Ì7
Quote and Unquote
■ An article in the September 1946 is-
su’e- | o f I th e M onthly Labor Review
BARBARA ATM A N , Editor
shows that theré -is a steady increase in
The Maine State Department„of Per the number of states which have enact-,
sonnel has established an. advisory coun ed civil service laws. "By the middle óf
cil on personnel, as, a, means for devel
1945,'2-2 of *the. 4/f states had civil-
oping better relations w ith state de service * sy&femss>,,;,est ablished by law,
partments. and other* groups.. The coun ‘wm ^^applyliiftp^ all branches of the
cil includes representatives of the Gov state government. In six: of these states
ernor’s office, the House and Senate, such,legislation was adopted in 1940 or
operating departments, employee groups, later .//(This includes Oregon). In the
the Budget Office, and the publid|Bfe remaining 26 states some departments,
,Civil Service A ssem bly^/v
for /.example , unemployment compen
January 1947.
sation, employment service and welfare
divisons, operate under a ’m erit'^sys-/
tern.” These latter - 'are departments
An ordinance adopted by the Port
land, Oregon, City Council establishes which receive part of their funds from
i ^standard work we,ek of forty hours the federal government. "M erit systems
for all city employees, effective Janu of appointment are much less prevalent
ary 1, except for the uniformed per in' counties, municipalities and smaller
sonnel ''ofr the police a n d ' fire bureaus1, units of local government than in state
•tinder the ordinance, employees will re governm ents/’
ceive tirhe .and a half off w ith pay for
I "Y o u 'ca n ’i / f i r e a? civil service em
all w o rk irie x e 'e s s n f eight hours per
day or 48 hours per week.-^-Giyil Ser ployee,” an argument often used by
opponents of the merit system, is given
vice Assembly Newsletter, Jan. 1947.
little support in figures released recent
ly by thè Michigan State. I Givi!- Service
A dministrative; and clerical workers Commission; Thomas , J. Wilson, State I
in over half the 933 cities with more Personnel Director,' has difeected public
than 10,00-0, population now work less attention-to the fact t h a t s t a t e
than 42 hours/a- week, and the per- ^employees have been discharged during
I ’'eentage is, steadily growing .according ■f he last six years. O f this iiumber, only/
B to.ya, report by ,the International City
63 were retinstated after appealing'fo
/ ’Managers’ Association. I
the Civil Service?' Commission. More
than half of thè discharges were on the
Dayton, Ohio, where an ordinance
. I was recently adopted placing all city -grounds of- incompetency. Ih I calling
employees Sofa-five-day, 4 0 /houk/week, attention to the discharge .figures^I Mr.
I is ?ykemplary of the .trend. .-Iri general, Wilson? contrasted present conditions
larger.-cities have shorter work/weeks I w ith those which prevailed prior to the
fo r’white collared employees that/ small
/establishment of the state civil service
er cities,.? recent surveys-indicate.
program. In thè old days, he said, ef
/J/SL Louis has established a minimum
forts to discharge inefficient em
work week o f 3 8 hours for. all city em-
ployees were frequently blocked by the
, ^-ployees in the classified services, w ith
W jP Qdays cumulativewii'cation and two political sponsor's of' such employees.
days sick leave for eachm onth. Balti Even after employees' were discharged,
more recently-/decided to give' a four-
they were often reinstated when ap
month- trial ' to a fiy'e-d^y wefek -with
pointing
authorities ^succumbed to pol
work Lours-from 8:45 a.m. to 4:20 p.m.
•A -From Journal o f" State and Local itical pressure.— Civil Service,. Assembly
Newsletter.
/G o vern m en t' Employees, Dec. 1946.