Congressman EDWARD O. McCowEN, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, SCHOOL FOR WORKERS, Madison 5, Wis., March 3, 1948. Chairman, House Subcommittee on Education, House Office, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: As an organization connected with a land-grant university, and one that has the longest record of continuous educational service to labor, we are particularly interested in House bill 4078, the labor extension bill. We hope that you will do your best to schedule early hearings on this bill. There are many interested groups who wish to be heard and have the right to be heard on this measure. We shall appreciate your earnest consideration and cooperation in this matter. Very sincerely yours, VIDKUNN ULRIKSSON, Assistant Director. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Hon. FRED A. HARTLEY, Jr., INSTITUTE OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, DEAR MR. HARTLEY: I am writing to express my hope that you will be able to set an early date for hearings on S. 1390, establishing an extension service for workers. I have, from my experience in New York State and here in Illinois, come to the very strong conviction that this type of service is urgently needed in our present situation. I am sure I do not need to underline the many reasons behind the development of the idea expressed by the bill, or the policy which it would establish. Now, more than ever, the American labor movement must develop the kind of leadership which can give it an effective direction toward the general welfare. Education, I think, can, all would agree, aid materially in the attainment of this objective. Faithfully yours, PHILLIPS BRADLEY, Director. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, Madison 5, Wis., February 14, 1948. Hon. GEORGE D. AIKEN, Chairman, Subcommittee on Education, Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR AIKEN: As it is not possible for me to attend the hearings on bill S. 1390 for the establishment of a Labor Extension Service, of which I have been notified, I am herewith giving you a brief statement of the reasons why I hope your committee will give favorable consideration to this measure. My interest in this bill is that of a university professor who has devoted many years to the study and teaching of labor relations, and who has often been called upon to try to adjust labor difficulties. My experience has led me to the conclusion that workers' education is vitally important both for the maintenance of industrial peace and whole-hearted cooperation of labor which we must have for maximum production. The University of Wisconsin, for more than 20 years, has conducted a summer session for workers which is really a series of short institutes, most of which are operated under contracts made with international unions. These institutes have been of real benefit not only to the union people attending them, but to the people, through helping develop better informed and understanding labor leaders. To make such educational opportunities available to workers generally, however, the instruction must be brought to the community in which they live, as but few of them can leave their jobs even for an institute lasting but a week or two. To make workers' education a much greater force for improving labor relations than it now is, leadership is vital and also needs more adequate financial support. Both purposes will be served by the Department of Labor, operating under a competitive Director, with the advice of the National Labor Extension Counsel, such as is contemplated in this bill, should furnish the necessary leadership. Financial support by the National Government will make possible a great expansion in workers' education. As an educator believing in the value of education, I would like to be recorded as urging passage of bill S. 1390. Sincerely yours, Miss HILDA W. SMITH, EDWIN E. WITTE, Chairman. STATE OF NEW YORK, New York, February 16, 1948. Chairman, National Committee for the Extension of Labor Education, DEAR MISS SMITH: I regret very much that a heavy schedule this week will not permit me to testify at Friday's hearing on Senate bill S. 1390. As you know, I indicated my approval of this bill at the Secretary of Labor's legislative conference in December. It is a step in the right direction, particularly in the direction of better labor-management relations by way of education. New York State feels strongly about the need of youth education in labor problems as evidenced by the State's support of the Industrial and Labor School at Cornell and by the department of labor's own program of labor legislation enforcement through education on both a high-school and college level. I am strongly for Federal-State cooperation in this program. Sincerely yours, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, House of Representatives, EDWARD CORSI, Industrial Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, House Office Building, Washington 25, D. C. SIRS: I beg leave to respectfully express myself as follows before the honorable members of the committee which is scheduled to consider the Labor Extension Service bill. An ever-widening field of labor relations is one of the outstanding features of this highly industrialized world. Workers' education is a good answer to many of the problems brought about by the new era. The knowledge and the understanding made possible through workers' education, directed to both labor and management, will help to solve many of the conflicts of this ever-advancing civilization. Thus, a properly developed program of workers' education can work for the benefit of the workers, of the emproyers, and of the community as a whole. As Commissioner of Labor of Puerto Rico, I heartily endorse the Labor Extension Service bill (H. R. 4078) which is presently considered by the committee. Respectfully yours, The Honorable GEORGE D. AIKEN, United States Senate, FERNANDO SIERRA BERDECIA, Commissioner. WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, Philadelphia, Pa., February 10, 1948. Senate Office Building, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR SIR: Since your Subcommittee on Education of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee is at present conducting hearings on the labor extension bill, I am taking the liberty of sending to you a statement of endorsement of this bill signed by myself and a number of my colleagues in this area. As arbitrators, we believe the bill deserves careful consideration and adoption by your subcommittee. Thank you for your kind attention. Respectfully yours, (s) GEORGE W. TAYLOR, Professor of Industry. STATEMENT OF ENDORSEMENT Our task as arbitrators in industrial relations is frequently made more difficult by virtue of lack of understanding. We have found again and again that when situations are clarified to both worker and manager, that a great part of the problem is solved. Industrial peace is undoubtedly promoted by better understanding of issues involved. It has been recognized for some time now that where collective bargaining has prevailed for a long period of time, there is much more apt to be cooperation, harmony, and understanding between employers and unions, than where the relationship is new. That again, is attributable to education-education that goes beyond the leadership to the shop steward and to the worker. The Labor Extension Service bill, S. 1390, provides that type of training. It is for that reason that we, as arbitrators, are for it. The bill is to be administered through the medium of the various colleges and universities. Having that type of service as an adjunct of the college should bring the college closer to the worker, and the worker closer to our academic life. The bill is nonpolitical. It has been endorsed by both the Republicans and the Democrats. It has the support of all segments of organized labor-the AFL, the CIO, the Railroad Brotherhoods, and independent unions. It is our profound conviction that that type of measure, supported by both labor and industry, made part of our national life, will do a great deal toward integrating some of the concepts that have been advocated in industrial relations and making them part of the everyday life of the worker. Raymond S. Short, Frank C. Pierson, Morrison Handsaker, Thomas STATEMENT OF CYRUS EATON, CLEVELAND, OHIO Passage of the Labor Extension Service bill (S. 1390), which is now before your committee would be of distinct service not only to capital and labor, but to the entire Nation. The leaders of organized labor, a group of men and women who daily bear increased responsibility for the national well-being, would be better able to exercise that responsibility if they had greater access to formal educational facilities. The Nation-wide program of labor education that would be provided by the proposed bill would, in my opinion, go far to meet the need. THE ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY CO., Mr. HARRY VERDIER, Jr., Industrial Secretary, Philadelphia 44, Pa. DEAR SIR: Referring to yours of March 24 and returning herewith copy of Senate bill S. 1390 and H. R. 6202 and 6249, together with attachments. The purpose of this bill as stated in the remarks of the Honorable Elbert D. Thomas, "to equip labor with knowledge and with training in its use," is certainly a worthy attack on the fountainhead of many of our employer-employee troubles. It is my belief, and has been for some time, that the real solution for many of our industrial ills lies in the field of education. This bill, while it provides for the education of only one segment of the population-i. e., labor-should certainly contribute to a major degree over a period of years to the stabilization of industrial relations. I regret that I am not in a position to appear in Washington in support of this bill, yet I am glad to give it my hearty endorsement; and while not qualified to speak for industry as a whole, it is my feeling that you would find general acceptance among industrialists. You have my permission to use this letter as you see fit. Yours very truly, L. W. MOSELEY, Mr. SIFTON. We are proud of, and we hope your committee will be impressed by, the record of support that has been established during these hearings for this bill and for the method therein proposed to accomplish its purposes. None of the witnesses appearing here, after due notice had been given by your committee, has opposed nor taken issue with the purpose and the method for carrying out the objectives of the bill. Certain changes have been suggested which were described as matters of detail by the spokesman for the Association of Land Grant Colleges, and these we would like to comment on later in the course of this statement. Mr. Chairman, you have before you a record of unanimous support for this bill and a unanimous plea for its enactment now to meet the enormous unfilled needs of 46,000,000 wage and salary earners. We hope that such differences of detail as may exist can be harmonized, as we believe they have been in the Senate committee bill, with which H. R. 6202 and H. R. 6249 are identical. It would be tragic if, because of differences as to detail or doubt as to the need, desirability or feasibility of a Labor Extension Service, the Eightieth Congress were to adjourn without enacting this bill. It is not sensational in its proposals. It is not costly in money terms. It does not offer an overnight panacea for disturbed labor relations and for troubled community relations. Nor does it purport to insure that, overnight, every American wage earner shall become a fully educated, wholly responsible member of his union, his community, his State, and his Nation. The strength of this bill is that it carries within itself the still small voice of truth. We believe that that voice has been heard and heeded during these hearings, that despite occasional misunderstandings as to what the bill is intended to do and the method proposed therefor, the committee has heard the fundamental message it contains. What is that message? Simply this: Here is labor, all of labor-the AFL, the CIO, the 15 standard railroad labor organizations, the International Association of Machinists, the Independent Telephone Workers-all coming here together, united, asking you, as the constitutionally appointed body, to assist 46,000,000 wage and salary earners in gaining access to facts that are relevant and vital in their daily lives and to training and skill in their use, so that they may be better workers, better union members, better union officers, better citizens, better parents of the next generation. They are not asking for a cent of money in their pockets, they are not asking for certain privileges and immunities, they are not asking for tax relief, they are not asking for guaranteed wages similar to the price supports that have been so generously and properly guaranteed to farmers in order to get the full production of the foods and fibers that we must have in order to promote the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the remaining free nations of this earth. They are here, appearing through the National Committee for the Extension of Labor Education and through their own constitutionally elected and appointed representatives, to ask for help in the furnishing of their minds, for the training of their minds. This is important in the global conflict that is going on now. Two ideas are contesting for the minds of men everywhere in the world. We have just seen, in the Italian elections held yesterday, how real this conflict is, how vital to the survival of freedom. This conflict is most acute where basic human needs are most acute, where hungry, shivering, homeless, jobless men and women are driven to an extreme where they are willing, in order to survive, to trade liberty for bread. It was acute in Italy; it is acute in other European countries; it is acute today in Bogotá and in other Latin-American countries suffering postwar inflation, depression, and stagnation. In all these countries, America represents a hope that freedom and democracy can organize a peace of freemen, using the peaceful munitions of food, machinery, fertilizer, and American technological know-how. This conflict is going on also within our Nation. At the moment, it is less acute because, first, we are better off materially in terms of food, shelter, clothing, and jobs; second, because our democracy functions better, though imperfectly, than in many other countries; third, because American wage earners through their own organizations have defended democracy within their unions, in the greatest war production in the history of the world and on the battlefields of World War II. In the union which I have the honor to represent, the UAW-CIO, those following the policies of a foreign power have been decisively defeated, not by witch hunts, outlawing, or by other repressive measures, but by meeting and beating their arguments and their maneuvers in the free forums of public discussions in our more than 900 local union halls. Our members have an insatiable appetite for facts and reason and are eager to use them in the solution of their problems, both within their local and the international union and in their relations with employers and the community. We have deliberately pursued a policy of developing this appetite and eagerness. As is set forth in the statement I have just filed for our educational director, Victor Reuther, we are spending what is for us a very considerable sum, approximately $500,000 a year for educational work. This, however, is only a little more than 50 cents per year per member. It does not and cannot, without resources based as they are on the wages of our members, or any wage we are likely to achieve, begin to satisfy the educational needs of our more than 900,000 members. What is happening in the way of demands for a Labor Extension Service within the UAW-CIO is happening throughout the ranks of labor. Men and women want to know more about the shape and the why and the wherefore of the world, the Nation, the State, and city in which they live, the plant in which they work, and the Government which they elect and for which they pay taxes. The Congress has recognized the need for a voice of America speaking to other peoples. We need, within America, speaking to ourselves and among ourselves, this same voice of America. We need better means of communication among our own people, through the facilities of the institutions of higher learning, so that the facts and the wisdom and the skill may be shared and used by the wage earners, as they are used by those who can afford to attend these institutions for a regular course of study, and as farmers have access through the Agricultural Extension Service. |