11
Over the Editor's Desk
W HITE COLLAR WORKERS
Because "white collar” workers have
been slow to organize, their weekly
earnings are among the lowest of all
groups. The | senate sub-committee on
Wartime Health' and Education has re
cently issued’ the report of its investi
gation on "W hite Collar and Fixed In,-1
com?' Croups in thejW ar Economy.” It
finds that some 2O,O.0Q;;QiQ’O white col
lar workers, including those in offices,
retail and wholesale stores, insurance,
service industries,- banks, real- ''estate,
¿government enaploypekilfstate and ¿lo-'
cal/, nurses, teachers and' other tech-
ifiC'a,! and professional employees, "have
not enjoyed rises in income commen
surate with the m ost conservative esti
mate of the cost-of-livihg increase.’’
The subcommittee states also: "We
found that before the War a large pro
portion of th pse, j^ople had substandard
Ssb^^y^-suk'-is^rfd^'-level^ncdmes; We
fotind that }the hardships imposed upon
them -bv the war greatly exceeded those
T d^db/^oth'’ I croups. We believe that
such inequality of sacrifice>i3^rijust,
unnecessary 1 2nd ¡¿detrimental to the
health, morale and efficiency .of a'
don at- war.”
The subcommitt-ee/found that $150
a month for single persons and “$200 a
month for married persons is the mini
mum income which could provide an
adequate living,, th a t isQ?$35 and $47 a
week respectively. Y et in 194 31® group
of 4*/^ 'million white,, collar ^workers
averaged o h ly r$ 2 8 .69 a week; some
3 million workers in retail trade aver-,
aged only $24.8 8 ;£ 2 million non-school
'state and local government employees
'$'28.8 5 ;v£nd the estimated average for
all public school teachers in the 1943-4
>sdhdol, year was about 4$3'2 per ,week.
The report also notes that ",after de-
ductidh.^ are made I f or income ¿a'xes,
war bonds, social security-and company
‘'retirement funds, the amount';oi the
weekly pay check is reduced by about
22 per'cent.”-
Here is. a group of 20,000,000 intelli
gent, well educated citizens who will
not be able to enjoy an American stan
dard of living after the war or to have
their rightful share of the good things
of life niil/ss their salaries are raised-*
From 1939 to/ 1943, yearly income of
mechanical workers .increased 69 per
cent, of white, collar , workers only 29
per cent.
EXCERPTS FROM "MESSAGES OF
G REETING” SENT T O TH E CIVIL
SERVICE ASSEMBLY HELD IN
CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 1-2-3
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Productidri by civilian employees in
the arsenals and shipyards of the Feder
al - Government yhk/skept pace with its
counterpart in private, industry. In vi
tal military and production areas
throughout the-qoun-try, I also know;,
employees of-,-s'tate„ and local I govern
ments have .provided many .-services es-'
sential to the prosecution of' the war.
These are demonstrable facts, and the-
merit system of personnel administra
tion in Government hats helped to make
them possible:” I
Governor, Edward J. Thye, Minnesota
"We in Minnesota are p ro u d o f our
civil service« .system. Although our Civil
Service Department has functioned for
only fivet years, it is already considered
an integral and important part of our
state administration.” '
Governor Thomas E. Dewey,,- N ew
Yprk, the first state to have adopted
the merit system for its* employees.
"Here in- the IEmpire State we are
constantly striving to improve the merit
system. We have reason to know that
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