White House Press Release

IM EDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 25, 1947 74 The President has received the following letter from the Advisory Board of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, The Report referred to in the letter will be available from the Superintend- ent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C., about April 1, "February 25, 1947 My dear Mr. President: We have the honor to transmit to you the Report on the Guaranteed Wage, consisting of a series of studies undertaken by this Board at the request of the late President Roosevelt and brought to completion with your support and encouragement. NARA The Report consists of an extensive study prepared by the Guaranteed Tage Study staff, under the direction of Murray T. Latimer, and two auxiliary studies undertaken at his request. One of these is a comprehensive economic study by Professors Alvin H. Hansen of Harvard University and Paul A. Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the other a description and classification of guaranteed wage plans prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. The Report represents a major contribution to the sum of !nowLedge in this field and deserves serious consideration by government, labor, management and the public. The wide scope and value of the Report are indicated by the summary contained in Chapter II, although this inevitably cannot do justice to the large amount of valuable material on many phases of employment stabilization and guaranteed wage plans. The Board believes that the study SNOWS clearly that plans guaranteeing wages or employment, when suitably adapted to the needs and conditions of the industry or establishment, are valuable to the entire nation and afford E. wholesome and desirable means for improving both worker and employer security. Employers and unions contemplating the introduction of such plans vill derive from this Report greater understanding of the benefits that may be gained, of the limitations and other factors to be considered, and of the mechanisms that may be utilized. The Board unanimously shares the following conclusions con- cerning the Report and its implications: .1. Adoption of guaranteed wage plans should not be the subject of legislative action, but should be referred to. free collective bargaining; 2. Stabilization of employment and its effectuation through wage or employment guarantees, wherever possible, are matters of mutual concern to employers and employees. Each party has the definite re- sponsibility of seeking to stabilize operations within a plant or industry in order to advance the level of general economic security of the nation; 3. Progress toward the achievement of stability through the institution of guaranteed wages is affected by existing legislation in the fields of social insurance, minimum wages, fiscal and tax policies, among others. Consequently, it is (OVER)