Senator MCNAMARA. Thank you, Senator Powers. Because of your knowledge of this problem, we place great weight on your statement. You may be sure it will be a great help to us.

Mr. POWERS. Thank you very much.

Senator MCNAMARA. Now, we will ask the following people to come forward:

Mr. J. William Belanger, president of the Massachusetts State Council, AFL-CIO.

Mr. Kenneth J. Kelley, secretary-treasurer of the organization. Dr. Samuel Bechrach, chairman, Committee on Aging, Greater Worcester Area, Worcester, Mass.

Mr. Edward A. Green, vice president of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Mr. George F. Mack, chairman of the Springfield Council on Aging.

Mrs. Luis Zuretti, chairman of State Women's Committee, Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation.

First, Mr. Belanger, do you have a prepared statement?

We will insert your statement in the record and you may summarize it in your own manner.

(The prepared statement of Mr. Belanger follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF J. WILLIAM BELANGER, PRESIDENT, MASSACHUSETTS STATE LABOR COUNCIL, AFL-CIO

Senator McNamara, distinguished Senators, ladies and gentlemen, I am J. William Belanger, president of the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and New England director of the Textile Workers Union of America. I am happy to be here today to speak about the problems of older people in Massachusetts and the strong interest which organized labor has always had in these problems. Labor has fought for adequate old-age assistance and social security protection, for better health care for the aged; for housing for the elderly; for adequate wages so that older people can save enough to take care of themselves; for legislation to protect the job rights and employment opportunities of older workers, and for other programs which help give older people the kind of life they have earned by a lifetime of hard work.

I am here also as a member of Governor Furcolo's Commission on the Audit of State Needs, which recently published a 222-page report on the problems of the aged, and made many recommendations for better protection of their health, housing, and employment opportunities.

As New England director of the Textile Workers Union of America, I have seen firsthand the problems of older workers in an older industry. The textile industry is one of the oldest industries in Massachusetts and in the country. For many years its total employment has been declining all over the world. As a result, many working people who are well along in years have found themselves out of work, and many of these people have had a great deal of trouble in finding new jobs. Many of those who remain in the textile industry are also well advanced in years, and I have seen a great deal of their problems, including the denial of any severance or pension payments when the companies discontinue business here in Massachusetts.

I would like to talk first about the problem of employment of the older worker. As we pointed out in the report made by the audit of State needs, a great many working people have trouble in finding a job even at the age of 40. Many older people find it very difficult to find employment, even when they have a great deal of experience and skill to offer.

This is partly a problem of educating the employer and the public to accept older workers. Many people are still unaware that an older worker can do a good day's work in employment which is physically suitable for him, and that older working people are especially steady and reliable. The blind prejudice that a man 40 or 50 or 55 years old is "too old" is something that we must all work against.

Massachusetts was the first State in the Union to adopt legislation prohibiting job discrimination because of age. Organized labor is proud to have supported this legislation, and we continue to support the outstanding efforts of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

We have praise for the good work of the division of employment security and the State department of labor and industries to help older workers find employment, and to provide assistance in job counseling and vocational retraining to thousands of older people every year. Labor believes that this work is highly important and should continue to be supported.

We believe that both programs-ending job discrimination because of age, and helping older workers find employment-are worthy models for other States and the Federal Government.

Second, I would like to talk about the Forand bill, introduced by Representative Aime J. Forand, of Rhode Island, in this past session of Congress. This legislation provides for the inclusion of health insurance coverage as part of the old age, survivors, and disability insurance program which is commonly referred to as social security.

Organized labor fought for the principle of old age insurance, and for the later enlarging of the program to include more people and pay higher benefits. We are proud of the fact that eventually more than 9 out of every 10 people 65 and over will be covered by this self-supporting program.

Today the national and our State AFL-CIO believe that passage of the Forand bill is a prime legislative objective during the present Congress. The AFL-CIO worked hard for the bill in the 1959 session, and intends to work for it even harder next year.

We believe that health insurance coverage for older people is one of the most essential advances which should be made in the field of helping older people. Your subcommittee has already published statistics which show that medical and hospital costs place an unbearable burden upon older people at a time when they are least able financially to bear it. Many an older person has enough income from his social security or savings to handle the bare necessities of life, but he cannot take care of what may be literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills. One aged person out of two suffers from chronic disease or impairment, and a far greater proportion of older people are hospitalized each year than younger people. At the same time, most older people are living on a fantastically small income, as your own statistics have shown. For example, three-fifths of all men and women over 65 have an income of less than $1,000 a year.

Senator McNamara, I have talked today about two problems of older people— employment and health. These are especially important problems, in which organized labor is very interested. However, if time permitted, I could go on to discuss many other needs of older people the need for adequate minimum income the need for adequate low-cost housing like that being introduced in Massachusetts; the need for other kinds of health services to provide for the aging, such as geriatrics clinics and adequate mental health facilities like Cushing Hospital here in Framingham; the need for organized community activities for older people like those provided by the councils for the aging and by many private groups in Massachusetts.

These problems are immense, and we will have to work on all levels of government-local, State, and especially the Federal-to meet them. In this work, the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, will do all it can.

STATEMENT OF J. WILLIAM BELANGER, PRESIDENT, MASSACHUSETTS STATE LABOR COUNCIL, AFL-CIO

Mr. BELANGER. Senator McNamara, distinguished Senators, ladies and gentlemen, I am J. William Belanger, president of the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and New England director of the Textile Workers Union of America.

I am happy to be here today to speak about the problems of older people in Massachusetts and the strong interest which organized labor has always had in these problems.

Labor has fought for adequate old-age assistance and social-security protection, for better health care for the aged; for housing for the elderly; for adequate wages so that older people can save enough to take care of themselves; for legislation to protect the job rights and employment opportunities of older workers, and for other programs which help give older people the kind of life they have earned by a lifetime of hard work.

I am here also as a member of Governor Furcolo's commission on the audit of State needs, which recently published a 222-page report on the problems of the aged, and made many recommendations for better protection of their health, housing, and employment opportunities.

As New England director of the Textile Workers Union of America, I have seen first hand the problems of older workers in an older industry. The textile industry is one of the oldest industries in Massachusetts and in the country. For many years its total employment has been declining all over the world.

As a result, many working people who are well along in years have found themselves out of work, and many of these people have had a great deal of trouble in finding new jobs.

Many of those who remain in the textile industry are also well advanced in years, and I have seen a great deal of their problems, including the denial of any severance or pension payments when the companies discontinue business here in Massachusetts.

EMPLOYMENT OF OLDER WORKERS

I would like to talk first about the problem of employment of the older worker.

As we pointed out in the report made by the audit of State needs, a great many working people have trouble in finding a job even at the age of 40. Many older people find it very difficult to find employment, even when they have a great deal of experience and skill to offer.

This is partly a problem of educating the employer and the public to accept older workers. Many people are still unaware that an older worker can do a good day's work in employment which is physically suitable for him, and that older working people are especially steady and reliable. The blind prejudice that a man 40, or 50, or 55 years old is too old, is something that we must all work against.

Massachusetts was the first State in the Union to adopt legislation prohibiting job discrimination because of age. Organized labor is proud to have supported this legislation, and we continue to support the outstanding efforts of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

We have praise for the good work of the division of employment security and the State department of labor and industries to help older workers find employment, and to provide assistance in job counseling and vocational retraining to thousands of older people every

year.

Labor believes that this work is highly important and should continue to be supported.

We believe that both programs, ending job discrimination because of age, and helping older workers find employment, are worthy models for other States and the Federal Government.

FINANCING MEDICAL CARE

Second, I would like to talk about the Forand bill, introduced by Representative Aime J. Forand of Rhode Island, in this past session of Congress. This legislation provides for the inclusion of health insurance coverage as part of the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program which is commonly referred to as social security. Organized labor fought for the principle of old-age insurance, and for the later enlarging of the program to include more people and pay higher benefits. We are proud of the fact that eventually more than 9 out of every 10 people 65 and over will be covered by this selfsupporting program.

Today the National and our State AFL-CIO believe that passage of the Forand bill is a prime legislative objective during the present Congress. The AFL-CIO worked hard for the bill in the 1959 session, and intends to work for it even harder next year.

We believe that health insurance coverage for older people is one of the most essential advances which should be made in the field of helping older people. Your subcommittee has already published statistics which show that medical and hospital costs place an unbearable burden upon older people at a time when they are least able financially to bear it.

Many an older person has enough income from his social security or savings to handle the bare necessity of life, but he cannot take care of what may be literally hundreds or thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills.

One aged person out of two suffers from chronic disease or impairment, and a far greater proportion of older people are hospitalized each year than younger people.

At the same time, most older people are living on a fantastically small income, as your own statistics have shown. For example, threefifths of all men and women over 65 have an income of less than $1,000 a year.

Senator McNamara, I have talked today about two problems of older people, employment and health. These are especially important problems, in which organized labor is very interested. However, if time permitted, I could go on to discuss many other needs of older people the need for adequate minimum income, the need for adequate low-cost housing like that being constructed in Massachusetts; the need for other kinds of health services to provide for the aging, such as geriatrics clinics and adequate mental health facilities like Cushing Hospital here in Framingham; the need for organized community activities for older people like those provided by the councils for the aging and by many private groups in Massachusetts.

These problems are immense, and we will have to work on all levels of government, local, State, and especially the Federal, to meet them. In this work, the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, will do all it can.

Senator MCNAMARA. Thank you, Mr. Belanger. We know that organized labor has pioneered in trying to seek answers to the problems that we are studying. We know that much of the legislation. both at the Federal level and State and local levels is due to the early

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interest of your organization. We appreciate your cooperation very much.

Mr. Kelley, do you have something to add to what Mr. Belanger has said? We will insert your prepared statement in the record at this point and you may summarize it in your own fashion.

(The prepared statement of Mr. Kelley follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KENNETH J. KELLEY, SECRETARY-TREASURER, MASSACHUSETTS STATE LABOR COUNCIL, AFL-CIO

Previous speakers have expressed their views about the many complex problems of aging citizens. Competent authorities have discussed related problems of the aged such as housing, medical care, recreation, governmental assistance, hospitalization and a host of other very complex facets of this growing national problem.

I would like to address myself to the economic aspects of aging workers, specifically to job opportunities, job discrimination and some related matters. Your committee has already been informed that in 1950 Massachusetts enacted a law designed to prevent discrimination against workers between 45 and 65 years of age. I happen to be the author of that pioneering legislation. As secretary-treasurer-legislative agent of the Massachusetts Federation of Labor I sponsored the bill that became chapter 697 of the Acts of 1950 which amended the 1946 Massachusetts FEPC law to include age as one of the things it shall be unlawful to discriminate against workers seeking employment. Since its enactment, the age amendment has worked reasonably well. It has been about as effective as the rest of the FEPC statutes that it amended. As you know, the antidiscrimination law in this and other States having such legislation is administered primarily through education, conciliation, persuasion, with relatively little prosecution.

The existence of the Massachusetts prohibition against discrimination because of age has been a deterrent to the heartless hiring practices engaged in by some large industrial concerns. No longer can a Massachusetts employer refuse to hire a prospective worker solely because he or she is over 45 nor can employers legally force a worker out of employment solely because they are pushing 60 or 65 years. It would be naive of me to try and tell your committee that discrimination against older workers has been eliminated in Massachusetts. It still exists but has been subtly camouflaged and other pretexts are now being used.

May I say categorically that those States which, like Massachusetts, have enacted FEPC legislation can very easily include "age" in their antidiscrimination law. That won't solely eliminate job bias because of age but its passage can go a long way toward increasing job opportunities for older workers. I must certainly hope that your subcommittee can and will recommend congressional action on the Federal level particularly with those concerns receiving Government contracts. If and when, and I sincerely hope that it will be soon, a Federal FEPC law is enacted by the Congress I hope it will include a prohibition against discrimination because of age. The time has come for government, industry, labor, and all segments of the economy to recognize the tragic wastefulness of consigning workers to the “economic scrap heap" because they happen to reach a particular chronological age. America can ill afford the luxury of citizens who are "too old to work but too young to die." The facts and charts contained in your subcommittee's excellent pamphlet "The Aged and Aging in the United States" prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the growing problem of the growing percentage of older citizens is one that cannot be any longer sloughed off. In my opinion the most important solution to this very complex problem lies in improving the opportunities for employment of older workers. Older citizens would prefer to stay at work or be able to find another job rather than look to Federal, State, local governments, or private agencies for assistance.

In addition to what I have said above, a thought occurs to me of one area in which the Federal Government can be effective in eliminating discrimination because of age. A few weeks ago I took a jet to San Francisco. During my conversations with the stewardess on that plane, after she found out that I was going to the AFL-CIO convention there, she asked me what could be done about the practice of some airline companies forcing stewardesses to quit at the prematurely old age of 32 years. Since airlines are subject to Federal