“MORE ABUNDANT LIFE”

Grey River Argus, 5 December 1938, Page 2

“MORE ABUNDANT LIFE”

Roosevelt’s New Act BID FOR INDUSTRIAL PEACE. NEW YORK, November 9. President Roosevelt’s latest' bid for fj.idustrial peaqe Brings ~ 11,000',000 workers—equal to the number out of work, in the sixth year of the New Deal —within the purview of his ideal of “more abundant life.” His Fair Labour Standards Act is aimed, as he said on signing it, at “sweat, shops, chisellers, and child labour.” Briefly, the Act provides for higher wages and shorter hours—“floor under wages, ceiling over hours,” —as the President depicted it. , The working week, from November 1, is 44 hours; next year 42 hours; thereafter 40 hours. The minimum wage is set at a may not be employed;, youths under Is an hour. Children under 16 years 18 years may not be employed in oc? cupations classes as dangerous. - Penalties for non-observance of the new law are severe. Employers failing to comply will be prohibited from sending their good s outside the State in which they are produced or manufactured. They will be liable to a penalty of six months’ imprisonment, a fine of £2OOO, and double pay for all their employees. f . The 44-hour week applies to .those earning the minimum weekly wage of 11 dollars, or more than a hundred dollars a week. It was observed that the Administration Would not enforce the new law regarding hours in the salary group above one hundred dollars a week unless employees applied for redress.