Evening star., 1941-01-11
MeadeSchedu|e
Not Delayed by
Firing Of $500
Officers Soy Buildings
Will Be Ready for
Induction Feb. ;

Of1lcers at Fort George q. Meade,
Nd, said today recent dismissal Of
nearly $500 men employed In con-
struction work at the post would not
prevent completion Of new quarters
in time for induction of the 18th
Division Of the National Guard,
scheduled for February
Maj. j. A. Noxon, construction
quartermaster, disclosed yesterday
that the diSmissals in the last two
weeks had been "men who were
either too lazy to produce or who
we're physically or mentally incapable
Of producing"
He said about half Of them were
carpenters and the others in
cluded helpers, lumber checkers and
laborers.
The new Fort Meade buildings, he
said, are now about 48 per cent COM
plete. Employment at the fort
reached a peak of $4,000 just before
Christmas. and despite the dismis-
sails, he said, progress has been salts
factory. More skilled men will be
employed, however. he added.
Shortage Of Skilled Workers.
AS outlined by 1t. Col. Brehon B.
Somervell, constructing quartermas-
ter of the Army, the men dismissed
were employed at time when there
was a shortage of skilled workers.
Because of the rapid expansion,
we built up the staff with whatever
came along" Col. Somervell said.
Now that we are over the hump Of
construction, we can afford to dis
miss incompetent men and get good
ones. The contractor still has con-
troll of personnel and the Army had
nothing to do with selecting the in
dividuals who were discharged"
As soon as cantonments in other
sections of the country are well un-
der construction. there will be SINH
lar dismissals, Col. Somervell said
This will be going on all over
the country" he declared. "I wish
to say that In general I am very
happy over the way most of these
jobs are being managed"
oBth Col. Somervell and officers
at Fort Meade were unable to tell
definitely how long the dismissed
men had been on the pay roll Both
Col Somervell and Maj Noxon said
they were certain that manv of the
men dismissed had been employed at
the project for several weeks. Since
the contractor operates under a
CLOSED shop" arraneement with A.
F. of L. building unions. all nom
union workers employed by the Con-
solidated Engineering Co. of Balti-
more. were REQUIRED to pledge initia-
ton fees to the unions which were
to be paid in weekly installment.
The fee for the carpenters union
was S55.
Inspection Was Made.
The dismissals began soon after
Col Somervell was placed in charge
of the Construction Quartermaster
Division last month A few days
after his arrival in Washington from
New York. where he had been In
charge of the w P A.. he made an
inspection of construction at Fort
Meade.
Last November 20. a Star re-
porter obtained a job as carpenter
at Fort Meade merely by applying
and signing card testifying to
experience. as did other applicants.
He was required to pledge pavment
Of s55 for initiation fees into the
carpenter's union.
Carpenter union officials later said
responsibility for proving experience
claims was the contractors and that.
recognizing that many could not
qualify. thev had co-operated in set
ting up "three-day grace" period
during which the workmen could be
supervised and if they were found
incapable. dismissed without being
REQUIRED to pay any part of the union
fee"