c^p^ili-L-lllMl^

Given By

INVESTIGATION OF IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR OR MANAGEMENT FIELD

HEARINGS

BEFORE THE

SELECT COMMITTEE

m IMPEOPER ICTIYITIES IN THE

LABOR OE MANAGEMENT FIELD

EIGHTY-SIXTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION PURSUANT TO SENATE RESOLUTION 44, 86TH CONGRESS

MAY 7 AND 8,

PART 52

Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field

INVESTIGATION OF IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR OR MANAGEMENT FIELD

HEARINGS

BEFORE THE

SELECT COMMITTEE

ON IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE

LIBOR OR MMIGEMENT EIELD

EIGHTY-SIXTH CONGKESS

FIRST SESSION PURSUANT TO SENATE RESOLUTION 44, 86TH CONGRESS

MAY 7 AND 8, 1959

PART 52

Trinled for the use of the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field

UNITED STATES

<;(>VERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1959

.-.o^ton Public Librarfi Superintendent of Documents

AUG 1 9 1959 DEPOSITORY

SELECT COMMITTEE ON IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR OR MANAGEMENT FIELD

JOHN L. McCLELLAN, Arkansas, Chairman KARL E. MUNDT, South Dakota, Vice Chairman JOHN F. KENNEDY, Massachusetts BARRY GOLDWATER, Arizona

SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., North Carolina CARL T. CURTIS, Nebraska

FRANK CHURCH, Idaho HOMER E. CAPEHART, Indiana

Robert F. Kennedy, Chief Counsel Ruth Young Watt, Chief Clerk

CONTENTS

Local 74, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship'Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers, Houston, Tex. '^

Appendix 18415

Statement of

Robinson, Frederick W 18402

Testimony of

Billingslev, Jav Oscar 18376, 18389

Donnelly; James S 18347, 18350

Head, Leland F 18353, 18359, 18361, 18376, 18413

McColIum, J. P 18366, 18392, 18402

Salinger, Pierre E. G 18336, 18349, 18358, 18360, 18391

Wendelken, Alfred Herman. 18332, 18336

EXHIBITS

Introduced Appsars on page on page

1. Letter dated April 25, 1958, addressed to Mr. Leland

Head, business manager, lodge 73, and Mr. J. O. Bill- ingsley, business manager, lodge 132, from William A. Calvin, international president, International Brother- hood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers 18354 18415

2. Letter dated May 15, 1958, addressed to Mr. Leland

Head, business manager, lodge 74; Mr. J. O. Billings- ley, business manager, lodge 142; and Mr. 0. C. Logue, business manager, lodge 577; from Wilham A. Calvin, international president. International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers 18357 (*;

3. Set of proposed by-laws for district lodge No.. 60 never

approved bv the executive council 18358 (*)

4. Check No. 5919, dated May 27, 1958, payable to Jay O.

BiUingsley, in the amount of $151.06, drawn by In- ternational Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132 - 18380 18416

5A. Check ISo. 5927, dated June 4, 1958, payable to Jay O. BiUingsley, in the amount of $151.06, drawn by In- ternational Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132 18381 18417

5B. Check No. 15 dated June 6, 195^, payable to Jay O. BiUingsley, in the amount of $153.36, drawn by con- struction'district lodge No. 60 - 18381 18418

5C. Check No. 20, dated June 12, 19.58, payable to Jay O. Billingslev, in the amount of $153.36, drawn by con- struction'district lodge No. 60 18381 18419

6A. Check No. 5035, dated February 28, 1957, payable to cash in the amount of $85, drawn Vjy International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Bbcksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132, "To reimburse cash loaned to J. P. McCollum" 18384 18420

♦May be found in the files of the select committee.

m

IV CONTENTS

EXHIBITS— Continued

Introduced Appears on page on page 6B. Check No. 5262, dated June 29, 1957, payable to cash in the amount of $75, dra-\\Ti by International Brother- hood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132, "To reimburse cash loaned to J. P. McCollum" 18384 18421

7. Check No. 5993, dated July 16, 1958, payable to Jay O.

Billingsley in the amount of $310, drawn by Inter- national Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Build- ers, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132, "Loan on 2 weeks' salary" 18385 18422

8. Check No. 4915, dated December 29, 1956, payable to

Vic's Jewelry & Loan in the amount of $135.85, drawn by International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132 18387 28423

9. Check No. 4920, dated January 2, 1956, payable to cash

in the amount of $400, drawn by International Brother- hood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local No. 132, "Special prosecu- tion fund" 18390 18424

10. Check No. 5910, dated May 10, 1958, payable to con-

struction district account in the amount of $2,000, drawn by International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local 132, "Loan to district" 18390 18425

11. Letter dated August 4, 1958, to Mr. William A. Calvin,

international president, re case No. 509854, recent in- junction proceedings against the international brother- hood and district lodge^No. 60, from J. P. McCollum. _ 18408 (*) Proceedings of—

May 7, 1959 18331

May 8, 1959 18353

May be found in the files of the select committee.

INVESTIGATION OF IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR OR MANAGEMENT FIELD

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1959

U.S. Senate, Select Committee oisr Improper Activities,

IN the Labor or JVL^nagement Field,

Washington, D.O.

The select committee met at 3 :30 p.m., pursuant to Senate Resolu- tion 44, agreed to February 2, 1959, in the caucus room of the Senate Office Building, Senator John L. McClellan (chairm^an of the select committee) presiding.

Present : Senators John L. McClellan, Democrat, of Arkansas, and Sam J. Ervin, Democrat, of North Carolina.

Also present : Robert F. Kennedy, chief counsel ; Pierre E. G. Salin- ger, investigator ; and Ruth Y. Watt, chief clerk.

The Chairman. The committee will be in order.

(Members of the select committee present at the convening of the session were Senators McClellan and Ervin.)

The Chairman. The committee moves this afternoon to a brief hearing regarding the activities of local 74 of the International Broth- erhood of Boilermakers, Ironworkers, Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers. This hearing will deal with the basic demo- cratic rights of union mem,bers to govern themselves. ^

In many areas of the country members of local unions, through fear or apathy, or both, have abdicated their basic democratic rights with the resultant encroachment of racketeering and malfeasance. Such is not the case, however, in local 74. Virtually the entire membership is active and has participated in charting the course of the local. Over a period of many years, the concentrated membership activity in local 74 has cast it in the role of a maverick a local which refuses to knuckle under to what it considers unfair actions by the international union.

In the last 12 years, the local has been under international super- vision three times, and in 1958 it was placed in supervision by a method through which to an outsider it might appear the local is in control of its own affairs.

This hearing will inquire as to how this once-removed trusteeship was achieved and the affects it has had on the membership of local 74, as well as certain other facets relating to the activities of local 74 and local 132 of the same union in Galveston, Tex.

All right, Mr. Kennedy, call the first witness.

Mr. Kj:nnedy. Mr. Alfred Wendelken is the first witness, Mr. Chairman.

18331

18332 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

The Chairman. You do solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give before this Senate select committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God ?

Mr. Wendelken. I do.

TESTIMONY OF ALFRED HERMAN WENDELKEN

The Chairman. State your name, your place of residence, and your business or occupation.

Mr. Wendelken. My name is Alfred Herman Wendelken; resi- dence, 401 Bickers Street, South Houston, Tex.; occupation, boiler- maker ; member of Hamilton Lodge, Local 74.

The Chairman. Thank you very much.

Do you waive counsel ?

Mr. Wendelken. I beg your pardon ?

The Chairman. Do you waive counsel? You don't have an at- torney present, and you waive comisel, do you ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Wendelken, liow long have you been a member of local 74 ?

Mr. Wendelken. Since 1943.

Mr. Kennedy. That is the Boilennakers Union in Houston, Tex. ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Mr. Kennedy. And are you a member now of tliat local's execu- tive board ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

Mr. Kennedy. How long have you been a member of the executive board ?

Mr. Wendelken. Approximately 2 years.

Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Wendelken, how many members does local No. 74 have?

Mr. Wendelken. About 750 members.

Mr. Kennedy. And are all of them active in the boilermaker trade?

Mr. Wendelken. No. I would say about 450 are active members out of the 750 membership.

Mr. KJENNEDY. What are the other 300 ?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, some are retired and others are just not working.

Mr. Kennedy. What does a boilermaker do? What kind of work does he do ?

Mr. Wendelken. It is work, building boilers, refineries. We have some boilermaking in the shipbuilding industries also, and it includes welding and burning and layout, fabrication, all-steel fabrication.

Mr. Kennedy. Is this a relatively large construction local in the United States?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes ; local 74 is the second largest, I believe.

Mr. Kennedy. Of the construction locals ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

Mr. Kennedy. What do you mean by construction local of the Boilermakers ? There are two types of Boilermaker locals, or more than two types?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, you have the shop locals.

Mr. Kennedy. What is a shop local?

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD 18333

Mr. Wendelken. The shop locals, that is where the men who work on maintenance are regularly employed, in the shop locals.

Mr. Kennedy. Then you have a railroad local ; is that right ?

Mr. Wendelken. In the international brotherhood; yes.

Mr. Kennedy. And then you have this construction group ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is the field construction work.

Mr. Kennedy. "^Vliat does that consist of?

Mr. Wendelken. That consists of all of the erection of our boilers in the field of construction, and the refineries that we work in.

Mr. Kennedy. Noav, tell me, is local 74 an independent and does that have control over its own affairs at the present time?

Mr. Wendelken. No, we do not.

Mr. Kennedy. Wlio has control over the local ?

Mr. Wendelken. We are under supervision of the international at present; district 60 has direct supervision of our local now.

The ChxUrman. Supervision ; is that somewhat similar to a trustee- ship?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes; district 60 was forced on us, where they took over all of our dispatching of our men, and are collecting our field dues, whereas we used to do that.

The Chairman. They have taken over the administration of the local?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, they have.

The Chairman. In other words, instead of your having it under control of the men and your own local officers operating so as to be responsible to the members, whoever is in charge of it now has to operate so as to be responsible to the supervising authorities?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

Mr. Kennedy. Now, Mr. Chairman, as you know, what we are going into here is the efforts by the membership to get out from mider this supervisorship, what amomits to a supei"visorship, and the facts which led up to the imposition of this supervisorship on the local membership in the first place.

Mr. Wendelken, who has been in the local for a long period of time, has been brought here to testify as to what brought it about and whether this situation is supported by the membership.

The Chairman. You have been in supervisorship how many times ?

Mr. Wendelken. "Wliat do you mean ? Under international super- vision, you mean ?

The Chairman. Yes, or any kind of supervision.

Mr. Wendelken. Well, we have been two times since I returned from the service that I know of, aiid I got out of the sei-vice in 1946.

The Chairman. You have been under supervisorship twice since then?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

The Chairman. Now, are you under the third time, or is this the second time since then ?

Mr. Wendelken. I believe this is the third time now, this district formation.

Mr. Kennnedy. Would you relate the circumstance that led to you being placed under this condition, tliis last time, the one we are pri- marilv concerned with?

18334 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

Mr. Wendelken. Well, the members of local 74 didn't know that we were to be placed mider supervision until it actually happened. We had a letter sent to our hall saying that local 132 in Galveston had petitioned for some of our territory.

So Mr. Leland Head, business manager of local 74, and Mr. John T. Kirtley, went to the executive council in Kansas City to protest 132 taking over any of our territory.

We then returned from Kansas City, we were not informed of what happened for about 2 months afterward. We did hear it rumored that we had been placed in a district, but we were not told of this until at least 2 months later. We were then in a district already.

Mr. IvENNEDY. You wcre placed under supervision without even knowing about it, is that right, without even being consulted ?

Mr. Wendelken. The membership knew nothing of this.

Mr. Kennedy. Isn't it correct that the local loaned $2,000 to this district and the memberehip was unaware of that also ?

Mr. WENDELE^iN. $2,000 was taken from us, but we didn't know about it at the time.

Mr. Kennedy. And when there was a complaint or objection made on this subsequently by the membership, the district had to return the $2,000; is that correct?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

Mr. Kj:nnedy. Did they take over the operation of your affairs when they stepped in here with the district ? For instance, the super- visor, did they take over the dispatching of the employees and the dispatching of the workers ? Did they take that over ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, shortly after the district was set up, the dis- patching was taken away from our business manager and placed in the hands of district 60.

Mr. IvENNEDY. Wlio ruDS district 60 ?

Mr. Wendelken. Mr. Orville Logue.

Mr, Kennedy. How do you spell his name ?

Mr. Wendelken. L-o-g-u-e.

Mr. Kennedy. He is the head of it ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

Mr. Kennedy. And they took away then the dispatching and he took control of that?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

Mr. Kennedy. You lost the dispatching yourself; what does that involve ?

Mr. Wendelken. Dispatching is where our business manager, when a company or a foreman or a job steward calls for men, he calls for the number of men he needs on a job, and he states what qualifications the man should have, whether he be a welder that he needs or a burner or a layout man, or a riveter or whatever type of man he needs then in turn the business manager sends out that type of man requested. ^

Mr. IvENNEDY. So this IS a very important job in your local, is it not, very important to you ?

Mr. Wendelken. Very important.

Mr. IvENNEDY. And you like to keep it at the local level, because the individual who has those responsibilities is subject directly to the local membership ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES EST THE LABOR FIELD 18335

Mr. Ejgnnedy. And he knows the local membership; is that right?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Mr. Kennedy. And in this way, if it is to a higher official, he might not know anything about the wishes or the skills or abilities of the local membership ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is what exists now, and Mr. Logue doesn't know the men in our local and he doesn't know the qualifications.

Mr. I^NNEDY. Have you found that since you have been objecting to this supervisor, that the people that have been most vociferous in their objections have been discriminated against?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes. You mean the members who don't like this ; is that your question ?

Mr. I^nnedy. Yes.

Mr. Wendelken. Very much so.

Mr. I^nnedy. They have been discriminated against?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

Mr. Ivennedy. And deprived of their jobs?

Mr. Wendelken. They aren't sent out on any jobs.

Mr. Kennedy. They aren't sent out on any new jobs ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, sir.

Mr. Ivennedy. This is a sort of hiring hall arrangement?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

Mr. I^nnedy. Now, your group in local 74 is under this supervisor, but there are two other locals that have been taken and placed under this supervisor also, under this district, and that is local 132 and local 577; isn't that right?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Mr. Kennedy. And where is local 132 ?

Mr. Wendelken. Galveston, Tex.

Mr. Ivennedy. And where is 577 ?

Mr. Wendelken. In Corpus Christi.

Mr. Kennedy. Isn't it correct that they still do their own dispatch- ing?

Mr. Wendelken. They always have. Since the district has been set up, Corpus Christi dispatches their own men, and J. O. Billingsley did that while he was there, and now I think Mr. Borel does it, and in Corpus Christi Mr. Jerry Adelway is the man who does the dispatching there, Orville C. Logue dispatches only the men from our local 74.

Mr. Kennedy. So this is a very important discrimination against your people, is it not ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

Mr. Kennedy. Isn't it correct that your local is the largest local of these three ?

Mr. Wendelken. By far ; yes.

Mr. Kennedy. How big is local 132, for instance ?

Mr. Wendelken. I don't know the membership because those men there formerly were mostly a shop local, working in the shipyard.

Mr. Kennedy. We can place those figures in the record.

Do you have those figures, Mr. Salinger ?

The Chairman. Mr. Salinger, do you solemnly swear that the evi- dence you shall give before this Senate select committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God ?

Mr. Salinger. I do.

18336 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

TESTIMONY OF PIEEKE E. G. SALINGER

The Chairman. You are a member of the staff of this committee ?

Mr. Salinger. I am.

The Chairman. Have you checked to ascertain the number of men in local 132, the number of members ?

Mr. Salinger. I have, sir.

The Chairman. Do you have other information pertinent to this particular inquiiy ?

Mr. Salinger. That is right, sir.

The Chairman. Have you been working on this ?

Mr. Salinger. I have, sir.

The Chairman. All right.

Mr. Salinger. These figures were provided to me by the officers of these vai-ious locals, and local 132 has approximately 145 members in Galveston, Tex., and local 577 has approximately 260 members in Corpus Christi, Tex.; and, as Mr. Wendelken has testified, local 74 has some 750 members of which, however, only 450 or 500 are active members and the rest being retired or working at other trades.

Mr. Kennedy. And yours is the only local then under this district arrangement, the only local where the dispatching is taken over by the supervisor ?

TESTIMONY OF ALFRED HERMAN WENDELKEN— Resumed

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Mr. Kennedy. That is one very important complaint to this oper- ation ; but also don't you have some serious complaints regarding the financing, and what has happened to your union's finances, since this local has been taken over by the district ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes. At the time that the district took our local over, our bank account was increasing after Mr. Head took office, sub- stantially each month. But now that we are under supervision, the district lodge has nearly bankrupted us. We will soon be bankrupt.

Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Chairman, could we ask Mr. Salinger to put in the actual figures as to what has happened to this local since it has been placed under this arrangement ?

The Chairman. When was it placed under this arrangement the last time?

Mr. Wendelken. That is about a year ago now.

The Chairman. About 1 year ago when the district supervisorship went into effect?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

The Chairman. Mr. Salinger, have you made a check of the finan- cial situation of the local at the time it was taken over and compared to it the situation as of now ?

Mr. Salinger. I have, sir.

The Chairman, ^^liat are the present balances in its treasury? _

Mr. Salinger. The present balance of the local as of yesterday is $3,606.47. Just prior to the imposition of the district, the bank bal- ance was slightly in excess of $18,075.

The Chairman. So in a year you have gone down about $15,000.

Mr. Salinger. That only tells part of the story. Senator.

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD 18337

During- this period, the local has had to sell both of its automobiles. It has cut the salary of its business manager in half, from $200 a week to $100 a week. The total revenue of the local I will give you comparative figures on that. In the quarter ending March 31, 1958, which was the last quarter before the district went into effect, the total receipts of the local was $23,481.35.

The Chairman. That is for the quarter ?

Mr. Salinger. For the quarter. In the succeeding quarter, which was the first quarter during which the district was in existence, the receipts of the local dropped from that $23,000 figure to $12,920.23.

The Chairman. Is there anything to indicate if the dues were re- duced, the membership dues being reduced in that period?

Mr. Wendelken. No, the dues have not been reduced.

The Chairman. What is happening? Is the membership not pay- ing their dues ?

Mr. Wendelken. What happens what has happened, rather, is that we pay $4 a month regular monthly dues, as we have in the past. We only get $1 out of the $4.

The Chairman. For your local ?

Mr. Wendelken. For tlie local. About $3 of the $4 goes to the international.

The Chairman. That is an unusual division, is it not?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, it has been that way ever since I belonged. Then we get^ we have about 45 cents out of that $1 left after other State per capita taxes and so forth are taken.

Before district 60 was forced upon us we kept our own field dues. These field dues amomit to 50 cents per day each day worked 8 hours.

Mr. Kennedy. This is in addition to your dues ?

Mr. Wendelken. In addition to the regular monthly dues. They are field dues.

Mr. KJENNEDY. Everybody pays 50 cents ?

Mr. Wendelken. Everybody who works 8 hours a day pays field dues.

Mr. Kennedy. You couldn't finance the local by the regular monthly dues, because most of those go to the international. What actually happens is that you finance the operation of the local by these field dues ; is that correct ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

Mr, Kennedy. That is where the problem has been ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right. District 60 now collects, and has been collecting since shortly after it was set up, all of our field dues.

Mr. Kennedy. So they take that money, as well ; is that right ?

Mr. Wendelken. All of it ; that is correct.

Mr. Kennedy. You have never been able to get that money?

Mr. Wendelken. None of it.

The Chairman. That accounts, then, for your revenues falling off in that quarter, because instead of getting the field dues for your local, the district takes those and that causes the income for that quarter, the first quarter after they took over, to depreciate or fall off from about $23,000, what it had been the previous quarter, down to about $12,000 ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

18338 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

The Chairman. Is that what accounts for that tremendous drop?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, of course, you are talking about the first quarter when they took over ?

The Chairman. According to this record, the last quarter that you folks operated before the district took over, your total revenues for the quarter were about $23,000, in round numbers.

Mr. Wendelken. Yes ; that is right.

The Chairman. And the first quarter that the district operated, your local revenues fell off to about $12,000, according to these figures.

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

The Chairman. That is a difference of $11,000 or $12,000 there in round numbers in the first quarter that you lost.

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

The Chairman. Is that due to them taking all of the field dues and not leaving any of it for your local ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct. Had they not taken over our field dues, we could still be

The Chairman. In other words, your revenues might continue about the same ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

The Chairman. But if they take over your field dues, as a result, you have had to reduce the expenses or salaries of your business manager ; is that correct ?

Mr. Wendelken. We had to reduce them $100 a week ; yes.

The Chairman. You had to reduce his salary ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

The Chairman. I believe also his authority has been reduced by the district. In other words, he can't assign folks out to work any more?

Mr. Wendelken. He cannot send anyone on the job.

The Chairman. Wliat can he do now, since they have taken over ? Can he do anything that they won't let him do ?

Mr. Wendelken, He has very little that the district business man- ager, Mr. Logue, permits him to do now. He is business manager, but he doesn't have any authority whatever.

The Chairman. Business manager without authority to manage?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right, no authority whatsoever.

Mr. Kennedy. Even that is not the complete situation financially.

The Chairman. Let's go further.

Mr. Salinger. Taking the first quarter as you suggested, Senator, before the district took over the revenue was about $23,000, and for the first quarter after it dropped to $12,000, wliich represented 1 month of the district operation.

The Chairman. That represented 1 month of the district operation?

Mr. Salinger. That is correct. A total comparison can be shown by the fact that in the first quarter of 1959, wliich is a total district operation, the total revenue of local 74 in that quarter was $1,992.66. In other words, it dropped from $23,000 to $1,992.66.

The Chairman. It dropped from $23,000 to around $2,000?

Mr. Salinger, That is right.

The Chairman. In other words, where you used to get $23,000 a quarter for each 3 montlis, you are getting down to around $2,000, a total of around $8,000 a year whereas you were getting, in round numbers, $100,000 a year.

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD 18339

Mr. Wendelken, That is right.

The Chairman. Is that how you have suffered financially?

Mr. Wendelken. That is about right.

The Chairman. What was the reason for them taking you over? You were not insolvent, were you ?

Mr. Wendelken. I don't know any reason they should take us over. There is no reason that we should have been placed under supervision. We didn't have any trouble in our local. We got along good.

The Chairman. In other words, there was nothing in the local that was in the way of being insolvent, not being able to manage its affairs, not being able to assign its men to work, not being able to run an efficient local union. There was nothing on that order that justified them taking over?

Mr. Wendelken. Nothing whatsoever.

The Chairman. It looks like they needed some money from some- place, as well as authority.

Senator Ervtn. This district body is between your local and the International ; is that the setup ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes ; it is in between the local and the Interna- tional.

Senator Ervin. Local 74 had been operated in the past without any intermediate body like the district?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Senator Ervin. And you were running in a very satisfactory man- ner. You were having men assigned to work by a business manager who knew them personally, and who knew how to take the skills that each one possessed ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is true.

Senator Ervin. Instead of having that kind of an efficient method of assignment, you now have them assigned by a man who does not know most of them and does not know the various skills of the various ones ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

Senator Ervin. When local 74 was placed under supervision on previous occasions, was it placed under supervision by the Inter- national ? Is this the first time the district has stepped in ?

Mr. Wendelken. There was a district once before, years ago, but it did not operate like this. I don't know the true history of that district. But since I have been a member, I don't remember ever having been placed under a district lodge.

Senator Ervin. Where does Mr. Logue make his headquarters?

Mr. Wendelken. His headquarters are in Houston, on Westlow Street.

Senator Ervin. How long has he lived in Houston?

Mr. Wendelken. He moved into Houston about the same time he moved into district formation.

Senator Ervin. Where had he been before that time?

Mr. Wendelken. Corpus Christi, Tex. When he moved in, I should add here, if it is permissible, I never did know his niece, Miss Muriel Logue. He moved her in and made her his secretary and Mr. Joseph P McCollum, his son, was moved into the office as some sort of representative there, and Mr. Jerry Attaway was there for a

18340 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

while They had four people in the district 60 office. That is at the time it was first formed.

Senator Ervin. As far as you could tell, there was no necessity for even establishing the district ?

Mr. Wendelken. The only thing it has done has been to create dis- sension between the members of local 74. We had good relations with Corpus Christi and with Galveston before the formation of district lodge 60. Never did we have any trouble with them before that that I know of.

Senator Ervin. "When placed under supervision in the Boilermak- ers, the local really loses the right or the power to manage its own affairs ; isn't that true ?

Mr. Wendelken- Yes.

Senator Ervin. There was no occasion whatever to place you under supervision this time?

Mr. Wendelken. No. We got along very well before this super- vision was imposed on us.

The Chairman. This matter of assigning a fellow out to a job, that authority can and frequently is very much abused, is it not? I mean, if you have a business agent, or in this instance you do have somebody in the district who can assign folks out to the jobs

Mr. Wendelken. Mr. Logue assigns the men now to the jobs.

The Chairman. What is his position ?

Mr. Wendelken. He is business manager of district 60, I believe.

The Chairman. In other words, you don't go out and get a job, get on a job, unless he assigns you out there?

Mr. Wendelken. No, we don't, not unless we the only way we could do that would be to hire at the gate. Otherwise we don't get a job unless he sends us out.

The Chairman. But what I mean is if they call on your local or call on him now, since the district supervises it, if they call on your local when your local business manager had authority, he is the one who would assign you ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

The Chairman. Now, it is the district supervisor or someone act- ing for him who assigns the men out to work when jobs are opened up?

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

The Chairman. If you get along with the business agent pretty well, you may get assigned out to a job ; is that true ?

Mr. Wendelken. That is the way it is working in district 60 ; yes.

The Chairman. That is the way it is working in district 60? That is the way it is working in some other places besides that, too. There is no question about that- The trouble about this arrangement is that you put the power of a man getting a job, though he pays his union dues, you put the power in one man who can and frequently does discriminate against him. He can put his own cronies or those who cater to him or those who show him great favors, put them on the job while others who don't do some of those things go without employment.

Mr. Wendelken. That exists at the time in our local in Houston.

The Chairman. That exists right now under your district super- visors ?

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD 18341

Mr. Wendelken. That is correct.

The Chairman. As chairman of this committee, I have had com- plaints about it from all over the country. That is one of the prob- lems about this union hiring hall, and about the authority of these business agents or business managers, as the case may be, who have the authority to place these folks on jobs.

Unless you get along with him, unless you are in his favor this does not hold true, I am sure, in many instances, but in many instances it does unless you stay in his favor, you don't work, and the other fellow gets to do the work.

I will tell you something else that happens, too. A job in the very same union you are talking about can open up, let us say, in Pine Bluff, Ark., in the construction of some plant there. Instead of the men who live in that vicinity being assigned there to work, union members, they are often sent there from out of the State to work at that job while the men who live there, who pay their dues all the years, are idle, because the assignment is from some outside source.

They have no local there. The local headquarters is somewhere else.

I know that has happened in my State and I am sure it has hap- pened in other places.

Mr. Wexdelkex. We didn't have much trouble in 74 before district 60.

The Chairman. One of the reasons for putting you under district supervisorship is so that they can have this authority.

Mi: Wendelken. I wouldn't doubt that.

The Chairman. I do not, either.

Senator ER\^N. In other words, as long as the atfairs of your local are run by the officers elected by the members of the local, they are likely to be run in a fair way. Is that not true ? Your trouble comes when this power is taken away from those who are selected by the members of the local and put it in a district office, which does not get any of its authority at all from the local. Then you have more serious abuses along this line.

Mr. Wendelken. We have had trouble since district 60 came in in that respect.

The Chairman. Is there anything further ?

Mr. Kennedy. You were a member of the executive board. Were you locked out of your office for a period of time ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes. Out of the executive board meeting after district formation. We were locked out when we went to have a regular meeting one night.

Mr. Kennedy. What happened?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, a number of the executive board members appeared for the meeting, which is on the first Friday of each month, and the hall was locked. Neither Mr. Head nor Mr. Kirtley showed up at the meeting to open the lodge.

Mr. Kennedy. Did you get any explanation as to why it was locked?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, we were told ]\Ir. Kirtley said there wouldn't be any more meetings.

Mr. Kennedy. You Avouldn't have any more meetings of tlie execu- tive board?

18342 IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD

Mr. Wendelken. That is right.

Mr. Ejennedy. Was that the only time you were locked out ? Did you have a meeting the next time ?

Mr. Wendelken. No, that is the only time I recall we were locked out.

Mr. Kennedy. Did you ever have a vote amongst the members as to whether the^/ wanted this? Wliat I am trying to get at is this: Is this just a dissident group of a small proportion of the member- ship which objects to the lodge, or are you supported by most of the membership ?

Mr. Wendelken. It is supported by a vast majority of the mem- bership. This is a class action. For example, we had a meeting, a special meeting, on a Saturday morning last summer, in August, concerning the dissolution of district 60, whether we were in favor of district 60 or whether we were against district 60.

We had a standing vote. I believe the records will bear out the minutes. The vote was 375 against district lodge and 4 for district lodge.

Mr. Kennedy. So the 1 vote that has been put to the member- ship as to whether they wanted this supervisor, in that you had a vote of 375 to 4 against it ; is that right ?

Mr. Wendelken. I believe that is correct.

The Chairman. Is there any prospect of you getting out from under it any way at all ?

Mr. Wendelken. I don't know for certain. I don't know how ta answer that. Eight now we are still very much under district super- vision.

The Chairman. Are you very optimistic about getting out from under it soon ?

Mr. Wendelken. We all have high hopes of doing so.

The Chairman. Eventually or quickly ?

Mr. Wendelken. We hope we will do it soon. If we don't the way we are going, with what little money we have, we will soon be bank- rupt. We won't exist as local 74 any more.

The Chairman. If you get bankrupt, then what do you do ? They will probably be through with you, then. They won't need you.

Mr. Wendelken. I expect it is a way of dissolving local 74. I don't know what the idea is to bankrupt us, when we explained at a meeting in Kansas City, a group of delegates went there to explain our situation and the resentment of district 60, seeking relief so that we would not go bankrupt. But nothing so far has been done. W& haven't had an answer from the executive council.

The Chairman. How long ago was that ?

Mr. Wendelken. I believe that was September 18 of last year,, when we appeared before the committee.

The Chairman. Was that a committee of the international union?

Mr. Wendelken. This was an appearance before the executive coun- cil of the international brotherhood in Kansas City, Kans.

The Chairman. Is that the council or the governing body that would have the authority make a decision in this matter?

Mr, Wendelken. Yes.

The Chairman. You appeared there last September, did you say ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN THE LABOR FIELD 18343

The Chairman. And you have had no answer yet ?

Mr. Wendelken. We have not received an answer as yet.

The Chairman. It takes quite a long time for deliberation, doesn't it?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, it seems so.

Mr. Ej:nnedy. Isn't it correct that after you were locked out, you started having meetings of your own, and then ultimately after you started having some of the meetings, then they opened the office back up to you ? Is that correct ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes ; that is correct. There was much opposition, to this district formation. Any place you would see another boiler- maker, the talk was district 60 formation.

Mr. Kennedy. Didn't you have some formal meetings or semi- formal meetings?

Mr. Wendelken. Well, we had some meetings in homes. The members would get together on street corners. Then we did meet out at the Milby Park because we couldn't get the hall to meet in the halL That was the only thing we could do.

Mr. Kennedy. So you had the meeting out in the park ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes.

Mr. Kennedy. How many members did you have come to the meetings in the park?

Mr. Wendelken. There was no certain amount there were differ- ent numbers of people there at each meeting, you might say, because some of these meetings on Wednesday nights the men are working a long distance from the park and couldn't make it to the meetings, or bad weather; whereas, on Saturdays, sometimes, we would have around 300 members there in the park.

Mr. Kennedy. Have charges Ibeen filed against you, you and your other fellow workers? Have charges been filed by the district, by the international, against you ?

Mr. Wendelken. Charges were filed against nine named plaintiffs, and business manager, Leland F. Head.

Mr. Kennedy. Have charges been filed against your group by the union, against you people ?

Mr. Wendelken. Our local, do you mean ?

Mr. Kennedy. Yes.

Mr. Wendelken. No.

Mr. Kennedy. Have charges been filed by the district against you? The international? Have charges been filed by the international against you ?

Mr. Wendelken. Yes, charges have been filed by the international,,