UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 08486 7778 Registry No. 1042—01 NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE ROOFING CONTRACTING INDUSTRY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 31, 1933 UNIV. OF FLL P WE DO OUR PART MM U.i OSTOHY The Code for the Roofing Contracting Industry of St. Louis, Missouri in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned industry, and none of the provisions contained therein are to be regarded as having received the approval of the National Recovery Administration as applying to this industry UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1933 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. Price 5 cents yf Submitted by THE ASSOCIATED ROOFING CONTRACTORS OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI (ID CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION SUBMITTED BY THE ASSOCIATED ROOFING CONTRACTORS OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 1. Description of the Business 1. The Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis are engaged in the business of soliciting, obtaining, and executing contracts for the installation or setting of all manner of Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles. The Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, Asphalt Shingles, and other accessories of the roofing business are purchased from their manufacturers and producers and shipped to the con- tractor in interstate commerce. The business of installing Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles in St. Louis is primarily a local one, but some interstate business is done because of the fact that St. Louis is a border-line city. . However, the relations between all branches of the business, including manufacturers, contractors, and labor, are so intimate and interdependent that in carrying out the objects and purposes of the National Industrial Recovery Act each must be regarded as an integral part of a unified business and participants in a continuous operation. . , 2. Labor is the most important element in the business ot the Associated Roofing Contractors. Wages for labor represent from 50% to 60% of the cost of the materials to the public. The work calls for careful treating and a high degree of skill, the good will of the industry being dependent on fine workmanship. The finest prod- ucts will not give satisfaction unless properly installed. The main- tenance of fair wages and working conditions is a matter of con- cern to everyone engaged in the business. These conditions are seriously threatened by unfair competitive practices which have grown to alarming proportions. It is a primary purpose of this submission to maintain fair wages and working conditions between the contractors and the labor employed by them and to prevent any lowering of the standards so set. 3. Manufacturers, Jobbers, and Producers of the industry's prod- ucts are not parties to the submission, but it is hoped and believed that they will adopt and submit codes which will provide for the cooperation of the parties hereto necessary to bring the entire business into conformity with the purpose of the act. 2. Representative Group This submission, made by the authority of the Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis, represents the will of the members of that 9688—33 ( 1 ) organization which is truly representative of this industry and is tendered as a code and/or agreement within the meaning of Title one (1) of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Members of the Association through their contracts with the labor unions have, established wage scales and working conditions in this city. The industry maintains the Five (5) day week of Eight (8) hours per day. The scale of wages is One Dollar and Twenty Five Cents ($1.25) per hour for Mechanics and Seventy Five Cents (750) per hour for labor. Firms not employing union labor enjoy this protection, the fruits of the efforts and outlays of the Associated members, but pay none of the costs. Contractors of this class are comparable with sweat-shop operators in other industries, and their operations tend to lower the standards and bring the business into disrepute. No inequitable restrictions on admissions to membership are im- posed. The Associated Roofing Contractors will accept into mem- bership any roofing contractor who conforms fully to the provision of this code and employs members of the Slate and Tile Roofers Union Local Number One (1) of St. Louis. 3. Relations Between Contb actors and Labor Since the setting of Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles or other roofing usually must be accomplished in accordance with a definite schedule which is a part of the building contract, delays due to disputes would be fatal to the business. Consequently, the respective parties to this submission have entered into agreements providing for minimum wages, hours of labor and working conditions generally together with the pro- vision of arbitration of all disputes. In order to protect the contractors in their undertaking to maintain wages and working conditions, it is declared to be an unfair method of competition for any union member to engage in business as a contractor, or to solicit and accept contracts for the installation of Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, Asphalt Shin- gles, or any other roofing, without taking a withdrawal card, which withdrawal shall be effective for one year. 4. Relations Between Contractors In order to comply with the purpose and requirements of The Na- tional Industrial Recovery Act the Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis and vicinity pledge themselves to the strict observance in all transactions of the following code of fair competition : 1. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing con- tractor to pay the journeyman roofers or laborers wages below the minimum established in this locality or the established wage scale in the territory in which any work is done. 2. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing con- tractor to employ journeyman roofers or laborers to do a certain piece of work in a designated time. 3. It shall be an unfair method of competition for a roofing con- tractor who is engaged to install a particular grade of slate or tile on a job to substitute another or different grade or knowingly deviate from established standards of workmanship or accepted practices. 4. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing con- tractor to sell unset slate or tile. 5. It shall be an unfair method of competition for any roofing contractor to submit more than one bid on each job or not to adhere strictly to the terms and conditions of said bid, unless there is a change in the specifications warranting the submission of an addi- tional bid. 6. It shall be an unfair method of competition to criticise members, competitors, or their wares. 7. The acceptance of contracts at less than fair average cost being inimical to the preservation of fair wages and working conditions, it is declared an unfair method of competition for any slate or tile roofing contractor to submit a bid or accept a contract at a price which is less than the cost of labor plus the cost of the Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, or Asphalt Shingles plus the price of all necessary material such as paper, nails, cement, strips, and such flashings, counterflashings, and valleys as specified plus a reasonable allowance for all overhead expenses such as ad- ministration, selling, depreciation, taxes, interest, auto expense, in- surance, hauling, maintenance, etc., which allowance has been deter- mined by a study of the actual records and experience of members to be thirty-five percent (35% ) of the sales cost. It shall be a fair method of competition for the roofing contractor, through their local organization, to collect and file and disseminate credit information for the beneficial conduct of the industry. 8. The fact that discounts, rebates, either in money or labor, or any other article of value would serve to disrupt the roofing business, lower the established wage scale, and lower the condition of labor it is declared an unfair method of competition to rebate, make special discounts, do extra work without proper reimbursement, or to permit the charging of various items not due the contractor to his account. 5. Relations Between Contractors, Manufacturers, and Jobbers Although the manufacturers of tiles, producers and jobbers of slate and other accessories are not parties to this submission, their cooperation with the contractors in the observance and enforcement of certain rules of fair practice are necessary to the maintenance of minimum wages and fair working conditions for labor and to the upholding of the rules of fair competition herein provided for contractors. The undersigned therefore respectfully request that, if the said manufacturers, jobbers, and producers, represented by the National Slate Association and others shall submit codes, the following sug- gestions be written into said code if they are not proposed in sub- stance by said manufacturers, jobbers, and producers. 1. To prevent unfair discrimination between different contractors leading to unfair competitive a< I vantages, all manufacturers, jobbers, and producers shall publish from time to time their respective prices for the various grades and styles of products, together with all terms of sale and quantity discounts, and shall adhere to such public prices and terms in all transactions. 2. To insure proper workmanship and protect the good will of the business as well as the fair wages and working conditions herein prescribed, the manufacturers, jobbers, and producers shall confine their sales to the Roofing Contractors installing Slate, Tile, Quarry Tile, Flagstone, Asbestos Shingles, and Asphalt Shingles and shall refrain from selling their product directly to the builders, general contractors, owners, and others. 3. To protect the good will of the business and prevent frauds on the public, the manufacturers, jobbers, and producers shall observe scrupulously the grades approved by the National Slate Association and recognized standards in other materials and shall not ship or deliver any slate or other products that are not labeled with the correct grade or properly designated. 4. Any misbranding of goods or misrepresentation as to grades or any failure to affix proper seals shall be an unfair method of competition. 6. Statutory Provisions In keeping with the requirements of section 7 (A) of the National Industrial Recovery Act the undersigned hereby subscribes to the following provisions. 1. Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collec- tively through representatives of their own choosing and shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of the employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organizations, or in other concerted activities for the pur- pose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. 2. Employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, min- imum rates of pay, and other working conditions approved or prescribed by the President. 7. Enforcement of Code As a rigid observance of this code, and supplementary provisions in the code to be submitted by or prescribed for the various roofing contractors, is necessary to the accomplishment of the purpose of the National Industrial Recovery Act, a Board is hereby created, to consist of the secretary and two contractors named by the President of the Associated Roofing Contractors of St. Louis, to investigate all complaints of accepting contracts below cost as herein defined, or of other violations of this code by roofing contractors, and to cooperate fully with the prosecuting officer of the government charged with the enforcement of said act. o