OF LABOR PRACTICES OF EMPLOYERS OF LABOR HEARINGS BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AnguHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. J. Res. 262 A JOINT RESOLUTION RELATING TO INVESTIGATION HmP 19 Je 37 54246 соруг CITRON RESOLUTION RELATING TO INVESTIGATION OF MONDAY, MARCH 29, 1937 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, A subcommittee this day met at 10 a. m., Hon. Albert Thomas presiding, for consideration of House Joint Resolution 262, which reads as follows: [H. J. Res. 262, 75th Cong., 1st sess.] JOINT RESOLUTION To authorize the Secretary of Labor to appoint a Board of Inquiry and Study (a) to ascertain the facts relating to the labor practices of employers of labor in the shipbuilding industry and any and all other industries that sell and supply materials and goods to the United States Government, or any of its departments; (b) to report upon the facts found; (c) to make recommendations for improving the relations between labor and employer, for improving and coordinating the work of the National Labor Relations Board and the Bureau of Conciliation of the Labor Department; and (d) to recommend legislation to improve the Wagner-Connery National Labor Relations Act and make effective agreements between labor and employer Whereas there exist difficulties and differences between employers and employees in various industries constructing vessels for the United States Navy, and likewise as to industries supplying articles and goods for the United States Navy and other departments of our Government; and Whereas such difficulties, disputes, and differences are jeopardizing and are likely to endanger and hinder the national defense program of our country; and Whereas interstate commerce and trade is injured thereby; and Whereas economic and financial loss and waste result thereby to both employer and employee; and Whereas low wages and long hours of labor in certain industries are a menace to the best interests of our country and its people; and Whereas there is evident need of coordinating the various Federal bureaus pertaining to labor-employer relations and to make more effective conciliation. and collective agreements arrived at under the Wagner-Connery National Labor Relations Act: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (1) the Secretary of Labor shall immediately appoint a Board of Inquiry to make a prompt and thorough investigation of all facts relating to the labor practices of employers of labor engaged in the shipbuilding industry and other industries that sell and supply materials and goods to the United States Government, or any of its departments, and to carry out any of the other purposes set forth in this resolution. SEC. 2. The Board, or its duly authorized agents or agencies, shall at all reasonable times have access to, for the purpose of examination, and the right to copy any evidence of any person being investigated or proceeded against that relates to any matter under investigation or in question. Any members 1 of the Board shall have power to issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence that relates to any matter under investigation or in question, before the Board, its member, agent, or agency conducting the hearing or investigation. Any member of the Board, or any agent or agency designated by the Board for such purposes, may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of such evidence may be required from any place in the United States or any Territory or possession thereof at any designated place of hearing. SEC. 3. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena issued to any person, any District Court of the United States or the United States courts of any Territory or possession, or the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or within the jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by the Board shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before the Board, its member, agent, or agency, there to produce evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof. SEC. 4. No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books, records, correspondence, documents, or other evidence in obedience to the subpena of the Board, on the ground that the testimony or evidence required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege against self-incrimination, to testify or produce evidence, except that such individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying. SEC. 5. Complaints, orders, and other process and papers of the Board, its member, agent, or agency, may be served either personally or by registered mail or by telegraph or by leaving a copy thereof at the principal office or place of business of the person required to be served. The verified return by the individual so serving the same setting forth the manner of such service shall be proof of the same, and the return post-office receipt or telegraph receipt therefor when registered and mailed or telegraphed as aforesaid shall be proof of service of the same. Witnesses summoned before the Board, its member, agent, or agency, shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States, and witnesses whose depositions are taken and the persons taking the same shall severally be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like services in the courts of the United States. SEC. 6. All process of any court to which application may be made under this Act may be served in the judicial district wherein the defendant or other person required to be served resides or may be found. SEC. 7. The several departments and agencies of the Government, when directed by the President, shall furnish the Board, upon its request, all records, papers, and information in their possession relating to any matter before the Board. SEC. 8. Any person who shall willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the Board or any of its agents or agencies in the performance of duties pursuant to this Act shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. SEC. 9. That the Navy Department shall make available to said Board all facts, figures, books, and documents pertaining to the shipbuilding industry and any and all contracts for the construction of ships and vessels, including the bidding for such contracts; and SEC. 10. That said Board of Inquiry shall report to the Secretary of Labor its findings of fact and its recommendations, and the Secretary of Labor shall, with such summary or other report as she sees fit, transmit the same to the Congress. STATEMENTS OF CAPT. C. W. FISHER, CONSTRUCTION CORPS, UNITED STATES NAVY; LEWIS COMPTON, ASSISTANT TO THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY; AND WARREN MCLAINE, OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, UNITED STATES NAVY Mr. THOMAS. With what companies is the Navy Department doing business who have contracts under the N. I. R. A.? Mr. COMPTON. The Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. has two aircraft carriers, the Yorktown and the Enterprise. The Yorktown will be delivered in June of this year. The New York Shipbuilding Corporation has a light cruiser. That is the extent to which I can furnish definite information at this time. Mr. THOMAS. Are each of those companies fulfilling the contracts with reference to completion in point of time? Mr. COMPTON. Yes; they have specified dates for deliveries of the ships. Mr. THOMAS. Do you know what the working conditions are in reference to hours and rates of pay in connection with those two construction jobs? Mr. COMPTON. In the 1933 contracts there is a provision that the vessels shall be constructed in accordance with the applicable codes or the regulations approved by the President, and they were working on the 36-hour basis, but they are working 40 hours a week now. There is no limitation as to hours except the regular 8-hours-a-day provision. Mr. THOMAS. What about the scale of pay, have you promulgated any regulations or rulings as to pay? Mr. COMPTON. We have no information, because the contract is on a fixed-price basis with adjustments for labor and material. The adjustment is on the basis of an assumed amount in any definite period and we adjust it on the increase reflected in the industries as shown by the Department of Labor. Mr. THOMAS. Do you know whether those contracts were entered into on the basis of a 36-hour or a 40-hour work week? Mr. COMPTON. At the time the 1933 contracts were entered into the codes had just been adopted and they were working a 32-hour week. The codes specifically changed the work hours to 36 a week and they have worked up to 36 hours a week. My understanding is that they continued the hourly rate when they went from 40 to 32 hours a week. They continued the weekly rate of pay in effect at that time. When they went from 32 to 36 hours a week they continued the hourly rate of pay and increased the weekly rate for laborers and mechanics. Mr. THOMAS. You said something about adjustments in the contracts. Do you mean to say that the Navy Department has what we might call cost-plus contracts with these companies? Mr. COMPTON. No. Mr. THOMAS. How do you arrive at an adjustment with reference to the changes in working conditions, as indicated by the Department of Labor? |