himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee. I have been a member of Local 706 of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, El Dorado, Ark., for the past 17 years.

I am familiar with the type of discrimination which exists in our local union when one fails to go along with the policies of the Griffin brothers. I have learned through bitter experience that this is a fact. The latter part of 1957 I attended a union meeting at which time a motion was made to increase the salaries of the business agents $25 a week. I was the only one who stood up and objected. Exactly 1 week later, I lost my job. When I asked my superiors the reason I was fired, they would not give me any explanation whatsoever.

Since this incident occurred, I have had trouble getting work out of the local. During the past year, I have not received any work out of local 706. This practice of discrimination has been existing in the local for many years since the Griffins took over.

I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness: [SEAL]

J. W. STAPLES.

M. B. JOHNSON, Notary Public.

My commission expires June 6, 1963.

AFFIDAVIT

I, Plez Major, who reside at Route 4, El Dorado, Ark., freely and voluntarily make the following statement to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee.

Since 1947 I have been a member of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 706, El Dorado, Ark. Besides working out of this local, I am also an ordained Baptist minister.

For many years I have been an outspoken critic of the dictatorial policies of the Griffins in the manner that they have run the affairs of local 706. I recall that in 1956 while working on a job in Pine Bluff, Ark., Benny Rybiski, foreman, asked me to sign a petition which was handed out by "Red" Yocom, steward on the job. This petition contained a list of the officers of the union and we were supposed to sign our name indicating we wanted them to remain in office. When I was asked to sign the petition, I told Benny that I didn't do things like that, that it was wrong. Benny answered that if I didn't sign it I wouldn't be around long. I didn't sign it. Since that time I have had difficulties getting a job in the local and they have discriminated against me in every way possible. I have also seen other members discriminated against and refused work who have seniority in the local; their jobs have been given to transits and permitmen who have moved into the area.

I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

[SEAL]

My commission expires June 6, 1963.

PLEZ MAJOR. M. B. JOHNSON, Notary Public.

AFFIDAVIT

I, A. M. Willett, who reside at Route 6, Box 111, El Dorado, Ark., freely and voluntarily make the following statement to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received

any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned select committee.

Since 1942 I have been a member of Local 706, Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, located in El Dorado, Ark. Since Earl and Ermon Griffin took over local 706 in the early 1950's, they have discriminated against the rank-and-file members of our local union who have disagreed with their policies. I am familiar with the fact that local members have stood up at union meetings and objected to the policies of Earl and Ermon Griffin and for this they have either been laid off from their jobs or refused work at a later date.

I, myself, have worked only 2 months during the last year due to my failure to go along with Earl and Ermon Griffin. Earlier this year I had a conversation with Ermon Griffin, and he said I wasn't a good enough politician to work out of the local. This is just another example of how the Griffins operate. People who object to the way things are being run get no work. Most of the memberships are afraid to speak out against the Griffin regime because they have families to support and they need the work.

I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness:

My commission expires September 1, 1964.

S. M. WILLETT.

SYLVIA J. EVANS, Notary Public.

AFFIDAVIT

I, O. H. Primm, who reside at Route 6, Box 258C, El Dorado, Ark., freely and voluntarily make the following statement to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee.

Since 1948 I have been a member of Local 706, Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, El Dorado, Ark.

I, for one, would like to complain against the lack of democracy in our local union. I hope that something can be done to remove the power of the Griffins, who dominate the local without considering the views of the membership.

During August 1959, I signed a letter addressed to the president of our national union asking for an organizer of the national union to meet with a group of the local union members in order to investigate the finances of our local union. Within a week after I signed this letter, I was in the lobby of our union hall when Earl Griffin appeared and made a statement so typical of him. In the presence of about 60 men he said that the 6 individuals who had signed a letter to the president of our national union requesting an investigation of our local union would be suspended from the union or heavily fined and put back in line. He went on to discuss a job where approximately 35 men would be used, and then added that 6 additional men would have been used on that project if this letter had not been signed and sent to Washington.

I would like to state at this time that I did not raise an objection when the motions were passed on the floor at union meetings which authorized the union officers to purchase an airplane. I did not complain because I knew that if I did object I would be refused work out of the local; I have seen this happen before. I have seen members of the union blackballed and prevented from getting work when they raised objections to motions made on the floor which were favorable to Earl and Ermon Griffin.

I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness:

My commission expires September 1, 1964.

O. H. PRIMM.

SYLVIA J. EVANS, Notary Public.

AFFIDAVIT

I, J. R. Longing, Jr., who reside at Route 4, El Dorado, Ark., make the following statement freely and voluntarily to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee.

I am a charter member of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 706, El Dorado, Ark. I have been a member of the local union since 1941.

In 1956 and 1957 a petition was passed around to keep in office the local union officers. Earl Griffin, who controls local 706, said at a union meeting that if the election didn't go as he wanted it, that he would cut the jurisdiction of the local back to the city limits of El Dorado.

Our local union has no welfare fund or sick benefits. I, personally, have spoken up at union meetings and asked why we did not have such benefits. I have heard Earl Griffin answer that they would be too costly for the union. However, the union can afford an expensive airplane and other benefits for its officers. I have frequently spoken up at union meetings against the policies of the local union officers and as a result I have had trouble getting work. In 1956 I objected to the methods and the policies of the local union and the following day I was replaced on the instrument crew of the Lion Chemical construction job.

Over the years, members of the local union have been afraid to speak up at union meetings because of retaliatory action taken against them for speaking their minds. I am aware of an incident where members have stood up and complained and have been refused work. It is the policy to discriminate against those who voice objections and give their work to transits and permit men who move into the area.

I have read the foregoing statement and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness:

AFFIDAVIT

J. R LONGING, Jr.

M. B. JOHNSON, Notary Public.

I, James Ralph Lucas, who reside at 500 Elm, Crossett, Ark., freely and voluntarily make the following statement to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee.

I joined the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 706, El Dorado, Ark., in January of 1947.

In 1955 I was a member of the executive board of local 706. I held this position for 1 year filling an unexpired term. During this period that I was on the executive board, I was not allowed to see the financial records of local 706. In fact, I couldn't even get the bylaws of the local until I had been a member for 6 or 7 months. Since I left the executive board, I was unable to get a job out of this local.

While I was on the executive board, I recall one incident that I would like to cite which occurred at Earl Griffin's cabin. At that time he mentioned that he wanted to purchase an airplane for the local union. I made the remark that I didn't think that the local needed one. Earl mentioned that we could get one cheaply from Jim Craddock, business agent of the local union in Tulsa, Okla. It was about 1 year later that I recall that the union did purchase an airplane; but I was no longer a member of the executive board, so I am not familiar with the details.

I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness:

My commission expires June 6, 1963.

JAMES RALPH LUCAS.

M. B. JOHNSON, Notary Public.

AFFIDAVIT

I, Coy D. Longing, who resides at Route 4, Norphlet, Ark., freely and voluntarily made the following statements to LaVern J. Duffy, who has identified himself to me as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. No threat, force, or duress has been used to induce me to make this statement, nor have I received any promise of immunity from any consequences which may result from submission of this statement to the aforementioned Senate select committee.

Since 1948 I have been a member of the executive board of local 706. It has been my firm belief that since Earl and Ermon Griffin came into power of 706, that they have misused the funds of our local. I, feeling very strongly that this was a fact, have during the past 7 years made repeated efforts, unsuccessfully, to examine the financial records of 706. Even though I am an executive board member, I have been refused access to the financial records. Within the past few weeks, the first financial statement of 706 that I have seen in years was made public. This was because a few members of our local union and I wrote to the president of our national union requesting an investigation of the local's finances.

I would also like to say something about the lack of democracy that exists in our union. Oldtime members of our local have been discriminated against as far as getting work because they raised their voices in union meetings, passively sitting by and failing to object when motions were made which were beneficial to Earl and Ermon Griffin and "detrimental" to the membership. I failed to object along with many others because I was in fear of losing my office. I have read the foregoing statement, and to the best of my knowledge it is true and correct.

Witness:

My commission expires June 6, 1963.

COY D. LONGING.

M. B. JOHNSON, Notary Public.

The CHAIRMAN. The affidavits will speak for themselves, but will you give us a brief summary of what the charges are, and what they testify to.

Mr. DUFFY. One of the affidavits contains a point of an individual who complained at a union meeting of a raise in salary of the union officials. He made an objection at the union meeting, and as a result of that he was fired from his job the next day. He attributes that to the fact he had made an objection.

The CHAIRMAN. He did attend the union meeting at which the salaries of the officers were raised; at the time he made objection to it, and the next day he was fired from his job?

Mr. DUFFY. That is correct.

We also have two affidavits from members of the executive board who have been refused access to the financial records of the local. The CHAIRMAN. Who are they?

Mr. DUFFY. That is Mr. Ralph Lucas and Mr. Coy D. Longing, both members of the executive board.

The CHAIRMAN. They are members of the executive board of this local?

Mr. DUFFY. Local 706.

The CHAIRMAN. And they have been refused access to what?

Mr. DUFFY. To the financial records.

The CHAIRMAN. Although they are members of the board of directors or trustees?

Mr. DUFFY. It is the board of trustees.

The CHAIRMAN. They are denied access to the financial records of the local?

Mr. DUFFY. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. They so testify in their affidavits; do they?

Mr. DUFFY. They do, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Is this a recent thing, this denying access?

Mr. DUFFY. It has been over a long period of time.

The CHAIRMAN. It has been a continuous thing, denying them access; is that correct?

Mr. DUFFY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I should think now that under the new law, they could go into court and compel the opening of the books to them. Anyway, that is what you found and that is what you have testified to; is

that correct?

Mr. DUFFY. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. You said something there about reprisals a moment ago. That would be in connection with the lack of democratic rule and democratic processes. What evidence did you have of that?

Mr. DUFFY. We found individuals who as I said objected to the raise of salary of $25 apiece for the union officials at a union meeting and he stood up and made that objection.

The CHAIRMAN. That is just one.

Mr. DUFFY. Yes, that is one. We have a lot of general information but lack of specific instances where individuals have been refused jobs. It runs through all of these affidavits, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, based on some statements that have been made to me by people who presumably know, they have reported to me that reprisals are invoked against anyone who opposes the union officials at union meetings.

Mr. DUFFY. That is the theme that runs through these affidavits, yes.

The CHAIRMAN. It seems that you get your job in this union, or if jobs come along, they are assigned out from the union hall, from somebody in the union, is that correct?

Mr. DUFFY. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, they have a job assignment system or program, is that right?

Mr. DUFFY. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. And those who don't go along with the officers are kept hungry while the others work?

Mr. DUFFY. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. That is in substance the complaint that has been made to me. Did you find the same complaints in the course of your investigation?

Mr. DUFFY. I did, Senator, and they are contained in these affidavits.

The CHAIRMAN. They are contained there. In other words, the affidavits submitted cover that point.

Mr. DUFFY. I would like to read one through here which is interesting. It states:

I, myself, have worked only 2 months during the last year due to my failure to go along with Mr. Earl and Ermon Griffin. Earlier this year I had a conversation with Ermon Griffin and he said I wasn't a good enough politician to work out of the local.

This is just another example of how the Griffins operate. People who objected to the way things are going get no work. Most of the memberships are afraid to speak out against the Griffin regime be