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which, under normal conditions, an apprentice is promoted to the title journeyman electrician, and from then on he is out on his own. Working on all kinds of installation and repair jobs on a considerable variety of the multiple applications of electricity, he acquires experience. Experience is the background that any mechanic as well as designing engineer calls into play daily in coping with the problem that confronts him at the moment.

Our men average well over 15 years constant application at the electrical craft. Incidentally, men with less experience receive such a low relative standing their number is never reached on the register when electricians are employed through the Civil Service Commission.

After years of further gathering of operating, maintenance, and repair experience while working on construction jobs everywhere and under all conditions the electrician becomes broader in knowledge of the craft. After years of such experience, he acquires judgment. That word more than anything else explains the daily records of the constant smooth operation of the mammoth new and countless number of older Government buildings in service for various periods of time. Example: errors in judgment while operating 13,800-volt equipment can cause destruction of valuable apparatus, cause death, cause evacuation of the building due to stoppage of light, heating, ventilation, elevator service, sanitary conveniences, communication, etc., affecting thousands of employees. High-voltage electricity is a dangerous explosive force at best. More so if improperly handled. Back in 1923 at the time the Classification Act was made law, the electrical equipment in service was considerably less hazardous or complex than today. Power for lighting and the small motor appliances was brought into the building at low voltage, the controlling apparatus was simple, and operation foolproof due to lack of automatic or remote controls. The wages paid to the electrician at that time compared favorably to that paid to similar mechanics working outside the Government.

However, the world did not stop improving with the inception of the Classification Act. Electrical equipment was improved and revised. Voltages raised, automatic and remote controls developed. Entire new industries, all within the electrical field, sprung up and in due course made its appearance in the Government service and while all this was developing the electrical mechanic also grew and improved along with this equipment. But to keep pace, it required hours and hours of his own time reading and studying and experimenting. In fact from his apprenticeship days there never was a let-up in his reading as things have kept changing so fast.

Designing engineers with their tee-squares, triangles, and data developed new and better equipment for doing some job a little better than it is being done. A manufacturer builds or assembles these ideas, they arrive at a Government building and are installed by the electrician. After a few "bugs" are cleared up, they are marvels of the times. But everything did not keep pace with the equipment or the electrician. The Classification Act of 1923 also was a marvel of its time and heralded by the whole country, but somehow it turned out for the skilled mechanics to be the same as a machine that also was a marvel at that time, adequate for conditions when it was invented but considerably inadequate to meet the changed con

ditions that we now have. With a machine built at that time, it probably would be more efficient to retire the entire equipment rather than try to revamp some part of it to meet the new requirements. However, the same cannot be said of the Classification Act as nothing has since been produced that could take its place.

In the foregoing, we have attempted to show that the equipment and our mechanics have grown, but our compensation has remained stationary, since 1928. If a "mechanical service" could be set up in the Classification Act, it would give us the compensation equalization that our added duties justify and a service name more in keeping with the diginity that fits our qualifications and accomplishments. This action would modernize the Classification Act to fit the conditions under which we now find ourselves and would be another step toward a policy that the original Classification Act attempted to establish and which was so ably described by Mr. Ismar Baruch, chief of the Classification Division, Civil Service Commission, when he represented the Civil Service Commission during the hearing on this same bill, H. R. 960, held by the House Committee on Civil Service, March 29, 1939, when he said, "I think most people will agree that any government-and I mean by any government, a State or city as well as the Federal Government-should adopt a policy whereby it will pay its employees the same pay scales for doing the same kind of work, regardless of where the positions are located in the administrative structure of the jurisdiction and regardless of by what name the positions are called by the operating department.

On the basis of the above, and spoken in all sincerity for the Commission, we can claim the full unqualified support of the Commission for our plea for a mechanical service as it but carries out a policy that is only fair and just and in so doing does not set up, any new compensation schedules, it merely will set the same compensation standards in operation for us that are now, and for a considerable number of years have been, in operation in other Government departments and bureaus that now employ wage boards to set the compensation schedules for skilled mechanics. These schedules are changed from time to time as conditions outside the Government justify.

Here is offered for the record a partial list of the modern equipment. found in various buildings here in Washington and also in the field that is entirely electrical in nature or dependent on electrical power for its operation without which the Government functions would be seriously curtailed:

Large synchronous motors and their complicated automatic controls.
Motors on air conditioning and their remote controls.

High-tension switching and controlling apparatus (cables, oil switches, disconnections, relays, pot heads).

High-voltage transformers.

Network systems.

Network protectors.

Two-thousand-three-hundred-volt alternating-current generators.

Motor-genators sets, large and small.

Rotary and synchronous convertors.

Thousands of low-voltage motors driving ventilating fans, pumps, compressors, and refrigerating machines.

Burglar alarms.

Fire-alarm systems.

Electric signals, all descriptions.

Intercommunicating systems-telephone and dictographs.

Photographic machines.

Arc and mercury lamps.

Fluorescent lamps.

Public-address systems.

Watchman-report systems.

Sprinkler-alarm systems.

Moving-picture machines and their very complex sound equipment.
Impulses and synchronous clock systems.

All types storage batteries and recharging equipment for same.

Large quantities of laboratory units calling for electrician's cooperation due to variable voltage requirements and for pyrometer control.

Extreme high-voltage precipitators operating at 75,000 volts as used to stop fly ash or soot in power plant or building chimneys, cranes, and skip hoists. Coal and ash handling equipment.

Smoke detectors.

Electrical instruments and their many applications.

X-ray machines in hospitals and scientific laboratories.

Tens of thousands of oscillating wall fans as still used in non-air-conditioned buildings.

In addition to the operation, maintenance, or repair to the above equipment, a very large volume of general electrical construction is carried on, much of which was formerly contracted out to private contractors. This work is necessitated by the introduction of new and improved electrical equipment and new requirements in lighting for the ever-expanding personnel in all departments and bureaus.

In conclusion, may I again remind this committee that the "mechanical service" we propose will not set any new precedent or compensation schedules. It merely sets the same standard of compensation for our services that have been in force in other departments for a considerable time for services the same as ours.

(The statement of Mr. A. F. Crawford is as follows:)

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, as recorded in the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, mechanics are listed as being in the custodial service within the departmental service. Grade 6, assistant custodial grade, has no mention of a mechanic, but the civil service places them in this grade. A man serving 4 years as an apprentice at his trade is not termed an assistant. Therefore, we think this allotment of them and others is wrong.

Speaking for the mechanics, of which I am one, I would like to outline the duties requested of him by the United States Capitol power plant.

In performing the normal work of operation and maintenance of the Capitol power plant, men of the mechanical grades are required to work capably and proficiently in a number of widely differing functions. This diversity of work requirements is brought about by the fact that the Capitol power plant is operating under utility conditions, since it is required to furnish steam and power 24 hours per day every day of the year, and chilled water for air conditioning 16 hours per day throughout the 6-month summer cooling season.

Steam for heating is supplied to the United States Capitol, Senate Office Building, Old and New House Office Buildings, Library Annex, Library, Supreme Court, Botanical Gardens, Legislative Garage, City Post Office, and Government Printing Office, and electricity for all purposes to all of these buildings except the City Post Office and Government Printing Office. The refrigeration division is responsible for a continuous supply of chilled water to the United States Capitol, Senate Office Building, and the Old and New House Office. Buildings, in order that these four buildings may be maintained comfortably cool in the

summer.

The equipment necessary to provide the steam for these services consists of 16 boilers that generate from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 pounds of steam per day at a pressure of 180 pounds per square inch, and the attendant boiler feed pumps, service pumps, forced-draft fans, heaters, controls, and coal and ash handling machinery.

Power for all the buildings is generated by four steam turbo-generators, totaling 16,500 kilowatts installed capacity, at 6,600 volts.

Cooling water for the condensers is supplied from a pump house on the Anacostia River, which pumps from 12,000 to 25,000 gallons of water per minute to the plant every minute of the year.

The successful operation of these distinct phases is dependent upon the coordinated observations and skill of the men on duty each shift. Coal must be distributed in the bunkers so as to be continuously available, the steam pressure must be carefully watched and the draft regulated, and the number of boilers operating varied so as to maintain the pressure constant. The turbine men and switchboard operators must always be alert to changes in the electrical load so that sufficient turbines are on the line to prevent serious overloads. Frequent readings must be recorded of all conditions and constant attention given to all operating equipment including greasing, oiling, and minor adjustments.

A separate maintenance crew is responsible for the continued availability of the equipment, effecting repairs and making adjustments that contribute to better operation.

The steam piping to the various buildings is maintained by a group of mechanics who must be familiar with pipe work, reducing valves, traps, and other steam-line accessories.

In order to cool the United States Capitol, Senate Office Building, Old House Office Building, and New House Office Building, there is assembled in the refrigeration building one of the greatest concentrations of refrigerating equipment in the world, having a cooling effect at full load equivalent to that produced by melting 4,800 tons of ice in 24 hours. Each of the six 800-ton reciprocating compressors, believed to be the largest of this type ever made, is driven by a 1,000-horsepower electric motor. During each minute of operation, 8,000 gallons of chilled water are cooled and pumped at 160 pounds pressure to the 4 large buildings through a pipe line that is nearly 11⁄2 miles in length. Four steam turbine driven pumps, 2 of 800 horsepower and 2 of 511 horsepower, are necessary to circulate the chilled water and condensing water through their respective circuits. Control of the compressors is manual, and demands constant vigilance on the part of operators to observe conditions over the entire plant. It is essential that the chilled water flow be maintained constant at 8,000 gallons per minute, and that the water leaving the plant be exactly 40°. The operators must adjust the speeds of the turbines, vary the number and capacity of the machines operating, to match the load, take readings of conditions, and make repairs and adjustments.

It is obvious from this brief survey of the Capitol Power Plant engaged in furnishing steam, power, and refrigeration for outside use, that there would quite naturally be a wide range of mechanical work performed, with consequent similar range of responsibilities and duties. Accordingly, it is desirable that a fair and equitable classification be made so that each mechanic will receive rating and salary commensurate with his responsibilities, and on a par with that received by others doing work of a similar nature. Mr. WINTERS. Will you proceed, Mr. McGoldrick.

STATEMENT OF 0. F. McGOLDRICK, MEMBER, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FEDERAL MECHANICS Mr. MCGOLDRICK. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, I would like to submit a statement of working conditions of elevator mechanics in classified service.

In 1931 the position of senior elevator mechanic at $2,000 per year was established by the Civil Service Commission upon the request of various department heads. An assembled examination was held, and of those who passed, six were appointed. Three of these have since transferred out of classified service.

In 1936 the department heads asked the Civil Service Commission to create, by unassembled examination, the position of elevator mechanic at $1,680 per annum. The requirements as to education and experience were more exacting than those of the senior elevator mechanic.

I would like to deviate from the statement at this time to call your attention to the fact, owing to the testimony given by the Civil Service Commission, that an assembled examination in the elevator industry would probably bring out the men most qualified to fill this position of maintenance on elevators in the Government. An unassembled examination is based particularly on the length of time that he has worked at the industry. But owing to the fact that it would be possible for a man to work a number of years at one phase of the elevator business, in a large city, for instance, where, working for a company he would be kept on that one class of work during the entire period that he was working for the company, I don't believe that an unassembled examination brings into the Government properly qualified mechanics.

I wish to bring that out due to the testimony of the Civil Service Commission that probably the reason that the Tennessee Valley Authority didn't want to come under classified civil service is owing to that condition. It is my opinion that the Civil Service Commission hasn't the proper personnel to grade the various mechanics as they are a very small percentage of the number of applicants that are coming into Government service.

I wish to bring that into the record, aside from the statement, as one of the reasons. The establishment of these positions was based on similar positions under classification, of which there has not been a review or revision since 1923 when all the large Government buildings having elevators were equipped with either hydraulic or slow-speed resistance controlled elevators, and were maintained by either the engineers or electricians, with major repairs being let out to private industry.

After 1929 the Government constructed and modernized elevators to the latest type of high speed signal control, automatic leveling, generator field control and automatic door operators, which cost the Government between $10,000 and $25,000 per unit.

Vertical transportation is one of the most important functions of a modern building. Elevators are constantly starting, stopping, and reversing, making between 30,000 and 40,000 stops per month. At the high speed at which the modern elevator runs, it is impossible for an operator to efficiently control the slowing down and stopping. Therefore, leveling, deceleration, stopping, and door operation must be done automatically. This necessitates numerous relays, switches, inductors, regulators, and selectors, which need constant servicing and adjusting by skilled elevator mechanics, who, in Government service, are classed with messengers, laborers, chauffeurs, domestic help, and building guards in the Custodial Service.

I would like to emphasize the fact that in various Government departments there are elevator mechanics, performing identical duties, receiving such various salaries as $1,680, $1,860, $2,000, $2,100, $2,400, $2,600, and $2,745. A specific case I have in mind involves 2 mechanics, 1 receiving $1,680 per annum and the other $2,745, the lower paid having the more intricate equipment to maintain. Further, I would like to call your attention to the steady increase in the compensation of elevator mechanics in private industry since 1920, which has gradually increased from $1.25 per hour to $1.90 per hour.

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