Note:
Gunnar Myrdal died in 1987, less than 70 years ago.
Therefore, this work is protected by copyright,
restricting your legal rights to reproduce it.
However, you are welcome to view it on screen, as you do now.
Read more about copyright.
Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Economics - 18. Pre-War Labor Market Controls and Their Consequences for the Negro - 1. The Wages and Hours Law and the Dilemma of the Marginal Worker - 2. Other Economic Policies
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Chapter i8. Pre-War Labor Market 399
to single out what part of Negro unemployment is due to the new wage
minima. But there are some data which at least give us a notion of what
happened and provide some support to the hypothesis that the change has
been considerable.^
It would appear as if the danger to the Negro’s employment oppor-
tunities which is implied in the Wages and Hours Law would become
particularly marked by 1945 when the minimum wage rate is to be in-
creased to 40 cents an hour. This danger, however, seems to be passing
because the current inflationary trends will probably become intensified to
such an extent that it is doubtful whether 40 cents, by 1945, will constitute
a higher real minimum than 30 cents now (July, 1942). In fact, it is most
probable that it will mean less in terms of actual purchasing power. This
would imply that the law, unless amended, soon will become insignificant
as “a floor for wages,” and also that the negative effects of it will become
less serious.
Competing in importance with the Wages and Hours Law is the National
Labor Relations Act of 1935 which forbids employers to interfere with
unions, to foster company unions, to discriminate against union members,
and to refuse to bargain with unions representing the majority of the
workers. It superseded similar provisions under the National Industrial
Recovery Act of 1933. It was widely ignored by the employers until the
Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in a scries of decisions of 1937.
This law is the main way in which the government supports trade union-
ism. The growth of the labor union movement will be discussed in later
sections of this chapter. In this context we observe only that, in so far as
labor unions succeed in raising wages and labor standards, this law has the
same effect on Negro workers as does the Wages and Hours Law.
These various policies to stamp out exploitative labor practices, are both
in line with economic progress’. They all tend to speed up mechanization.
Therefore, they are likely to create serious unemployment among Negro
labor because it is marginal, unless strong countermeasures are taken to
improve employment opportunities for Negroes. Such measures should
have been part of a rationally coordinated economic policy.®
2. Other Economic Policies
During the period of the New Deal a system of public relief and social
security—^work relief, direct relief, categorical assistance, old age and
survivors’ benefits, unemployment compensation, workmen’s compensation
and similar programs—^has been introduced or further developed for the
support of citizens in distress. The system is far from complete and by no
means does it guarantee that all citizens in great distress will receive public
assistance. As shown in Chapter 15, Negroes get fewer benefits, in relation
* Concerning federal government policict during the war boom, lee Chapter 19, Section 3.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
