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4-2217
FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
WC?.K PROJECTS .AJJHINIS'::RATION
fllAR 17 1
For I mmedi a te Releas e
Monday , Iv!arch 10 t 1941.
~RY
48-HOUR WCR..'f{ WEEK ORDERED TO SPEED UP WPA DEFENSE COHSTRUCTI ON' PROGRAM
A 48- 1:our work week on WPA certified na tional defense
construction projects , consis ting mainly of airports , access roads
and. building construction at A:rmy and lJavy posts; was aut horized to day
by Howard
o.
Hunter , Acting Commissioner of Work Projects , to becor:ie
effective at once .
Th is will mean , l,fr . Hunter said, incr eas es of from 20 to 60
percent in t he average work week on t hese projects , pres ent hours
var ying f!'om 30 to 40 per week.
It will also moan , he declared , a
material speed.int; up in t he completion of many facilities which have
be en designated by t ho Secretaries of War ana_ Navy as important to t he
na tiona l defense program.
Nr . Hunter esti:nated that approxi mately 200 , 000 workers woul d
-be affected by t he ordor •
Approximately 150, 000 pers ons ar e now working
a 30- hour wook on certified defense construction projects and about
50,000 a 40- hom· week .
The order means a corresponding incr ease in
weekl y earnings of workers affected.
Total employment on defense
projects , both cer t ified and non- certified, s to od at 490 , 906 on
February 19.
Mr . Hunter ' s instru cti ons were containe d in t ho f ollowi ng
telegram sent today to all 'WPA State AcL-ninistrato rs :
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
4-2217
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I n order to ex.pedi te work and move 'J.P co:mpletion da tes on
certified defe nse projects , you. are authorized to e,:ip loy all wor kers
on all con s tructi on p rojects certified by the Secret. .:J.ries of the War
or Navy Depc>TtmEMts as import8.nt for n.?.ti onal def ense on a · 48- hou.r
per we ek work s chedule effective immediately.
This order is appli-
cable only to c ertified national defense construction p rojects
des i gnated as t certified Nat i onal Defense Projects' in accor dance
with the provisi ons of Gener a l Letter 318 as r evise d and. suprlemented.
I wi sh to emphasize tho nec~ssi t y :or putting t h is auth orization into
effect on a l l certifie c1 airport and access ro ad :proj ects..
This
authorization sup ersedes pr evious exe~pt i ons g~anted wi t h respect
to hours of work on proje ct s affect od.
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
@FedFRASER