Celebrating 100 years - 48

the Southern zone, $1.18 per hour in the
Central zone, and $1.19 per hour in the
Northern zone. It identified the 8-hour
work day in 321 cities. It noted a 5-day
work week in 237 cities, a 5 1/2-day work
week in 131 cities and a 6-day work week
in nine cities.
Promotion of the trade. CPIA argued to
the NRA that "plastering is essentially a
handicraft," unlike other building crafts.
"The walls and ceilings are built in place
from the raw material used," CPIA wrote.
"The workmanship and worth of the job is
dependent upon the skill of the craftsmen,"
it said. "This fact has been recognized by
the payment of leading wage scales in the
trade."
CPIA added that industry laborers "must
be men whose skill and knowledge will
enable them to properly mix raw materials,
build scaffolds that are safe for others to work
upon and to deliver material and otherwise
attend upon the mechanics."
The CPIA's letter to the NRA emphasized
that lathing is integral to plastering. Lathers
"apply quickly and economically dozens of
types of lath and incidental furring," CPIA
said. It noted that wood lathing has "universal
use and particularly upon low cost housing."
"The lather must have the skill and dexterity to drive upon such work thousands
of nails daily," the letter said.
48

Work on the Code. In 1933, after NIRA
became law and the NRA was formed,
CPIA coordinated work on the Code of
Fair Competition for the Plastering and
Lathing Contracting Industry. As noted
above, CPIA obtained average wage scales
for some 400 cities. It compiled work day
and work week averages. In submitting the
information, CPIA said it was "the only
truly representative National Association
of the Plastering Industry comprehending
the industry in all of its traditional component parts."
CPIA wanted the government to support
industry wage scales, which had deteriorated.
"Prior to the World War and for many years
the basic mortar trades of which the mason
and plasterer are typical ... commanded the
leading and highest wage scales paid in the
construction industry," CPIA told the NRA.
"Since the World War the trend has been
to level all skilled labor scales."
CPIA hoped that "the principles of Fair

In 1933, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
formed by executive
order the National
Recovery Administration
to provide fair
competition for industry.

Competition may be preserved."
Annual conventions. CPIA held annual
conventions throughout the 1930s. Such
conventions united the industry. In 1938,
for example, Reum reported on the functioning of CPIA's National Committee for
the Promotion of Plastering. He explained

National Gypsum Expands
In the 1930s, despite the Great Depression, National
Gypsum added lime, acoustical tile, metal lath, paint,
paper, fiberboard and rock wool to its product line and
bought several production plants, such as the Rotan,
Texas, facility shown here. Rotan was purchased for
$289,000 in 1935 from Universal Gypsum and Lime.
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