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4-2121
FEDERl\.1 WOEKS AGZ}ICY
WORK PROJECTS ADL:INIST?.ATION
For R 8 ie:we t0 ~forning ?apers ,
Uond,:\ y, April 22, 1940.
WfOTUG IS YOUR OY!N BUSIEESS , n COLONEL f...AlliiEJGTON T:i!JLLS WPA ~70:?JGES ;
EACH TO RECE IVZ MESSJ'.GE
rn
PAY El'TVELOPE
:Every employee of the 7i/"1rt:: Pr,.,jects Ad_r;:inistra tion soon
will receive a l e tt er from C0l/"1nel F . 8 . Harrington , C0FJI1ission er of
'l'for~c Projects , emphasizing that trWPA is not in p0litics B-"ld. d0es no t
tal:e r art in po litics , either clirectly er ind.irectly . n
HV::iting is your own business , " the lettP-r r ead.s o
11
iC eei_c it
t hat wa;l• ll
To malrn sure that this work re a,ches ever:1 one cf t;-:e :mo re
t han two million project workers , Colonel Har ri nr,ton ordered not
only t hat con ies De :po sted en bulletin b(")ards at all p r0ject sites
but also t~1a.t the~, be d.istributed with each payro ll check.
Text of t he l e tt er t o all 'iTPA employees follows :
order that t h ere can De no nisu..r1d.erstanding of Wl"lrk
Pr0jects Admi::1istrati on rules aoout voting ri 6 h ts 0f emplcyees,
reQllations of this Administratfon on t h is matte r ar e stated as
f0llows :
11 In
1.
You are entitled to v0te o r not vote , as yo'.l c;1oose .
2.
No (")ne e it her connected with 0r not r✓onnected wit~1
the W0rk Projects Ad.ministration can ge t you fir ed
or change y0u.r wages 'because you do or do ne t vote
or 'because you bel0ng to or do nrt bel0n_:; to a
p0 li tical p arty . It is .9£ainst t he law for an:rone
to ask you for money for any pc liticnl campai sn •
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3.
If you are em::)loyed i n a n ad:-ninistra tive or supervisor-y- ca:ocsc i ·c;y yo u maJ vote as ~rou please and
exp r ess privately yo1.1_r op ini0ns ,. n p0 li ti ca l subj ects . It is against the J.aw for pars on s who a re
employee!. i n an admi nistra tive o r s~tpervi sory c aJJ!:';...
city to engrigo in politico.l a ctivity or tn take cm
ac tive :part or u se their i nfl uence a.irec tly or
i ndire ctly in poli tic 3.l m:..mo,Gcmont o r ~o li tica l
campai gns or i n po litical conventions .
4.
Every effort will be made t o arrr:ll;ge the working
schedules s o t ha t it will not be ne c essary f,.r
you t o los e time tnlrnn necosGc:.'.ry for voting pur:9o s e s .
5.
Voting is your own bus iness .
Ko op it t hat wny .
As Corr.missioner of Work Projects , I will not tol er .:i.t o o;r,:y
vi ol C1.t io n of tho abo v e r egulat i ons . The TT.--, r k Pr("ljects .Administr;:,,tion
is no t i n po litic s c:md. does not t olrn :po.r t i n p,ilitics, e ithe r di:::.- oc tly
or i nc1iroctly . n
At the s o.me ti rne Colonel Harring tf'.'ln sent t he following
l o t ter of L1stru cti ol1s t o 2:.11 St o.t o Work: Project Ad.ministr.::,t(lr $:
11.A.ll pe r sons empl oyed wi t h funds of tho Wo r k Pr"ljocts
Ad.nini s tr d i on ar e on ti tled t o exercise t hei r ri g..11. t t o vot e i n t ho
so.;-.1O nam1o r as ot her citiz ens .
Att o..chod her eto is o. copy of o. lotter acld.r cssod t o o.11 omp l o3roos o f tno Wcrl: Pr.-,jccts Administro.ti on r estating the rcgul<'.1.tions
of this .ti.c'.mi nistra ti on r cge:,rd.i ng e l c cti('l ns ond voting rights of e;·.-:ployoos .
I:1 s ori1e i nstances it mny "oo desirab le t o su s pend p ro joct
op0rc..ti,:, ~1s entirely on votinE; dnys . Ev e r y effo rt shculd be mo.do to
sc~100.ule p roj ect operntions to ono..bl o proj ect O.iTipln3reos t o exercis e
t hei r voti ng p rivil eges ,1it:1out t:.10 los::i of p o,y . rt:wre ti me is lost
by p roject employees bcco,nse of o.:osoncen i n orcler _to vo t e , p r('! ject
oporo.ti o:is s ho .1ld be r e schociu.l ed rrho r o p r n.ctic,'.'.blo to allow s11_ch t ir.10
lost to 'be mndo up within t ho snr.1e pn,y rl"lll i;e ri od. If s uch rosc;1od.uling is not p r Ct.ct i cc.blo , a llC'wn.b l o lQ st t i me silo.11 be credi ted
for t ~10 time t o.J:en by p ro j oct employees t o vote o,nd they shc.11 be
:po r nitt od to mo.kc up such l os t ti me duri n g subsequent :perio ds of
om~:l oymon t •
1
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In ardor that all employe e s of t he Work Projects Admini st r ation ;118:J· be informed o f their ri ghts and reGponsi"'uili ties 1.mcLe r t )1e
law, t l1e attached notice shall ·oe repr0duc ed in sufficient r.:uant i t i es
f or i nuedia.te po sting on bulletin boards en a ll p roj e ct s . A suff ici ent
q_uanti t;y of the attached letter to all p roj ect em:9lo~rees will ·be }_) rL1 ted.
in Uashington and forwarded t o the sta tes withi n t he near future fer
distribu tion t o each employee . This distribution sha ll be made ·oy
insertion of the attached letter with the PC\\' r oll check. 11
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