of a pay raise to bring their salaries more in line with those in private industry. And, I felt that the Morrison bill was the most liberal with regard to increased compensation and step and longevity increases.

Over a period of the last 10 or 12 years the postal worker has received several increases in compensation, but when compared with increases received by other workers in comparable categories there is quite a difference, with the postal worker now receiving less than the workers in the other industries although in most instances the pay received by the postal workers was greater in 1949.

I might point out that in the New York regional office of the Post Office Department in 1961 alone we had over 4,700 resignations. Too great a percentage of those were because the service pay and working conditions are not attractive enough to retain employees who wish to make a career in the Federal service with sufficient compensation with which to support himself and his family in a comfortable manner. We have also the problem of employees who do remain with the Department, but who must seek additional employment in order to meet the continued high cost of living, or whose wives must leave the home and go to work to supplement the family income.

In this great country of ours, and in this day and age, this situation should not prevail. We should reward these employees who have worked so faithfully and so well, and we should see to it that they are equitably and fairly compensated for the work they do.

I certainly hope it will be possible for this committee to give prompt and favorable consideration to the legislation pending before it. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Rosenthal.

The next witness is Hon. Joseph E. Karth, of Minnesota.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH E. KARTH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

Mr. KARTH. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the patience of long-suffering postal workers will, I hope, shortly be rewarded by Congress. Even the most favorable bills introduced would, in my opinion, still not approach a comfortable living for these employees and their families.

The members of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service have been, I'm sure, deluged with statistics, charts, reports, studies, analyses, and what-not to prove every conceivable point for every position. But the objective I am particularly interested in is more money for the letter carriers, postal clerks, and the many other groups of workers who move the U.S. mails.

I have introduced H.R. 2037, a bill which I think is much more desirable than other pay legislation being actively considered. However, because the postal employee organizations which are concerned with coordinating legislative efforts have agreed to back Congressman Morrison's bill, H.R. 9531, I have consented to support it instead of my own bill.

I am proud of the fine, conscientious job done by our career men and women who man the world's greatest postal establishment. We in Congress have the obligation to make possible salaries which will allow them to raise their families in modest comfort, in decency, and in dignity. We are not now fulfilling that duty with the result that

postal workers and their families are holding down second and even third jobs. This is a national disgrace which must no longer be permitted.

Under the provisions of H.R. 9531, level 4 salaries will increase by $1,055 to $5,400 for the new step 1 and increase by $1,155 up to a salary of $6,760 for the new highest step 6-C.

I respectfully urge that this committee act quickly and approve H.R. 9531 so that loyal and dedicated postal workers, many of whom I know personally in St. Paul, will receive long overdue economic justice in their paychecks.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Karth.

The next witness is Hon. William S. Moorhead, of Pennsylvania.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Chairman, this session of Congress should not end without the passage of legislation providing a revised pay scale for the employees of the Federal Government. I think it imperative that salaries and all other benefits should be brought closer in line with those in private industry.

As we all know, we are approaching the end of the second and last session of the 87th Congress and the time to act is running out.

I therefore respect fully urge that your committee act as promptly as possible to report legislation providing for a fair and equitable pay program for all Government employees.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Moorhead.

The next witness is Hon. Gordon L. McDonough, of California.

STATEMENT OF HON. GORDON L. MCDONOUGH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. MCDONOUGH. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the legislation now under consideration by this committee would grant a much needed and deserved pay increase for post office and civil service employees.

During the years when the increase in cost of living has increased steadily in this country, and pay raises have been gained by civilian employees in all categories to meet the increased living costs, the rate of pay for civil service and post office employees has failed to keep pace, and these employees of the Federal Government have not received compensation to provide fair and equitable pay for the services they have rendered.

The Government needs and must maintain a staff of Government. employees at all levels and in every department and agency of the Government to insure the continuous and efficient operation of all Government functions. This requires career employees who have attained a high level of efficiency and experience in their fields.

This goal cannot be reached unless the rate of pay in Government service is brought more closely in line with pay rates in private business and industry.

As long as the gap between pay in Government service and in private business and industry remains so great, there will be a continuous

and costly turnover in Government employees which not only represents the loss of money to the Government in time and training expended on the employee leaving Government service and for retraining a replacement, but which also continually impairs the efficiency of Government operations.

The postal service affords a clear example of one department of the Government where pay rates have continually lagged far behind pay in private business and industry for comparable work. Here in the processing and delivery of mail is a service of vital and personal importance to every citizen in our Nation. Business depends upon efficient mail service, and uses it in daily transaction. Postal employees must be efficient, competent, and completely trustworthy. They must be ready and willing to work at all hours and during all types of conditions.

It is a tribute to the loyalty, devotion to service, and self-sacrifice of the men and women of the postal service that the Post Office Department has maintained a continuous high rate of efficiency in spite of the low rate of pay and the rapidly expanding population of the Nation which has constantly increased the workload of the postal employees.

It is unnecessary to go into the previous increases in pay for civil service and postal employees, and the ratio of present pay with costof-living increases and current pay rates in private business and industry, as the members of this committee are fully informed on these figures.

I am sure that the committee will agree that the increase in pay provided by the legislation now under consideration for the post office and civil service employees is just and deserved, and I sincerely and strongly urge the members of this committee to report favorably to the House for consideration the legislation for this pay increase. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. McDonough.

The next witness is Hon. Herbert Zelenko, of New York.

STATEMENT OF HON. HERBERT ZELENKO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Mr. ZELENKO. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am delighted to have this opportunity to testify in behalf of my bill, H.R. 9618, which would adequately increase the wages of our underpaid postal employees. I have consistently supported legislation beneficial to postal workers and I will continue to do so until they receive wage justice. As President Kennedy recently declared:

Every objective survey has demonstrated that salaried Government employees at almost every work level received less compensation, on a national average basis, than private employees performing similar work.

Prompt enactment of the Postal Employees' Salary Act of 1962 is necessary, desirable, and practical.

Opposing pay increases before your great committee in 1960, former Postmaster General Summerfield testified that a valid basis for raising postal salaries exists only if the going private industry rate for equivalent work is not being paid or if competent personnel are not being recruited and retained. No one can dispute the validity of these criteria. For this reason, it is interesting to note that the report of the

Bureau of Labor Statistics for December 1961 shows the gross pay of a typical postal worker to be at the bottom of a long list of wage rates now prevalent in machinery, electronics, transportation, printing and publishing businesses, as well as those relating to chemistry, petroleum, and rubber. While other workers have received up to 21 increases in pay since 1949, the Post Office Department, lagging far behind, has offered its workers only 5. In comparison, the firemen in New York City have received 13 pay increases since 1949 totaling 87.8 cents an hour above what the letter carriers have received. The wages paid by many private industries have risen 400 percent since 1939, but the salaries of postal workers during the same period have only doubled. Countless surveys indicate that the postal worker is no longer receiving comparable compensation for his endeavors. Shortly after assuming his duties, Postmaster General Day stated:

There is a noticeable lack of comparability in the salaries paid to postal employees in all categories of work as compared to private industry. Our pay scales are inadequate throughout all levels of employment.

As a result, it is rapidly becoming difficult to attract and maintain competent personnel in this vital Department. A staggering turnover of personnel has developed and continues to plague the postal service. In addition, employee morale has declined drastically and the "Educational Requirements" section of the entrance examination has been eliminated, due to an absence of qualified applicants. The receipt, distribution, dispatch, and delivery of the Nation's mail is a highly technical operation requiring the services of well-trained and qualified employees. It is unnecessary to elaborate on the dire effects to our Nation which a defective mail service could produce. Only an equitable wage boost can reverse the recent trend of staffing our post office installations with less qualified personnel. Therefore, to counteract the declining caliber of postal employees and to restore remunerative equality with other workers, a pay increase is absolutely necessary and clearly justifiable.

The bill is also desirable from a humanitarian standpoint. It is fast becoming impossible for these workers to exist on their meager salaries while the cost of living moves inexorably upward each year. In fact, the "real" income of postal workers has actually decreased by 5 percent, due to recent increases in inflation. I have received hundreds of letters from constituents explaining their desperate situation and imploring our assistance. It is shocking to go through this correspondence and discover a mailman who supports a family of five with a take-home pay of $84.50 after 12 years of service; another who served for 25 years and studied scheme work every week on his own time earning $81; and a third who works 13 hours a day just to make ends meet.

A glance at various statistics graphically illustrates the plight of these families. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics drew up a modest but adequate budget for a family in 20 cities throughout the United States in 1959. This was an average, not a luxury budget. It showed that a letter carrier's salary does not even match the minimum budget established for the lowest city in the country, the differential being over $600. In New York City the salary needed to support a family of four is $6,027. Nevertheless, the average postal worker

makes only $4,345, or $1,682 less than the minimum. After 25 long years of service he will still be $422 below the level set by the Bureau as the minimum necessary to live adequately in New York City. Is it any wonder that 93 percent of the potal workers, in a recent survey, report they are currently operating at a deficit? In fact, only 4 percent of all postal employees with families could afford to live adequately in New York on their present salaries. This pattern is repeated throughout the country. Wage incentives for those in level 4-72 percent of all postal employees are lacking. Under the present system he can never earn more than 29 percent above his beginning salary. Indeed, 12 extra years of seniority after his 13th year of service net him only $140 extra per year-an increase of less than 2 cents an hour.

The Bureau of Employees Compensation reports that carrying mail is one of the most hazardous occupations in the Federal Establishment and causes 20.1 disabling injuries per million man-hours of work. The mailman is continually subjected to the hazards of storms, wind, and blizzard. The postal clerk must learn distribution schemes with up to 9,000 listings and expedite at least 39 letters per minute to keep his job. Thus, these men are employed in a hazardous, exacting occupation and should be recompensed accordingly, instead of being exploited with subsistence wages.

Finally, this bill has other practical aspects. First, an increase in pay would stop the loss of experienced personnel which is a costly phase of current postal operations. It takes $3,000 to train each new employee. Second, the attraction of intelligent, young workers into the postal service would increase efficiency and reduce waste. Third, higher wages would help stimulate our presently sluggish economy. Fourth, increased wages would reduce "moonlighting," which causes mental and physical strain on employees and decreases effectiveness. A recent survey shows that 75 percent of all postal employees find it necessary to secure second jobs. Fifth, and most important, a large portion of the money needed to finance this pay increase could come from charging postage on the millions of pieces of Soviet propaganda that enter this country through the mails each year free.

The postal worker needs an adequate pay raise now to alleviate his unwarranted hardships and deplorable living conditions. We may be on the threshold of the space age, but the pay of the Post Office employees still reflects the horse and buggy era. No family can live with any decency or confidence on such incomes. The responsibility rests squarely with the Congress. For all the reasons discussed above I urge favorable action on my postal pay bill, H.R. 9618.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Zelenko.

The next witness is Hon. Elmer J. Holland, of Pennsylvania.

STATEMENT OF HON. ELMER J. HOLLAND, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. HOLLAND. Mr. Chairman, during the early part of this session I introduced H.R. 9540 (Postal Employees Salary Act) and H.R. 10055 (Federal Employees Salary Adjustment Act) as cosponsors to H.R. 9531 and H.R. 9935, respectively, introduced by the Honorable James H. Morrison of your committee.