CANNON, LONGWORTH, AND RAYBURN. HOUSE OFFICE BUILDINGS

Wage board employees listed by categories, number, grade, minimum and maximum hourly and per annum rates

Wage board employees listed by categories, number, grade, minimum and maximum hourly and per annum rates-Continued

REQUEST FOR STONEMASON

Mr. ANDREWS. Now you want a stonemason.

Mr. HENLOCK. That is right.

Mr. ANDREWS. That is one of the new positions you are requesting?

Mr. HENLOCK. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. At a salary of $6,157?

Mr. ANDREWS. What would be the realistic salary?

Mr. HENLOCK. You would add 15 percent, which would be approximately $900, working 44 hours.

Mr. ANDREWs. Tell us what this man will do.

Mr. HENLOCK. At the present time, one stonemason is provided for the care and maintenance of the marble and other stonework in the Cannon and Longworth House Office Buildings. For 1967, it is requested that a stonemason be allowed for care and maintenance of the marble and other stonework in the Rayburn House Office Building. The Rayburn Building is a massive structure and contains an extensive amount of marble and granite. In the interest of protecting the Government's investment in this building, this position should be allowed.

The quality marbles used in the Rayburn Building were assembled from the finest quarries available and were cut and finished to exacting standards. If given proper care, the marble will stand indefinitely through the years, retaining its natural beauty and character. Marble must be given periodic care and cleaning to insure retention of its beauty. The work should be done by an experienced and competent stonemason. Joints must be grouted or repointed periodically due to the constant movement of the superstructure; repairs to chips and broken corners, made by delivery trucks or other objects, must be made; stains from body oils must be removed by application of special poultices; oil stains from other sources must be removed immediately to prevent permanent discoloration; deep scratches, when they occur, must be rubbed out or they will gather dirt; marble disturbed by

electricians and other trades in making repairs and changes should be removed and repaired by an experienced stonemason; mopping and cleanup crews should be advised as to what soaps, cleaners, and other materials can be safely applied to the floors. This work is considered essential to the proper care of the building.

Mr. ANDREWS. How many other stonemasons do you have?
Mr. HENLOCK. One.

Mr. ANDREWS. Is he assigned to the other two buildings?
Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. Is he able to keep up with the other two buildings? Mr. RIDGELL. We hire outside masons from time to time, but as a rule he keeps up with all the minor repairs.

Mr. ANDREWS. Will this man you are getting be limited to work only on the Rayburn Building or will the two be assigned to the three buildings?

Mr. RIDGELL. Wherever needed the most.

Mr. ANDREWS. In other words, he will work wherever you suggest?
Mr RIDGELL. Yes; primarily, the Rayburn Building.

Mr. ANDREWS. Who takes care of this type work on the Capitol?
Mr. CLANCY. We have a mason taking care of that work now.
Mr. ANDREWS. How many men do you have?

Mr. CLANCY. One stonemason and one helper.

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you pay them about the same rate?
Mr. CLANCY. Yes, sir.

REQUEST FOR LABOR FOREMAN AND NIGHT LABORERS

Mr. ANDREWS. You want one labor foreman and five night laborers for a total of $26,000. Tell us about this item.

Mr. HENLOCK. This is an item recommended by Mr. Ridgell, the Superintendent.

There are 29 lobbies in the Rayburn Building, leading from the garages into the other parts of the building. The floors of these lobbies are asphalt-tiled floors and, due to heavy pedestrian traffic, must be mopped and scrubbed daily and waxed two to three times each week. This work must be done at night. At present, such work is being done by five laborers detailed from the garages, resulting in a shortage in the garage maintenance force and inadequate maintenance of the garages. In order to provide proper maintenance in both the lobbies and the garages, it is requested that these six positions be added to the labor maintenance force for 1967.

TOTAL GARAGE POSITIONS

Mr. ANDREWS. How many jobs are assigned to the garage and on what shifts?

Mr. RIDGELL. We have a total of 45-37 attendants and 8 laborers. Mr. ANDREWs. Is that for both garages in the Cannon and the Rayburn Buildings?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. How many just in the Rayburn Building?
Mr. RIDGELL. We can put that in the record, if I may.

(The information follows:)

The total in the Rayburn Building garage, alone, is 33 attendants and 5 laborers.

GARAGE FOREMEN

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you have a superintendent of garages? Is there such a position as that?

Mr. RIDGELL. No, sir. We have a foreman.

Mr. ANDREWS. How many do you have?

Mr. RIDGELL. One for each shift. In the Cannon garage we have one day foreman. The nightman is assistant foreman, he and one laborer on that trick. We only have six employees in the Cannon garage. When we went over to the Rayburn garage I believe there were 14, and the foreman for the 7:30 to 4 shift. Then we have a foreman and 12 men from 4 to midnight. Midnight to 8, we have a foreman and four men. I think I am right on these figures.

The assignment of spaces, Members switching places, is all handled by one of my assistants in the office.

Mr. ANDREWS. He is in your office?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir. We handle that.

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you think it would be better to have an overall man in the garage, just a garagemen to be overall superintendent or overall foreman of both garages?

Mr. RIDGELL. And assign spaces, and so forth, and make the necessary moves?

Mr. ANDREWS. Not necessarily that, but to look after the policing of the garage. I have had several Members complain to me that unauthorized people were using space for parking and that unauthorized people were seen walking around in the garages at night.

Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. ANDREWS. We will recess until 1 o'clock.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mr. ANDREWS. The committee will come to order.

We were discussing the garages in the Rayburn and Cannon Buildings.

CARWASHING IN THE GARAGES

Tell us about the carwash rack in the Rayburn Building, Mr. Ridgell. It is there. Have you tried to get an operator?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. STEWART. Mr. Roof has a record of all our efforts up to date. He is in the best position to reply.

Mr. ROOF. Mr. Chairman, under the direction of the House Office Building Commission, we advertised for bids to operate a concession there at so much per car. We got one bid. One of the provisions of the contract was that the bidder was to develop a method of operation which would be satisfactory to you gentlemen and satisfactory to our office. This bidder could not develop that type of procedure or mode of operation.

Mr. ANDREWS. Why? What was the problem?

Mr. ROOF. As I recall, there are only three spaces available there for carwash use and a firm just cannot make a profit and operate a satisfactory facility in that small area of the garage. Mr. Ridgell, Mr. Henlock and I, and several others on our staff, had two or three meetings with this bidder. He finally engaged an expert in carwash

operations, an adviser from the outside, who had been on assignment with the Small Business Committee. This expert assured us that a satisfactory service could not possibly be operated in the building in those three spaces.

If we were able to give up, say, 50 or 100 parking spaces, yes, you could operate successfully, but in those 3 you have the problem of how the contractor is to collect his money, how he is to find out who wants a car washed, and get the car to and from the rack. Only the Members' spaces are designated by number so they, alone, have the same space every day. The other spaces are first come, first served. How are you going to get that car back in the right space? How are you going to know the space is vacant when the car is washed and ready to return? These are some of the many problems we encountered.

Mr. ANDREWS. In other words, you have not been able to get an outside commercial firm interested in making a bid for a concession or even taking it?

Mr. Roof. No, sir. We do have one firm which has said that it would be interested in it at a higher figure than we had specified. Under the law, if we had not received any bids, then we could negotiate with some firm at, say, $2 a car. A firm which operates a garage and filling station close by is interested in such an arrangement. He would be willing to make all the arrangements with the Members directly, pick up the car and take it back, so our people would not be involved. It would be illegal for any of Mr. Ridgell's men to wash cars or be involved in the operation.

Mr. ANDREWS. Tell us how the wash rack is operated over in the Cannon Building.

Mr. Roof. There, Mr. Ridgell has arranged with some outside men to come in and do it on their own time. They are not Government employees. We have nothing to do with it other than Mr. Ridgell agreeing to their working in the garage.

Mr. ANDREWS. If you can operate this way in the Cannon Building, why can you not do it in the Rayburn Building?

Mr. RooF. You could operate on the same scale if we could find three or four men who would be willing to come in, but Mr. Ridgell is having trouble keeping the men that he has.

Mr. ANDREWs. I have talked to Mike Preloh down there several times, and others have talked with him. About a month or 6 weeks ago I had several Members approach me and ask me to see if we could not work out some way of having that wash rack operated. It would be a great convenience to the Members. I believe the charge over there is $1.50, is it not?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. That is the reason there would not be any interest on the part of an outside private enterprise?

Mr. Roof. We do have one, Mr. Chairman, who is interested at $2, but we have not readvertised the bid. We just got through with the negotiation on the other firm who bid and then could not come up with a satisfactory procedure.

Mr. ANDREWS. I took it on myself to tell Mike to see what kind of deal he could come up with comparable to the way they operate over in the Cannon Building. I further took it on myself to have our clerk to have him before the committee and let him tell the committee what