Ken's Labor Book Reviews From The Archives

"Put to Work: Relief Programs in the Great Depression." By Nancy E. Rose. Monthly Review. 1994. 144p. $10 pa.

The Social Security Act of 1935 created an economic safety net with such programs as Social Security, unemployment insurance and a whole range of direct relief (welfare) payments for "unemployables." It was originally proposed to include health care, as well as a permanent public works program to provide work for the unemployed. In place of a permanent program, the Works Progress (later Projects) Administration was designed as a temporary expedient during the Depression. At its height in 1938, the WPA employed over 3 million workers. Despite its size, the WPA was a watered down version of earlier Depression programs about which little has been written until "Put to Work" was published. The Federal Employment Relief Act (FERA) employed 2.5 million at its crest and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) reached 4.5 million. Both these programs elicited tremendous opposition from the business community for providing decent wage rates, thus forcing them to raise wages. Business really went bonkers when the programs went beyond the usual government role to experiment with "production for use," in which workers produced goods like garments for others in the program and for the government. Then came the "Ohio Plan" in which local governments took over idle factories and put the jobless back to work. This was considered not only unfair competition but called into question capitalism's efficiency. Despite the constant barrage of attacks on work relief programs, the WPA still carried on many of the progressive elements of FERA and CWA, including payment of minimum wages and prevailing wages tied to union rates where they existed. A number of WPA workers even organized and went on strike. Now that Congress and the president have ended "welfare as we know it," the debate over public works programs has revived. As the New York Times said in a recent editorial, "Those who would reject . . . (such) solutions have an obligation to do better." --Ken Nash, Ed Fund Rifkin Library

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