Evening star., 1952-04-27

q ! . " IL d u
lengthy conferences with the gen.
erals and admirals commanding
the installations. as we'll as the
Icivilian personnel officials in the
plants. Leaders in private indus
trial plants were also consulted
as to their reaction to the Govern
Iment's defense setup and the part
played by civilian employees.
The conclusion. of our visit is
that Federal workers in genera
are doing fine job. There are
100000 Federal employees in Cali
fornia, which is more than the
number in the District of Colum-
|bia. About 10000 of them are in
the San FranciSco-O Oakland Bay
area. OF the los 5000, about 75,O0C
are in the military agencies.
Military Praise Civilians.
The military is enthusiastic
about the performance of civilian
workers. An admiral commanding
one of the largest installations had
this to say:
Il wish members of Congress,
particularly those on the appro-
priations committees, could make
the same kind of a tour that you
did. If they did, they would find
that our civilian employees are do
ing an excellent and loyal job on
behalf of their country"
The admiral added that if Con-
gress knew the real story, there
would be less Legislation by rid
ers." such as leave cuts and leave
accumulation bans and reStric-
tions on promotions.
The admirals sentiments were
shared by other admirals and
generals in the various other in
stallations we visited.
One general declared that the
leave and promotion riders were
playing havoc in his establish
ment. He pointed out that the
West Coast is a high salary area,
with many private industries
there. Consequently, the compe-
tition between industry and Gov
for employees - particu-
larly for skilled and semiskilled
Workers-is terrific.
... Some Personnel T,oSf
Al number of key personnel al
ready have been lost because of
leave cuts and promotion restric-
tlons. the general said. The
Houses action this year in re-
further leave accumula-
ton has caused employees to
threaten to quit If it becomes law.
Fortunately. however, the ma
jority of workers have remained
on the job, the general said. But
he pointed out that they can be
pushed too far and that Con-
gresS should realize that fact.
When industry keeps offering
them added advantages and the
Government at the same time
takes things away. it hurts morale
and causes essential employees to
quit. he pointed out.
Military officers do not dis
parage the necessary administra-
tive job done by employees in
Washington. but they point out
that Federal, workers outside of
Washington have different prob
lens and responsibilities.
The main difference is that the
majority of them are "blue collar"
workers. They work with their
hands at a variety of skills. Every
skilled and semi-skilled trade in
industry is represented in Govern
ment. And about Is per cent of
them are women. ..-.
Are Highly Organized.
AS industrial employees, they are
highly organized. Most of them
belong to Federal worker unions
or to international trade unions.
Therefore, they are more militant
than the. average employe in
Washington and are quicker to
show resentment when working
benefits are curtailed.
Despite the hacking away of
benefits, most employees have re-
mained on the job and probably
will. There are many second and
third generation employees work.
ing in the shipyards and arsenals.
Their grandfathers and fathers
worked there and now they's also
working in the same plant. There
are many 80 and 40 year employees.
The workers appear to take a
strong pride in their work and
officials contend their
production output is high and
compares favorably with private
industrial plants.