Celebrating 100 years - 46

The NIRA took the reins of the economy.
It did so through the NRA, the federal
agency established by a presidential executive
order. The NRA set minimum prices for
products, minimum wages for workers and
maximum work weeks by industry.
The Blue Eagle emblem and motto, "We
Do Our Part," identified the program to
the public. The branding was on display
everywhere. Companies produced Blue
Eagle buttons for managers and employees to wear. Stores and restaurants hung
NRA banners to show they participated
in the program.

was short-lived. In 1935, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled against the NRA in Schechter
Poultry Corp. v. United States. The court said
the NRA infringed upon the separation of
powers, giving the president too much power.
Many of the NRA's provisions, such as the
setting of minimum wages and maximum
work weeks, brought a measure of fairness to
the labor markets. NRA programs seemed
to jump-start the economy by putting people
to work. Its legacy continued in the National
Labor Relations Act of 1935 (the Wagner
Act), where many of its provisions appeared.

Code of Fair Competition. Industries fixed
their respective prices and wages through
their own "code" authorities. In reality, the
public had little say in the code-setting process. To set up their codes, most industries
used "highly organized, well-financed trade
associations," said Bernard Bullish in "The
Failure of the N.R.A."
CPIA was no exception. In 1933, CPIA
surveyed its members and supplied the government with wage and work week data.
In 1934, CPIA agreed to an industry-wide
code, and the NRA adopted it. President
Roosevelt approved the Supplementary Code
of Fair Competition for the Plastering and
Lathing Contracting Industry (A Division of
the Construction Industry) on June 27, 1934.

CPIA was well organized on a national and
international level and took advantage of its
high-level connections during the 1930s.
Here is what the association accomplished:

NRA ruled unconstitutional. The NRA
46

AWCI: ACTION

Promise to aid recovery. Oscar A. Reum,
CPIA president, was one of 19 delegates
representing 19 organizations comprising
the Construction League of the United
States, which conferred with President
Hebert Hoover in Washington on Sept. 24,
1931. Reum's work with the Construction
League, which included the American
Institute of Architects, the Associated
General Contractors of America and the
American Federation of Labor, led to "a
better class of contractors and workers for
Federal and State projects," said The New
York Times. The League promised Hoover

Oscar A. Reum, CPIA
president, 1918-1945,
was introduced at
convention as "our
permanent chairman,
our worthy international
president, our beloved."

to speed up the work of construction and
help restore normal economic conditions
in the country.
Coordination with unions. CPIA worked
with several associations and trade unions.
They included the Operative Plasterers, the
Brick Masons' and Plasterers' International
Union, the Wood Wire and Material
Lathers' International Union, and the Hod
Carriers', Building, and Common Laborers'
International Union.
CPIA helped with collective bargaining
over pay, work days and other labor-related
issues. The result of a conference in July 1933
"was an agreement in substance upon wages
and hours," CPIA wrote to the NRA. CPIA
supplied NRA with wage data-average
U.S. plasterer wages of $1.06 per hour in

Opposite Page
The Empire State
Building opens (1931).
Franklin D. Roosevelt
signs "New Deal" laws
(1933). Frank Lloyd
Wright completes
Fallingwater (1939).
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Celebrating 100 years
