Evening star., 1943-08-13
ldundries Here
Ask Permit 10
RaisePay,Prices
Petition WLB ond OPA
For Help in Solving
Monpower Problem
BY MIRIAM OTTENBERG.


Petitions asking for permission
to grant wage increases amount
ing to $4,000 and to raise laun-
dry prices from S to 90 per cent
have been filed by the Laundry
Dry Cleaning Owners Associa-
tion of the District for "a ma
jority" Of the city's laundries, 1t
was learned today.
In submitting the petitions, as
sociation officials told the War La
Dor Board and the once of Price
Administration that the laundries
were not financially able to absorb
the increased costs resulting from
increased wage rates.
Although WLB grants the wage
increases, laundry offcials indicated,
wages will not be raised until price
adjustments have been approved.
More Critical Daily.
Despite the midsummer slump
which has found the laundries able
to 60 back on a seven-day scfed-
ule, association officials said the
laundry situation Is becoming more
critical here all the time, that a
large amount of machinery is idle
for lack of adequate help and that
the laundries have been informed
by the area War Manpower Com
mission that it will not recruit work.
ers until the laundries pay mini
mum wage Of 40 cents an hour.
The association said the laundries
were willing to comply with WINGS
indirect order" but could not do
so unless they received permission
for commensurate price increases.
1t was estimated that individual
increases would average 50 a week,
with the lowest-paid workers on a
48-hour week at time and a half
for overtime receiving increases
amounting to $3.50 week.
Scale Worked Out.
The pay increases being sought
provide minimum of 40 cents an
hour. Workers now being paid be-
tween 40 and go cents an hour would
get 5-cents-an-hour increase.
Those between 81 and 10 cents an
hour would get Accent raise and
those between II cents and 81 an
hour would get a 3-cent-an-hour
raise.
Price increases would vary from
plant to plant, depending on how
much the wage increases cost the
plant. 1t was said the price in
creases sought ranged from 5 to 20
per cent. One of the laundry ON
cials seeking price increase said
that more than rs per cent of his
gross revenue in July went to pay
wages.
The laundry association estimated
that approximately 80 per cent OF
the city's 5000 laundry workers
would be affected by the wage In
| crease.
Wages Factor in Shortages.
Low wages in laundries have con-
sistently been given by the local
VINO as the reason why it was DIM
cult to recruit workers. When the
laundries called for help in June,
several hundred workers were To-
Gated by the local United States
Employment Service, but early In
July, Acting Area Director Fred z.
Hetzal notified the laundries that
they could expect no further help
in recruiting unskilled workers until
wages were adjusted.
Laundry officials indicated that
they will expect help from the USES
now that they have filed the petit
tions. Although the crisis has eased
with the summer drop in business,
the laundries expect to enter their
heaviest season in September when
they will have lost the high school
workers who have to quit work in
the fall
The association presented the Pc
titions-to the War Labor Board yes
terday and George N. Walker, the
associations executive secretary, and
Edwin Wesley, chairman of the as
sociation's Committee on Wage and
Price Increases, were in New York
today to file the petitions for price
increases with the regional OPA
office.