Some revisions in the present minimum-wage law have already been made by the War Labor Board, which allowed minimum wages of 50 cents per hour and later 55 cents per hour, and which approved increases which would bring substandard wages up to these levels.

But these minimum-wage levels are too low and, further, the War Labor Board's approved minimum-wage levels do not bind industry in the postwar -emergency period.

Therefore action in the form of a revision of the wage and hour law, as proposed by Senator Pepper in S. 1349, is imperative.

I. EFFECT ON THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

The shipyard workers predominantly receive more than 65 cents per hour— the shipbuilding industry ranks first among industries classed as basic and heavy industries in the wages and earnings of its employees. There are areas, however, notably in the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and in the Great Lakes and inland river regions, where shipyard workers receive less than 65 cents per hour, even in what is known as zone standards yards.

The prevailing rate of wages in zone standard yards below the port of Baltimore, and in the Gulf coast, for laborers, is 63 cents per hour. However, rates between 40 and 65 cents per hour are quite common. Such rates are paid at Decatur Iron & Steel Co., Decatur, Ala.; Rice Bros., Rockport, Tex.; Miami Beach Boat Works, Miami Beach, Fla.; Barge Building Co., New Orleans, La. ; Pine Castle Boat & Construction Co., Pine Castle, Fla.; Flury & Crouch, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Booz Bros., Baltimore, Md.; Lester F. Alexander, New Orleans, La.; Nuta's Yacht Co., Miami, Fla.; Southern Transport Co., Norfolk, Va.; Daytona Beach Boat Works, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Guards, plant-protection employees, office and clerical employees, and janitors receive the same or even lower rates of pay, although none are below the 40cent-per-hour rate, according to available data.

Direct information on the number or percentage of workers receiving less than 65 cents per hour would almost be impossible to obtain. The distribution of shipyard workers by class and area, and the number of shipyard workers by area, in June 1943, are available, however, and from these two sets of data fairly accurate estimates can be made.'

At least 15,830 shipyard workers in the South Atlantic coast were receiving less than 65 cents per hour.

Out of the 221,300 workers employed in the Gulf coast, 22,130 were employed as laborers, and were paid below 65 cents per hour.

Some apprentices, learners, unclassified helpers, plant-protection, and clerical employees, were also probably receiving less than 65 cents per hour, but the number cannot be determined.

The figures for North Atlantic coast, Great Lakes, inland river, and Pacific coast, are not available, since the standard rate for the lowest-paid classifications (janitors, laborers, cleaners, unclassified helpers, etc.) is above 65 cents per hour, in at least the yards covered by zone standards.

It may be estimated, with some accuracy, that the number of workers who can be receiving below 65 cents per hour in all shipyards in the United States does not now exceed 50,000 to 65,000.3

1 Since only in the unskilled categories (laborer, janitor, guards, cleaners, firemen (plant protection), and fire watch, and in clerical occupations) are there any large number of employees under 65 cents per hour, and since mechanics and semiskilled employees even in substandard yards are paid more than 65 cents per hour, estimates are required only on the number of unskilled workers.

In June 1943 there were 158,300 workers in shipbuilding and ship repair on the South Atlantic coast. Of these, in ship-construction yards, 9.6 percent were laborers; and in ship-repair yards, 10.7 percent were laborers. If we assumed a general average of 10 percent for both ship construction and repair, about 15,830 workers in shipyards in the South Atlantic coast would be laborers.

2 In the Gulf coast, 8.8 percent of the workers in ship-construction yards and 14.2 percent of the workers in ship-repair yards were, in June 1943, classed as laborers and were receiving less than 65 cents per hour.

The same number of possible substandard workers are estimated by another procedure. In June 1943, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states, 5.1 percent of all workers in private shipyards (employing a total of 1,250,000 workers) were classed as unskilled workers (i. e., guards, fire watch, plant protection, firemen, janitors, and laborers). That is equal to about 63,000 workers. But not all, or even a majority, of these workers necessarily received less than 65 cents per hour.

The low-wage firms (and even low-wage firms pay less than 65 cents per hour only to unskilled workers) exist in all areas, but predominate in the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In the shipbuilding industry, they would include the firms not covered by zone standards. As noted above, however, laborers in all firms in the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, covered or uncovered, can receive only a maximum of 63 cents per hour. Furthermore, some clerical workers in all firms in all areas of the United States receive less than 65 cents per hour.* The employment of women has little effect on substandard wage rates. Where women were employed in positions in which men were employed, they received the same rates of pay.

While the substandard wage rates in these clerical occupations are heavily concentrated in the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, substandard wages are common, for these occupations, in all areas of the United States.

However, the principle of equal pay for equal work prevails throughout our industry and the general effect is not depressive of wage standards. A minimum wage of 65 cents per hour will raise the wages of the white-collar and office and clerical workers, and of the unskilled workers in the industry.

It may be generally said that all sizes of firms may be found in both the lowwage and high-wage groups. Usually, it is a matter of union organization, and not size, that determines whether the firm will be a low-wage or high-wage firm. The effect of a 65-cent minimum on the price of the product, or on the cost to the industry, is negligible, if not completely nonexistent. No more than 5 percent of the workers in the industry, and no more than 1 percent of the firms in the industry would be affected. It would not cost the industry more than $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 a year, if that.

The value of a 65-cent per hour minimum in equalizing competition in the shipbuilding industry is not so great now, but it may become more important as the industry loses some of its heavy construction contracts and turns to smaller and lighter sea craft, which smaller yards can handle. The 65-cent per hour minimum may make more equal the competition in the building and repairing of small pleasure boats and other light craft.

The shipbuilding industry, after 1938, grew tremendously, but this was due to the effect of the American shipbuilding program and, later, the war, and not because of any general economic factors. The effect of the Fair Labor Standards Act on shipbuilding firms' leaving the business is negligible.

Increased productivity data are difficult to obtain. The union has some data one average man-hours of work required on construction of EC-2 cargo vessels (Liberty ships) delivered through September 30, 1943, which reveals that as the shipbuilding program progressed, man-hours of work were being constantly reduced. The average man-hours of work required for each of the first 10 Liberty ships was 1,288,900. The Liberty ships Nos. 271 to 280 required an average of 390,500 man-hours of work. The number of days required to build each of the first 10 years, average at 203 days. The number of days required to build Liberty ships Nos. 241 to 250, average at 35 days.

The average man-hours of work ranged from a maximum of 3,158,900 to a minimum of 300,000 man-hours and the number of days ranged from a maximum of 333 days to a minimum of 21 days.

These tremendous reductions in man-hours of work result in vast savings in construction costs to the shipbuilding industry, and they can and should be returned to the workers in the form of increased wages and the elimination of substandards."

4 In January 1944, 341 private yards having a total employment of 1,178.461 wage earners reported that 10 percent were women. Of the total employment of 1,684,900 in January 1944 13.3 percent were women. Therefore, about 118,000 wage earners were women and 224,000 workers out of all the workers were women. It is difficult to determine the percentage of women making less than 65 cents per hour. They would be included generally in the office and clerical occupations and would be classified as junior typists, clerks, bookkeepers, and office girls.

The tables found on pp. 959 to 961 of the May 1944 Monthly Review follow:

TABLE I.-Average man-hours required for construction of EC-2 cargo vessels (Liberty ships) delivered through Sept. 30, 19431

1 Excludes vessels delivered by 1 shipyard that delivered only 2 EC-2 vessels. Average for all yards by groups based only on complete groups of 10 vessels. Only 1 yard.

TABLE II.—Average number of days from keel laying to delivery for EC-2 cargo vessels (Liberty Ships) delivered through Sept. 30, 19431

(3)

(3)

(3)

3, 158, 900

300, 200

21

1, 475

1 Excludes vessels delivered by shipyard which delivered only 2 EC-2 vessels. Average for all yards by groups based only on complete groups of 10 vessels. Only 1 yard.

TABLE III.—Number of man-hours and number of days from keel laying to delivery for destroyer escort vessels1

1 All vessels delivered by Oct. 30, 1943, by private shipyards that had delivered 5 or more vessels. 2 Low number of days was caused by fact that 1 vessel in group was delivered 54 days after keel laying. 3 Only 1 yard delivered more than 30 vessels.

The shipbuilding industry does not directly depend upon consumer purchasing power. It derives much of its activity, however, indirectly, through huge consumer mass purchasing power in that high purchasing power encourages the exchange of goods between areas and between the coasts of America and between the countries of the world.

From the foregoing information, which has shown that substandard wagesi. e., wages below 65 cents per hour-are not common in the shipbuilding industry, it would seem that the shipyard worker is so far above the level of the substandard worker, that he is completely unconcerned with a minimum wage law. However, this is not the case. The shipyard worker is definitely concerned with a minimum wage of at least 65 cents per hour.

II. EFFECT ON DISPLACED WORKERS

First, the shipbuilding industry, employing 1,267,000 in April 1945 (and over 1,700,000 in July 1943) will employ, under the best of conditions, 500,000 men and women by December 1946. This means that almost 800,000 people will be seeking employment in other industries. The union has a responsibility to these former workers, a responsibility that, in this instance, is translated into eliminating substandard wage rates so that these former shipyard workers shall not receive less than 65 cents per hour, wherever they may find employment.

Further, even the shipyard laborer, with an hourly rate of between 78 and 802 cents, is not receiving an income sufficient to keep his family on a standard of minimum health and decency. The shipyard laborer has had to use previous savings, to work on outside jobs, or to spend war bonds as soon as they were purchased, in order to maintain some semblance of decent living.

The shipyard laborer is the lowest-paid worker in the industry, yet he receives an hourly rate far in excess of the 65-cent per hour minimum wage (except as noted previously). If the shipyard laborer cannot maintain minimum living standards at 801⁄2 cents per hour, then other workers certainly cannot do so even at 65 cents per hour. An hourly wage of less than 65 cents per hour is therefore inconceivable.

The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, in the 1944 Atlantic Coast Wage Review, presented the case histories of the living standards of three shipyard laborers, selected from a large number of case histories received by the union. Each of these laborers was making at least the 802 cents per hour minimum. Yet in each case these relatively high hourly wages, far in excess of 65 cents per hour, were insufficient to provide healthy food, warm clothing, decent shelter, adequate medical and dental care, and healthy recreation for the whole family.

The first case-Social Security No. 155-05-3574-was employed in a Philadelphia-Camden area shipyard. He was 40 years of age, had a wife and two chil dren-a boy of 17, and a girl of 4-and a mother-in-law of 62, who lived with the family. The family was Negro.

His base rate of pay was 82.1 cents per hour and his average weekly pay (during the war period), including overtime and night-shift premiums, was

$42.69. After deduction for bonds, income taxes, social security, and unemployment insurance taxes, he had, for the week of March 3, 1944, a take-home pay check of $36.44.

He spent $8.77 a week for rent, including gas, electricity, and heat. He spent $20 a week for food (including 2 quarts of milk a day for the girl). Insurance premiums were $1.35 a week; union dues and assessments were 402 cents per week; newspapers were 28 cents per week; and incidental carfares were $1 a week. This left $4.63% for the rest of the family's expenses. Also, doctor bills, to pay for two cases of influenza in the family, amounted to $70 during the year ($1.35 a week) and left them with $3.28% to spend for cleaning, repair-ing, and buying clothes; buying extra food, shoe repairs, house repairs, dentist bills, etc., for five people, one of these elderly and one very young. All haircutting, clothes cleaning, and shoe repairing were done at home. No new clothes were bought by the family within the last 5 years. Only the cheapest cuts of meat and fish, and the lowest-priced vegetables were consumed. Butter, eggs, and milk, when bought, were used for the little girl only. The man did not smoke or drink.

Except for war bonds, he had no savings whatever neither in the bank nor in the home. His outside job, as a saxophone player, which enabled him to earn about $200 a year, kept his family from going under and from having to cash: in their war bonds ($6.25 a week was being deducted for war bonds).

The second case-Social Security No. 219-22-5540-was that of a laborer in a port of Baltimore shipyard. He was 40 years old, had a wife and two children—* a boy of 13, and a girl of 8. The family was Negro.

He was previously employed as a postal clerk for 22 years, entering the shipyards in June 1943. He was earning $2,100 to $2,200 per year, while employed as postal clerk, and in addition had been chauffeuring at funerals and had, in this way, been averaging an additional $24 per week. The total savings, which was the sum of his pension money ($1,942) and his wife's legacy from the death of an aunt ($200) were $2,142.

His average weekly wage was $37.90 (he was working only about 51⁄2 days a week) and, after deductions for Federal taxes and social security, he had a take-home check of $37.12 a week.

His pay check was disposed as follows:

The total of these expenditures was $35.83 a week, leaving the family with $1.29 a week with which to pay for doctor and dentist bills, cleaning, buying clothing, house repairs, etc.

In addition to the weekly expenditures, the family had spent $1,000 of their savings merely on living expenses. The laborer's illness (he contracted pneumonia in December 1943) alone cost $207.

The expenditure for food was meager, but it was supplemented by food coming from the farm upon which the laborer's father was employed.

The wife made all the clothes for herself and the daughter, and she did her own laundering. There was no provision for medical and dental care.

The third case-Social Security No. 132-12-1300-was that of a shipyard laborer working in the port of New York, who was Italian, 47 years of age, and had a wife and three boys, whose ages were 8, 9, 10.

This man received a base rate of 80% cents per hour, and his weekly earnings, including shift premiums and overtime, were $53.37. After deductions for taxes, social security, and war bonds, the take-home pay remaining to him was $48.23. Other deductions, varying in amount from week to week, and including community chest, Red Cross, and war-loan drives, union dues, etc., left him with a pay check which averaged between $44 and $47 a week.

He spent $8.08 a week for rent; 72 cents a week for gas; 72 cents a week for electricity; $2.50 a week for insurance; 5 cents a week for a Sunday newspaper; 70 cents a week for his carfare; $1.40 a week for food for himself to supplement the sandwiches he took with him to the yard (he worked a 10-hour shift and since the company had no feeding facilities, he and his crew sent out for coffee and cake at night); $5 a week for repayment of a debt ($200 debt for an illness); 96 cents a week for repairs on apartment; 80 cents a week for church contribu