Dining Hall Employees Win Five-Day Week, No Pay Loss

Dining hall workers have won a revision of their existing contract with the University, Edward Reynolds '15, Administrative Vice-President, announced yesterday. The revision, which will take effect immediately, will lead to a five-day work week in place of the present six-day week, with no loss of take-home pay.

The eventual monetary result of the new contract will be to raise the average hourly wage of the dining hall employees 16 percent, but the upward movement will not take place immediately, Reynolds emphasized, because of the necessity of hiring more employees to fill in when the work-week is reduced to five days.

Before this five-day week becomes an actuality for the A. F. of L. unions which have represented the dining hall workers here since 1938, the dining hall department of the University will have to recruit 16 percent more employees than it has at present, Reynolds said, and in the meantime the current workers will continue on the six-day week at straight time.

According to Reynolds, the contract revision was the first with the dining hall employees since August, 1945. He indicated also that by the terms of the old contract the University was not obligated to review its terms until June, 1947, but felt that in justice to the employees it should waive the right to withhold for another seven months further adjustments in the wage scale.

When the projected change goes into final effect, the minimum wage in the dining halls will become 65 cents per hour in cash, plus meals while on duty. According to University calculation this would produce a real minimum wage of at least 75 cents per hour.

In anticipation of queries concerning possible effects of the wage rise upon prices, the dining hall management has announced that the wage adjustment will not make necessary a further rise in the board rate if other costs remain as at present. "The present student board rate," the statement said, "is producing revenues sufficient to meet the increased expenses foreseen at the beginning of the fall term and now being realized."