Mr. ALTMEYER. Yes, sir.

Dr. LAMB. What about the health insurance in the British experience? I don't believe you mentioned that.

Mr. ALTMEYER. Well, I think the British Medical Association believes that its national health insurance plan has improved the quality and quantity of medical services rendered the population of Britain. The best evidence that the British Medical Association does believe that this has been the result is that they are actively urging the extension of the health-insurance system to provide greater benefits and to include members of the worker's family.

Dr. LAMB. That is all.

The CHAIRMAN. We thank you very much, Mr. Altmeyer. You have presented a fine statement and it will be quite valuable to us. We appreciate your coming here.

The committee will stand adjourned until 2 o'clock.

(Whereupon, at 12:30 p. m. the committee recessed until 2 p. m.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

The committee met at 2 p. m.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order.

Mr. Reporter, this is Mr. Noel Sargent, secretary of the National Association of Manufacturers.

TESTIMONY OF NOEL SARGENT, SECRETARY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS, NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.

The CHAIRMAN. Will you please give the reporter your full name and the capacity in which you appear here today?

Mr. SARGENT. Noel Sargent, secretary of the National Association of Manufacturers.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Sargent, the committee is very pleased to have you here today to present a paper on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers with respect to the problem of defense migration.

I think you will be interested to know that the committee, at its recent hearings at Hartford, Trenton, and Baltimore, formed the opinion that the outstanding testimony on the subject of community problems and labor-supply problems created by national-defense migration was given by representatives of employer groups.

At the Hartford hearing the committee had the benefit of a comprehensive statement from the Manufacturers' Association of Connecticut, and at Baltimore from the Association of Commerce. We are glad to have at our Washington hearings an opportunity to hear from you in your capacity as the representative of the manufacturers as they are organized nationally. Congressman Arnold has a few questions to ask you, Mr. Sargent.

(The paper referred to above is as follows:)

STATEMENT BY NOEL SARGENT, SECRETARY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS, NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.

POSITION AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS ON PROBLEMS OF DEFENSE MIGRATION

1. The National Association of Manufacturers has undertaken surveys in the months of January, February, April, and May of companies having defense contracts. A different group of companies was covered in each of such surveys. The following percentages of companies surveyed have reported shortages of skilled labor:

Because there has been a great deal of discussion in recent months of the possibility of industry going on a 24-hour, 7-day basis, we also asked these companies whether they would have a shortage of skilled labor if an effort were made to operate on such a 168-hour-week basis. The following per

centages of companies with defense contracts indicated that they would have a shortage of skilled labor if they attempted to so operate:

2. We have no statistical information as to competition between employers "for workers where the labor supply is inadequate." I wish to advise, however, that the National Association of Manufacturers has through its board of directors taken the following position with reference to this:

(a) Employers should cooperate with each other, and with Government and employees, in endeavoring to encourage workers engaged in defense production in one area to remain in such areas. Such shifting is uneconomical since it may involve unnecessary double training of workers, may encourage spiraling of costs and prices, may create special housing troubles in many communities, and may add to the problems of present defense production and post-defense reconstruction.

(b) The problem of an adequate and efficient labor supply is of primary concern to manufacturers today. Many employers are losing capable employees to other employers, as well as to the Government, and replacements are difficult. Expanding organizations suffer through inability to augment their present forces by capable additions. Under these circumstances, the following suggestions should be helpful toward bringing about an understanding of the present situation and in centering thought on ways and means that may help to solve the difficulties.

While the emergency is a national one, the labor problem is essentially a local problem, and to the extent that manufacturers can work out their problems locally, the national objective will be facilitated.

The prosecution of the defense program is not necessarily helped by the movement of employees from one defense industry to another, because obviously the total employment is not increased. As a matter of fact, operations are slowed down because of the probable lower efficiency of employees in new employment as against their efficiency in their old employment.

Employers in nondefense industries would do well to reconcile themselves to the probability that some of their employees will be taken by defense industries. It seems obvious that the necessities inherent in the defense industries may bring forth financial inducements to employees which employers in nondefense industries will not or cannot meet.

The foregoing consideration will vary in degree in localities. Joint meetings of employers locally are suggested for the purpose of spreading a common appreciation of the situation and exploring the opportunities for cooperation with the objective of prosecuting the defense program most effectively and with the least detriment to all. In such discussions, while emphasis may be placed upon the primary importance of the defense industries, the desirability of facilitating defense production with the least disruption of nondefense industries may properly be considered.

Out of the experience of several communities and those of manufacturers who have for some time faced this problem and, with varying degrees of success solved it, a review of some of the approaches that have been found helpful may be of assistance to others.

We therefore make these recommendations:

(1) In the recruiting of new labor we believe employers should first make use of all available agencies within their community whose primary concern it is to supply employees, including Federal, State, and manufacturers' employment services; and further, that employers should utilize all available local labor resources before resorting to the recruiting of additional labor from outside their local areas.

(2) The use of intensive short-term job training to develop rapidly an adequate and efficient labor force.

(3) The necessity for continuous apprenticeship training during this critical period to build up the nucleus of skilled labor essential to the welfare and progress of the country.

(4) The use of upgrading.

(5) The fullest use of vocational and trade-school facilities in the community. (6) We believe the use of such recruiting practices as advertising and general

solicitation for currently employed workers does not expand the total available labor force and that these practices often disturb current defense production.

3. With reference to the problem of training programs within industry, I submit herewith as appendix A a memorandum analyzing the nature of training programs now being conducted by several companies with defense contracts. In addition, I wish to advise that our association has taken the following position with reference to the training of workers:

(a) One of the urgent problems in the Nation-wide effort to increase production for national defense is that relating to the rapid training of a sufficient supply of skilled labor.

(b) Employers should endeavor to augment the supply of skilled labor in occupations where shortages now exist or are threatened. This involves an intensive training program to develop an adequate supply of workers able to perform specific operations and tasks to meet the emergency requirements of the national-defense program.

(c) The task of training a labor force adequate to fill defense production requirements can most effectively be accomplished by industry itself, and we believe that the basic principles enumerated below may serve as a guide to management in meeting its individual training problem.

It is recommended that consideration be given to these various factors that enter into a short-term training program:

(1) That each company give some thought to the trade and vocational school facilities available in its community for the purpose of cooperating with such community efforts in a training program.

(2) That the technique known as job training, insofar as it is practicable and feasible, serve as a basis for the training program. This technique, which is predicated on the breaking down of complex jobs into their single component operations, has in many cases proved successful as a means of providing shortterm instruction to unskilled and semiskilled workers by teaching them on the machine how to perform efficiently the single task or operation that will be required of them.

(3) That all trainees be instructed on the specific machines they will be required to use on the job.

(4) That all applicants be given ability tests to determine if they should be given the proposed training.

(5) That adequate and competent instruction and supervision be made available to them during the period of their training.

(6) That employers give some consideration to the "vestibule school" technique that was developed during the World War for the purpose of training unskilled workers on the very threshold of the shop to familiarize them with various aspects of machine operation in a very short period of time. This method proved both practical and valuable during the war period in turning out reasonably competent machine operators in a comparatively few days' time.

(7) That each company give some study to the intensive short-period training programs developed during the World War by the United States Committee on Education and Special Training. This committee developed high-speed training techniques based on the theory of teaching on the job through performance, questions, problems, and guided discussions.

(d) In approaching the problem of short-term intensive training, we believe it is desirable to point out the difference between the training problem that exists in mass production industries and in those companies which are engaged in specialty work, by reason of the fact that the job training technique might prove both practical and feasible in building up the required labor supply for mass industries, but would prove unsatisfactory for the specialty plants which require all-around skilled mechanics for the largest part of their production work.

(e) Another phase of the intensive, short-term training problem is the danger inherent in developing a substantial number of semiskilled workers trained in only one or a few of the single repetitive operations required for the nationaldefense production program, who will be unfitted for any other work when the emergency of the defense program is over. In this connection, we believe it to be desirable for all employers to give serious consideration to the possibility of affording such employees the opportunity of rotating from one job to another in the plant so that they may progress from simple jobs to more complex ones through a wider familiarity of production operations, and, further, that com panies should extend what cooperation they can in making it possible for such employees to develop themselves into all-around mechanics. In this way such