STATEMENT OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE COALITION OF BLACK TRADE UNIONISTS Presented by WILLIAM LUCY Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County Accompanied by CHARLES HAYES, Vice President, Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, AFL-CIO RICHARD PARRISH, Distributive HORACE SHEFFIELD, United Auto WILLIAM H. SIMON, President of Local 6, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO before the COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE January 19, 1973 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: We appreciate this opportunity to appear before the Committee to present the views of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists with respect to the nomination of Peter J. Brennan as Secretary of Labor. The Coalition is doubly concerned with this nomination. First, because we are unionists. Second, because we are black. For the black worker, the leadership of the Secretary of Labor is particularly vital. Upon his guidance depends the future of programs affecting all Americans--programs concerned with collective bargaining, unionism, job opportunities, wage levels and equal employment. These programs are particularly crucial to the black American worker. The man who becomes Secretary of Labor will determine in major part whether these programs flourish--in accordance with the legislation enacted by the Congress--or whether they die through lack of personnel, funds, and support from the top. The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists is a new organization formed with the objective of unifying black and other concerned union members around issues which are important to them, both as minorities and as trade unionists. The Coalition was organized in Chicago in September 1972. There, 1200 black unionists, representing 3 million organized workers, constituted the largest single gathering of minority unionists in the history of the labor movement. The issues presented to this Committee -2 by the nomination of Peter J. Brennan will deeply affect the lives and interests of these 3 million workers. Three weeks ago the leadership of the Coalition requested an opportunity to meet with the nominee. Our hope was to discuss with him the concerns we express to the Committee today. The nominee has not seen fit to grant our request. We have not been permitted to ask our own questions; we certainly have received no answers. We trust that this Committee will wish to fill this void before passing on the nomination. The nominee's answers to these questions are particularly important at this time. The Secretary of Labor is responsible for assuring equal employment opportunities among the millions whose work depends upon federal contracts. This Committee oversees that responsibility. Yet, the record of the last four years shows promises rather than performance by the Secretaries of Labor. Since 1969, programs crucial to the worker have been strangled by nonaction. Congressional statutes, particularly Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically drawn to guarantee equal access to manpower programs administered by the Department of Labor, have gone unenforced. Only a strong commitment by the Secretary of Labor will reverse this record. But the nominee's personal record shows him to have been at odds both with these guarantees and with these concerns of this Committee. -3 The Coalition believes that it is important for the nominee to express before this Committee his personal commitment to the affirmative action needed to correct past employment discrimination against blacks and to state his views on other issues of historic importance to the labor movement. the easy road of his predecessors. He must not take We will describe briefly the major failings of the Labor Department in the past four years. We will then set out the questions which require answers The Role of the Department of Labor in Meeting the The Secretary of Labor has two major areas of responsibility in the field of equal employment opportunity. These responsibilities stem, first, from Executive Order 11246, and second from Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Executive Order 11246 prohibits employment discrimination by employers with federal contracts and by contractors working on E.O. 11246 issued on September 24, 1965, as amended by E.0. 91-323 O 73 11 -4 federally-assisted construction projects. It requires that all federal contractors assure the government they will not discriminate in employment. It further requires that federal contractors undertake affirmative action to assure that nondiscriminatory practices are followed in all areas of employment. The Executive Order assigns to the Secretary of Labor the responsibility for enforcing its terms. The Secretary is empowered to issue regulations implementing the order, investigate complaints, conduct compliance reviews, hold hearings, and impose sanctions for noncompliance. The importance of the Secretary's role cannot be overstated. Nearly one-third of the Nation's labor force is employed by the more than 225,000 government contractors covered by the Executive Order. Within this group are major segments of the minority work force. It is, of course, beyond argument that minority workers are unemployed or under employed far out of proportion to their percentage of the nation's total work force. Effective enforcement of the Executive Order would substantially alleviate this problem. The order also requires that the contractor, unless exempted by the Secretary of Labor, obtain similar guarantees from his subcontractors. _/ E.0. 11246 at Sec. 205, 206, 208(b) and 209. Fact Sheet, U. S. Department of Labor, November 1972. / See, e.g., Federal Civil Rights Enforcement Effort, A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights 1971, p. 43 (hereinafter cited as "1971 Civil Rights Commission Report"). |