haman kaszaie. That is what you would like to do? Charman ProXMIRE. That was your best, highest remunerative A FABRE Y in i. Chairman PROXMIRE. All righ, sir. Now, our other witness this morning is Mrs. Mamie Chambers, empioned promer. M. CHAMBERS. That is right. TESTIMONY OF MAMIE CHAMBERS. UNEMPLOYED PRESSER, WASHINGTON, D.C. Chairman PROXMIRE. And we do not have any background on Four unemployment experience; so, you just go ahead and tell us. Mrs. CHAMBERS. Well, it is very difficult to get jobs, you know, presing. You see, I am a presser. Chairman PROXMIRE. You are a presser? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Yes, sir. I press clothes in the drycleaners, and it is very difficult to get jobs like that. You go out on jobs, and, you know, they say, "Well, fill out this application." Well, if you do not have the education to fill out the application, they feel you do not do the type of work they want, but whole lots of times the people can do the work but do not have the education. So, it seems to me that education goes along with my type of job. But, so far, I have been unemployed ever since February 20, and I got food stamps once, and then I started to draw unemployment and social security. Chairman PROXMIRE. Do you get unemployment compensation? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Yes. Chairman PROXMIRE. When will that run out? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Well, this one will not go out. I am still drawing unemployment. Chairman PROXMIRE. You say it has not run out yet? It lasts-what? Twenty-six weeks? So, it will expire in another month or so? Mrs. CHAMBERS. I signed up for 23 weeks. Chairman PROXMIRE. Well, have you tried to seek other kinds of work? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Well, not exactly other kinds of work, because I am not as good at other kinds of work as I am on pressing. But I have nothing left for me to do; if I do not, then, I will try seeking other kinds of work. But I am an experienced presser. Chairman PROXMIRE. How long have you been in that field of pressing? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Close to 20 years. Chairman PROXMIRE. What other kinds of work have you done? Mrs. CHAMBERS. I have did some private home work in South Carolina. My native home is in Spartanburg; S.C., and I worked down there, and the work there is very cheap; so, when I came here in 1956 seeking work, I found the work paid more here, more than it did at home, and so I have been here ever since 1956. And I have been lucky with work in pressing ever since I have been here, up until-you know. Chairman PROX MIRE. When you say here, you mean here in Washington, D.C.? Mrs. CHAMBERS. That is right. Chairman PROXMIRE. Of course, by and large, this town has been blessed compared to the rest of the country. We have had much lower unemployment, as I understand it, far better job opportunities. But in spite of that you have not been able to get work as a presser, at least since February of 1971, this year? Mrs. CHAMBERS. That is right. Chairman PROXMIRE. What are your plans? What do you expect to do? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Well, if I cannot get a pressing job, I will just have to go to the unemployment office and see if I can get a private home job. But I was sent out and the man told me to come back Tuesday, that he will give me a try. Chairman PROXMIRE. So, you have applied for a job, a domestic job, is that correct? Mrs. CHAMBERS. No, I did not apply for a domestic job; I applied for pressing. Chairman PROXMIRE. Pressing? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Yes. Chairman PROXMIRE. Would that be private? I thought you said a private home job? Mrs. CHAMBERS. If I cannot get a job pressing, I will go back to private home work. Chairman PROXMIRE. I see. I see. But neither job is available to you right now, but it might be available next week; is that right? Mrs. CHAMBERs. Well, the press job was promised next week, next Tuesday. Chairman PROXMIRE. What does that pressing job pay? Mrs. CHAMBERS. Well, some pay $2.50 an hour, some pay $2.75, and then some go on a flat salary. Some people pay $100 a week and some pay $110 to $120. But the job the employment office sent me out on Wednesday, he was paying $110. Chairman PROXMIRE. Are you married? Mrs. CHAMBERS. I have been married, but I am divorced. Mrs. CHAMBERS. Yes. Chairman PROX MIRE. And you have not had any income, really, since February of this year? You have had food stamps, you say? Mrs. CHAMBERS. I had food stamps once. Chairman PROXMIRE. You have them now? Mrs. CHAMBERS. No; I do not use them. I got them when I first got unemployed, and then when I got out of a job-but then I received my unemployment and social security. Chairman PROXMIRE. I see. Did you say you were precluded from working for a private employer? Mrs. CHAMBERS. I beg your pardon? PROXMIRE. Chairman PROX MIRE. Did you say you could not work for a private employer? That was not my understanding-Oh, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I would like to go back to Mr. Bose. Now, did you tell me you precluded from working for a private employer, but did you simply say that your statement you made this morning was so controversial that you expected that you could not work for a private employer? Mr. Bose. On the statement I made, I do not think that I would be normally considered for employment, if these statements were heard, by a large corporation. Chairman PROXMIRE. You say that on experience you have had in the past or Mr. Bose. Definitely. Chairman PROXMIRE. Tell us a little bit about that. You represent, as you said, a kind of a new kind in unemployment, a highly skilled, highly trained area where you are very much in demand, people with your skills being in demand up until relatively a short time ago. And now we know that unemployment is extraordinarily high in many parts of the country. Mr. Bose. Well, first, the question that you asked me, sir-I think the average person who is employed in the categories that I am is not required or rather is prevented from speaking out in cases where management shows incompetence, fraud, or other malpractices. The general feeling among the types of people that I represent is one of oppression in the sense that in order to retain one's job it requires that one walk a rather narrow line. I read the statement from the application in order to illustrate that. Chairman PROXMIRE. Well, I wish you would generalize a little bit. You are an unusual man, and you are certainly one who is willing to talk about the problems of your industry and obviously, you speak up and speak your mind. When you are willing to do that often, at anytime, under any circumstances, it may mean your job, as you know, but I would like for you to give us as much as you can, your impression of what the problems are, even for those who are not as outspoken, and I think that is a fine quality and characteristic to be as outspoken as you are. Now, in that industry what are the problems? Because, as I understand it, there are many qualified people who are willing to do almost anything to get jobs, including keeping their mouths shut and agreeing with the management on whatever policies they want to adopt, cannot find jobs now. Mr. BoSE. That is correct. As a matter of fact, I do not know the exact numbers of the so-called aerospace engineers in the area from which I come. I have heard officials estimate it, variously, from 7,000 to 1,000. Chairman PROXMIRE. Seven thousand to 10,000? Mr. BoSE. From 7,000 down to 1,000, or from 1,000 to 7,000. Now, among my acquaintances there has been no improvement, and I made an attempt to become acquainted with as many unemployed aerospace people as possible. Chairman PROXMIRE. Let me ask all of you witnesses, in turn, to tell me what you think the Federal Government can do to help in this situation? What policies do you think we can adopt? Now, Mr. Bose has given some ideas on this. We can come back to him if you would like that, but let me start off with Mr. Wulforst and then go right across the table and ask you to tell us what you would like to see us do. Mr. WULFORST. Well, I would like to see some kind of a work program around here like, you know, in the long-range jobs; not the short jobs. Like, for instance, you have these buildings downtown now. They go on, and then they just stop, and there does not seem to be other jobs in line. Now, like for instance, we have the FBI Building downtown. That is a long-range job. Well, that job there, I would say approximately, as far as plumbing is concerned, and I am speaking about my end of the industry now, that that job has been dragging for about 4 years, and what I mean by dragging is that it is just one of these come-and-go deals where you have got a few men on the job, and that is the way it is. Chairman PROXMIRE. I have wondered about that hole in the ground. What is behind that? You imply that it seems to be a deliberate plan to keep the Mr. WULFORST. I would say thare is no deliberate plan. I do not know what the holdup is on that job down there. I would like to know myself. Chairman PROXMIRE. There is a feeling among the workers that there is some kind of a drag, a holdup, that is it being slowed down for no particular reason, and that the employment on it is far less than it should be? Mr. WULFORST. That is right. Chairman PROXMIRE. So that your suggestion-and I realize I am being a little unfair; I did not ask you folks to prepare for this kind of a question, but one suggestion you had is that with a project of this kind they move ahead and build it and complete it? Mr. WULFORST. That is right. Chairman PROXMIRE. This would certainly help at a time Ex- this when we have relatively high unemployment, and I would in the long run it might save the taxpayers some money, because in of mflation, and so forth, it would cost more to finish nr. 2, 3 or 4 years from now. A WILFORST. That is right. FACIMIRE. All right. Mr Laniner. Tel from my experience, I did go oovi Pause for a jobe st (01 "LI 27 Mast go to this QUE DËS Cos they qualify for to app dig a joe I can apply for. And my Tra cannot go to one centra rab bank of the kind that Mr. Top Facey job. The Employment Service The computers we have and the e Purdous amount of material together Taalaten would seem to me that that woun £ 10 2: and I thought that was something we ta progress of. But you say, insofar as you know, in Tor in yo a partie Lar job-interest area, you cannot go to one m and find out what jobs are available? Is that right? MIS LASTNER. That is right. Well, there is the Employment dee, which is supposed to be, the Employment Service is su to be such a job bank, but the trouble with it is that the do not cooperate, I do not think. They do not report the jobs temi. because they are saving them for people within the organizati I do not know exactly why-or perhaps because they just 7 know about the Employment Service. 2595 ProvusĖ. You say you can go to the Em:: to them? itat is correct. g Government jobs tha - a fact? Ca -tuations? ob that I at and ther |