1 - American Memory

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ing on H.R. 7189, the proposed Hawaii and Western Islands Surface
Commerce Protection Act, one of the most important bills involving
Hawaii's interests since Hawaii became a State.
You will recall that I testified at some length before the subcom-
mittee in June of 1973 when opening hearings were held. I shall not
take the subcommittee's time to reiterate what I said then, although
nothing has diminished the urgency and need for the bill I expressed
then.
However, I do want to emphasize very briefly the importance of
H.R. 7189 to the people of Hawaii. Since World War II Hawaii-west
coast trade has been disrupted for a total of four years by shipping
disputes of one type or another. The impact of these disruptions and
distortions caused by anticipation of disruptions whether they actually
occurred or not have caused economic, psychological and social hard-
ship for the people of Hawaii. During the 1971-72 major west coast
shipping strike which lasted 134 days Hawaii was truly hard hit.
An independent analysis set the strictly economic cost at about $154
million. Another estimat«d $93 million in price rises were avoided only
because the initial strike period began during the wage-price freeze
imposed by President Nixon. Unemployment increased substantially
during the strike, from 5.4 percent to 7.2 percent. The loss of jobs
directly attributed to the strike totaled 12.500, a substantial number
in a state where only about 300,000 are employed.
H.R. 7189 would eliminate human and economic costs like these.
It would eliminate excessive warehousing costs at rates 250 percent
of those on the mainland. It would ease the anxiety in the minds of
almost a million Americans residing in Hawaii and the western Pacific
islands.
Is H.R. 7189 antilabor? If it was, neither my colleague Mrs. Mink,
jior I, nor Mr. Won Pat would have introduced it, for we are all gen-
erally favorably predisposed toward the labor movement.
Will H.R. 7189 infringe on the free, collective bargaining process,
as both management and labor claim it will? The experience of the
Sast would indicate the answer to this most important question to be a
efinite "No."
H.R. 7189 merely provides for the free flow of commerce between
the west coast and Hawaii and the western Pacific islands during any
shipping strike or lockout on the west coast for a period not to exceed
160 days. To permit this, only 3 to 3.5 percent of the dock workers and
7 percent of the shipboard workers would be involved. During the
west coast dock strikes of 1971-72 all military cargo bound for Hawaii,
the Pacific islands and Vietnam were allowed to go through. This re-
quired 7 percent of longshore manpower and 14 percent of shipboard
manpower to work during the strike, or double the manpower which
would be required under H.R. 7189.
In fact, as much as 40 percent of the manpower were engaged at one
time or other at some ports in the handling of military cargo. But the
strikes continued effectively and the collective bargaining process
worked out its intended course. H.R. 7189 would involve only half the
manpower then required and should not interfere with collective
bargaining.
I realize that organized labor has significant, good faith reservations
about this bill and has banded it "antilabor." Management, too, opposes