Evening star., 1947-11-24
Sharp Drop in Output
OF Building Workers
Held Initiation Factor
Production Per Mon Found
Down SO Per Cent While
Wages Rise 78 Since 40
Bv David Laurence

By David Laurence
Everybody has known that 1t
costs much more to build a house
today than ever before, yet few
people have known why. Here are
some of the reasons, as derived
from a national survey Of about
60 cities:
A bricklayer before the war used
to lay 1000 bricks day. for which
he averaged 1883 per day in
wages. A bricklayer now lays $40
brick per day, for which he re-
ceives S1896.
Wages in every one Of the build
ing trades have risen considerably
and yet tile settlers are producing
50 per cent less work, carpenters
43 per cent less, plumbers A per
cent less, fathers 43 per cent less,
electricians Al per cent less. plas-
terers 81 per cent less. cement
f1nishers SO per cent less. painters
20 per cent less per man than
before the war.
Overall Drop Is 3S Per Cent.
The average overall drop in out
put per man in the building trades
is SO per cent. The wages per
hour in the building trades never
theless are 76 per cent higher than
In 1910.
How any nation can beat inf1a-
ton or keep solvent and prevent
an economic collapse and depres-
sion by insisting on more pay for
less work is one of the questions
which go unanswered. Mostly it is
because the facts have been sup
pressed.
Political government doesn't like
to disclose these facts because some
of the blame for encouraging more
paw for less work would be located
in the policies and speeches OF
President Truman.
= Labor unions do not like to dis
close these facts because they
would prefer to shift the line of
attack to the price front. They pre-
fer to spread the impression that
prices are high because profits are
abnormal. 1t is significant that
the unions will not give out de-
tailed figures on the output per man
or the reasons for the drop.
Contractors Make Survey.
Such figures as are available come
from contra ctors who have made
survey of results as tabulated
from so cities.
If employers got together to re-
strict output they would run afoul
OF the antitrust laws governing
monopoly and restraint of trade.
But labor unions are exempted from
prosecution for maintaining mo-
nopolies. The Congress of the
United States thus far has been
intimidated by the labor union
bosses and so have many OF the
city governments where the rackets
In city ordinances and regulations
and inspection systems are open
secrets. The public hasn't been
awakened to the real story of why
veterans who fought for their free
doms and for fair play in a demo-
cratic system come home to find 1t
almost impossible to build house
at low cost because there is a die
tatorship by the few against the
many.
President Truman has made many
recommendations about price con-
troll and credit control but he hasn't |
ventured to get at the real reason
for the high costs of housing-as
plainly illegal and within the prov
ince of Government to cure as are
the activities of any monopolists
now being attacked by the Justice
Department.
Persecution Charged.
About all the Truman administra-
ton has done is to erect a smoke
screen by prosecuting real estate
men for maintaining the same rate
of commission on sales that they !
charged before the war-an inSlg-
nifcant factor in building arts. Col
lusion by union bosses in slowing
down production while demanding
higher wages seems to have been
overlooked entirely by the admins
tration and incidentally by the Re-
publican strategists who apparently
don't know a good issue when one
stares them in the face.
Prices are up SO per cent on an
average for building materials since
1910 and the cost of residential
building is about 125 per cent higher
than prewar Anybody can figure
out why. If output per man is less,
costs 60 up. In bricklaying, for
instance, the hourly wages are up
"a per cent above 1910, the output
has dropped about go per cent per
man hour and 1t all figures up to
an increase of 219 per cent in wage
costs.
No country ever was headed more
plainly for economic disaster than
the United States unless an aroused
public opinion takes look at the
facts about the drop in output and
does something about it. Since the
public is busy trying to struggle
with these slowdowns in building
and high prices, maybe Congress,
as a representative body, will take
up the task. The biggest shortage
in America Is work shortage"
brought about by a conspiracy to
limit or resist production.
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