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Heavier Penalties Include Jail Term And Fines Raised Amendments in the Legislature yes-- terday, tightened Ontario's minimum wage laws in response to Stevens's Committee revelations and widespread public protest. A resolution calling for exaniination of _ construction -- industry alleged abuses also was endorsed by the House and a Labor Committee probe will follow. The principal changes in the Mini-- mum Wage Act are those whereby employers may be jailed for second offenses against the act, and whereby the minimum wage is made to apply to part--time women workers, As previously announced, the regulations will apply also to men competing with women workers, Penalties More Severe. Penalties for employers' infractions of the act are made whore severe, and the maximum possible fine is raised from the present $520 to $1,600. For failure to pay the minimum wages fixed by the board, the fines will range from $25 to $500, in place of the present $20 to $200. For second offenses, under the new act, imprisonment of from two to six months is provided. Maximum of Hours, Another section establishes a max!-- mum of hours for which the minimum wage is to be paid. It was explained that if the prevailing number of For failure to keep the requisite records the maximum fine is advanced from $20 to $100, with the minimum of $10 unchanged. For falsification of records, the penalties will be from $100 to $1,000, instead of fronm $50 to Fines, under the present and new acts, may be levied on behalf of each employee against whom an em-- ployer offends. Further, the employer must pay to the board the amount whereby the employse was underpaid, and this sum will be distributed by hours of labor per week in any in-- dustry is less than the fixed maxi-- mum, the prevailing number will be considered the maximum under the law. Under this clause, part--time workers must be paid pro rata on the maximum--hour basis, and overtime will be reckoned similarly. This change means much to many women workers who have failed to benefit from minimum wage regulations be-- cause they did not work the number of hours hitherto required to qualify under the act. Under arother section, a job au-- tomatically comes under the provi-- sions of the act, once it has been performed by a woman worker, and the minimum wage applies to men and boys subsequently employed on the task in question. This is intended to eliminate the practice of* displacing women, who receive the minimum wage, by male workers, who had not come under its I ¢( Accepts Resolution. ' Declaring himself, personally, as in favor of considering the extension of the minimum wage law to men,. Hon. |Dr. J. M. Robb, Minister of Health | and Labor. yesterday accepted, on be-- half of the Government, a resolution |callmg for examination of alleged ) | construction--industry abuses. The in-- |quiry will be undertaken by the long-- eral contractors, when submitting tenders, shall submit a list of their subcontractors and the amount of each subtender, and providing that the successful tenderer shall award the contracts according to the list sub-- mitted." Not Fair, Says Nesbitt. In the course of his speech Mr. Nes-- bitt charged that a Toronto Hydro-- Electric contract _ "eliminates the Workmen's Compensation Board. Such a contract is not fair to the electrical men in this city."" Further, he called for reduction of the Toronto Welfare Department, believing it "the first duty and function of any public body, Federal, Provincial or municipal, to find men work instead of having them on relief." As it stood today, he was informed, "it would be possible to commence $25,000,000 worth of con-- struction work without taking one trade mechanic off relief." Mr. Nesbitt's specific statement re-- garding Hydro work was: '"I am told that the Toronto Hydro Commission called for tenders on the installation of electric water heaters, and one of the clauses in their tender was to the effect that the union or pre-- vailing rate of wages should be paid. This contract was let to two con-- tractors in the city to install these heaters, One contractor, after receiv-- ing the contract, sub--let it to men at a flat rate of $2 per heater. The men who installed thes> Meaters must supply 'trucks, carry all materials, including extension ladders, purchase their own gasoline and oil, engage helpers anywhere and everywhere throughout the city; and showd there be any defects in the job, they must return and fix then' at their own time and exp>nse. What does the contractor lose? He doesn't stand to lose anything, because he is supplied the labor, and he knows exactly what he is going to make on the job." After Mr. Noesbitt had _ reviewed subcontract abuses, which he discuss-- ed in an earlier speech, the debate "Controlled Capitalism." on the subject was continued by several Conservative members of the Criticism of present conditions was coupled with a declaration of belief in a system of controlled capitalism by William Morrison (Conservative, Hamilton East). Speaking as secon-- der to Mr. Nesbitt's motion, the Con-- servative member declared in refer-- ence to appeals for uncontrolled business that for five years business had not been touched, and that for five vwears matters had been getting letting of contracts had resulted in the employment of married men at $6 a week on millionaires' residences in construction just outside of To-- ronto, pointing out that such men naturally were on Toronto relief., The member 'd@eclared action imperative 644 MAC Y 4202 VC CBB AATE s Mr. Morrison stated that the sub-- March 20 Of the contracting question, the Minister said: "If the subleiting means in <the final analysis that the workmen must suffer, then we are agreed that it is a vicious principle." The present situation, he admitted, was producing cut--throat competition of no value to skilled and unskilled labor. At the close of the Minister's speech N. 0. Hipel (Liberal, Waterloo South) interjected the only Opposition com-- ment with the suggestion that mu-- nicipalities should be represented at the opening of tenders for works to which they contribute, and that the committee should investigate the manner in which tenders were made George Oakley (Conservative, Ri erdale) labelled the practices of 1 gitimate general contractors co and proper, but admitted the exist ence of men who cut their price an cut down the subcontracts in proporj tion. In certain instances, the mem ber agreed, contractors should an-- nounce what work they plan to do themselves, and what work they plan to sublet. Regulation as to Wages. Summing up the debate, Dr. Robb said that a study of the present mini-- mum--wage law had involved him in consideration of some aspects cof a minimum--wage regulation for men. The Minister of Health and Labor de-- clared his personal view along those lines to be that something should be done for unskilled labor. If that could be achieved through a minimum--wage law, he declared that such acuon merited further consideration. Admitting the necessity for com-- petition, Hon. James Lyons (Conser-- vative, Sault Ste. Mariec) declared the building industry to be in such a con-- dition that it was almost impossible for honest contractors to take an honest contract and do an honest job. A minimum--wage law for men an women alike, with a board in eve municipality, was advanced as a sol tion by the member for the Sault. Mr. Heighington argued against a one~sided attitude, asking that an even balance should be maintained and a spirit of vindictiveness avoided. Without such an attitude, he de-- clared, new firms would not incor-- pora'e, The member for St. David's urged reliance on the conscience of the people, asking that the House should not destroy the promise of better conditions. and regulated. Premier Henry, re-- marking that municipalitie had sometimes accepted a higher tender on jobs to which the Government con-- tributed. asked about the Govern-- ment's interests in such a matter. ~_~"I belie should be controlled; I believe they're An appeal for the rights of busi-- ness was made by Wilfrid Heighing-- ton -- (Conservative, St. David's). Agresing that business can be regu-- lated to a certain »xtent, the Toronto member protested that "there is a limit, however, to what we can do." If people iost faith in Legislative pro-- tection of stability, who would start an enterprise, he asked. Wants Even Balance. running wild," Mr. Morrison testificd. Referring to qusestions of jurisdiction, he said of the BRritish North America Act, "I think it was about time it was chang#i 'f we haven't the au-- thority." -- | &