educational proposals cheat the black student because they will fit him for a "sheltered work shop occupation" rather than competition in the open market. It has been our approach through the Apprenticeship Outreach Program and the experimental development of journeymen training programs to raise less qualified applicants to meet industry standards rather than to lower the standards to meet the lack of qualifications. We do not believe that it is in the interest of the nation, the industry, or the black worker to take "the easy way." We shall also continue to oppose unsound or unlawful Government measures. The Building and Construction Trades Department objected vigorously to the original "Philadelphia Plan" which was abandoned by the Government after the Comptroller General of the United States ruled it illegal. The Department takes equally strong objection to the "Philadelphia Revised Plan" which is a quota system no matter how it may be dressed up in legal verbiage. We are unalterably opposed to the quota system. The Comptroller General, who certainly cannot be accused of partiality to the Building and Construction Trades unions, has ruled that the "Philadelphia Revised Plan" is also illegal. His basic position is that the "Philadelphia Revised Plan" violates the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which provide that nothing in the law shall be authorized to grant preferential treatment to any group because of racial imbalance. He has also stated that: .. "we believe there is a material difference between the situation in those cases, where enforcement of the rights of the minority individuals to vote or to have unsegregated educational or housing facilities does not deprive any member of a majority group of his rights, and the situation in the employment field, where the hiring of a minority worker, as one of a group whose number is limited by the employer's needs, in preference to one of the majority group precludes the employment of the latter. In other words, in those cases there is present no element of reverse discrimination, but only the correction of the illegal denial of minority rights, leaving the majority in the full exercise and employment of their corresponding rights." It would have been better, in our judgment, if the hearing on the "Philadelphia Revised Plan" had been held before, rather than after, the Plan was adopted. We trust that the deliberative and consultative procedures of the Government in similar matters will not be abandoned because of activist pressures or the desire for hasty or untimely action. REVISED PHILADELPHIA PLAN RESOLUTION NO. 270 Whereas the Building and Construction Trade Department (AFL-CIO) has been engaged in a program of practical affirmative action to increase the employment of Negroes and other minority groups in the building and construction industry which has produced substantial, concrete results, and Whereas the Building and Construction Trades Department (AFL-CIO) at its 55th Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, adopted a Statement of Policy which strengthened and expanded its affirmative action program, and Whereas the department's Statement of Policy declared that: "We are convinced that the goal of increasing Negro and other minority worker participation in the building and construction trades can be accomplished with due regard to the rights of the existing organized work force. We think such an approach is preferable to unthinking actions which tend to pit one part of the population against the other." and Whereas the Amended Revised Philadelphia Plan is a part of a pattern of conduct formulated by political strategists in the Nixon administration to divide the labor movement while slowing the process of implementing the civl rights program on voting and education in the South, and Whereas the Revised Philadelphia Plan was adopted after an admittedly improper procedure which was described by the Assistant Secretary of Labor in charge of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance as follows: ". . . in Philadelphia we announced the Plan then did the hard research." and Whereas the "hard research" consisted among other things of describing as "Surveys Conducted by Agencies of the United States Department of Labor" a memorandum to the files by one government employe quoting another government employe's "conservative estimates" of "minority manpower available." On the crucial question of minority manpower available, the Philadelphia Order is based also on a single typewritten sheet of "estimates" which apparently became a "Manpower Administration Survey" by writing those words in pencil in the upper right hand corner of the typewritten sheet, and Whereas the unsubstantiated statistics in this matter raise a serious question as to whether the high standards applicable to the fact finding processes of the Department of Labor have been fulfilled, and Whereas the Comptroller General of the United States, a non-political officer, who cannot be accused of partiality toward the labor movement, ruled the Philadelphia Revised Plan illegal (August 5, 1969) as in conflict with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Whereas there is doubt as to the validity of the after-the-fact ruling of the Attorney General on the said Revised Philadelphia Plan issued September 22, 1969, and Whereas the Amended Revised Philadelphia Plan continues the quota system under new legal verbiage, and Whereas it is clearly evident that the Department of Labor is approaching the question of employment opportunities in the construction industry in a manner highly discriminatory to that industry and unlike the government's approach to other industries such as the textile mills in the South as evidenced by the approved affirmative action program of the J. P. Stevens Company where the "goals" are determined by the company rather than the government and where it is specifically stated that these goals and timetables "will not be interpreted as numerical quotas . . .", and Whereas the Amended Revised Philadelphia Plan in addition to its illegality and lack of foundation in fact is impracticable and unworkable. Resolved, That this Convention go on record as opposing the Philadelphia Plan, the Revised Philadelphia Plan, and the Amended Revised Philadelphia Plan. Resolved further, That the Secretary of Labor is requested to make a personal inquiry into the fact finding and other procedures leading to the issuance of the Amended Revised Philadelphia Plan to ascertain their consistency with the otherwise high standards of the Department of Labor and to take appropriate action on the basis of such inquiry. OCTOBER 17, 1969. Mr. LAURENCE SILBERMAN, Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, DEAR MR. SILBERMAN: As you know, the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, has been very concerned with the so-called "Philadelphia Plan." From the outset, it has opposed in principle the "quota" philosophy espoused by the Plan. More recently, it has taken issue with the factual conclusions which have been made and relied upon by officials in the Department of Labor to determine that the philosophy should be applied in the Philadelphia area and then to implement the philosophy in terms of specific "ranges." On September 23, 1969, Assistant Secretary Fletcher and Director Wilks of the OFCC issued their Order establishing the "ranges." The conclusory facts relied upon in the Order are purportedly derived from the record of the hearing held August 26-28, 1969, and from "additional relevant data gathered and compiled by the Department of Labor." It is understandable that the Building and Construction Trades Department would like to study this "additional relevant data" to determine whether it factually supports the ranges established. However, since October 2, I have unsuccessfully attempted to secure certain portions of this data from persons in your Office. I have been told that this information is in Mr. Menasco's office but that Mr. Menasco is out of town and the information cannot be located. On one occasion, Mr. Menasco was in Billings, Montana. On another occasion-following Mr. Menasco's return to Washington from Billings but no subsequent communication to me from anyone in your Office-Mr. Menasco was in New York. I am writing to ask your help in providing this information to me for the Building and Construction Trades Department. The data, as referred to in the September 23 Order, is as follows: 1. Data on minority participation in membership in the unions representing employees in the six trades, not including testimony by Robert G. Owens. (See Order, p. 4.) 2. The "national survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics" which indicates the present annual attrition rate of construction trade membership due to retirement. (See Order, p. 9.) 3. The "national actuarial rates for the construction industry published by the National Safety Council" and any other data used to arrive at the "average disability occurrence rate resulting from death or injury." (See Order, p. 9.) 4. Any other data used to make the "conservative estimate" referred to in the second paragraph of page 9 of the Order. It is my impression that information such as that enumerated above was intended by Congress to be made available to the public when the Public Information Section of the Administrative Procedure Act was enacted in 1966 (Public Law 89-487). There are, of course, exemptions for specific categories of classified matters, and if any of the enumerated matters cannot be provided because it falls within any of these exemptions, I would appreciate knowing of this. As I'm sure you know, Senator Ervin has announced that hearings on the revised Philadelphia Plan will be conducted by the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers of the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 27 and 28. It is anticipated that the Building and Construction Trades Department will be represented at these hearings, and it may wish to comment on the fact finding processes used in connection with the revised Philadelphia Plan. For this reason, I would deeply appreciate it if the enumerated data could be made available on an expedited basis. Sincerely yours, LOUIS SHERMAN, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. OCTOBER 24, 1969. Mr. LAURENCE SILBERMAN, Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, DEAR MR. SILBERMAN: This will acknowledge your letter of October 21, 1969, advising that Mr. Peter Nash of your office was asked to contact me in order to insure that the information which I requested in my letter of October 17, 1969, was made available. Pursuant thereto on October 22, 1969, Mr. Edes of your office delivered the following materials to my office: (1) a two page "Memorandum for the Solicitor Re: September 23, 1969 OFCC Order on the Philadelphia Plan-The Impact of the Program Upon the Existing Labor Force" containing Horace Menasco's name at the bottom of the second page; (2) a single sheet entitled "Estimated Career Openings in 14 Selected Building Trades Occupations in the Construction Industry, 1968-75" (see Order, p. 9); (3) a two page item entitled, in part, "WLSA Office of Planning Manpower Directions New York State 1965-1975" (see Order, p. 9); (4) a single sheet containing the handwritten word "Chicago" in the upper lefthand corner and containing the words "Revised-September 10, 1969 Bureau of Labor Statistics North Central Regional Office Thomas J. McArdle, Reg. Dir." in the lower righthand corner (see Order, p. 9); (5) a two page item whose first page is entitled "BLS Report No. 360 Injury Rates By Industry, 1966 and 1967" (see Order, p. 9); (6) a two page item containing the handwritten words "Accident Facts 1968 Nat'l. Safety Council" on the first page (see Order, p. 9); (7) a two page item from the study referred to in the footnote on p. 10 of the Order, which had been included in the materials previously provided October 2; and (8) a three page item whose first page is entitled, in part, “A Monthly Labor Review Reprint From the June 1967 Issue Special Labor Force Report No. 84 Occupational Mobility of Employed Workers" (see Order, p. 9). In addition to these materials, I had previously received the following items at a meeting in the Department of Labor Building attended by Mr. Gresholm Smith and Mr. Nicholas Edes of your office, Mr. Leifer of my office and myself: (1) excerpts from the "Philadelphia hearing" testimony by Robert G. Owens (see Order, pp. 3–5); (2) a single sheet containing the handwritten words "Manpower Administration Survey" in the upper righthand corner (see Order, pp. 6-7); (3) a memorandum, dated 7/31/69, from Alfred W. Blumrosen to Files giving figures which he received from Ben Stalvey (see Order, p. 7); (4) a memorandum from Assistant Secretary Weber to Assistant Secretary Fletcher dated September 18, 1969 (see Order, pp. 7–8); and (5) several sheets from the study referred to in the footnote on p. 10 of the Order. I would appreciate it if you could inform me whether the materials enumerated above constitute all the “additional relevant data” as referred to at page 3 of the September 23 Order. If there is other additional relevant data which is not enumerated above, I would appreciate it if you would transmit to me copies of same or advise me if you cannot do so. Sincerely yours, LOUIS SHERMAN, General Counsel, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. To: Files. MEMORANDUM JULY 31, 1969. From: Alfred W. Blumrosen. Subject: Ben Stalvey gave me the following figures as conservative estimates dealing with the operation of the proposed revised Philadelphia Plan. 1. Manpower in the trade and minority manpower available: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR MANPOWER, Washington, D.C., September 18, 1969. MEMORANDUM FOR ARTHUR A. FLETCHER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY From: Arnold R. Weber, Assistant Secretary for Manpower. In concert with our agreement of yesterday in connection with goals to be reached for the skilled trades under the “Philadelphia Plan", the Manpower Administration is ready to initiate back up programs so as to show full training capabilities at the local level to support the implementation of the pian. Accordingly, we are planning to fund the Negro Union Leadership Council for 70 outreach slots for approximately $78,000 since this is a contract that has been operating in Philadelphia through the last year and will simply be a recycle of our current level. However, in addition, we are ready to double that contract and are setting aside approximately $80,000 so as to cover the increase. In addition to this contract, we will begin immediately to initiate discussions at the local level so as to determine the feasibility of implementing a journeyman training program for approximately 180 journeyman trainees. Both new programs will be aimed specifically at the skills in the Philadelphia Plan. As you know the Outreach program provides assistance to the contractor that assures our reaching out into the community and finding the minority group candidates and in addition providing them with whatever assistance needed so as to assure that they will have little difficulty in passing the apprenticeship examination. I am sure you are aware that these programs have been highly successful in the past. The journeyman training program provides the following elements: 1. The development of a labor-management agreement covering the scope of the program and methods of operation under the program. 2. The establishment of a labor-management-community committee. 3. The utilization of the committee to (a) Establish the skill and equivalency of each applicant to position him in relation to the program as an apprentice, journeyman trainee or journey man. (b) Establish a level of wage reimbursement to be paid the journeymen trainees. Note: This is based on the apprentice wage scale for the skill level which is determined for each individual journeyman trainee. |