MANDATORY ITEMS Increases: Net additional cost of within-grade promotions effective for part Net cost of within-grade promotions becoming effective in 1967-- Subtotal, mandatory items____ +11, 000 +2,000 +7, 300 +1,300 +400 +22,000 Increases: PROGRAM ITEMS To provide information on international trade unions to assist U.S. domestic and foreign labor policy objectives (2 positions and $23,000)‒‒. Subtotal, increases_ Decreases: Management improvement reductions (2 positions and $25,100) __ Subtotal, decreases Subtotal, program items___ +23,000 +23, 000 -25, 100 -8,900 -34, 000 -11,000 +11, 000 Total change_ NARRATIVE EXPLANATION OF MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT REDUCTIONS A reduction of two positions and $25,100 is to be effected in personnel compensation and benefits through increased staff productivity and improved work distribution in activities related to program coordination and foreign labor policy development. ACTIVITY 1. ITERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFAIRS 1966 1967 $220, 700 246, 900 NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM This activity supplements U.S. participation in the International Labor Organization; the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other international organizations and regional economic organizations of which the United States is a member. International Labor Organization The International Labor Organization activities in standard setting, research, and technical assistance to promote economic and social development is expanding and increasing with a corresponding need to intensify the preparatory work essential to effective U.S. participation in the work of the organization. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs is the U.S. representative on the governing body of the International Labor Organization, which meets three times a year, and heads the U.S. delegation to the annual Conference. The substantive responsibility for U.S. participation is in the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. This requires a highly trained staff to carry out the preparation of position and technical papers, effectively review budgetary proposals, and effect coordination within the Department, other agencies, and with employers and workers organizations. There were 14 meetings under the auspices of the International Labor Organization during the past calendar year of importance to the United States. The Department of Labor technicians prepared for and represented U.S. interests in most of these meetings. 59-316-66-pt. 1 -48 Close liaison continues with Members of Congress who are actively interested in the International Labor Organization. Members of Congress serve on the delegation to the annual Conference, and the Assistant Secretary keeps appropriate subcommittees of the House informed on current developments. In addition, international standards adopted by the ILO are brought to the attention of the Congress. United Nations affairs The Department contributes significantly to U.S. participation in United Nations agencies dealing with social matters by assisting in the development of U.S. policy and by representation on U.S. delegations to various meetings. The Department of Labor plays a particularly active role in work of the Human Rights Commission in considering draft conventions on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and all forms of religious intolerances and the work of the Third Committee of the General Assembly in its consideration of resolutions concerning the elimination of discrimination. Another major area of interest centers in the work of the United Nations Economic and Social Council in relation to refugees, human rights, the status of women, and the slavery questions; youth programs of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the work of the United Nations Children's Fund; the work of the International Maritime Consultative Organization; and other specialized agencies of the United Nations. Regional economic organizations The Department has the responsibility for representing the United States in the Manpower and Social Affairs Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This Committee considers manpower policies and programs to stimulate economic growth in its 21 developed Western member countries. The Department also participates to some extent in the activities of the Organization's Economic Policy Committee and Committee on Scientific and Technical Personnel. In addition to providing the U.S. delegate to the Manpower and Social Affairs Committee meetings, the Department furnishes technical experts to participate in the OECD working parties on such matters as improvement of employment service operations, adjustment of rural workers who have migrated to urban areas, techniques for retraining older workers displaced by automation, rehabilitation of the long-term unemployed, and improving statistics on levels of living. The Department also assists the Department of State in handling technical matters of a labor-manpower nature in other regional economic organizations including the United Nation's Economic Commission for Europe-for Latin America-for Asia and the Far East, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Colombo Plan Organization. International trade organizations The Secretary of Labor is primarily responsible for the administration of programs and enforcement of statutes designed to advance the public interest through promoting the welfare of all workers in the United States and for increasing the opportunities for employment, and for improving working conditions. The activities of the Department related to international trade contribute directly and indirectly to the U.S. economy through increased employment opportunities. The Department is active in the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Department was represented on the U.S. delegation to the first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (March-June 1964), the United Nations Tin Conference (March-April 1965), the first session of the Trade and Development Board (April 1965), the Committee on Manufactures (August 1965), and the second session of the Board (August-September 1965). It is anticipated that during fiscal year 1967, Department personnel will participate in a minimum of four meetings of this organization. The United Natons Conference on Trade and Development has become in the past year a major sounding board for the developing countries. The key issue continues to be improved access for the manufactured products of the developing countries in the markets of the developed countries. The Department participates in the interagency preparation of the U.S. Government positions on the issues discussed at the annual sessions of the con tracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Department is also represented on the U.S. delegation to the annual session, and during the year furnishes technical advisers as appropriate for meetings of such subsidiary groups as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Cotton Textile Committee and the Committee of Experts on Adjustment Assistance. Finally, the United States is using the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade organization to promote its proposal for creation of a procedure for the adoption and application by member states of a code of fair labor standards for goods moving in international trade. Changes for 1967 Mandatory changes---. Management improvement reductions__. $4, 100 -900 Program changes.—An increase of two positions and $23,000 for furnishing information on international trade unions to assist U.S. foreign and domestic labor policy objectives is proposed. Labor considerations are becoming more and more important in the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. On the one hand, this reflects the economic and political significance of trade unionism both in the industrially advanced and in the developing countries. On the other, it reflects the vastly expanded role the U.S. trade union movement has assumed in the field of international affairs. Never before in its history has the American trade union movement committed more of its material and manpower resources to overseas activities on all continents. This broad program enjoys the support of the Government which, together with the American trade union movement, is committed to the objective of promoting abroad the development of trade unions which genuinely represent the interests of their members. The accelerated expansion of American business abroad has resulted in increasing contacts between American trade unions and their counterparts dealing with these U.S. interests in foreign countries to assure effective collectivebargaining efforts on the part of the American unions, as well as the free trade unions abroad. A growing number of American unions also have become directly involved in promoting the development of free, democratic trade union organizations abroad, unilaterally and through a number of labor institutions such as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the International Trade Secretariats, the American Institute for Free Labor Development, and the AfricanAmerican Labor Center, the latter two in large measure financed by the U.S. Government. Current information about the above activities is a prerequisite to intelligent decisionmaking on the part of the U.S. Government. It is requested therefore that there be established within the Bureau of International Labor Affairs two positions to analyze and disseminate information on foreign and international trade union organizations. 1966_ 1967. ACTIVITY 2. FOREIGN LABOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT $258, 300 260, 900 NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM This activity is concerned with providing technical guidance in the formation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy as related to labor and manpower factors; developing and following through on action proposals for specific countries and geographic areas; providing expertise on the labor implications of political, economic, and other developments in foreign countries; coordinating the Department's participation in exchange-of-persons activities and implementing certain types of those programs; and carrying out the Department's participation in the special international exhibitions program. PROGRAM ACTIVITY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT Labor and manpower considerations frequently have a major impact on political, economic, and social developments abroad. The effective development and utilization of the work force in other countries along with the development of responsible democratic labor organizations and industrial relations institu tions are necessary to the attainment of goals that are in harmony with those of the free world. The geographic area specialists follow and analyze labor and manpower developments and problems in other countries, advise Department officials on these matters, and prepare recommendations designed to assure appropriate attention to labor and manpower in U.S. foreign policies and programs. The area specialists serve as the focal point in the Department for servicing, assigning, and evaluating U.S. labor attachés stationed abroad; preparing materials and participating in briefings of Ambassadors and other key U.S. officials going abroad; maintaining liaison and exchanging vital information with U.S. and international trade union officials; maintaining contacts with foreign embassies and foreign visitors in the United States; and proposing and providing guidance on foreign visitor and exchange projects. Operational programs are planned and conducted for foreign visitors, including Ministers of Labor and other key officials from overseas, and for labor participation in international exhibitions abroad. This activity is concerned with use of the Department of Labor's technical knowledge and resources in the labor and manpower field in support of the oversea programs. The subject matter fields include (1) labor-management relations, (2) labor standards, (3) labor statistics, (4) manpower, and (5) labor ministry administration. PROGRAM ACTIVITY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT During the previous year, several significant new techniques for effectively harnessing U.S. Department of Labor technical resources in support of U.S. Government oversea programs have been inaugurated. The Department of Labor International Technical Assistance Corps (DOLITAC) is now created and in operation. This is a team of American technicians who devote themselves to technical assistance activities and are available to render such technical assistance on short- or long-term missions overseas, under the sponsorship of foreign affairs agencies. A permanent International Manpower Institute has been created under the Agency for International Development auspices in the Department of Labor. This Institute utilizes the technical resources of the Department in administering formalized professional seminars designed to assist responsible officials in the manpower field from less developed countries. A cooperative arrangement has been worked out between the Department of Labor and the Department of the Army under which Labor has provided the necessary specialized labor expertise for the U.S. Civil Administration in the Ryukyuan Islands. This activity carries out the responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of Labor by sections 222 and 242 of title II of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. These responsibilities are assigned to and carried out by the Bureau of Inter national Labor Affairs. The Labor Department has particular responsibility for providing information on the probable effect on employment in the United States of contemplated program decisions. A. Tariff conference The Department of Labor is one of the agencies from which the President is required to seek advice and information before any trade agreement is entered into under the Trade Expansion Act. The Bureau is the agency of the Department which provides such information and advice through appropriate channels. The Secretary serves as a member of the Interagency Trade Organization (sec. 242 (a)), and the Department is required to furnish help to the Organization (sec. 242 (c)). In general pursuance of Executive orders, the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs is a member of the Trade Executive Committee, and the Bureau furnishes members of the staff level Trade Staff Committee and its numerous subcommittees. The Department may be called upon for information and advice by the Special Trade Representative (sec. 241(b)) and by the President. The Department's particular responsibility is to provide information on the probable effect on employment in the United States of contemplated program decisions. Matters relating to the Kennedy Round-for example, sector analyses, nontariff barrier problems, special country problems, etc.—are handled on an interagency basis. The Bureau provides representation and coordinates activities relating to the interagency use of resource people from the Department. Approximately 40 countries have indicated that they will participate in the Kennedy Round. All major trading countries are participating in the current discussions. The United States has a permanent delegation in Geneva of 48 people including one senior staff member from the U.S. Department of Labor conducting the negotiations; in addition, at frequent intervals, experts from Washington travel to Geneva to assist in specific discussions. The Trade Expansion Act of 1962, by giving the President authority to negotiate linear tariff cuts, necessitated the development of better statistics and analysis for the purpose of preparing for these tariff negotiations. Several stages of the Kennedy Round negotiations have already been completed, including the tabling of agricultural offers-virtually all of them have required the acceptance of procedural innovations by all countries so that further progress in the negotiations could be assured. Because of the unprecedented number of items to be negotiated in the Kennedy Round, the Trade Negotiating Committee of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has adopted the sector approach as a device to enable participating countries to evaluate their trade interests. Sector analyses of seven industries whose products account for a significant portion of the world's trade are now being conducted by experts in Washington and Geneva. The Department is providing data on costs (material and labor) and prices, in addition to judgments as to what particular negotiating requests will have the most favorable (or most injurious) effect on employment. Because the President's tariff cutting authority expires in June 1967, it can be expected that activity in Geneva and in Washington will reach a peak in fiscal 1967. During fiscal 1967, final offers will be made and remade, as will evaluations of these offers. Thus, it is expected that fiscal 1967 will be the critical year of decision because at that time the final package will be assessed by all countries in terms of their national interest. In 1967, a multitude of preliminary analyses and decisions will have to be reevaluated in order to decide what the best package for the United States will be. The bulk of the reevaluation will take place in Washington since the experts and interagency groups responsible for a great many of the preliminary decisions are here. Demands on the Department of Labor for expertise and policy advice will be at their peak during this period. B. Commoditics and marketing arrangements Fiscal year 1966 has been marked by a considerable increase in emphasis on commodity problems, and in the creation or increased activation of interagency committees to deal with such problems. This area of activity is likely to increase in 1967. The Labor Department, through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, is actively engaged in the work of these committees, specifically in those in which the Secretary has particular responsibilities. |