fi
fair questions in .this state. I
quespx
tions pertaining to qualifications for
the job, the skills and abilities and
education of applicants are legal. On
this score the,,-'J » ployer has; all the
freedom in the worfd; in his search and
selection of a capable employe.
Oregon’s FEP act is not .recognized
as, an overnight solution tp all
and religious discrimination;.but as à,
first step toward a situation in which
all citizens will have an equal oppor
tunity in a free de^^^ B ^ H E
Education has been the kë'ystpne of
the Oregon law both in thegcwerall pro-
'gram and in the handling of complaints^
filed. After 16 months of--w eràtion the
labor department unde^g^^g ^ ^ ^^Bj
W. E. Kimsey, who is ^ ^ .^ ^ » le .jW r
administration of the act,” has, investi
gated 24 formal complaints. Twenty-
two of these involved job discrimina
tion on the basis of racial prejudice,
two involved religious ground'sk^n'd
national origin. Five involved discrim
ination by labor ; unions; two by the
civil service and the remainder by pri
vate employers. Sixteen cases have
been closed. Three of the. were settled
when no discrimination w 1^ fou n d ;d S |
for lack of jurisdiction ùndër the law;
two when discriminatory pra^ti'^s'
werejpeorrected and- nine bj^concilia-
tion and persuasion. Eight ^èasgs^are
pending. It is the hope of commissioner
Kimsey that Oregon will never have
to invoke the penalties provided for
infractiqnÉ. of the law...
Presently one labor union wj|ich is
hostilely prejudicial on^hV-mffiter of
admitting Negroes to membership- is
bucking the FEP act. À sériés, of Con
ciliatory I mbefigags over mohths.- seem
to hâve born little fruit. The possibil
ity of a public hejarjng looms^This one
union %case’ in v o lv in g truculent atti-
tudeS'Of union officials is in djrecWonv;
trast to actions of other union llp s s g ^
who with the help of thp^ bureau yof
labor hayé; been successful
ing the prejudicial1 attitudes of their
union m e m b e r s toward minority
groups.
Mr. Kimsey is assisted in his admin
istration by two professional -sfatff
workers. William S. Van Meter, who
has done graduate work in group pre
judice at Harvard university investi
gates complaints filed under the act.
in^B^Hi
Kathrine S. French, Columbia univer
sity-educated anthropologist is respon
sible for the formal education program
throughout the state. An advisory
committee representing the I public,!
management Jan d labor; ^appointed "by
the governor, assists Mr. Kimsey’s de
partment on a voluntary basis.
I Preq ^ ^ ^ L^that the bureau of labor
would be swamped with complaints by
‘df^^M Sed a n d unreasonable job
hunters and em pl^^^SBave not ma
terialized. ,
^¿M psalm em b e^ of minority groups
are; reluctant to file complaints,” says
Mr. Kimsey; WSpoints out that mem-
bers offe iS h groups as a rule arejfair
in airing their grievances and in ac
cepting decisions of his department.
Such.fairness!in the* midst o fh itter-
ness is evidenced in one of the com
plaints on file. A Negro handyman at
an O^regn^^lubl^p-spi^W s^i^^^nbn^
other thinasjvSaslt.o
tail g^ssps and return them to the bar,
one night got into a' heated argument
with his white boss. The latter ac
cused him of not “ chasing empty
a s B ||l should have
.been doing. Hot^wprm^passed ’between
Lthjexw^MDuriM the argument the '@Bss
roared. “When you speak to me call me
Mister!” "A ^ S tth e i^ ffiJ^^^/orkr- the
Negro employe was told tp pick up his
check at the cashier’s window. He
later filed a complaint
he
was fired because of race. After an
inye^^ation of the circumstances and
k o w E p |ree^w ith both emnlc O ^ i ang
employee, the fired e m i ^ w agreed
with the bureau of labor deputy that
ris race probably had nbthirig to do
with it and that the I whole situation
grew out of a “normal” argument be-
tv ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ h d the'
After a series of conciliatory talks
most of the employers compa in ed
against have swung? around to more
tfqlerant attitudes, shedding part if not
all^ pf their former prej^&t^^-S'Oue,
.-such employ er/said flatly “ Discrimina
tion is just ammunition for Joe S talin g
He finally agreed the FEP act was a
good thing if Americans really meant
what they said about democracy. This
man jp7pi|hed his plant to the’ hiring Ipf
Negroes on an equal basis with other
Amehipans.
Commissioner Kimsey stresses: “ It is