The union times. (New Haven, Conn.) 1941-1948, 1943-04-03
U.S.LaborDe t.DsprovesN ome1 1ourLa
By ROBERT b. BICKEL


eral Assembly, and of the
State Department of Labor
that there exists no need for
Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin's
Executive Order No. 2, which
has suspended the hour law in
regards to women workers, is
borne out by information just
released by the u. S. Depart
ment of Labor.
The Division of Labor
Standards, i'm an authoritative
report, asserts that the need
for relaxing labor laws to
meet war production emer.
gencies has passed. Employ.
ers in Connecticut and else.
where have discovered that
they can meet their produc.
ton quotas without having to
break down basic labor stand.
ards. The report covers the
first year of the u. S. entry
into the war, and it includes
81 states, among them Con-
necticut.
NO NEED SHOWN
1T is very. evident from the
trends shown throughout the year
that employers i'm Connecticut have
increasingly attempted to meet
their problems of increased prOduc-
ton by putting their plants ON a
24-hour basis" the Federal Labor
Department explained.
cit has not been necessary to
sOOrk sOOmen longer than the legal
standard of 48 hours per sOeek,
except for short transition periods"
The Federal Department pointed
out that the hour laws in this State
give the Commissioner of Labor the
power to grant a permit for a 10
hour day and 55-hour week in emery
encies for eight weeks. Under the
special emergency provision of the
labor law which expired Feb. 10, 1913,
the Governor was given the power to
extend the 55-hour week in interest of
war production. Many persons feel
that the renewal of this provision
would have handled the situation.
A total of 379 applications for
permission to extend the work
week of women workers beyond the
basic 48 hours were applied for
during 1912. After investigations
by the State Division of Factory In
spection all but 50 of these appli-
cations were granted. One hundred
and eighty-four plants received per-
mission, and the application of SIS
plants were denied to employ
women i'm excessive of the 48 hours.
One hundred and twelve of these
permits ran for thirty days or less.
In a considerable number of in
stances the same plant obtained
more than one permit because of
different departments involved at
different periods.
uC lOl CAlCllSlOlI VI
hours which were denied either were
refused because minors were involved
or these was no evidence of specific |
emergency.
REQUEST SLACKENS
During the last four months
there has been a slackening of re-
quests for longer work weeks, and
an increase i'm the rate of requests
for second shift operations" ac-
cording to the u. S. Labor De-
partment.
Basic legal standards for manufac-
turing industries established by Con-
necticut law before the Governor is
sued his War Order No 2, suspend
ing these standards were: hour
day and 48-hour week for women and |
minors under 49,; employment of |
women and minors for women and
minors under Is prohibited after
10 PM; six-day week for all en-
ployes.
Following the issuing the Governor
Order No. 2, the Connecticut Manu-
facturers Association issued an inter-
pretative letter informing their men,
bers that all restrictions were removed
on the hours of employment of women
including one day of rest in seven
This bold move on their part
aroused the anger of labor and the
legislators who felt that the chief ex-
ecutive had either abused the War
Time Power they voted him, or that
he made serious mistake.
SENATOR'S AROUSED
A move was made in the State
Senate to curb the Governor on
this Order. Democratic IabOrite
Sen. James p. Ceelan, New Haven;
and Republican Sen. VIM. A. Nor
tenson, Hartford, introduced bills
that would re-establish the 55-hour
maximum and provide a day of
rest. In the meanwhile the Gov
ernor spanked" the impetuous
Manufacturers Association and ex-
planned to the Senators that he only
meant SIS hours. The bills are now
before the Assembly's Labor Com
mittee.
The New Haven Central Labor
Council at its last meeting pro-
tested the Governors use of his
Wartime Power to suspend the hour
law.
None the less, the basic legal stand
ards of the State are under attack and