637— C Registry No. 501—1—03 NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE BOOK MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY AS SUBMITTED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1933 UNiV. OF FL Lli. DOCUMENTS. .DEE WE DO OUR PART The Code for the Book Manufacturing Industry 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 Submitted by BOOK MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE (II) CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION OF THE BOOK MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY ADOPTED BY THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, JULY 12, 1933, AND APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE BOOK MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE Purpose Section 1. (a) The book manufacturing: industry of the United States pledges itself to this Code of Fair Competition adopted by the Book Manufacturers' Institute in order to do its share, during the period of the emergency, in making effective the policies of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act and in increasing purchas- ing power and the consequent consumption of industrial and agri- cultural products. This industry, through the instrumentality of this Code, accepts the opportunity of rehabilitating itself b}' reduc- ing and relieving unemployment, by improving the working and living standards of labor, by minimizing the harmful effects of over- capacity, and by eliminating competitive practices which have proved destructive of the interests of the public, of employees, and of employers. (b) v rhe effective date of this Code shall be August 15, 1933. If it shall not have been approved by the President of the United States on or before August 1, the effective date shall be two w T eeks after the date of approval by the President. (c) This Code is expressly subject, under Clause 10 (b) of the National Industrial Recovery Act, to the right of the President from time to time to cancel or modify any order, license, rule or regulation issued under Title I of the Act, and to cancel or modify his approval of this Code. The Industry and its Agency Sec. 2. (a) The book manufacturing industry pledged in this Code consists of the plants wholly or in substantial part engaged in one or more of the processes of book manufacture : Composition and/or platemaking; book printing; book lithography; binding (edition, library, and pamphlet) ; and producers of such specialties involving bookbinding processes as superfinish covers, check and pass- books, and loose-leaf covers. (b) Because the book manufacturing industry is distinct from all other branches of printing, it assumes complete responsibility for self-regulation under this Code. Although the various processes in edition book manufacturing may be carried on in different plants, printing and binding of books cannot be treated as separate industries, because competition increasingly covers the complete book; because plants specializing in one process undertake to do or sell all, and because price quotations are so shuffled 9472—33 (1) between the different processes, for competitive strategy, that unfair competition could not be prevented in any one process unless all were subject to single and simultaneous regulation. Further, the number of book publishing markets is few and manufacturers compete out- side of the territories in which their plants are located, so that no plan of regulation based on local markets, such as for general print- ing, would be adaptable. Library binding constitutes a specialized service, chiefly for public and institutional libraries and public schools where books, because of unusual service, require rebinding and where periodicals are bound for convenient access and safe preservation. The bulk of the output of edition book manufacturers is economi- cally distinct from general commercial printing in that it is not pro- duced for advertising purposes but for resale as a commodity. It is also economically distinct from newspapers and magazines in that it is nonperiodic and, in general, is produced for customers who de- pend on its resale for revenue and not upon its use as an advertising medium. Library binding is primarily a service and not a com- modity. (c) This Code shall therefore be the sole instrument governing all transactions involved in and arising from book manufacture as de- fined; but plants engaged in different work, in addition to book manufacture, may govern these different operations by any other code. Further, insofar as this Code may involve labor employed in the printing departments of edition and library book manufacturing similar to labor employed in other branches of printing, this Code shall be in harmony with the codes of other printing industries. (d) The sole agencies for the administration of this Code shall be the National Industrial Recovery Board, or other body or person designated by the President of the United States, and the Book Manufacturers' Institute and its properly appointed agents. The Book Manufacturers' Institute may delegate such functions as it may deem proper to regional or divisional associations or to cooperat- ing associations and their executives. (e) This agency, the Book Manufacturers' Institute, imposes no inequitable restrictions on admission to membership and is truly representative of the book manufacturing industry and its subdivisions. Labor Policies Sec. 3. — (a) In accord with Section 7 (a) of the National Indus- trial Recovery Act, all employers in the book manufacturing industry pledge themselves as a part and condition of this Code : "(1) That employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self -organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; (2) that no employee and no one seeking employment shall be required as a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of his own choosing; and (3) that employers shall comply with the maxi- mum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, approved or prescribed by the President." It is clearly understood that the foregoing paragraphs do not impair in any particular the constitutional rights of the employee and employer to bargain individually or collectively as may be mutually satisfactory to them; nor does it impair the joint right of employer and employee to operate an open shop. Nothing in this Code is to prevent the selection, retention, and advancement of employees on the basis of their individual merit, without regard to their affiliation or nonaffiliation with any labor organization. (b) On and after the effective date, the minimum wage to be paid by employers in the book manufacturing industry to unskilled work- ers and apprentices for the first year of their apprenticeship shall be at the rate of $0.37% per hour for men and $0.30 per hour for women. (c) On and after the effective date, no employer in this industry shall operate on a schedule of labor for his employees exceeding forty hours per week, except in the case of repair crews, office and supervisory staff, shippers, and messengers. No plant operated by any employer in this industry shall be operated more than eighty hours per week. In case of necessity, arising from an emergency or from the character of the work, or from the inability to obtain competent labor, permission may be granted by the Institute Ad- ministrator, upon proper showing being made, to exceed the fore- going limitation, provided such permission shall be granted only upon such conditions imposed by the Institute Administrator as will make certain that no employee will work more than 1,040 hours in any six months. (d) On and after the effective date, employers in this industry shall not employ any minor under the age of sixteen years. (e) Except in the case of minimum wages, labor scales and labor classifications shall be predicated upon the cost of living for equiva- lent living standards for employees of the same classification in the various localities. (f) Whenever necessary, modifications in these provisions relat- ing to labor shall be made to keep them in harmony with similar provisions in such codes for other printing industries as may be adopted nationally, but such modifications shall not apply to em- ployees in any edition and library binding departments. (g) Whenever it is found that importation of products of the book manufacturing industry affects adversely the maintenance of standards under this Code, this Institute shall so inform the Presi- dent of the United States and request such action from the Govern- ment as may be necessary to remedy such conditions. Trade Practices Sec. 4. (a) No provision in this Code may be administered in such a way as to tend to promote monopolies or to eliminate or op- press or discriminate against any enterprise in this industry which is working in harmony with the provisions of this Code, or in any industry to which it sells or from which it buys. (b) The following shall be considered unsound or unfair trade practices within the meaning of the National Industrial Recovery Act, and shall be subject, first to such penalties as may be prescribed by the Book Manufacturers' Institute, and second, to the penalties prescribed by the Act : 1. Selling below cost (as determined by methods approved by the Federal Administrator). 2. Offering or allowing any buyer any concessions, bonuses, re- bates, subsidies, or privileges of any kind, whether in the form of money, services, or otherwise, except as may be authorized by the Administrative Regulations. 3. Extending credit terms in excess of those which the Institute shall hereafter establish. 4. Offering commercial bribes in any form, including excessive entertainment. 5. Deceiving a customer by making promises impossible of fulfill- ment or not intended to be kept, in order to get business. 6. Using materials, methods of manufacture, and quality of work- manship inferior to those specified, without the knowledge and con- sent of the customer. 7. Making false derogatory statements, in any form, about com- petitors or their products or methods. 8. Failing or refusing to afford equal terms, prices, and advantages to all buyers similarly situated, and permitting unfair discrimina- tion to be made in merchandising terms, prices or practices. 9. Knowingly quoting a price to or accepting the work from a customer who is found by the Institute Administrator to be guilty of deliberately trying to cause manufacturers to break down any standards of the industry or provisions of this Code, until a hearing has been held. 10. Hiring away employees, transferring materials, plates, or semifinished products in poor condition, or hampering the opera- tions of a competitor in any other way. (c) Provision shall be made immediately after the effective date for a comprehensive study of costs. Those plants having sound cost- finding systems shall so arrange their reports as to furnish compa- rable information as to costs. Those plants without adequate cost- finding systems shall be required to organize their cost accounting on a basis satisfactory to the Institute Administrator, within a time to be determined by him. Administration of This Code Sec. 5. (a) Upon the approval of this Code by the Industrial Recovery Board, every provision of this Code shall apply without exception or discrimination to all in the industry, including every officer and employee of every plant. (b) Additions to, deletions from, and modifications of this Code shall be made by majority vote of the Institute, as prescribed in its By-Laws, subject to the approval of the properly constituted Govern- ment authority. (c) On behalf of the Institute, as agency of administration under Section 2(d) of this Code, the administration of this Code shall be the function of the Administrator of the Institute, appointed as prescribed by the By-Laws of the Institute, and such deputies and staff as he may select. (d) Detailed regulations necessary to the proper administration of the Code shall be prepared by the Administrator of the Institute. with the approval of the Board of Directors of the Institute. (e) Such additional provisions and subsidiary regulations as may be necessary may be adopted by and for any divisional or regional group of the industry, but no such additional provision or regula- tion may be such as to tend to affect adversely any other divisional or regional group. (f) The Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, or such individuals or subcommittee as the Board may select, and the In- stitute Administrator, shall constitute the continuing medium for cooperation with the Government authorities in the administration of this Code. (g) Neither the Institute Administrator nor any member of his staff may have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, in the business of any book manufacturer. (h) For purposes of administration of this Code, whether spe- cifically requested by the Government or not, the Institute Adminis- trator shall require any and all in the industry to report such in- formation as may be prescribed by the Act, the By-Laws of the Institute, or the regulatory control set up by the Institute, and failure to do so promptly and accurately shall constitute a violation of this Code. (i) In the event of any complaint and/or dispute and/or for the purpose of verifying any information furnished to the Institute Administrator, and subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, the Institute Administrator, his deputies, and his staff shall at all times have the right to examine the books of account, records, and files of all in the industry; but no information obtained shall be revealed to anyone but a member of the administrative staff or the proper Government authorities. (j) Specifically, the Institute Administrator is empowered to make a survey of the productive capacity of each plant and a census of equipment. In the case of replacement equipment, the Institute Administrator shall have the power to arrange for the scrapping or other disposal of the equipment displaced. In the case of additional equipment, he shall have the power to de- termine whether or not the proposed equipment is essential to the proper operation of the plant, provided, however, that the member affected may have recourse to an appeal to an arbitration board selected by himself and the Institute Administrator. (k) Violations of this Code, complaints, investigations, and penal- ties, shall be dealt with according to procedure to be established in the Administrative Regulations and/or the Industrial Recovery Act. Relation with Purchasers and Vendors Sec. 6. (a) This industry recognizes the truth that its well-being is inseparably tied up with the well-being of those industries which buy from it and which sell to it. Every effort will be made to the end that no provision of this Code shall be administered in any way which might be contrary to the sound economic relations between this industry and those others. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 08855 7383 (b) The Board of Directors shall set up such committees as may be necessary to maintain continuing cooperative contact and to under- take joint action with similar committees representing associations of customers and vendors. Such committees shall formulate trade cus- toms. When those customs are approved by the Administrator of the Institute and a majority of the Board of Directors they shall become part of this Code, with the full force thereof. (c) The Institute shall set up such bureaus as may be needed to guide the granting of credit, and all customers shall be required to file with these bureaus such information as may be deemed necessary, before any member shall enter into any transaction involving credit with such proposed customer, after the effective date of this Code. It shall be a violation of this Code to encourage irresponsible pub- lishers or other customers, by granting price concessions, terms in excess of the established standard, or indulging in any trade practice that will be detrimental to the established publishers or customers. (d) During this emergency period and during the life of this Code, it shall be improper for a book manufacturer to give a firm quotation, and it shall be a violation of this Code for a book manu- facturer to offer a quotation without a covering clause protecting him against increased costs due to increased costs of materials and such increased labor costs as may result from any provision of this Code. o