I am here to speak on behalf of the members of our union who are the employees of the Parker Pen Co. I am interested in this legislation to preserve the jobs of our people. If we cannot obtain silver for the manufacture of pens and pencils the factory will have to be closed, and that will throw practically 1,000 people, all members of our union, out of work. Before the war most of the functional parts of our mechanical pencils and fountain pens, with the exception of the gold nib, were made of aluminum. When aluminum became a critical material, brass was substituted. When brass in turn became critical, we substituted plastic parts wherever possible and used some steel and some silver. When the steel conservation order, M-126, was issued, the War Production Board recommended that silver be used in lieu of steel wherever such use was practicable. We followed this recommendation and made our plans and arrangements to use silver although at a very substantial increase in cost. For a time we used foreign silver, but as the war uses for foreign silver increased, its use for fountain pens and mechanical pencils was stopped by the silver conservation order, M-199. This order has not yet become effective in that we are permitted to continue the use of foreign silver until November 15. But after that the only silver that will be available for our use will be domestic silver. We understand that the supply of domestic silver will not be sufficient to go around unless, some of the stores of silver now held by the United States Treasury are made available to industry. Silver is the last step in the substitution process for our pens and pencils. There is nothing else that we can use where metal parts are required, and some metal parts are required for the functional parts of both pens and pencils. If we cannot get silver for these parts, the whole factory production of pens and pencils will have to close down, and our people will be out of work. Our employees for the most part are unskilled workers, of which there is an oversupply in this farm community of 24,000 people. The skilled employees, through long experience have become adept in the particular operations for which they have been trained; for example, the pen-grinders are highly specialized craftsmen requiring years of training, but this training does not fit them for diversified mechanical operations. The result of closing down our plant would be to throw approximately 1,000 factory workers out of jobs and they could not be absorbed by any war plant in this vicinity. In addition, several hundred office workers would also be thrown out of employment. The Parker Pen Co. is the largest continuous user of employees in the Janesville area. The result of closing the plant would create a serious economic condition there. It employs approximately 5 percent of the entire population of Janesville, which affects approximately 25 percent of the community. The company has already entered into war work and will develop it on a large scale. The machines of our plant that might be employed in war work are already on such work a large percentage of the time, and those that are not on war work are either machines especially constructed for the manufacture of fountain-pen parts, and, therefore, not adaptable for any other use, or they are machines such as smalĺ screw machines or small punch presses that are so old and in such condition as to preclude them from being used in war work because of the fact that they will not hold the close tolerances that are required in our war work. So for the war work it has been necessary to build an entirely new plant on which the company has expended approximately $300,000. The principal work being done in that plant is the manufacture of PD-48 fuses for the Ordnance Department. In the main plant subcontract manufacturing is also being done for the Borg Products Division of the George W. Borg Corporation of Delavan, Wis. There are now about 5,000 employees in the war plant in addition to those employed in the main plant in the manufacture of mechanical pencils and fountain pens. A great many of these employees in the war plant have had a period of training in the main plant in the manufacture of pens and pencils and then transferred to the war plant. No more employees could be used in the war plant at this time because of the inability to get additional machinery and material. However, as fast as materials and the additional machinery can be obtained, the work in the war plant will be increased and additional employees will be used there. These employees require special training and many of the men and women in the pen and pencil work are now undergoing training which will fit them for this war work. If it became necessary to close the main plant because of inability to obtain silver, this training program of war workers would be interrupted and there would be no place in the Janesville area where these men and women could be trained for their future work in the war plant. So our people now being employed in the manufacture of pens and pencils, if that plant were closed down, could not be absorbed in our own war plant.. Neither could they be absorbed in any other war plant or any nondefense plant in the Janesville area. There now exists a substantial surplus of unskilled and semiskilled labor in the Janesville area, and such surplus is in prospect for some time to come. This is shown by a letter, dated September 11, signed by William B. Mills, local manager of the United States Employment Service, at Janesville, Wis. This letter is dated September 11, and I would like to file a copy as a part of my statement. (The letter from the United States Employment Service, Janesville, Wis., referred to, is as follows:) PARKER PEN CO. Janesville, Wis. EXHIBIT C FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY, SOCIAL SECURITY BOARD, UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE, Janesville, Wis., September 11, 1942. (Attention: Mr. B. M. Jeffris, secretary.) DEAR MR. JEFFRIS: Following up my visit with you on Wednesday at which time we discussed current and anticipated employment of the Parker Pen Co., I would like to summarize our discussion on the probabilities of meeting your anticipated labor needs. While there are many uncertainties that may affect the manpower situation in the immediate future, we endeavor through the cooperation of employers like yourself to obtain an accurate prediction of the labor demand for periods up to 6 months and 1 year in the future. Likewise, information on labor supply is available to us through employer information on anticipated lay-offs, through an analysis of our active file registrations for work, by records of new and renewal H applications for work, by requests for job training, and other employment service activity which we feel is the pulse of the labor market. In order to amplify my statements to you on Wednesday, I would like to point out the following facts from current labor demand and supply data for the local labor market: A. SUPPLY 1. Employment office active file (as of this date, Sept. 11, 1942). A large percentage of these job seekers are women newly enter- 3. Average renewal applications per month for June, July, and August___ 4. Average monthly enrollment in preemployment vocational courses_ B. DEMAND 1. Anticipated hires for the next 6 months___. This figure is for 10 major employers in the Janesville area and accounts only for new hires in addition to present employment. Approximately 65 percent of these indicated needs will be male workers to be recalled by 1 establishment and for the most part they are not now represented in the active file count shown in the supply above. 2. Withdrawals for the armed forces_ This can only be a rough estimate with limited knowledge on the demand based on 10 percent of the approximate male employment in the 10 major establishments. C. BALANCE OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND 1, 348 531 517 96 None 780 400 It would appear from the present data that the available supply for the Janesville labor market area for the next 6-month period will exceed considerably the local demand. While demand from adjacent and distant areas is steadily in creasing and our office has a responsibility to help meet this demand with the local supply, the number of workers who will migrate from the area is limited by many factors. A large percentage of the present job seekers represented in the available supply are qualified and available only for local job openings. These facts clearly indicate that the labor needs of the Parker Pen Co. for the next 6-month period for your anticipated increased production on war contracts can be amply met. Your present and past procedure of employing a large percentage of women with a minimum of limiting qualifications enhances this prospect. May I add also that the increased employment by your establishment in the past several months has been a most gratifying factor in the local labor market. While the placement activity of this office with essential employers has been very brisk, opportunities for industrial employment in Janesville other than in your factory have been quite limited. I appreciate the cooperation your organization has given this office in our efforts to effect an orderly control of the labor market which is particularly desired in these times. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM B. MILLS, Local Manager. Mr. THOMPSON. This letter shows that on September 11 there were 1,348 applications for work on file with the Janesville office. For the months of June, July, and August there were an average of 531 applications filed per month, and 517 renewal applications, these representing mostly recurring job seekers from seasonal occupation. A few weeks ago when the canning season was at its height, the employment in Janesville was at a high point, but even then there were large numbers of applications still on file unused. Now that the canning season is over several hundred more people are out of work and available for other employment. Senator MALONEY. I might say that we have heard from time to time that there is a great shortage of farm labor, particularly in dairy-farm labor, in your State. Mr. THOMPSON. There is not. Senator MALONEY. There is no shortage? Mr. THOMPSON. Not to speak of; not in our vicinity. I don't know how it is farther north. Senator MALONEY. Please do not let me interrupt you further. Mr. THOMPSON. I would like to quote just one paragraph from the letter of the United States Employment Office. This states: It would appear from the present data that the available supply for the Janesville labor market area for the next 6-month period will exceed considerably the local demand. While demand from adjacent and distant areas is steadily increasing and our office has a responsibility to help meet this demand with the local supply, the number of workers who will migrate from the area is limited by many factors. A large percentage of the present job seekers represented in the available supply are qualified and available only for local job openings. I think that answers your question. Many of our people own their own homes and many of the workers are women who are working to help pay for their homes. These people cannot readily move from one place to another, and a large proportion of our people working in the main plant could not and would not move away from Janesville if they became unemployed as the result of the closing down of the factory but would remain there in the hope of obtaining employment elsewhere as future demands might increase or of obtaining only seasonal employment. They would simply add to the labor surplus already existing in this area and the result would be severe economic distress in our community. Our union in cooperation with the Parker Pen Co. has been energetic in the War bond purchase program and many 10 percent buttons are in evidence in that plant. I think as many as 80 percent of our members have signed up on the 10 percent pay-roll deduction program.. Unless our people can have continued employment, they cannot continue to buy War bonds and pay taxes as they are now doing. We also feel that we are engaged in making a product which has real essentiality. Of course writing instruments are not an article of war. Many wars have been fought and won before they were invented, but the same applies to the telephone, telegraph, radio, V-mail, and other media of communication. Pens and pencils are merely two essential instruments for one means of communication, and undoubtedly the most universal used of all means next to actual speech. In considering the essentiality of fountain pens and pencils, it is important to note that families have been dislocated to tremendous extent due to some members entering military service and others being transferred from one locality to anothter due to various phases of the war effort. In the interest of members of the armed forces, a fountain pen is most essential because it is a small portable writing instrument containing a supply of writing fluid that will last an average of 30 days. Our records indicate that over 50 percent of our fountain pen production is sold dierctly to men in the military and naval service or to persons intending to give the pen to such men. The reasons why a soldier would feel a fountain pen essential are plain. A fountain pent is portable and may be carried on the person, and because of the clip it is not readily subject to loss. It is durable, and practically nonbreakable. It will carry a month's supply of writing fluid which is of special importance when away from permanent bases. Certainly no soldier could be expected to carry a bottle of ink and an ordinary steel pen into the field. The fountain pen is the only practical writing instrument which members of the armed forces can use when away from a permanent base. For the 6 months, March through August, 21 percent of our total sales were sold to post exchanges, navy stores and other military outlets. An additional 4 percent went to United States Army and Navy outlets overseas; these outlets constituted 26 percent of our total export sales. We These fountain pens and mechanical pencils which we produce require very little critical material, only a small quantity of steel is now needed as our substitution program has successfully eliminated stainless steel, brass, aluminum, and other critical materials. have in process a mechanical pencil, the steel content of which is less than 8 pounds per thousand units, whereas the steel content of our former pencil was approximately 80 pounds per thousand units. Silver is the only restricted metal we need now in addition to this very small amount of steel to continue the manufacture of fountain pens and mechanical pencils and make it possible to develop our war plant to a state of full scale and efficient production. And silver certainly cannot be considered a critical material as long as there are millions and millions of ounces buried in the vaults of the United States Treasury. Senator MALONEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Thompson. Senator GREEN. Mr. Chairman, there are a few more witnesses present. We are very appreciative of the patience of the committee, and I am not going to call on them. However, I am going to ask each one of them to come forward, and if they have any new thoughts to present, to state them orally, and if they have written statements with them, to leave them with the files of the committee. Senator MALONEY. And we appreciate the assistance you have given us, Senator. We are very anxious to cooperate with you and very anxious to dispose of the matter. Some Senators are hopeful of getting away for several days, and I had hoped insofar as this subcommittee is concerned, that we could conclude today. Senator GREEN. There is another representative of the employees present, Mr. Dennis N. Burke, president of the International Photoengravers Union, who has a few words to say. STATEMENT OF DENNIS N. BURKE, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL PHOTO ENGRAVERS UNION, NEW YORK, N. Y. Mr. BURKE. I shall be very brief, because your meeting has been rather long. I appear this morning to make a plea for the 10,000 members of the International Photo Engravers Union. Senator MALONEY. Give us your full name, please. Mr. BURKE. Dennis N. Burke. Senator MALONEY. And your address? |