Evening star., 1944-05-28
|WhC 10 Tighten
Controls on AII
Male Workers
McNutt to Announce
Voluntary System
For Nationwide Use

Voluntary System
For Nationwide Use
MUNITIONS PRODUCTION 3tper
cent behind schedule In April,
Nelson says. Page Az.
BY MIRIAM GUTENBERG.
In new effort to meet the
critical labor shortages which
have brought demands from War
and Navy spokesmen for ma
tional service legislation, War
Manpower Director McNutt will
announce within 10 days a re-
vised manpower program, put
ting voluntary" controls on q
Nation wide basis.
The program, which will be pre-
sented to the national VINO Labor
Management Policy Committee this
week for final approval. would "ex-
pose" more men to work on priority
Projects by requiring that all male
labor be channeled to jobs through
the United States Employment
Service.
Tentative completion of the pro-
gram. which is said to have won
the unanimous approval of regional
VINO directors, comes at a time
when the Senate Military Affairs
Committee is studying the Bailey
Brewster work or fight bill which
carries the penalty of service in an
armed forces labor battalion" for
those who refuse to take war Jobs
and stay on them.
Psychological Factors.
Like all manpower programs, the
proposed system would be voluntary
on the part of both workers and
employers with psychological fac
tors" relied on to impress all those
affected with the need for compli-
ance and cooperation.
Main features Of the proposed
program, described as principally an
extension Of controls now exercised
in relatively few areas, follow:
/. All male workers would be sub
ject to priority referral" system
whereby they would be referred by
the USES to jobs where they are
most urgently needed. This chan
neling system for all male workers
is now in effect in only IL labor
shortage areas.
2. Manpower priority committees,
now operating in. approximately IS
areas, would be established in the
180 areas Of acute or serious labor
shortages to determine which In
dustries should be given hrst cali
for additional manpower. The Dis
trict is one Of 180 areas.
3. Employment ceilings, which
control the amount Of labor An
employer Il permitted to hire, Also
would be set up for ALI establish
merts in the $50 areas.
Migration Long Studied.
The problem OF getting workers
to move across the country to I'LL
serious gaps on the production lire
has been under study for months,
it was understood. The first sug-
gestion that the persuasive
methods of VINO be applied on .
Nation-w basis, however, came
from regional VINO director,
Henry E. Treide, whose region in
cludes the District.
Mr.. Treide,s suggestion that
priority referrap' be applied to al
AIS gave way to proposal that
all draft-age men be covered and
finally that all male workers be
exposed" to job opportunities else
where, on the theory that If more
men were told where they were
urgently needed, more would re-
spond.
Although every area in the colrn-
try would have to adopt the "pri-
ority referal" phase of the pro-
gram, the "tightness" of its apph-
cation would vary with the success
of an area in meeting its own labor
needs and doing its share to fill the
national quota. At present, 1t was
learned, only so per cent of the
10000 jobs monthly for which
nationwide call has been issued are
being filled.
How Program Would Work.
The extended program would work
this way:
Employers with the most urgent
needs would be given first crack"
at prospective workers. In most
cases, workers would be given q
choice of several jobs but would be
referred to jobs in other areas be-
fore being sent to local less essential
work.
Employers would be allowed to
hire only the male workers sent by
the USES or through an arrange
ment with the USES.
Employment ceilings would vary
according to each areas labor needs.
They could be fixed on all employ
ment or on all male employment
as method of persuading employ
erS to use more women. The CELL
ings could be fixed higher than the
present level, at the present level
or below it. Under the last ar
rangement, employers would not be
allowed to replace workers lost
through turnover.
Veteran Postal Clerk Held
1. TL.n Il tfon nm rL