Monthly Report of Labor Secretary, May 1, 1950

MONTHLY REPORT OF LABOR SECRETARY

May 1, 1950

 

Status of Fair Employment Practice Legislation

At the time this report is being written, the Senate is still debating extension of the ECA Act of 1948.1 Several important amendments are planned which will drag out the consideration. Thus, the FEPC showdown becomes a source of greater concern.2 Colored Republicans met with Senator Taft on April 13, 1950 and they advise that they have a promise that the GOP is certain of 35 votes to break a filibuster.3 We are advised that other Republicans from several key states are also planning to meet with party leaders in Washington on FEPC strategy.

One hopeful note in the present situation is the report that Senator Richard Russell, leader of the anti-FEPC forces, believes that he can only muster 25 votes against cloture on a filibuster.

In addition to the ECA legislation which has previously been mentioned, there is a danger that some effort will be made to bring reorganization plans to the floor for a vote. This will undoubtedly cause further trouble for FEPC.4

City Ordinances

We have advised the Sioux City, Iowa, Branch that it can obtain assistance from Mr. Wilfred Leland, Director of the Minneapolis FEPC, in its plans for a city ordinance. At our request, Mr. Leland has agreed to work with the Sioux City branch if the branch will pay his expenses.

At the time this report is written, the city ordinance prepared by the Labor Secretary for the Baltimore branch to prohibit discrimination on city construction projects is scheduled to be introduced on Monday, May 1. Five members of the City Council have agreed to sponsor this legislation. Eleven votes are required for its passage.

Legislation on Agricultural Workers

We joined with other groups this month in opposing S. 272 which would authorize the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor to continue importation of foreign nationals for work in agriculture. The measure came up under unanimous consent procedure in the Senate where it was objected to by Senator Matthew Neely of West Virginia. We have urged Secretary Maurice Tobin of the Department of Labor to halt the activities of Department of Labor representatives in California who are renewing contracts for importation of foreign workers in agriculture. The Farm Labor Union of the AFL advises that there are 100,000 colored, white, and Latin American agricultural workers unemployed in California.5

Attacks on FEPC Ruling

In previous reports, we have mentioned the ruling of the President’s Fair Employment Board for government workers which was aimed at correcting discrimination in the Bureau of Engraving. This proposal is being attacked by white employees who are seeking to have bills passed in the House and Senate which would in effect set aside the Fair Employment Board’s findings. S. 3050 which is the Senate Bill was rejected under unanimous consent procedures on April 19, 1950.6

At this writing, the supporters of the legislation have gotten it through the House. We have advised Senator Lucas that this is unfair legislation which should be defeated. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota is preparing a report on the bill.

Department of Defense Exhibit

The Labor Secretary was present at the opening of an exhibit of pictures in the Pentagon on activities of colored people in the armed services. Secretary Louis Johnson was present to cut the ribbon opening the exhibit to the public. Although there were a number of pictures showing a wide variety of activities on the part of colored men and women in the armed services, actually, the integration is almost negligible except in the Air Forces where it appears to be extensive. Although the Army has increased the number of specialities into which it sends colored troops, the shadow of Jim-Crow is still very apparent.

Death of Frank Bloom

The death of Mr. Charles Houston caused grief throughout the Association. During this month, Frank Bloom, General Counsel for the AFL Telegraphers Union also died suddenly. Mr. Bloom was of great help to the Labor Department on numerous matters and was always available for consultation. He was a member of the Howard University Law School Faculty.

Meetings and Speaking Engagements

The Secretary of Navy invited the Labor Secretary to join with other citizens in a 7-day orientation course at the Norfolk Navy Yard. This was a splendid opportunity to get a look at the Navy’s operations to determine first hand whether integration has been accomplished to any extent.7 However, it was not possible to be out of the office for that length of time and we declined to accept the invitation, with regret.

The Labor Secretary spoke at a national meeting of Protestants on civil rights legislation in the Lutheran Church Center in Washington.

He was also speaker at the Annual Workers Education Institute at Howard University and a rally on unemployment sponsored by the Laborers Union, Local 74, AFL.

MS: copy, NAACP II A-537, DLC.

[1] The Economic Cooperation Act of 1948, covering the European Recovery Program, was extended in 1949 for fifteen months through June 30, 1950. Congress and the Nation 166.


[2] In his report on FEPC to the NAACP board for the May 1950 meeting, Roy Wilkins said he had wired President Truman, noting that supporters of the issue were “shocked and dismayed by decision of Democratic Policy Committee to postpone again consideration of this vital bill.” Wilkins said evasion of the FEPC bill imperiled the “entire Fair Deal program and vitiates the party’s platform adopted in Philadelphia in 1948.” He thus asked for an opportunity to confer with Truman on S 1728, the FEPC bill in the Senate.

On April 21, 1950, Wilkins received a reply from David K. Niles, administrative assistant to the president, acknowledging his wire, as follows:

At his last press conference, the President explained, in response to a question, the reason for the current postponement of FEPC in the Senate. He said that it is necessary for the Senate to act on the foreign aid bill, in order for the appropriations connected with it to be included in the omnibus appropriations bill now being debated in the House.

He repeated again his assurances, which I am passing on to you at his request, that FEPC will be brought up in the Senate, and that it is his wish and intention that it shall be brought to a vote.

Report of the Executive Secretary for May, 1950, EC.


[3] See Mitchell’s letter to Roy Wilkins, 3/13/50, and related materials in NAACP II: A-257, DLC.


[4] Truman’s explanation (see note 2 above) for the reason for the delay confirmed the rumors Mitchell reported at 4/3/50. See 5/31/50 for the continuation of related events. The FEPC bill would have created a commission of five, vested with legal powers to prevent employers or labor unions from discriminating because of race, religion, color, or national religion. New York Times 5/20, 8.

Overshadowing the beginning of debate in the Senate on the FEPC bill on May 8, 1950, were fears of a repeat of the previous year’s filibuster. The Washington Post in an editorial, provided this background:

Behind the threat of a filibuster are grave mistakes of judgment. Last year the Republicans of the Senate blundered in preventing the adoption of an effective cloture rule. To be sure, the new rule making it possible to limit debate is an improvement upon the old system of unlimited debate on motions to take up a bill. But it is not an effective safeguard against a minority blockade. The Democratic leadership also made a serious error of judgment in letting the most controversial of the civil rights bills come to a test first. But these errors cannot be remedied at the moment; decisions have been made in the face of the situation now confronting the Senate.

Four years ago the FEPC bill was taken to the floor of the Senate early in the session and laid aside after the Southern opposition had filibustered for three weeks and the Senate had voted against cloture. Last year a filibuster prevented the bill from being taken up. This pattern
of futility is likely to be repeated unless statesmanship intervenes. With 20 Southerners prepared to talk till the end of time, the bill can be brought to a vote only if 64 votes for cloture can be obtained, and the prospect of getting that much strength for a compulsory FEPC is very slender indeed. Even if some miracle should pull the bill through the Senate, it would probably fail in the House, which last February rejected the idea of a compulsory FEPC and voted 240 to 177 for a voluntary effort to end discrimination in employment. (Washington Post 5/9/50, 10)


[5] See, among others, 8/31/50; in appendix 1, vol. IV, 7/13/50.


[6] See 3/3/50 for previous findings of the Fair Employment Board; among others, 7/17/50 for continuation of the struggle to defeat S 3050. Also involved in this struggle, Leslie Perry reported on the fight in the House over HR 7185, which was similarly blocked with the help of Rep. Jacob Javits (R-N.Y.) on March 20, 1950. Report of the Washington Bureau, 5/31/51, NAACP II: A-656, DLC.


[7] See also, most immediately, 6/2/52; in appendix 1, vol. IV, 10/3/52.