j^/f . 2 :4's< > •\^.^ .C-.XAJU\^ ) PEACE CX)RPS Washington 25, D. C. OPPORTUNITIES K)R AMERICAN LABOR IN THE PEACE CORPS UNIV. OF FL LI8"~~ I recommend . . . the establishment of a permanent Peace Corps — a pool of trained American men and women sent overseas ... to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower." John F. Kennedy, Special Message to the Congress, March 1, I961. "Already we have received urgent requests for plumbers , electricians, carpenters, and teachers for technical trade schools. Can we meet these requests? Oiily if the American labor movement can provide the skilled manpower from its ranks to serve abroad. . ." -- Robert Sargent Shriver, Director, Peace Corps, Chicago, Illinois, J-une 7, 196I. Community of Nations Today you can fly from V/ichita, Kansas, to Nairobi, Kenya, in the time that it used to take to go from Vfeshington to New York. A citizen in Seattle, Washington, can telephone a friend in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as easily as he can telephone a friend in San Francisco. Electronic transmission and jet-powered flight have transformed our neighborhood from a few city blocks to the community of nations. As we used to know of ovr neighbor down the street and help him in time of needj we now know our neighbor on smother continent and xmderstand his needs . Skilled Manpower Needed The newly developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, are looking to the United States to help them achieve a degree of self -sufficiency that they do not now have. The Peace Corps is giving them the opportunity to obtain the help they need and they are asking us for it in the form of skilled manpower . Many of the skills the Peace Corps is being asked to provide can be found in the ranks of the American labor movement . This large body of men and women contains the technicians and specialists that so many emerging nations need as trainers, teachers, and just plain "doers". These nations need men and women with technical training or with trade, industrial art, mechanics, farming, organizing, teaching, and leadership skills. At least 50,000 jobs need fi3J.ing today in the IO3 \anderdeveloped areas of the world. The Peace Corps is seeking to fill this manpower gap. Rewarding Service Besides offering a unique opportunity to serve the Nation in the cause of peace, the Peace Corps offers American workers im\isual opportunities for self -development. They will return with knowledge of other laxLguages, knowledge of the customs and traditions of the people who speak those languages, and knowledge of the economy, political organization and geography of the countries in which they served. Peace Corps Volunteers, in other words, will be better able to participate in and meet the demands of today's world. A Variety of Skills Skill will be a major factor in selecting Peace Corps Volunteers from the ranks of AmeriCEin labor. Each Volunteer must be able to do a specific job well. He will either do that job himself in a specific place or teach others how to do it. BeGa\ase most of the world's scientific literature is in English, his or her job may be to teach English to future science students. He may train apprentices in a specific skill, or be a farm equipment mechanic, an electrician, a pl\imber, a construction foreman, a diesel engine mechanic, a printing plant supervisor, a lathe operator, an air conditioning speciaJ-ist, or a railroad traffic manager. Many new nations also need librarians, social workers, administrators, accountants, bookkeepers, business management experts, and so on. The list eventually could very well include a high percentage of the occupational skills in the United States today. vmAT THE PEACE CORPS IS DOING NOW A quick look at the first Peace Corps projects to be announced shows how America's technical and professional know-how is being put to use. Tanganyika Peace Corps Volunteei's in Tanganyika will survey for farm-to-market roads, supervise the maintenance, grading, and surfacing of main roads, build bridges, install culverts, design fords, and mal^e geological surveys. Colombia In Colombia, they will help build small farm buildings, community schools, farm-to-market roads, dig wells, excavate and stock fish ponds, raise small farm animals, set up a recreation eirea for children, and engage in farm improvement projects. Chile They will work on a number of farm projects, including the constmction of farm buildings; they will demonstrate and teach home crafts and industries and carpentry. Philippines In the first Peace Corps project to the Philippines, Volunteers will teach general science and English language in elementary schools. Ghana They will teach mathematics, English, chemistry, physics, biology, general science and French in the Ghanaiain secondary schools in this first project. A project is anticipated which will include the teaching of such vocational skills as masonry, carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring. St. Lucia On this island in the Caribbean, they will teach, train teachers, work in medical aid stations, and otherwise participate in many farm and agricul- tural projects. Pakistan The list is longer for this country, where they need audio-visual specialists to produce educational filins, and carpenters, brick-layers, mechanics, plumbers, mechanical engineers, and teachers of manual crafts. Pakistan also wants equipment maintenance specialists at its hospitals, refrigeration and air -conditioner repairmen, and graduates of mechanical arts trade schools. FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR LABOR Binrma There is a need for men to repair diesel engines and well pumps in Burma. They also want foundrymen, welders and machinists, and workers with experience in textile mill operations. They need chemists with experience in sugar and cement factories and in breweries, and persons experienc;! in ceramics msinufac- ture, gas well drilling, and qioarrying. Malaya The teaching of apprentice skills has a high priority in Malaya, where there is a need for instructors in radio and television servicing, plumbing, and motor mechanics, refrigeration and air-conditioning, carpentry and joinery, armatvure winding, turning and machining, and electrical fitting. India Teachers of manual crafts, mechanics for agriculttiral implements shops, and people with basic construction experience are in demand in India to meet shortages of these specialists. OTHER COUNTRIES have reported they would welcome machinists, industrial designers, rolling machine and smelter operators, gas well drillers, mine fore- men, sheet metal workers, electro-platers, instructors in crafts, vocational training advisors, welders, and many other specialties and skills found in the trade unions of the United States . As agreements for Peace Corps projects requiring these skills become official, the Peace Corps will provide the necessary manpower. MORE FACTS TO HELP YOU CONSIDER SERVICE IN THE PEACE CORPS Who May Apply? Any American citizen over l8 may apply for service with the Peace Corps. - 5 - There is no upper age limit. Married persons with no dependent children will be accepted if both can do needed jobs as Volunteers. In some cases, married persons with dependents will be chosen as Voltmteer Leaders. Volunteers must be in excellent physical and mental heaJ-th, emotionally mature, and upright in their personal conduct. Is a College Education Necessary? No. Many crafts of the kind learned on the job or in apprenticeship covtrses will be needed. How Do I Apply? By filling out a Peace Corps questionnaire. Write to the Peace Corps, Washington 25, D. C. Ask for the Questionnaire, the Peace Corps Fact Book, and the Peace Corps Questions and Answers folder entitled "What You Can Do for YoTir Country" . Peace Corps Questionnaires are also available at post offices, through the offices of your Senator or Congressman, at universities, from cotmty extension agents of the US Department of Agriculture, and from any local Bureau of Employment Security office. How Will Volunteers Be Selected? The Questionnaires will be kept on file at Peace Corps headq-uarters in Washington, D. C. As projects are approved, applicants with the necessary skills and qualifications will be given interviews, physical examinations, and written tests. When there is a need for special occupational and trade skills beyond those available on file, special recruiting among the ranks of American labor will take place. What Will It Be Like? Working in an underdeveloped land for 2 or 3 years may become routine and sometimes frustrating to the Volunteer who is looking for travel and excite- ment. Yet, Volunteers will meet new people and deal with new problems, live simply- -perhaps even under primitive conditions at times--eat simply, and do their own repairs. However, they will not, as some people think, "go native", but they certainly must be prepared to live at generally the same level as many of the people they will be working with, often in isolated areas . Language and Customs Volunteers will not have to have a knowledge of a foreign language in order to qualify for selection. They will receive Instruction in the language and culture of the covintry to which they are assigned in the Peace Corps training program. Pay and Allowances During training and overseas service, all expenses — including travel. - 6 - food, clothing, housing, medical care, and incidentals --vill be paid by the Peace Corps. Upon completion of Peace Corps service, Volunteers vill receive a readjustment allowance equal to $75 ^or each month of service. Volunteer Leaders will receive slightly higher living allowances and a larger readjustment allowance. Travel and Leave Volunteers and Voltmteer Leaders will receive 30 days leave with allowainces each year and will get a small additional allowance for travel from their duty stations to learn more about the country. Disability Benefits Disability benefits, including medical care, will be provided for Volun- teers and Volunteer Leaders and any illness or injury incurred will be considered as occiorring in line of duty. Selective Service The draft deferment granted Volunteers will be continued following their Peace Corps service if they engage in activities considered to be in the national heailth, safety or interest. Career Planning Service The Peace Corps has established a career planning service to assist Volunteers who have completed their service to plan their future — either throxigh additional education or placement in jobs for which they are best suited. For Additional Information . . . ...write to the Peace Corps, Washington 25, D. C. This is the time to ask what you can do for your country and to leaxn what the Peace Corps can do for you. CHECK LIST OF NEEDED SKILLS Workshop mechajiic - dies el engine and tractor repair Pump repair Welder Machinist Textile Specialists Chemists - cement factory Brewery and distillery chemists Production Efficiency Analyst Drilling engineer - gas well Steel mill technicians - rolling machines and smelters General mechanics Auto mechanics Industrial designer Earth moving machinery operators Surveyors Instructors in all phases of apprenticeship: Radio and TV service Refrigerator and air conditioning Carpentry Plumbing Auto mechanics Armature winding Diesel engines Taming and machining Electrical fitting Safety inspectors - machinery and boilers Printing plant supervisors Hospital equipment maintenance Carpenters and joiners Farm machinery mechanics and operators iimvER- irr of Florida 3 1262 08851 7304 Metal workers Coal mining Highway improvement and maintenance Small tools shops Qiiarrying Motion picttire projectionists PliMbers Lathe operators Construction foremen Librarians Accoimtants Bookkeepers Crane operators This list is by no means complete. It coxild go on to include all the technical and semi -technical skills in the Americaji labor movement today. If you have such a skill and are interested in Peace Corps service, ask for a Questionnaire today. "Ho other single proposal of the Kennedy Administration has created so much admiration and excitement at home and abroad as the concept of a Peace Corps . It is a magnificent idea. . .' - - Joseph A. Beirne, President, Communications Workers of America, Vice President, AFL-CIO, and member of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council. "The Peace Corps offers a great potential for good in international affairs . It can provide an opport\mity to utilize the keen abilities and skills of our young people in the task of assisting in the solution of world problems, --C. J. Haggerty, President, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, and mamber of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council. "The AFL-CIO Executive Coimcil urges all AFL-CIO affiliates to assist in mak-ing the Peace Corps a successful and enduring program by encouraging the enlistment of volunteers from labor's ranks and by supporting the programs of the Peace Corps whenever and wherever appropriate. ' -- Resolution adopted by the AFL-CIO Executive Covincil at Unity House, Pa., Jxone 29, I961. PEACE CORPS Washington 25, D. C. August, 1961