STATEMENT OF THOMAS MADDOCK, REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FEDERAL MECHANICS

Mr. MADDOCK. My name is Thomas Maddock. I am a representative of the National Association of Federal Mechanics.

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to be here before your committee to place before you the problems and recommendations of the skilled mechanics we represent, employed by the United States Government in the departmental and field service under the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The mechanics we represent consist of machinists, blacksmiths, sheet-metal workers, electrical workers, plumbers, steam fitters, carpenters, painters, operating engineers, and many others.

The employees we represent contend the Classification Act should have been revised several years ago; they have endeavored many times but without success to be removed from the custodial or the craft, protective, and custodial service and be placed under a new service to be known as the Mechanical Service. We realize that in the beginning, when the Government-owned or -operated buildings were few and far apart and the maintenance employees were few, it was necessary to place such employees under some known service; this was known then as the custodial service. In the past 10 years this condition has changed so much that shops have been established for each craft and worked under certain districts.

The skilled mechanics under the CPC service are required to fill out the same form for employment and show evidence they have completed a 4-year training or apprentice period or having served 4 years at the respective trade exactly the same as the skilled mechanics employed in the District government, the navy yard, the Bureau of Engraving, and the Government Printing Office and accepted by the Civil Service Commission prior to being hired. In accordance with Public Law No. 518 of the Sixty-seventh Congress, bill H. R. 8928, a portion of section 4 is hereby quoted:

In determining the rate of compensation which an employee shall receive, the principle of equal compensation for equal work irrespective of sex shall be followed. The mechanics we represent contend they are being unjustly dealt with when mechanics in the District government, navy yards, the Bureau of Engraving, and Government Printing Office perform the same class of work but receive much higher compensation. The rates are shown below.

The above discrepancy shows the District government mechanics receive $321 more than the departmental and field mechanics; the navy yard mechanics receive $260 more than the District government and $581 more than the departmental and field mechanics; the Government Printing Office and the Bureau of Engraving mechanics receive $780 more than the navy yard and $1,040 more than the District government and $1,360.76 more than the departmental and

field service mechanics. We further submit the comparison between the guard CPC-6, who needs no 4-year apprenticeship or 4 years at the trade but receives the same rate of compensation as the skilled mechanic, than the CAF-6 clerk who receives $552 more than the skilled mechanic under the 1947 Pay Act. There is the CPC-6 laborer who needs no apprenticeship but receives the same rate of compensation as the skilled mechanic CPC-6. In many buildings in the departmental service they work alongside of the navy yard mechanics performing the same class of work but do not receive the same amount of compensation.

True overtime: The employees we represent contend they are being unjustly dealt with when required to work over 40 hours per week and do not receive true time and one-half for such hours worked. The schedule below shows the comparison:

We therefore recommend that your honorable committee take steps to correct this condition in the revision of the Classification Act.

In-grade promotions: The present method used when an employee is entitled to an in-grade promotion reads, "after completion of 12 months of service and begins on the first day of the next pay period." The employee's 12 months of service may be the first day of a new pay period; therefore they have to wait a full 2 weeks, and as this is the same on each of the six steps, the employee loses 12 weeks, or 3 months. We therefore recommend that your committee take steps to correct this situation by allowing the employee's in-grade promotion to take effect on the completion of his 12 months of service.

New service: Senator Langer has introduced a bill known as S. 1593-I would like to mention this, that the National Association of Federal Mechanics wrote this bill and asked Senator Langer to introduce it for them-the contents of which are to establish a new service known as a mechanical service, and for other purposes. We therefore recommend that your committee take into consideration that these mechanics are professional employees and would be pleased to be recognized as such; this would place them on the same level as far as title and recognition was concerned. We hereby quote a portion of a letter from Mr. Harry B. Mitchell, president of the Civil Service Commission, of June 24, 1944, to Hon. Robert Ramspeck, chairman of the House Committee on Civil Service, in reply to his request of June 9, 1944:

1. Creation of a mechanical service. The Commission has no objection to the creation of a mechanical service as such, provided that it is defined in sufficiently broad terms to include all mechanical and allied occupations. This means that it should not be restricted to positions in recognized trades and crafts but should also include all labor and skilled positions in which the employee performs manual or mechanical operations involving the maintenance, repair, or operation of Government buildings, property, or equipment.

The employees we represent have no objection to the bill covering all skilled mechanics and their helpers. That is just what their intentions were. And, as many of the Commission's recommendations in this letter were for general legislation, therefore the Classification Act revision will be a splendid time for such correction.

Longevity promotion: As there are a great number of mechanics in the departmental and field service who have reached the top step in their grade and for some unknown reason have not received a grade promotion, it is the recommendation of this organization, the National Association of Federal Mechanics, that your committee take into consideration a method for granting such employees an increase above the top of their grade, providing their record remains the same or better than when they received their last in-grade pro

motion.

Senator LONG. Thank you very much, Mr. Maddock.

Well, that will conclude the hearings until Wednesday at 10 o'clock, and they will begin Wednesday at 10 o'clock in the regular committee room over in the Senate Office Building.

(Whereupon, at 4:10 p. m., a recess was taken, the subcommittee to reconvene at 10 a. m., Wednesday, May 18, 1949.)

SALARIES OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1949

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10:10 a. m. in room 135, Senate Office Building, Senator Russell B. Long, presiding. Present: Senators Long (presiding) and Graham.

Also present: J. Austin Latimer, staff director and chief clerk of the committee.

Senator LONG. The hearing will come to order.

The first witness this morning will be Mr. E. H. Cantwell, of the clerks local, Shreveport, La.

State your name, Mr. Cantwell, and whom you represent.

STATEMENT OF E. H. CANTWELL, CLERKS LOCAL, SHREVEPORT,

LA.

Mr. CANTWELL. My name is E. H. Cantwell, and I reside in Shreveport, La. I am a clerk in the Shreveport post office, where I have been employed for the past 21 years.

Senator GRAHAM. Which post office is that?

Mr. CANTWELL. Shreveport, La.

We realize that some believe this to be an inopportune time for salary increases. We of the Government service are asking only for what we should have received last year. I might add here that we would have received a sufficient salary increase at that time if the powers of the Eightieth Congress had allowed the bill, reported out of committee, to come to a vote.

Senator GRAHAM. It did not come before either House?

Mr. CANTWELL. Yes; it came before both Houses, but not as it was reported out. They reported out a bill for $850, and the last minute they cut it back to $450.

The failure to enact legislation giving an adequate salary increase at that time left postal employees far behind the cost of living; and, although some small decreases have occurred in the prices of some items, we are still too far behind the cost of living, even to the extent of going into debt.

A recent partial economic survey of conditions in the Shreveport post office reveals that a great percentage of the clerks try to earn a mere existence by securing a few hours of outside work daily. This takes the form of keeping a small set of books or joining the National Guard or some branch of the Reserves of the armed forces. Many frankly state that they belong to the Guard or Reserves solely for the money involved. The wives of many employees have been forced to

obtain work outside their homes, which complicates home life exceedingly and tends to encourage juvenile delinquency.

The class of employees now coming into the postal service reflects the general attitude of people toward our system. Their qualities. are not as stable as when our salaries were commensurate with others. and with the cost of living. For example, case examination trouble was unknown at our office until recently. This trouble parallels closely with our inadequate salaries.

Senator GRAHAM. What trouble is that?

Mr. CANTWELL. Case examinations-postal employees, postal clerks had to put up case examinations on the city schemes or on the State schemes.

Senator LONG. What case examination is that?

Mr. CANTWELL. Well, now, for instance, clerks in Washington, D. C., have got to work out all the mail for the different streets, and so on, to the different carriers, and then outgoing mail has got to be worked out to direct a railway post-office case, and that sort of stuff. We have schemes on that which consist usually of about seven or eight hundred cards representing that many blocks or that many post offices, and so on, ranging up to as many as 1,100 in some examinations.

Senator LONG. What does that have to do with the pay that they receive?

Mr. CANTWELL. Well, it does not have anything to do with the pay other than the fact that a good many of them are quitting the service. In other words, the quality of the people that are coming in is not such that they are willing to put up with that to hold their jobs.

Senator LONG. I see.

Mr. CANTWELL. Since the war, 68 new clerical employees have come into our office, and of this number 58 have had failures of from one to six times on their case examinations. Several have resigned because they were unable to meet the case examination requirements, or perhaps I should have said unwilling to meet them. Previous to that we never did have any such record at all.

Senator LONG. How many employees do you have there in your office? You say 68 came in. That is 68 new employees out of how many?

Mr. CANTWELL. Well, we have at the present time about 175 or 180 clerical employees.

When our salaries are considered along with the cost of living, it can be shown that we have taken quite a salary cut compared to our salaries in 1940. The United States News magazine places this at a 10 percent loss, but when you figure the increase in income tax,. there is actually a larger decrease.

The average pay of our employees is slightly more than $200 monthly. The postal worker's expense for housing, groceries, insurance, transportation, and utilities amount to about $196, which leaves about $30 for clothing, doctor bills, medicine, and other necessities of life. This leaves him behind the eight ball. Governmental workers should have the same right as others to send their children to college. A postal worker cannot possibly send his children to college on the present salary. Most of the children of postal. workers, in the Shreveport office, are being forced to seek out employment at the end of their high school education. We are asking for a