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The Effects of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 on the Southern Seamless Hosiery and Lumber Industries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Andrew J. Seltzer
Andrew J. Seltzer
Affiliation:
Department of Business Development and Corporate History, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
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Abstract

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 imposed a binding minimum wage on the southern seamless hosiery and lumber industries. However, the process of adjusting to the new minimum differed across the two industries. Seamless hosiery firms substituted capital for labor and converted or replaced old machinery. Southern lumber firms employed fewer workers relative to northern and western firms, however, changes in their resource base and war-related government purchases prevented an absolute decrease in employment levels. Numerous southern lumber firms continued to pay less than minimum rates by illegally evading the act or taking advantage of the intra-stage exemption.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , June 1997 , pp. 396 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1997

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