
offset by increasing unemployment
the number Of workers that vii
have to be transferred from les,
essential activities will be reduced BY
around 100000"
The report explained that Of The
e2,500000 in the labor and armed