Evening star., 1943-10-13
ForrestaI BIames
Brewster Delays on
Labor and Company
Ey the Associated Press.

OSshI
Ey The Associated Press.
Both labor and management diff
culties contributed to delays in de-
livery of Navy planes by the Brew
ster Aeronautical Corp, Undersecre-
tary Of the Navy Forrestal said to-
day.
Testifying as the first witness be-
fore House Naval Affairs Subcom-
mittee inquiring into Brewster out
put. Mr.. Forrestal declared:
The companys management was
weak. The company's labor troubles
have been chronic for a long time"
His testimony, in the form of
prepared statement. disclosed that
the Brewster firm was to have COM
pleted It's Navy bomber production
by June, 1912, but it was not until
October. 1912. that the first ac-
ceptable bomber rolled off the as
sembly line. Mr. Forrestal added,
"and the work will not be finished
until next December-18 months be-
hind schedule"
Contract Called Headache"
Brewster delivered it's first Navy
fighter in June, 1943," he continued
1T had been scheduled almost 10
months earlier
He described the Brewster con-
tract as continuing headache" in
saying that many difficulties have
contributed to Brewster's poor rec
ord"
Discussing management, he said
its engineering department never
solved the dive bomber's problems,
and its production was impeded by
the model variations. Moreover.
the company paid large fees and
declared dividends when it needed
funds to finance its expanding pro-
duction.'
Arrangement of production lines
at the Long Island and the Johns
Vile (PaD plants, he said, were not
efficient and accounting and ma
terlal control systems have been
and still are inadequate"
Turning to labor troubles, he said
that the union fixes the company's
draft oeferment schedules. No en-
ploye can be transferred from one
kind of work to another without his
personal approval. Overtime sched-
ules cannot be changed without ad- |
vance notice to the union. Layoffs. /
rehlrlng, transfers and promotions
must be made in accordance with
strict plantWlde seniority and no
employe can be promoted or dis
charged without approval of the
union"
Remaining Bombers Needed.
But, Mr.. Forrestal told the COM
mlttee, We need the remaining
Brewster bombers. Engineering ,
shortcomings have prevented them
from being good combat dive bomb /
ers, but every Brewster bomber
which We can send to our air train
ing station releases another Douglas
or Curtiss bomber for actual COM
bat"
Referring to the recent election
OF Henry J. Kaiser as president of
Brewster, the UnderSecretary said:
I'VE believe the great talents
Henry Kaiser has already displayed ,
in other production fields can be of
service to the Navy and the country
in this situation"
The committee proposes a sweep
ing inquiry into the operations of .
the company's three plants
Kaiser Will Testify.
Subcommittee Chairman Drewry
declared that we intend to find out
just what is wrong there. who is re-
sponsible for it and what can be
done to correct the situation j
High-ranking Navy officials will
be called after Mr. Forrestal. MI. .
Kaiser is expected to appear later.
Representatives Of labor organiza-
tions at the plants. along with Off
cials of both the past and present
arrangements, also will be ques-
toned.
In New York yesterday, Mr.. Kai-
ser said at press conference that .
most of the firms labor problems
already had been ironed out. /
Tom de Lorenzo, president of
Local 365, CIO United Automobile
Workers, said he agreed with Mr.. /
Kaiser's statement and added that /.
his union was approaching the pol
icy of unqualified support of Mr..
Kaiser without any of the reserva-
tions we had with the previous man.
sgement."
The union leader said he did not
believe previous proposals of Brew
ster workers to strike, tabled three
times by the locals executive board,
would be raised again.
Mr. Kaiser said the company