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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1963
‘BAN JOB DISCRIMINATION’
Labor Day Statement-National Catholic Welfare Department
1963
LABOR DAY STATEMENT
Social Action Department
National Catholic Welfare Conference
Rt. Rev. Msgr. George G. Higgins, Director
Previous Labor Day Statements of the NCWC
Social Action Department have been concerned with
collective bargaining, labor legislation, equal em
ployment opportunity, automation, unemployment
and a number of similar problems in the broad field
of labor-management relations. In varying degrees,
all of these problems are still with us in the Fall of
1963, and there is much that could be said about each
plish very little unless rank-and-file union members in the field of economics and, more specifically, in and economic problems of high school drop-outs, so- neutral terminology of economics and labor-manage-
are prepared to cooperate with them by helping to the area of employment cannot be achieved by the called functional illiterates, and other disadvantaged naent relations. In conclusion, however, we should
create an atmosphere of interracial harmony and efforts of unions and employers, the State has the youngsters. On the contrary, the responsibility for like to put these seemingly technical problems into
good will in the factories, offices, and shops in which right to intervene. The Federal Government, in the helping these unfortunate young men and women to their proper focus. "The heart of the race question,”
they are employed exercise of this right, has already accomplished a acquire the basic skills which they will need if they the American bishops pointed out in their 1958
great deal through the President’s Committee on are ever going to be able to qualify for gainful em-
Negro workers themselves can help to eliminate Equal Employment Opportunity. The jurisdiction of ployment rests primarily, not on the agencies of gov-
the abuses referred to above and can also make an this Committee is limited, however, to federal agen- ernment, but on the voluntary, non-governmental
important contribution to the overall cause of social cies and to employers and unions engaged in the organizations which are so numerous and so in
justice by playing an increasingly active role in the production of goods or services under a federal con- fluentill in American society. In some local communi-
trade union movement. It is to be hoped that their
legitimate grievances against a minority of unions
will not turn them against the labor movement as
such nor discourage them from taking an active in
terest in union affairs. They have much to offer the
labor movement and, by the same token, the labor
movement, with all its admitted faults, has much to
offer them.
Employers. Christian moral teaching requires every
employer to maintain and enforce non-discriminatory
tract. There is an urgent need, then, for a perma
nent Federal Fair Employment Practices Committee
with statutory power and sanctions and with the
widest possible jurisdiction. It would be the duty of
this agency of government to stamp out racial dis
crimination in hiring, upgrading, and firing on the
part of employers engaged in interstate commerce
and of the unions organized in their industries or
trades.
A Fair Employment Practices Committee should
ties unions and employers’ associations, church groups,
women’s organizations, fraternal societies and other
voluntary associations have already begun to meet this
responsibility. Their example ought to be followed by
comparable organizations in many other localities
throughout the United States. Some of these organiza-
Statement, Discrimination and the Christian Con
science, "is moral and religious. It concerns the rights
of man and our attitude toward our fellow man. If
our attitude is governed by the great Christian law of
love of neighbor and respect for his rights, then we
can work out harmoniously the techniques for mak
ing legal, educational, economic, and social adjust
ments.”
To do this perseveringly we will need the grace of
God in great abundance. And since the grace of God
of them, from the point of view of Catholic social policies in hiring, upgrading, and discharge. To carry a iso established in each of the states to eliminate the point where they will want to take advantage of
tions may not be in a position to provide training * s £‘ ven unfailingly to those who humbly ask for it,
programs for the unskilled, but they can all do some
thing even more important. They can encourage dis
advantaged Negro workers, young or old, to look
ahead to a better day and help to motivate them to
it will be fitting to conclude this Statement W'ith a
prayer for justice and charity in the field of race
relations:
teaching, in the present Statement.
This year, however, it would seem more ap
propriate to concentrate exclusively on one of these
problems in particular—namely, the problem of
equal employment opportunity, which goes to the
out this responsibility in the face of local patterns
of prejudice and discrimination will often be ex
tremely difficult for the individual employer. It is
strongly recommended, therefore, that local and na
tional employers’ organizations and trade associations
discrimination by employers engaged exclusively in
intra-state commerce and by the unions with which
they have contractual relations.
the training services provided by other voluntary
organizations or by agencies of government.
Providing adequate training and motivation for
unskilled Negro workers can help to solve the
Heavenly Father, Who has created all men ac
cording to Your own image and redeemed us all
by the Blood of Your Divine Son, teach us how to
live together as brothers, in dignity, justice, charity
in
is the most pressing and, beyond doubt, the
important of all the social, economic, and political
problems confronting the American people.
From one point of view, the year 1963 has been
an extremely difficult year in the field of race rela
tions—a year of crisis and unrelieved tension. On the
other hand, 1963 may prove to have been a blessed
turning point in the history of the United States.
Hopefully, future generations will be able to look
back upon it, with a measure of satisfaction, as the
year of no return for the United States in the field
of race relations—the year in which a sizeable majority
of the American people burned their bridges, so to
speak, and enlisted for the duration in a peaceful
crusade for interracial justice which, please God,
will be crowned with success in the not too distant
future.
the law of our beloved land. But beyond that,
graciously give us the vision to see clearly the full
meaning of Your Command to love our neighbor
as we love ourselves, and grant us the grace to ob
serve this precept in our daily lives. Amen.
It should be pointed out, however, that fair em-
come t 0 the assistance of their individual employer ployment practices legislation, however necessary and problem of racial inequality in the field of employ-
very heart of the overall problem of race relations mernbers taking a united stand in favor of equal desirable, cannot effect economic justice for the Negro ment, but complete economic justice for the Negro is an d peace. May we afford to each other now the
the United States. In the year 1963 race relations ern pj oyment opportunity. In the past, unfortunately, unless other steps are taken by unions, employers, not likely to be achieved unless and until there is tota i measure of human rights guaranteed us by
th#- nwvtf nrf*«inir and. bevond doubt, the most many of these organizations and associations have and other organized economic groups, in cooperation economic prosperity for all of our citizens, Negroes
tended to ignore the problem of race relations in the with the government, or, wherever necessary, by the and whites alike. Racial discrimination can be, at
field of employment. At the present time, however, government alone. best, only controlled in periods of widespread un-
the problem is so extensive and so serious—and the employment. It cannot be completely eliminated by
opportunities for correcting it so numerous and so To be more specific about the latter point, we would anything short of full employment,
promising—that they ought to give it top priority. In strongly urge that the Youth Employment Oppor-
this connection, it should be noted, parenthetically, tunity Bill, now pending before the Congress, be
that employers, cooperating with one another enacted into law as soon as possible. One of the
through their own associations, can be extraordinarily purposes of this pending legislation is to provide an importance of this problem or to postpone the adop-
influential in solving the total problem of race rela- opportunity for young men who are out of work to tion of corrective measures on the grounds that we
tions in the United States. Indeed it would not be develop the skills which will qualify them for gain- must first of all solve the immediate problem of race
an exaggeration to say that they are in a position ful employment,
to do more than almost any other segment of the
American population to promote the cause of inter- The early enactment of the Youth Employment
racial justice Opportunity Bill would be a helpful step in the right
direction. It is obvious, however, that legislative eral problem of race relations and the specific problem
Government. To the extent that interracial justice programs alone cannot possibly solve all of the social of equal employment opportunity in the more or less
At the present time the rate of unemployment in
the United States is alarmingly high. To minimize the
relations would be a disservice not only to the Negro
community, but to the nation as a whole.
Up to this point we have been discussing the gen-
SOCIAL ACTION DEPARTMENT, NCWC
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.
Washington 5, D. C.
The ultimate success of this crusade for interracial
justice will largely depend, of course, on the willing
ness of labor and management to adopt and effectively
enforce a universal policy of equal employment op
portunity for Negro workers in every industry and
trade. In a certain sense, this is really the master
key to the solution of the total problem of race rela
tions in the United States. In other words, the ef
fective exercise of many of the Negro’s other basic
human rights will depend, in the final analysis, on
whether or not he is given an equal opportunity to
develop his native skills and talents and to secure
gainful and suitable employment on his own merits
and without regard to the color of his skin.
It is a matter of common knowledge that Negroes,
by and large, are still being denied this opportunity.
Even at this late date, the old saying that they are
the last to be hired and the first to be fired is all too
true in many occupations, but, even at that, it does
not begin to tell the whole story; for in certain trades
and professions there is no question of their being
fired, for the simple reason that they are never hired
in the first place.
In recent months both labor and management—
partially on their own initiative, but, to some extent,
at the insistance of the federal government—have
taken limited steps to correct this intolerable situa
tion. They deserve to be commended for what they
have done thus far, but, in all honesty, it must be
said that they have hardly scratched the surface of
the total problem. Much more can and should be
done not only by labor and management, but by the
Government as well, to protect the basic rights not
only of Negroes, but of Mexican Americans, Puerto
Ricans, American Indians, people of Asian back
ground, and the members of other minority groups
who, in varying degrees, are the victims of prejudice
and discrimination.
The following steps, among others, ought to be
taken, without delay, by the parties concerned:
Trade Unions. There are no longer any unions in
the United States which constitutionally bar Negro
workers from membership. Theoretically, in other
words, there are no longer any so-called "lily white"
unions.
In practice, however, a number of key unions are
still effectively excluding Negroes from their ranks
by making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for
them to qualify for membership. They do this by the
simple device of refusing to enroll them in their
apprenticeship programs or by arbitrarily restricting
the number of Negro apprentices. Other unions are
still discriminating against their Negro members by
confining them to second-class membership in so-
called auxiliary locals. Both of these practices are
completely unethical and run directly contrary to
the stated policy of the American labor movement.
They must be remedied immediately.
The elected officers of the relatively few offending
unions can rightly be expected to take the initiative
in eliminating the discriminatory practices referred
to above It is also reasonable to expect that the top
officials of the general labor movement will intensify
their efforts to bring their recalcitrant affiliates into
line, ft is obvious, however, that the efforts of union
officials, however vigorous and sincere, will accom-
In downtown Philadelphia, Nora McFadden, president of the
Catholic Information Center’s Legion of Maty group, shows
the latest in Catholic literature to a visitor at the Legion’s
book barrow at a busy intersection. The downtown legion
aries aim to bring Christ to the marketplace in their* con*
tacts with weekend shoppers and tourists. (NC Photos)
The Aichbishop of Genoa. Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, is shown
with Vice Admiral William E. Centner Jr.. Commander of
the U. S. Sixth Naval Fleet, aboard the USS Little Rock.
The Cardinal made the call on the Admiral and greeted the
Catholic officers and men attached to the warship during
its visit at Genoa. Italy. iNC Photos»
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