CONRESSIONAL RECORD--HOUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000300160007-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 21, 1998
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 25, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

FOIAb3b
II 9372Sanitized-'- Approv g,4@Mt,Ci&gPBU-RgIA%R000300160OJg825, 19C7-
Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union of countries we find they don't have unions. In
Oruro has received approval of an impacts .fact, all you had In most of these colonial
Projects loan to repair the union's mauso- countries were the white settlers and the
leum in the city's cemetery. Just think of so-called native labor. We are working on this
that one, and actually our work in Africa at the pres-
In Colombia, the Workers Union of Valle ent time is not so much to try to build
'have received approximately $1,200 from the unions-we help there, we helped them by
Small Projects program for repairs to their what they need mostly-transportation-
Workers' University. An Ecuador Impacts Land Rovers, as they call the British answer
Projects grant was approved for the cam- to the American Jeep. They need multi-
pesinos of Alaques to purchase materials graphing machines and loudspeakers and
needed to construct two additional class- things like that. Most of our work in Africa,
rooms for the town school. In Peru alone, up to the present time, is vocational train-
some $347,800 has been approved by the ing. We are running a sewing school in
Peruvian Housing Bank under the provincial Kenya; we have a chauffeurs school in Lagos
program for the oil workers of Talara to and this sort of thing. It will be some time
build 117 houses. An Impacts Projects loan before we will get things In Shape in Africa
of $1.760 was approved for the purchase of where we could embark on a program similar
cutting and perforating machines for the use to the AIFLD program in Latin America. But,.
of a printing co-op run by the former mem- I can say to you quite frankly, when that
bers of the printers unions of Piura. time comes, I am quite hopeful that we will
This gives you an idea of some of the set up an institute for Africa.
. activity that is going on down there. This Question: Do you feel that, perhaps your
has been only an Outline of what we are training program in Latin America is too
doing, but we are trying to help the workers sophisticated for the average Latin American
In these countries and to help the' countries labor movement worker? Is the training pro-
themselves, because Latin America will never gram geared properly to the level of educa-
come into the 20th century unless and until tion you are trying to reach?
the mass purchasing power of the 'people of Meany: We have found out that it Is not
!these countries Is raised. The idea that you too sophisticated. We have found out that
can build a successful society on the basis of the Latin Americans,re wonderful students
wages that are so low that people can't pur- and, as I said before,X could not go into all
chase the things that you can make is, of phases of this work. We make a survey as we
course, of the last century. We hope to change graduate young men. We make a survey to
that, see what ha
ens to th
t
h
pp
em-
o see w
ere they
There are still many problems in Latin go. Frankly, we lose a few. Very few. Very
America
still t
,
oo many military establish- few go back and find employment Outside the
ments in power. The wages are still too low. trade union movement. I would say 9 out of
The gap between the very poor and the very 10 boys that we have graduate since 1962
rich indicate that we have a very long way to from the school have gone to work for their
go. However, we think that we have a pro- trade unions.
gram that will bring progress in the long And I am sure Dick Ishmael can t
ll
e
you
run. We hope we are making a contribution and vouch for this-that in the struggle for
that will hel
th
L
ti
A
p
e
a
n
merican workers free unions In Guyana, the struggle which
over the long haul. We think we are on the was engaged in between Communist dom-
right track. I am rather proud of my part in mated unions and free unions-we had eight
It. graduates from AIFLD who played a very,
We now have 76 acres down on the shores very prominent part in the struggle.
of the Shenandoah River in Front Royal. We I don't think o
i
t
ur program
s
oo sophisti-
have a very lovely old house there. We fixed cated. We find that most of the people that
it up a little bit
We are
i
t
.
go
ng
o enlarge i, they send up to us here have high school
and I am sure this is going to be a permanent educations so there is no problem there. We
institution and that eventually it' will not had no trouble getting 15 trade unionists
just be a seat of learning for our Latin with college educations that we sent to
American friends, It will be a worker uni- Loyola for our special course in labor
versity that will serve all the workers, not, economics.
only of Latin America, but also Our own So th
,,
- t
"w
e answe
o
hat our
is
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Question: Mr. Meany, do you feel that
Question: Is AIFLD supported in whole or further strike turmoil in the United States
In part by the CIA? this year will put Congress in the mood for
Meany: AIFLD is supported in whole or in some general labor law reform? In other
part by AID, which is the Agency for Inter- words, strengthening of the Taft-Hartley Act,
national Development, and not by one cent etc.?
from the CIA. It is supported in whole or in Meany: I think Congress is already in that
part by American business and American mood. And, as far as I am concerned, we are
labor. And, so there will be no misunder- going to fight any labor control legislation
standing, it is supported by quite a large sum that is compulsory. And we are going to look
of money by AID under a contract-and we With a great deal of suspicion on any former
can show you a copy of the contract-signed friends who tell us that It is good for us.
by myself as the, president of the American Question: Hoffa has been convicted. Is
Institute and signed by the Agency for Inter- there a plan afoot to bring the Teamsters
national Development. I think that our share and their 1 ~/s million members back Into the
of AID funds for fiscal 1966 was $4 million.. AFL-CIO? '
So when you get that kind of money, why Meany: No comment. No comment.
do you have to run to the CIA? Question: What Is the AFL-CIO doing to
Question: Do you think it will be possible compel craft unions to accept meaningful
to expand the AIFLD program to Africa and numbers of Negro apprentices and journey-
Asia? men?
Mcany: Well, actually, we have already sot Meany: I would say that from what I know
up an African program-we call that the about the craft unions that they are ready
African-American Labor Center. It's set up to accept meaningful numbers of Negro sp-
in New York. We are financing It with AFL- ? prentices and journeymen, but the problem
CIO money and with some assistance from here is, and I'm sure you can verify this by
AID. going around the country and making a little
However, Africa presents an entirely dlf-
inquiry, that we don't seem to get Ne
ro a
-
,
g
p
ferent problem. There have been unions in prentices. They ,seem to feel that there Is
Latin America for many, many years. Latin some other way to get Into the craft unions.
America has had some trade union -expert- Now when l was a whole lot younger there
Once. In Africa-and we have a staff work was another way to get in the craft unions.
Sanitized -Approved Fir&se CI:
You just decided you wanted to work as a
plumber or do electrical work or something
else, and you went and got yourself a job as
a helper or an apprentice. But that is no
longer possible. You cannot become an ap-
prentice at these trades unless you have a
high school education. You' can't possibly
qualify for the trade unless you have a high
school education.
So what some of our Negro organized
groups fail to understand is that .the only
way you can come into these trades and make
the grade is through apprenticeship train.
ing. You take someone who has been a handy
man and put him in my union, give him
a full-fledged card and at the end of a
couple of years he would be telling you that
he couldn't get any work and of course he
wouldn't get any work unless he was quail.
fled.
We have thousands of men at Cape Ken.
nedy In my union.
The electrical workers have thousands of
men, Iron workers, sheet metal workers, and
the type of work that they do there bears
absolutely no relation to the work that we
used to do in the building line. My union, '
the Plumbers International Union, has 700
full-time instructors in this country-700
full-time instructors for their apprentices.
They use Purdue University every summer
for a two-week course to upgrade their in-
structors and they spend more money for
apprenticeship training than does the United
States government-=this one union. So the
way into apprentice training is with proper
qualified apprentices and the sooner the
Negro organizations and do-gooders under-
stand it, the better for all concerned. That is '
the only way they can come into these trades
and there is no shortcut.
Question: A related question, sir. The U.S.
Negro soldier has been outstanding in Viet-
nam. When these Negro soldiers return to the
States what plans are you making to welcome
them into your craft unions if they do have
equal skills?
Meany: Any of them who have equal skills
will come right in. There will be no problem
there at all.
Question: Sir, would you give us your views '
on Secretary Boyd's proposal to build U.S.
merchant ships in foreign yards?
Meany: Maybe we should get our Secretary
of Transportation from some foreign yard.I
The answer to that Is obvious. U.S. merchant
ships-U.S. means United States merchant
ships. And if they are U.S. merchant ships, we
hare plenty of people in the United States
acr""?v, able and willing to build them. I'm
against building them in foreign yards.
Question: Sir, what do you predict for the
future of the National Farmers Union?
Meany: What do I predict for the future
of the National Farmers Union? I have no
prediction.
Question: The Edward P. Morgan radio
program recently finished after 12 years on
the air at a cost of $1 million to your orga
nization. What are the chances that this
type radio program might be discontinued
as an economy measure?
Meany: This program was not discontinued
as an economy measure. We were very happy
with the program and had no intention of
discontinuing. However, When Ed Morgan de-
cided to take the offer of a new venture in
educational television, financed I believe by
the Ford Foundation or one of the founda-
tions, it gave us an opportunity to study the
whole question of our public relations:
whether using radio or television or what
have you was best and we decided that we
would let this period go. Now what I want
to point "out is that we had this question
under study last February. A committee of
the Council was appointed to study this
question. We had no intimation at the time
that Morgan was considering any other offer,
was thinking of going any other place, so
while we were in the process of studying it,