short time to retrain a man and make him into a good machine operator of almost any kind, and that they did wonderful repair work. The company hated to move out of the State when the Government closed down the contract at South Charleston, because it had had a very happy experience there with training workers. That is another feature of this bill, the retraining provision. It won't take a long time, but it does take a concerted effort to take a man out of a coal mine, for instance, and retrain him to go into a fabrication plant of some kind. It must be a concerted effort. This bill gets to the core of the problem, because the pattern of industry in the United States of America is constantly changing. It is constantly keeping 2 or 3 jumps ahead of the rest of the world, and to do that, you have to train your people to take up any new phase of work. For instance, I remember when one of the big Swiss companies came to this country and put in a plant here. Why? Because they could train workers to turn out greater quantities in less time here than they could in Switzerland, and they therefore established a plant in this country. Mr. Chairman, the situation in West Virginia is so critical I understand this subcommittee will hold hearings there in the near future, where the picture can be presented in greater detail. I know your hearings in Washington, and in West Virginia and in other hard-hit areas, will prove the inescapable need for immediate passage of Senate bill 2663, followed by prompt implementation of the farsighted provisions contained in it. Mr. Chairman I would like at this time to introduce an editorial from the United Mine Workers Journal of December 1, 1955, on this bill, and have it made a part of my statement. Senator DOUGLAS. That will be done. Senator KILGORE. I also would like to put in the "Area Classification Summary" covering West Virginia taken from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Employment Security, and have it made a part of my statement. Senator DoUGLAS. That will be done. I only want to ask one question, Senator Kilgore. What has been the experience in West Virginia of the work of the Small Business Administration? Has that been of any appreciable help? Senator KILGORE. May I say that they may have done their utmost, but that it has not been very successful. They may have worked hard, but they haven't been able to help the small plants. Senator DOUGLAS. Have many loans been made? Senator KILGORE. Some, yes. They have made some loans, but the question is not just a loan. The question is getting the work. The Government procurement agencies simply wouldn't break down their needs into smaller components so that the smaller plants could bid. I found that constantly. For instance, one plant in West Virginia put in an electric furnace to produce steel. They got a Government loan and put the furnace in. At that time they were having to buy their billet from Belgium. The Government required the company to make available to it all or any part of its production of any specialized steel that the Governement asked for. Immediately military CLASSIFICATION OF LABOR MARKET AREAS IN WEST VIRGINIA DECEMBER 14, 1955 There are 10 smaller labor-market areas in West Virginia currently classified as labor-surplus areas by the Bureau of Employment Security of the United States Department of Labor. There are also two West Virginia counties included in labor-surplus areas of other States. These are Mingo County in the Pikeville, Ky.-Williamson, W. Va. area, and Mineral County in the Cumberland, Md, area. The Charleston metropolitan area, which includes Kanawha and Fayette Counties, is also currently classified as a labor-surplus area. The Huntington-Ashland and the Wheeling-Steubenville metropolitan areas are currently classified as group C (job seekers slightly in exess of job openings; this situation expected to continue over next 4 months). The Clarksburg, Morgantown, and Parkersburg areas will be removed from the labor-surplus area classification this month (December) as unemployment has dropped below 6 percent and is not expected to exceed 6 percent during the coming 4 months. The remaining 7 West Virginia smaller labor-market areas of Beckley, Bluefield, Fairmont, Logan, Point Pleasant-Gallipolis, Ronceverte-White Sulphur Springs, and Welch, and also the Cumberland and Pikeville-Williamson areas are expected to remain laborsurplus areas until there is substantial improvement in the economy of these areas by expansion of present industry and/or entrance of new industry. Amount of unemployment compensation payments, fiscal years (July 1-June 30) 1954 and 1955 in smaller classified labor-market areas of West Virginia LOGAN, W. VA. (LOGAN COUNTY, HARTS CREEK DISTRICT OF LINCOLN COUNTY, AND WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF BOONE COUNTY) PARKERSBURG, W. VA. (WOOD, PLEASANTS, RITCHIE, WIRT, Labor force summaries-Continued RONCEVERTE-WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. VA. (GREENBRIER AND POINT PLEASANT, W. VA., GALLIPOLIS, OHIO (MASON, PUTNAM, AND JACKSON COUNTIES, W. VA., AND GALLIA AND MEIGS COUNTIES, OHIO) 1950 POPULATION 107,994 POINT PLEASANT, W. VA. (MASON, JACKSON, AND PUTNAM COUNTIES) |