Housing authorities existing under the provisions of the act to which this is a supplement,¹ located in any city of the second class A or third class or in a county of the third to eighth class, shall within 12 months following the effective date of this act, enter into a contract with the Pennsylvania Civil Service Commission for the purpose of establishing a complete civil service merit system protecting the employees of the authority. The contract shall be executed in accordance with the provisions of the act of August 5, 1941 (P.L. 752, No. 286), known as the “Civil Service Act,”² and each authority is authorized to make the payments required by that act.