The Gary American

Picket Capital USES Center in Fight to Alter Discriminatory Policy

WASHINGTON -- (ANP) - As a prelude to a three-week campaign to secure 50,000 signatures to a petition to end racial segregation at the D. C. USES Employment center, approximately 100 white and colored labor, veterans, and racial organization members at Fifth and K streets, N. W., picketed the offices of the center an hour Wednesday.

The campaign, which was organized by the Washington CIO Industrial Union council, is aimed at the breaking down of practices at the center which compel the segregation of job applicants, their cards and center employes.

Upon the securing of a sufficient number of signatures to the petition the campaign leaders will present it to President Truman with the request that he exercise his executive authority to end conditions which are an "insult as well as a detriment to Negro job seekers."

A sore spot in the capital's employment picture for more than five years, the employment center has been under fire on numerous occasions from labor, civic and racial organizations for its discriminatory policies.

About three years ago, when it was under the jurisdiction of the Federal Security agency, a plan was submitted for reorganization of the center along lines which would end the discrimination and segregation.

The plan, however ran into the opposition of southern members of the house appropriations committee led by Malcolm Tarver of Georgia and was subsequently dropped to ward off a threatened slash in the agency's funds.

The industrial union council move marks an attempt to circumvent members of the appropriations committee by taking the matter directly to President Truman.