receives complaints of discrimination in employment, which must be made in writing. They use the conference method of approach, making a special effort to be tactful and intelligent. Of the 450 cases which they have investigated, one-half have been successfully adjusted, one-fourth were found not to be valid, and one-fourth were still unsettled at the time when our Columbus president, who is on the Case committee, sent us her summary. They have been cooperating with the local War Manpower committee and have been praised by the Area War Manpower Director. The Columbus experience shows that a good deal can be accomplished by purely voluntary efforts of public-spirited citizens. However, relatively few communities have such organizations. Furthermore, there are always cases where the persons responsible for discrimination in employment are uncooperative and will yield only if the agency entrusted with the task of combating discriminatory practices has definite powers to cope with the situation. It is significant that the very people who have been fairly successful with conciliatory methods of dealing with the problem of discrimination in employment feel strongly that a national agency with well-defined powers is needed. The Wa Vagner Labor Relations Act, which the proposed legislation uses as a model, has been successful in practically eliminating discrimination in employment because of union activity. Most employers now readily comply with its provisions. There have been outstanding instances, however, where the Labor Relations Board was compelled to use all the power given to it by the law to force compliance. We believe that a Fair Employment Practices Commission could function just as successfully in the field of discrimination based on race or religion, but it must have the same powers to make its decisions respected for its authority will undoubtedly be challenged. The end of the war happily promises to come sooner than we dared hope. As the President's Committee on Fair Employment Practice is a war agency, its existence is of limited duration but the work it is doing will be just as acutely needed in the post-war period. It is, therefore, urgent for Congress to set up a permanent F. E. P. C. without delay. The League of Women Shoppers urges your committee to make a favorable report on the bill to set up a permanent F. E. P. C. and to make every effort to have this passed by both Houses of Congress. Senator CHAVEZ. Thank you. If you care to make any further statements extemporaneously, we will be glad to hear you further. Mrs. LOEFFLER. No; that covers our position. Senator CHAVEZ. Thank you very much. Mr. Kohn. STATEMENT OF WILLIAM KOHN, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, UPHOLSTERERS INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Senator CHAVEZ. Please identify yourself for the record and state for the record whom you represent. Mr. KOHN. Very well. My name is William Kohn, and I am president emeritus of the Upholsterers International Union of North America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Our union has 170 locals, with a membership of 30,000 of every race, creed, and color, and of varied national origin. For 55 years I have been associated as a member and officer of the union. I am doubly honored of having the privilege of testifying before this able committee on what I believe to be a most critical question of our post-war planning. The issue, in consideration of the Fair Employment Practices Act, is equality of opportunity to work for all people. To this principle our international union is definitely committed, and we are solidly behind the Fair Employment Practices bill. We feel it should be passed now, so that there may be no question that the Federal Government intends to continue its policy of fair employment practices after the war is won. When the war began in 1941, the War Manpower Commission reported that only 3 percent of nonwhites were employed in war industry. A recent report of the War Manpower Commission shows that there were 7.2 percent nonwhites employed in war industry in January 1944. This is an excellent record, for it shows what can be done to establish justice in employment policy. However, there is grave danger that, with the slackening of employment during the post-war period-even the most optimistic prophets predict an increase in unemployment during the post-war period-undoubtedly Negroes, the last to be hired, will be the first to be fired. Our union is opposed to any attempt to disrupt hard-won seniority rules in an effort to make it possible to provide for minority groups. We think that such procedure, no matter how well intentioned, quickly would destroy decades of progress on the issue of seniority. However, we do feel that the Fair Employment Practices Act should be passed, so as to make it illegal for anyone to prevent workers from getting equal opportunities to employment when hiring is done. There is no question but that millions of new jobs will be opened up as old ones end. Any employer or trade-union official who discriminates against workers on account of race, creed, color, or national origin in employment, either now or in the post-war period, is paving the way for sharp racial conflicts in the United States, compared to which the Detroit race riot would look like a street brawl. There are nearly 1,000,000 Negroes in the armed services and their auxiliaries now. There is no question that these men, who have fought bravely and have seen their comrades die for their country, will not take it lying down if they ask for employment when they return and are told, "No colored men wanted here." Nor will they accept it if they are told, "We take colored men here as janitors only." The same is true of other minorities-Catholics, Jews, foreign-born. They will accept discrimination no more readily than the Negro will. We must face frankly the fact that, without a Fair Employment Practices Act, many employers will follow their traditional policies of discrimination against members of minority groups. I regret to say that, in some cases, they will be aided by union leaders who are misguided on this vital question. The American Federation of Labor has always opposed discrimination against workers on account of race, creed, color, or national origin. Out international union lives up to this policy 100 percent. I want to close with one further note. Our union is bitterly opposed to totalitarianism in all its forms. We have no more sympathy for dictatorship by Communists than we have for dictatorship by Fascists. We want a democratic America. However, we deeply feel that discrimination against minority groups provides fertile ground for the Communist totalitarians of this country to recruit to their ranks those who have legitimate grievances against their country for failing to provide equal protection in employment opportunities. Passage of this legislation would help to take away from the camouflaged Communist Party a favorite propaganda point. It would show members of American minorities that Congress is deeply concerned with their rights. We recognize that the Fair Employment Practice Act prohibits unfair employment practices by unions as well as by employers. We are not afraid of such prohibitions. We welcome them, for we we do not indulge in discrimination and we are happy to see such discrimination made illegal. There is grave need for passage of this legislation before November 1. I state that date because I have great confidence in Lloyd's of London, which I understand is taking wagers that the war in Europe will be over by that time. We must not face the post-war period without adequate preparation for it. Already, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been released for medical and other reasons, and that number is certainly going to increase rapidly. We have a duty to those veterans that demands immediate action. They will not understand months of delay on grounds that this legislation needs further study. The House of Representatives has studied the legislation in hearings held June 1 through 16. I trust that this committee will complete its hearings soon, with the recommendation to the Senate Committee on Education and Labor for favorable and speedy action on a fair-employment-practice bill. Supplementing this statement, Mr. Chairman, I desire to state that the Upholsterers International Union has at no time had any difficulty or trouble within its ranks between the whites and the blacks. We have in our membership both white organizers organizing colored and colored organizers organizing whites, and we favor the passage of the bill very much. Thank you. Senator CHAVEZ. Just one moment, Mr. Kohn, if you please. I believe that I understood you, and I think that the Chair agrees with you. You said that it was not the desire of the international union that you represent this afternoon to pass any legislation that would in any way interfere with the seniority rights of employed laboring people? Mr. KOHN. Yes, sir. Senator CHAVEZ. But, everything being equal, and if a vacancy exists after those with seniority rights have been taken care of, that you want those employees to be obtained without any discrimination. whatsoever? Mr. KонN. Exactly. Senator CHAVEZ. Thank you, sir. Is Mr. Henderson in the hall? I am extremely sorry that we have no more witnesses for this afternoon, and I believe that we can conclude the evidence, at least, tomorrow. We shall meet again at 10:30 tomorrow morning to hear from further witnesses. Until then the meeting is adjourned. (At 3:05 p. m. an adjournment was taken until the following day, Friday, September 8, 1944, at 10:30 a. m.) FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES ACT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1944 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met at 10:30 a. m., pursuant to adjournment, in room 357, Senate Office Building, Senator Dennis Chavez (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Chavez and Aiken. Senator CHAVEZ. The committee will come to order. STATEMENT OF ROBERT C. WEAVER, REPRESENTING MAYOR KELLY'S COMMITTEE ON RACE RELATIONS, CHICAGO, ILL. Senator CHAVEZ. I understand, Mr. Weaver, that you are here representing Mayor Edward Kelly's Committee on Race Relations in Chicago. Mr. WEAVER. Yes. I am executive director of that committee. Senator CHAVEZ. Do you care to make a statement on Senate bill 2048? Mr. WEAVER. I do. I am Robert C. Weaver, executive director of the Mayor's Committee on Race Relations, and probably pertinent at this time, because I am going to talk about the history of some of these developments, I was employed on Negro employment and training in the National Advisory Defense Commission, O. P. M., W. P. B., and War Manpower Commission. Senator CHAVEZ. May I interrupt you right there? I think it would be beneficial, for the committee's information anyway, if you were to give us a little analysis of the Chicago population as a whole. Mr. WEAVER. Chicago has had a great influx of workers since the defense program. It has been peculiar, perhaps, in that a large proportion of that influx has been made up of Negro workers, particularly since 1942. At the present time approximately 350,000 Negroes, or 10 percent of the population, are in the city. Most of these persons have come in in response to the defense needs of industry, and a large proportion of them are now employed. Prior to 1942, nonwhite employment in defense industries in Chicago lagged materially, and it was one of the chief factors, if not the chief factor, in the racial tensions in the city of Chicago. Senator CHAVEZ. Well, now, the so-called white population of Chicago as a whole is divided also into national groups? Mr. WEAVER. Definitely. |