think they would have compiled some figures by this time. Perhaps they will turn up in the hearings this week; I hope so.

(Mr. Schwellenbach's answers to the questions submitted by Mr. Graham are as follows:)

FEBRUARY, 13, 1948.

REPLY TO QUESTIONS RAISED IN LETTER FROM MR. JOHN O. GRAHAM, OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, DATED FEBRUARY 5, 1948, CONCERNING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF WAGE RATE DIFFERENTIALS

Question 1.-To what extent does a differential actually exist between the hourly wage paid to men and to women for doing the same job?

Answer. No complete statistical reply for the whole United States can be given to this question. To collect such data, even for one specific pay roll period would be an impossible task in terms of the Department's staff at any time in the past, or at the present. In fact, the Department has never geared its past wage surveys to this particular problem, but to the more generalized problems of hourly earnings for important occupations in selected industries.

The results of such surveys as have been made do yield, however, some information that shows the comparative earnings of men and women doing comparable work. The occupational earnings figures are based on a representative sample of establishments and include not only earnings of workers paid time rates but also those paid on an incentive basis. For equal pay purposes incentive paid workers would probably raise fewer questions, because the individual's production would determine his earnings. The major problems in such situations would be to determine (1) whether the base rate was set without sex discrimination, (2) whether women were given the same opportunity as men to work under the most advantageous system. The Women's Bureau has found that in some plants women were excluded from the benefits of bonus systems that were applicable to men, and such cases would, of course, constitute discrimination.

The extent to which a differential actually exists between the hourly wage paid to men and women for doing the same job cannot, on the basis of available data, be presented on any mass scale. It can only be illustrated, and that will be done in my answer to Question 2.

An indication of the range and seriousness of sex differentials during the recent war is contained in the experience of the National War Labor Board. The Board decided a considerable number of dispute cases in which this matter was involved, and the details of many of those cases are given in the Board's Research Report No. 32 which has been entered in the record at another point.

The National War Labor Board regarded the existence of sex differentials as serious enough to authorize employers generally to bring women's rates up to men's without prior application to the Board. This was done through its Order No. 16 issued November 24, 1942. The volume of such voluntary adjustments became too great for the Board to keep tabulation on after the first year of operations under General Order No. 16. The reporting requirement was abolished on January 3, 1944. The records of the Board show that up to that time 2,250 firms had made voluntary adjustments of women's rates, and that about 60,000 women were affected. Since the peak of women's employment during the war had not yet been reached at the time Board records ceased to be kept, it is reasonable to assume that voluntary adjustments continued to be made in great numbers, indicating that actual practice prior to that time was to pay women less than men for comparable work. Otherwise such adjustments would not have been necessary. Further evidence of the prevalence of sex differentials in industry comes to light through the dispute cases which came before the Board. No separate tally was kept of complaint cases that involved equal pay, but there was a fairly steady flow of them, as indicated by the Board's Research study No. 32, mentioned above. Some of the outstandingly important ones were: General Motors Corporation, which involved 100,000 women; Norma Hoffman Bearings Corporation, and Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company. Report No. 32, Appendices C, D, and E, lists a number of cases in addition to those discussed in detail in the main body of the Report.

An important case that was tried in the Michigan courts under the Michigan Equal Pay Law involved the General Motors Corporation-Oldsmoible Plant. In that case the Court awarded $55,000 in back pay to the 28 or 29 women involved who had been paid a lower rate than men for comparable work. This case is an illustration of how important, financially, the existence of unequal rates can be to women workers.

Question 2.-If a differential does exist, what is the magnitude of that differential for the same job: (a) Cents per hour; (b) in percentage?

Answer. As I pointed out, in answer to Question 1, no general statistics as to the extent or magnitude of differentials exist. Illustrations of differentials can be given however, from the industry data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, in a machinery study made in 1945 it was found that in all but 1 of the 27 classifications studied men had higher straight-time hourly earnings, the differentials ranging on a national basis from 4 cents to 26 cents. In 11 occupations the differentials were 10 cents or more. In five occupations paid on a time basis only, the women's earnings ranged from 94 to 125 percent of a base of 100, while the men's rates for the same jobs ranged from 105 to 130. In the job where men's and women's earnings were most nearly the same, the women's earnings were 4 percent less than the men's; the other differences were 9, 18, 181⁄2 and 20 percent. I attach a copy of the complete study.

In a study made in January 1947 of the radio, radio equipment, and phonograph industry, differentials ranging from 5 to 23 cents and from 5 to 19 percent appear in a group of 11 occupations in which substantial numbers of men and women were employed. The lower earnings in every case were those of the women. The following table indicates these differentials:

In a study of the paint and varnish industry where hourly earnings for men and women working as labelers and packers were obtained for July 1946 and August 1947, continuing differentials appear even though earnings themselves increased. The comparative earnings in this occupation were:

Another illustrative study is the one of office workers published by the Women's Bureau in 1940 covering five major cities: Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Houston, and Richmond. The study covered 1,189 firms, employing 82,450 workers, of which 45,414 were women. Comparisons of men's and women's monthly salary rates for the same occupations in each industry group show that

the average monthly salaries paid to women were consistently less than the average salaries paid to men.

Typical cases of wage discrimination against women of which the Women's Bureau has records are the following:

In plant making small castings, women were hired for less and paid less when experienced, than were men for the same or similar work.

In a soap and cosmetic plant, all women's rates were set below the hiring rate for men.

In a plant making farm equipment, job descriptions for men and women were similar for bench hand, assembler and punch press operator but men were paid 18 to 21 cents more an hour. For instance, the rate for a man assembler was $1.021⁄2 while for a woman it was 842 cents.

In a plant manufacturing creamery equipment the beginning rate for women was 15 cents less than the lowest beginning rate for men and the top rate for women was only 5 cents above their beginning rate. Therefore, the top rate for a woman was 10 cents less an hour than the lowest rate for a man.

In a plant manufacturing household appliances, over 80 percent of the women held jobs with rates below that paid men for light common labor. Regular men inspectors had rates from 10 to 50 cents an hour above those of the women.

In a plant making small metal parts, men and women were on jobs such as drill press operator and punch press operator with the same job titles, but women had lower rates. There was a 14-cent differential in their hourly base rates-both for beginners and experienced workers.

Question 3.-Is a differential between male and female rates for the same job tolerated in most collective-bargaining agreements?

Answer. Collective bargaining agreements do not always indicate specifically whether there is a pay differential between pay of men and women. However, out of a sample of 1,000 agreements in effect during the last half of 1946 and 1947, studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slightly more than one-fourth contained equal pay clauses of one type or another providing against discrimination, with certain qualifications.

For the remaining 75 percent it was not possible to tell statistically, whether there was a differential, since the pay scale was not always indicated in the agreement. However, there are some agreements in which differentials are specifically provided for. Thus, there has long been a differential provided for in the glass industry. A number of others, taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' records, are given in the attached memorandum entitled "Wage Differentials." They include an agreement for a Midwest battery manufacturing plant, an Eastern abrasives plant, a New England textile printing firm, funeral parlors in the far West, an eastern meat packing plant, a Midwest textile products plant, and an eastern paper mill.

WAGE DIFFERENTIALS

It is generally recognized that within a plant there exists a great number of duties which call for varying degrees of workers' skill, experience, responsibility, physical and mental efforts, and numerous other requirements. These are recognized through wage rate differentials for jobs in the various occupational classifications within a plant.

Wage rate differentials, however, may be found based on factors other than those listed above. They may be based on sex, race, age or physical condition, differences in the product manufactured, the location of the company, or differences in working conditions and hours of work. In some agreements such factors may be specifically or implicitly barred as bases for wage differentials.

EQUAL PAY CLAUSES

Sex or race differentials have, on numerous occasions, been condemned by both management and labor as destructive competitive practices tending to depress the whole wage structure within a plant, especially where men are displaced by women doing precisely the same work for lower wages.

The general principle of equal pay for equal work is recognized in many agreements, especially where they are employed on the same job or in the same department or on the same kind, or substantially the same kind, of work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics examined approximately 1,000 agreements in effect during the last half of 1946 and during 1947 to determine whether or not they provided in any way for the elimination of pay differentials between men and women, or

whether they specified equal pay for women workers. Slightly over one-fourth of these agreements contained equal pay clauses of one type or another.

Agreement clauses barring sex discrimination in wages may take the form of general statements, such as, for example, that "there shall be equal pay for equal work," or that "there shall be equal pay for equal quantity and quality of work." or that "there shall be equal pay for comparable work." Still another provision prohibits discrimination because of sex and/or specifically refers to rates of pay.

Some clauses support the equal-pay principle implicitly by providing the same entrance rates for inexperienced men and women; or the same automatic progression from entrance to base and higher rates; or by setting up wage rates on new products or new jobs based on job content without male or female designations.

Other equal-pay clauses are hedged by qualifications. They may provide that downward adjustment of wages for female workers is allowable where lower performance or production standards must be established for female employees; that pay rates for female employees may recognize extra costs arising from extra supervision, extra set-up men, or other aid particularly because women are unable to do the heavy physical labor performed by men; or that rates of pay may be reduced in proportion to any changes made to make a man's job suitable to be performed by a woman.

Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether women workers are doing the same work as men or different work. Therefore, agreements with an equal-pay clause often provide that this issue shall be resolved through the grievance and arbitration procedure.

WAGE DIFFERENTIALS PROVIDED

Wage differentials between men and women workers are provided under some collective-bargaining agreements. In the absence of job descriptions and outline of job duties, it is virtually impossible to determine from a mere reading of the agreement whether these differential rates constitute a sex differential or whether they reflect different jobs. This is particularly true when these same agreements contain equal pay clauses of one type or another which appear to support the conclusion that these differentiated rates constitute job rather than sex differentials. (See clauses A, B.)

Lower rates to women for similar sounding job titles or classifications may be due to dilution of the job, i. e., breaking it down into more simplified skills. In some plants, women have traditionally been assigned to a certain type of job. Women require extra assistance by reason of physical limitations on jobs also performed by men. In such instances, separate classifications have been established for male and female workers, reflecting differences in the degree of skill, effort, and job content required, even though they bear the same job title. In other instances, a rate differential may be established in recognition of other factors than quality and quantity of work; for example, rest periods for women but not for men. It would therefore appear reasonable to conclude that in very many instances differential rates specified in union agreements connote differentials in skill and not sex differentials.

An analysis of agreements selected at random from the files of the Bureau of Labor Statistics show four main categories of clauses in which sex differentials apparently exist. These are: (1) Different starting rates for men and women (see illustrative clauses B, E); (2) different plant minimum rates for men and women (see illustrative clause C); (3) different occupational rates for men and women (see illustrative clause D); (4) slower progression from the minimum to the maximum of a rate range or smaller increments at each step of the progression for women than for men (see illustrative clauses A, F).

Clause G attached lists different wage rates for men and women employees in a specified department for the period 1945-1946 to date. You will note that the differential for textile finishing was first narrowed from 13 to 6 cents, but in the current contract was increased to 9 cents through a 9-cent increase to men and a 6-cent increase to women. This agreement does not contain an equal-pay

clause.

A. A MIDWEST BATTERY-MANUFACTURING PLANT

PROGRESSION SCHEDULE BY WHICH THE HOURLY RATES ARE INCREASED FROM HIRING RATE TO JOB RATE

Rates of pay for female employees will be based upon the established rates for the work performed. In placing women on men's jobs, where women perform jobs which are the same as those performed by men, equal pay will be provided for equal quantity and quality of work.

Where jobs normally performed by men are changed to make them suitable for women, these changed jobs will be evaluated and classified. Any disagreement resulting from such evaluation and classification shall be handled through the established grievance procedure. When requested in such grievance procedure, the job description and evaluation will be displayed and explained to the Grievance Committee.

B. AN EASTERN ABRASIVES PLANT

Minimum hiring rates for straight hourly paid employees (except apprentices, office boys, and handicapped workers) will be one dollar ($1.00) for male and seventy-five cents (75¢) for female.

NOTE. This agreement has a detailed set of clauses dealing with women on men's work. Differentials are permitted until equal proficiency is shown. The agreement then provides:

After the woman demonstrates that she has attained the general level of proficiency of males in the work involved all payments made to her will be on the same basis observed in paying males of comparable length of service in the classification.

C. A NEW ENGLAND TEXTILE-PRINTING FIRM

It is agreed that each female employee shall be guaranteed and shall receive for each day's work no less than seventy-five cents (75¢) multiplied by the number of hours worked on that day. It is agreed that each male employee shall be guaranteed and shall receive for each day's work no less than eighty-five cents (854) multiplied by the number of hours worked on that day.

D. FUNERAL PARLORS IN THE FAR WEST

The minimum wage or salary per month payable under this agreement shall be as follows:

For Senior Male Embalmers (who have been employed more than two (2) years as a California licensed Embalmer), not less than $285.00.

For Senior Female Embalmers (who have been employed more than two (2) years as a California licensed Embalmer), not less than $230.00.

For Junior Male Embalmers (who have been employed less than two (2) years

as a California licensed Embalmer), not less than $215.00.

For Junior Female Embalmers (who have been employed less than two (2)

years as a California licensed Embalmer), not less than $190.00.

For Male Registered Apprentice Embalmers, not less than $130.00.

For Female Registered Apprentice Embalmers, not less than $115.00.