William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, today told the Senate Sub-Committee on Labor and Public Welfare that racial discrimination in employment must be outlawed. Green spoke in support of the Ives FEPC Bill, hearings on which concluded today.
Also testifying in favor of the bill today were a spokesman for Adolph Held, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, and Col. Charles I. Schottland, national executive director of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
“Evidence has made it abundantly clear,” Green said, “that to assure the healthy economic growth of the nation, to safeguard and sustain the general welfare of the people of America, it is the duty of this Congress to enact anti-discrimination legislation.” He emphasized that Congress has “an historic responsibility” to assure equality in employment to the numerous minorities among the people of the United States.”
JOB DISCRIMINATION UNDERMINES U.S. DEMOCRACY, HELD SAYS
Mr. Held’s testimony, which was read for him by Irving Salart, J.L.C. field director, declared that he spoke on behalf of 500,000 Jewish workers affiliated with the A.F.L. and the C.I.O., and said that his organization believes in the American principle that every person willing and able to work has the right to a job commensurate with his ability.
“When this right is denied,” he stated, “then the confidence of our people in the efficacy of democratic government is weakened and the foundations of our democracy are undermined.” He emphasized that passage of the FEPC bill is in the interest not only of groups now suffering from discrimination, but also of every productive American citizen.
“Discrimination in employment strikes, to a greater or lesser extent, at every working member of the community,” Held pointed out. “The cases of discrimination which have been handled by the federal and state commissions prove that there is no group that is immune from discrimination.” The proposed bill, therefore, serves as protection for all races, religions and nationalities, he stressed.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST JEWISH VETERANS CITED BY COL SCHOTTLAND
Col. Schottland urged the sub-committee “to do everything possible” to speed passage of the legislation. He said that he spoke on behalf of 600,000 Jewish veterans of World Wor II who returned, “leaving behind 13,000 Jewish dead with the dead of other Americans of all religious faiths.”
“A number of incidents have come to our attention where Jewish veterans with outstanding military records have been frankly and openly denied equal opportunities for employment because of their religion and without reference to their qualifications for the job,” Col. Schottland testified. He pointed out that as soldiers these men encountered no discrimination in their right to fight and die for democracy, but as veterans they are discovering that they are being denied equal opportunities to earn a living in that democracy.
The Jewish War Veterans, he declared, is firm in the belief that Congress can correct the situation by passing the FEPC legislation “as worthy and legitimate payment of a promisory note to millions of our veterans who took up arms in a conviction that the terrible equality of war would one day be matched by equal opportunities in peace.” Failure to take affirmative action will be a tacit endorsement of racial discrimination in employment, he warned.
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