we have highly efficient technicians and scientists, we have not a monopoly of them. We have a great deal more know-how than we know what to do with our know-how. This committee can render a great service to peace and to increasing the world's confidence in America by returning the pending bill to the State Department, with directions to draft a plan to have its legitimate objectives taken over by the United Nations. Mr. ZABLOCKI. There being no other witnesses scheduled for this afternoon, the hearing is recessed, subject to call of the Chair. (Thereupon, at 3:05 p. m., the committee recessed, subject to call of the Chair.) INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACT OF 1949 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a. m., Hon. John Kee (chairman) presiding. Chairman KEE. The committee will please be in order. I am in receipt of a communication, enclosing a statement on the international technical cooperation bill for inclusion in the record, from the Secretary of Labor, Mr. Tobin, which, without objection, will be included in the record at this point. (The matter referred to is as follows:) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, October 4, 1949. Hon. JOHN KEE, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN KEE: I am enclosing a statement on the international technical cooperation bill which I should like to have included in the record. I am also sending extra copies of this statement for the use of the committee. Yours very truly, MAURICE J. TOBIN, Secretary of Labor. STATEMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR ON THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COOPERATION BILL I welcome the opportunity to express my support for the legislation carrying out the "bold, new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and our industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas," which President Truman enunciated in his inaugural address. Over the past several months representatives of the Department of Labor have met with representatives of other agencies to develop the program which is now before you. I want you to know that I am in complete accord with the objectives of this program, and that I feel very strongly that its enactment will contribute materially to the development of a world in which all peoples everywhere are able to live in peace, freedom, and dignity. I will not take the time of the committee to describe the over-all program, since other witnesses have already discussed it fully. I would, however, like to point out some of the more important labor aspects of the technical-assistance program for which the Department of Labor will have primary responsibility. The success of a program of economic development in any country depends in the last analysis upon the skill and determination of its workers. It is exceedingly important that countries desiring to further economic development be given assistance in increasing the skill of their labor force. In particular, the development of additional labor skills should be coordinated with the labor requirements of any new projects being undertaken. Investments from foreign sources will be encouraged if there is available an adequate source of supply of skilled workers to make the investment productive. A number of programs which the Department of Labor has been carrying on effectively in the past and to which the Department will devote its full energies and competence are essential to further the objectives of the President's program. Among these are training and apprenticeship programs to impart higher skills and to improve the utilization of manpower; the development and improvement of public employment service programs to bring workers and jobs together; assistance in the development of sound unemployment insurance systems to stabilize employment and protect workers in the periods between jobs; adequate labor statistics to assist in planning labor programs and labor administration and in evaluating labor supply in relation to existing needs and proposed projects; improved safety methods and the encouragement of better labor standards and labor inspection to improve working conditions and to reduce loss of manpower through accidents; attention to the problems of women's employment; and new approaches to methods of increasing productivity to raise output. It is contemplated that the technical assistance program will be carried on in two ways: Multilaterally, through the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and bilaterally, through direct relationships between the United States and the various individual countries. Let me first discuss the multilateral aspects of the program. As the committee knows, under the over-all foreign policy guidance of the Department of State, the Department of Labor is primarily responsible for this Government's participation in the International Labor Organization which the United States joined in 1934. The International Labor Organization has had 30 years of experience in the social and economic fields, which are very important to economic development and the raising of living standards. In 1944, it enunciated its conviction that "poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere" and that it is essential "* to promote the economic and social advancement of the less developed regions of the world * * * * Since 1948 the International Labor Organization, under the leadership of its Director-General, David A. Morse, former Under Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, has moved ahead with an operating program in the manpower field. The objective of this program is to train manpower and to locate it where it will be the most effective. The International Labor Organization recognizes the need for practical assistance in the various aspects of manpower utilization, including employment service organization, training, and migration. It is making employment service experts available for advice to governments, developing a standard occupational nomenclature, carrying on training programs to overcome shortages of skilled labor, and organizing a supervisory training program. It has completed a survey in the Far East on training problems and facilities, and has established a field office in that area to concentrate on technical training. A detailed survey on manpower problems in the Americas is now under way. It is gathering and publishing information on manpower shortages and surpluses, and through the activities of regional manpower committees, manpower and migration problems are receiving constant study. The International Labor Organization is thus already engaged in an operating program of technical assistance. It will be called upon to expand its manpower program and also to render assistance in many additional fields vital to the growing world economy which the Point IV program envisages. I think it is important to point out that the tripartite organization of the International Labor Organization is unique among the specialized agencies of the United Nations. Representatives of workers and employers have representation along with representatives of governments. This direct employer-worker participation will guarantee that the activities of the International Labor Organization under the Point IV program of technical assistance will meet actual needs in a realistic way. It is also consistent with that aspect of the program which envisages an increasing degree of private initiative and participation as the program progresses. In addition to the multilateral labor aspects of the program, a substantial bilateral labor program will also be required under which the Department of Labor will render direct assistance to other countries in labor matters. As the Committee knows, this bilateral labor program will, of course, be coordinated with the other aspects (agriculture, health, education, resources, etc.) of the Point IV program. For a number of years, under the authority of Public Laws 355 and 63 (76th Cong.), the Department of Labor has been carrying on bilateral programs with Latin American countries. Public Law 402 (80th Cong.) extended the authority of these activities to include other parts of the world. I would like to mention briefly some of the programs which the Department of Labor has been conducting along these lines to illustrate how important they are to achieving the objectives of Point IV. As I have said before, I believe that proper training of workers is an indispensable part of any successful industrialization program contemplated by the underdeveloped countries. The Department of Labor is currently carrying on a token program of industrial and apprenticeship training for selected trainees from abroad. The industrial training program offers an opportunity to carefully selected workers from other countries to come to the United States to obtain training and technical know-how. The program provides to the trainees on-thejob experience in factories and industrial establishments where advanced methods and up-to-date machinery are used in actual production. Objectives of the program include increased productivity of individual key workers and a spread of knowledge about American production methods and the American way of life to the industrial workers of other countries. By way of illustration, one industrial trainee now in the United States is from Brazil. After finishing an engineering course at one of the Brazilian universities, he began working in a Brazilian steel plant, getting as much technical experience as was possible. He realized, however, that this training was insufficient and that in addition he needed to observe the various steps in the manufacture of the machinery with which he was expected to work. It was felt that this could only be obtained by industrial on-the-job training in the United States. Consequently, we worked out arrangements for him to begin his training in a steel-machinery plant in Pennsylvania. Part of his training will be received there, and later he will be moved to other industrial establishments to round out his knowledge. When he returns to Brazil he will resume his former job and be in charge of supervising the erection of heavy equipment such as cranes and turbines in one of the largest steel plants in Brazil. Since there is a trend in Brazil toward the expansion of industry, it can be readily seen that welltrained technicians such as this man are essential. Under a related type of program the Department proposes to make available apprenticeship specialists for assignment to other countries interested in building a strong promotional and technical service on apprenticeship such as we have in the United States. Arrangements will also be worked out whereby foreign technicians selected to administer the apprenticeship programs in other countries may come to the United States in order to receive training in regard to the promotion, development, and operation of apprenticeship in the United States through Federal and State agencies, as well as in individual industrial establishments. These programs are designed to increase the skills and production know-how of the workers of the underdeveloped countries. It is an obvious corollary that before a country can efficiently operate an industrial economy, it must provide employers and workers with a system of public employment exchanges. Such exchanges will insure that newly trained workers get into the right jobs, that periods of unemployment are kept to a minimum, that workers have an opportunity for the exercise of freedom of choice as between employment opportunities, and that employers can obtain workers of the right skill at the right time. For these reasons, we propose to make available to the underdeveloped countries the benefits of our experience with employment service functions. As already established industries expand and as new industries develop, it is essential that a Government have adequate information on the specific job requirements and needs of industrial and agricultural employers. Efficient methods of testing the aptitudes and proficiencies of workers will need to be developed and supplied to employers. Information should be assembled by the Governments of the kinds and numbers of workers needed and of the labor supply available within each country, so that policy decisions can be reached on the needs for immigrant labor. Thereafter plans must be formulated for receiving immigrants and integrating them into the labor force. Only with such information at hand will it be possible for a Government to formulate and carry out sound programs for the most efficient utilization of manpower. An example of this type of assistance was the training provided to the chief of the employment service of the Philippine Department of Labor who spent almost a year in this country studying all phases of the employment service program in both the national and local offices. As underdeveloped countries establish more complex, but democratic institutions, provision should be made for developing systems of unemployment insurance. Such systems tend to increase the mobility of a country's labor force; hold trained cadres of workers together during temporary shut-downs; bolster purchasing power against deflationary forces; and protect the standard of living of insured workers when they are involuntarily unemployed. The frictions of an industrial society require unemployment insurance. It is desirable that the need for and type of such insurance be examined at the earliest possible stage in the development of an industrial economy. We propose to make available to governments of underdeveloped areas our experience in the unemployment insurance field, based on the operations of a variety of systems developed in the United States. Another illustration of the type of technical assistance which underdeveloped countries require is in the highly technical field of prices. Accurate information regarding prices at wholesale and retail is one of the basic requirements of business, labor, and government, especially for any program of industrial development. Comprehensive technical assistance in the development of price statistics is being provided to Costa Rica at the present time by representatives of the Department of Labor in response to a request from that country. An important aspect of economic development is the achievement of increased productivity. Experts from the Department of Labor have been participating in efforts to spur further improvements in productivity in some of the ECA countries. In the case of the United Kingdom, an Anglo-American Productivity Council has been established and teams of British workers and employers have already begun to visit American factories. It is interesting to note that although the British were much impressed with the degree of mechanization, they were on occasion able to suggest methods in use in Britain which are superior to American methods. Thus both sides gain from the visits. Experts from the Department of Labor have recently gone to France with the ECA Mission and, working with representatives of the French Government, management, and labor, have brought about what they feel is a valuable new approach on the part of the French to the problems of increasing productivity. Their discussions led to the recommendation that a national center for productivity be established to make available the most modern methods and techniques of increasing productivity. The importance of these contributions to the recovery of European nations is obvious. It can be expanded in a similar way to other countries, and is particularly relevant to the objectives of Point IV. Other programs in which the Department of Labor has been engaged are of equal significance to the success of Point IV. Problems relating to the employment of women are common to all countries. The United States Department of Labor has cooperated with the American republics in meeting these problems through programs for appropriate regulations and intelligent administrative methods. Recently, for example, in cooperation with a consultant from the Department, the Mexican Ministry of Labor formulated measures leading toward the control of industrial homework. Such control is essential as industrial homework undercuts good working conditions and is a definite deterrent to well-rounded economic development. The Department has also participated in projects to assist in the orderly industrialization of other countries by demonstrating modern methods of developing good labor standards, accident prevention programs, and effective procedures for labor inspection. These programs have proven their worth in improving the welfare of the workers and raising industrial output. An illustration of the effectiveness of such programs is afforded by the work of the United States Department of Labor in Uruguay. A representative from that country, participating in the Department's training program, specialized in accident prevention. After his return to Uruguay, the Uruguayan Government requested that a safety expert from the Department be sent to give further assistance in the development of an industrial safety program. Our safety expert who undertook this assignment gave advice on the organization of accident prevention programs and organized classes in industrial safety for government and industry personnel responsible for accident prevention. The head of the national agency carrying out the program for accident prevention in Uruguay stated that the technical assistance given by the United States Department of Labor was one of the most important events in recent years in the history of the economic development in that country. Uruguay now has an extensive program of industrial safety and the waste of manpower and materials caused by on-the-job accidents has been considerably reduced. I trust that from these few illustrations the committee will agree with me that the labor aspects of the technical assistance program are of the greatest sig |