Yale University Library 39002004336278 Cb% YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. ra Colored Women as Industrial Workers in Philadelphia ¦TALE UNIVEft.- l{ MAY 27 7n LIBRARV Consumers' League of Eastern Pennsylvania 814 Oti* Building, Philadelphia 1919-1920 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA A STUDY MADE BY THE CONSUMERS' LEAGUE OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Map of Philadelphia showing the colored population ar ranged according to the numerical strength of wards.. 4 II. , Introduction 7 III. Scope 11 IV. Some industries of Philadelphia employing colored women, and the wages they pay 13 V. Collective bargaining and the colored worker 26 VI. The colored worker 28 BudgetsSchooling and training How she finds employment Conditions in factories in which she is working Health — Containing an abstract from the Report of the Health Insurance Commission of Pennsylvania VII. Criticisms by employers 37 VIII. Are the colored people getting a square deal? 39 IX. Will the colored and the white work together? 41 X. Recommendations 42 For workers For employers For organizations, public and private XI. Appendix 45 Tables Schedules MAP OF PHILADELPHIA SHOWING WARD DIVISIONS Colored population of Philadelphia arranged according to the numerical strength of wards:* Ward Population W»r4 Population 7 11,553 9 844 30 9,999 29 818 36**\ S840 5 763 48 / 5'840 43 762 26 5,191 2 689 22 4,799 21 679 20 4,500 13 670 24 3,958 37 6QB 47 3»88J 10 593 ttt •••••• I I I M I M I M I I I II | 4J MMMIIIMIIIHIIMIM 552 14 3,085 42 498 15 2,698 35 296 4 .' 2,542 12 249 8 1,839 1 208 32 1,517 33 192 3 1,501 19 185 44 / 1,463 45 181 38 1,356 17 143 40 1,307 25 100 46 1,105 n , 99 28 1,074 6 73 34 997 16 50 39 906 31 , 20 23 868 is 14 •Thirteenth Census of U. S., 1910, Abstract of Pa. pp. 647-649. It is to be regretted that the figures of the 1920 census are not tabulated as this goes to press. **In 1910 ward 48 was included In ward 36. INTRODUCTION This study has discovered no indication of any considerable number of colored women being employed before the World War, outside of domestic service and those industries included in the general term "public housekeeping." With the war came oppor tunities that brought a new day to this race. These opportunities were mainly due to three causes: (a) the industries were calling for workers, (b) immigration to the United States was rapidly decreasing, and (c) a large percentage of the male population of working age was being withdrawn for war service. (a) The demand for workers was great because of Phila delphia's industrial position and the fact that the Federal Gov ernment operates here three establishments that have especially to do with army and navy preparations, namely, Frankford Arsenal, the United States Navy Yard, and the Philadelphia Depot of the Quartermaster's Department, United States Army. (b) While the industries were needing workers the immi gration decreased in the whole United States as follows:* From 1,218,480 in 1914 to 110,618 in 1918 to 141,132 in 1919 In the port of Philadelphia the decline of immigration is even more noticeable : From 56,857 in 1914 to 7,114 in 1915 to 229 in 1916 to 274 in 1917 to 386 in 1918 to 333 in 1919 (c) The third thing mentioned as contributing toward a new day for the colored wa's the fact that, roughly estimated, the men who went into war service from Philadelphia numbered 85,000**, which meant just so many less workers at home. It will be shown that the industrial labor supply was aug mented to a considerable extent by colored women from domestic service, but in addition to this mere transference from one occupa tion to others, an actual increase in the colored population of the city at this time increased the total supply of colored labor. The *U. S. Census Report 1910. "Estimate given by Philadelphia War History Committee. 8 COLORED WOMEN A3 INDUSTRIAL WORKERS census figures for 1910 showed 84,459 colored here in a total population of 1,549,000. To' go a step further, 66,480 negroes were fifteen years of age and over, and of this number, 35,790 were females of working age. The accompanying map of the city will show the distributibn of negroes in 1910 according to the ward sections.t The Philadelphia Year Book* estimates that the negroes in 1919 in Philadelphia number 125,000, or an increase of 48 per cent, in nine years.§ The fact that colored women were engaging in new and totally different lines of industry was noticeable. They were on Noble Street cleaning up after the track repairers and, in an interview while taking shelter during a rain storm, one woman said they were there because of the "almighty dollar." In a laundry they had been getting only $7 a week with a $2 a month bonus, and on the street work the wage was 30 cents an hour. On still another street they worked on the tracks with picks and shovels. They were also in evidence in and about railroad terminals, cleaning the outside of trains and replacing the night men who cleaned the waiting rooms. In office buildings they were replacing men as elevator operators. The newspapers reflected the situation: "Use negro woman labor to fill war workers' gaps," reads one caption, "Negro women take places of men in Industries; work as railroad truck-hands, munition makers, Inspectors and porters,1' reads another, which continues, "Negro women are repairing railway trucks, making explosives, and serving as porters and Inspectors In many Industries hero, taking tho places of mon who havo gone to war or have entered other Industries. Through a government agency * * * more than 300 of these women have been placed in positions within a week. , manager of the agency, says an average of 100 negro women a day apply there. Many of these women are at work at the Frankford Arsenal and other government plants about the city. Others are working as track-hands on the ¦ Railroad." "Ice women replace men here. Four women now handle the ice tongs at the Ice plant, replacing men who have gone to war. They have made good." ¦ tit is to be regretted that the figures of the 1920 census are not tabulated as thi9 goes to press. tjackson's Philadelphia Year Book, p. 150. §Mr. James H. Dillord writes In "Negro Immigration In 1916-17," U. S. Department of Labor publication, pago 10: IN PHILADELPHIA 9 "Colored girls avoid housework. Y. W. C. A. is placing many in shops and factories, but few seek domestic service." "Negro's chance coming at last. Stoppage of immigration due to war strips South of colored labor." Newspaper advertisements such as the following frequently appeared : "Twenty-five colored operators wanted with experience on double needle machine for government bed sacks — wages from $24.00 up." One in authority reported that there were 500 women muni tion workers on the night force in the Arsenal ;* a colored employ ment agency reported that many Philadelphia colored girls were in munition works in the neighboring towns that could be reached by trolley; an official visitor to a large number of garment and needle factories that were producing supplies for the government, observed colored women employees; and a study among the home workers for the Schuylkill Arsenal not only showed that the colored women took home shirts and other garments to sew for the army, but that they were often rated among the best workers. A hosiery firm (possibly anticipating a labor shortage) rented a hall in connection with a colored institution, and installed knitting machines under the supervision of a white forelady. Great difficulty was encountered in getting women to go there to learn, and it was said that those who did go were mostly southern negroes who had never been in a factory before. This difficulty in recruiting might have been due to the very low wages given; a flat rate of $4.50 a week was offered while learning, after which 8yi cents a dozen pairs was given with a one-half cent bonus on sixteen dozen pairs a day, and one cent on eighteen • "A few days later I visited the Durham School in Phila delphia, a large public school for colored children. I thought that the new enrollment would probably afford some informa tion as to new arrivals in that city. The principal had enrolled the new pupils on sheets containing 50 names, and he had been careful to enter opposite each name the place from which the pupil came. I took six of these sheets at random and found that one of them had 26 names of children who had been brought within the past year from various States of the South — Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, etc. The lowest number of names of recent arrivals found on any one of the six sheets was 21. In other words, among the new pupils there were between 40 and 50 per cent, who were newcomers, and all these from the South." *No special records were kept by the government of the work done by colored women. 10 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS dozen. When this place was visited one girl was getting $9.40 a week for eighteen dozens a day ; another girl could make fifteen dozens, thereby getting $7. In a waste factory visited, colored women had replaced men, sewing up bales of the waste which necessitated continuous standing and working in unattractive surroundings, permeated with much dust, and, to quote the employer, were "doing work that no white women would do." In a shoddy mill some colored girls fed the picker machines for $11 a week. They had been doing it six months when interviewed and although working in a basement where there was much dust from the product, they were enthusiastic about factory work, particularly liking the regular hours with no night work and no Sunday work. Realizing that many were entering the garment trades, an effort was made to ascertain their status, and it was found that at least fifty union shops had some colored workers. They were a new element and brought to the union many per plexing problems which will be discussed in this study. Such, briefly, were the conditions when the armistice was signed : housekeepers were complaining that their domestic workers had deserted them for their husbands' businesses; it was a matter of much comment that colored women were work ing on the streets — obviously in positions that involved too much strain for women ; the newspapers devoted space to assign ments on the colored women workers and carried advertisements for them; factory inspectors noted them as innovations and the unions reported they were in their shops and even that they "had driven the whites from a few shops." With few exceptions, wages were low and were threatening to undermine fair and rea sonable standards. A need was felt for more information on the subject, and the Consumers' League decided to undertake this study in order to present information that could be a help in clarifying public thinking. The Chamber of Commerce expressed its interest in a letter to its members, saying "the League will attempt to discover the number of colored women who have worked in the industries of Philadelphia during the war and the number who are now employed, the nature and quality of their work, with the idea of discovering for what particular work colored women are best suited," and asked them to "co-operate with the Consumers' IN PHILADELPHIA 11 League to the fullest extent in furnishing information and afford ing facilities for gathering the necessary data in making this very valuable study." The League is happy to state that the majority of the employers called upon were most generous in their co-operation. The Waist and Dress Manufacturers' Asso ciation extended an invitation to visit all its shops. Among the organizations of the city that helped were the following: Arm strong Association, Public Schools, Department of Compulsory Attendance, Young Women's Christian Association, Unions, Society for Organizing Charity and Red Cross. To all of these, and to the friends who contributed time and money, and to the colored workers interviewed, the League extends, its very great thanks. SCOPE The investigation of which this report is the summary, was undertaken with a view to ascertaining how far colored women in Philadelphia have entered the industrial field and with what results. The table of contents and the questionnaires in the back show the phases of the subject that have been covered. Through out the work, the League has tried to be non-partisan: it has enlisted the services of two paid colored workers to assist its staff of white workers;* experienced white research workers have visited 108 factories and shops and have asked the employers and managers for their candid opinions; white and colored workers have visited 190 colored girls and women outside of working hours to ascertain facts concerning their individual his tories, their industrial training, and their working experiences; and the League has asked the unions to express their policies toward the colored women. The field work was done between September, 1919, and June, 1920. More or less difficulty was encountered because of the generally unsettled labor conditions; the garment industry, for example, that was found to offer the broadest field for col- *A. Estelle Lauder, Executive Secretary; Georgia L. Baxter, Re search Secretary; Virginia Alexander and Sadie T. Mossell, Special Investigators; Ruth E. Gagnon, Office Secretary. Joseph E. Gaenon provided the map, and Alice S. Cheyney, Mary McConnell and Eliza beth F. Johnson read the manuscript. 12 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS oredwdmen workers, had /'a slaclr period that extended froni January until the: ^tudy was completed. It is to be^ noted that all employers did not answer every question touched upon and that their remarks about wages were not read from pay rolls. Industries (28) and Processes (74) in Which Colored Women Were Found Garments •Trimmers ¦¦ " • '-"¦'•• .Prcssers Cl* Operators' ", taps ' ' '-;••'' ' Trimmers ¦• '•¦•'•-¦ Prcssers Quilts Trimmers Operators Embroideries , Stampers . Trimmers ,; ' ' . Hand embroiderers Operators Tobacco Strippers'Banders . Packers Department Stores Stock girls . MaidsCleanersElevator operators /.Waitresses.: Wrappers . ' Sorters ' ------- Porters. ,""".' Shirts , - - — ' < j - - . p Trimmers . ^'Pressers Operators Candy Packers Machine operators . Dippers Makers Paper Boxes Folders •; Machine operators - Stitchers -.". ;. Toppers. : :: .:Z^Z'..'. Cutters Paper Novelties FoldersPackors ' Assistants at presses Cleaning and Dyeing Prcssers Laundries Mangle workers SortersMachine ironers J land ironers Wrappers Markers Glass Assistants to blowers Cleaners of globes Files Assistants to forge men Scrapers Jellies and Preserves Fruit preparers Jar fillers Railroads CleanersLinen clerks Arsenal Carpenters in cot salvage de partment Knitting— Sweaters and Hosiery ' TrimmersPrcssers Menders Machine sewers Winders Operators Elevators Operators Restaurants and Hotels Maids ,' ; Cleaners ' <.'7: ; Cooks . '(¦,¦.«...,¦; -.v. > Waitresses." ¦: ;¦. ".¦:.'. ;[ 7. ,!;^ •>'.¦¦'•:': 7x7-\' ,: in; Philadelphia ¦'»'/ czno^vs -"13 .W^ste; ot/') ,-'::t^J'-'' iZ.Z ¦'• - Millinery Trimmings- a: aiL >." h '¦ Sorters - . ¦..,„¦¦..' f..~ , - ^ («;v.| , Winders ^, «.r^ ^, ^- ->~ . -.^ Machine feeders " Ornament makers Overgaiters Textiles Button sewers ' i. )r Sorter "-'- :*• ¦ '" Buttons : v , Bakeries '¦•¦:''] ';': ; - Button covering machine oper- , Cleaners ^Z • ators , Pan greasers Pickles Private Dressmaking " ' Cutters Assistant (Reference will also be made to bank clerks, ushers, ticket sellers, teachers, social workers, nurses and clerical workers.) SOME INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA EMPLOY ING COLORED WOMEN, AND THE WAGES THEY PAY* , Garments ' From the standpoint of the numbers' ernpldycd, the number of processes performed, the progress made, and the'rkngeof wages paid, the garment industry is the most important fbr the colored women. From the standpoint of opportunities for col lective bargaining, it is also one of the most important, , l) In 126 garment shops, for which information was,1 sequred, there were ,5,822 women and of this humbelr 842, brt l^'p6r cent., were colored; 42 shops employed no colored;. and ,m' ti^e" 84 others, otit of a total of 3,622 women, 842, qr 33 per cent,, were colored. Four shops employed only colored; White nine ^npioyed 'more colored than white. The majority of the colored women were pressers (38 per cent.) and trimmers (32 per cent.) — the least skilled work — and only about 30 per cent. Were power machine operators. For the most part these operators were doing the coarser work on middies, overalls, and house dresses, but in a few of the better shops they were making georgette waists, *In considering the adequacy of wages, it is necessary to con sider them in the light of the purchasing power of the dollar. In 1914 the Consumers' League estimated that $8,53 was the minimum amount that would support a working woman. According to the Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Department of Labor, May, 1920, the cost of living for Philadelphia had increased 96.49 per cent. from Dec, 1914, to Dec, 1919. The wage data in this study were collected from Oct., 1919, to June, 1920, so it seems fair to use 96.49 per cent, especially as there continued to be increases and not decreases. Therefore, $16.76 was the minimum that would sup port a working girl during the period of this study and all wages should be compared with this. . ! I 14 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS silk dresses and gowns. No men's shirt factories were visited, but some of the workers were interviewed who press and operate in them. When one considers the short time that they have had access to this skilled industry the progress that they have made is sur prising. Of S3 employers who made statements concerning the length of time they had had colored women, 10 had employed them less than one year, 17 for one year, 11 for two years, 6 for three years, 4 for four years, 2 for five years, 1 "off and on" for ten years, and 2 for fifteen years. Furthermore there are records in the Consumers' League office that show that not longer ago than 1912, the subject of colored women entering the shirtwaist trade was causing especial concern to the organized workers and to people interested in the welfare of the colored race. At that date there was one shop employing colored women exclusively. Interest in the question centered about these points, the reliability of the colored women, their speed, their accuracy, and a com parison of their wages with wages of white workers. Work records were secured for 54 women in this industry. Twenty-three had been domestics in private homes; an equal number had done no other work; one had been a teacher and the rest had worked in laundries, box factories, printing shops or munition plants. Not more than half had two years of experience in any industry. Some employers are unaware how far the colored have entered industry, and especially their own industry, for as one manager of a prominent shop said, "Why, colored girls have been coming and asking for work as operators just like white girls I" According to the statements made by employers concerning the wages paid to colored workers, 50 per cent, of them received $16 a week or less, the operators averaging $19, the pressers $16, and the trimmers $13. The wages received by the women inter viewed were lower, for the range of wages of the operators was $7 to $39; as a matter of fact, the majority fell between $10 and $20. The median wage was $16 (that is, 50 per cent, received this amount or less). For the trimmers, the wages ranged from $10 to $16 with a median wage of $13, and for the pressers, wages ranged from $7 to $20 with a median of $11. According IN PHILADELPHIA 15 to these workers the median wage was $13, contrasted with the employers' median of $16, and only 35 per cent, received $16 or more, as contrasted with the employers' estimate of 50 per cent. If the wages are considered on a yearly basis they are even less, for this industry is seasonal and the workers, are usually out of employment or on part time work eight weeks during the year. In abnormal times the slack period may be even longer, as it has been since January 1 of this year; most of the girls have been out of work from three to six months, and there is now little prospect that work will be resumed before another three months. The majority of the operators and pressers are paid on a piece work scale, while almost all of the trimmers are paid by the week. Twenty-three of 64 employers interviewed were entirely sat isfied with their colored employees, 16 thought them "slow," "careless," "lazy," or "unreliable," 5 considered them "inferior to the white workers," 7 were satisfied with those they had, but did not care to employ more or to try them in other depart ments, 2 employed them on one process, but had found them inefficient on others, and 11 were satisfied with the quality of their work, but found them unsatisfactory in other respects, prin cipally in regularity of attendance. This fault was so often men tioned by employers in other industries as well that it will be discussed in a later page in connection with the general record of colored girls as industrial workers, but it might be said here that the garment industry itself is notorious for irregularity of employment, holding one of the most prominent places in the list of industries described as "seasonal." Closely related to the garment industry are the embroidery shops, quilt factories, and cap manufacturing establishments, where girls are employed in the same processes — trimming, press ing and operating. In the embroidery shops colored girls are also working as pinners, stampers and hand embroiderers, for which they receive wages ranging from $9 to $12, with an average of only $10. One factory making quilts had employed colored women for the last two years. They were replacing men, who, the employer said, "were too much Bolsheviks, and wanted more money and shorter hours." These women were getting from $8 to $16. There were 20 operators and 10 finishers. 16 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS ' : In a cap factory three colored girls were found sewing and 'pressing,, work which they had, been doing during the past year. Their wages were $10, $12 and $15 a week. 'Number of Women Interviewed in Garment Trade, their Occupations and Weekly Wages WEEKLY WACES OCCUPATIONS Averages of Weekly Wages According to Occupations Weekly Wtgei Mean . , Median Trlmmon $13 13 Preiien $12 11 "ar iTK*"r r— Oprrttori $16" 16 Note on the Next Five Industries In 1919 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the New York Department of Labor published a special bulletin on "Weekly Earnings of Women in Five Industries" (paper boxes, shirts' and collars, confectionery, cigars and tobacco, and mercantile establishments). In explaining the purpose and scope of this investigation, they said that aside from the general interest in the subject, "there was special occa sion for securing such information just at this time owing to the active movement for minimum wage legislation at the IN PHILADELPHIA . 17 ¦¦*<¦" presenf session of the Legislature. With the question of; the wisdom of such legislation or with argument for or against it, this bulletin does not undertake to deal. The aim is only to afford some substantial, impartial and accurate information as to what women's wages actually are at the present time, which information would seem to be the neces sary background for most intelligent discussion of legislative proposals dealing with the subject." Among the reasons given for selecting these particular five industries was mentioned "to take those in which women's wages are of grades rela tively low rather than high." The present study found colored girls in these rela tively low-paid industries in Philadelphia as the following paragraphs will show. Tobacco* In tobacco factories, colored women have been employed possibly a longer time than in any other industry. Six out of eight factories had had them for nine years or more, and onp factory had employed them so long the managers could not remember just how long — "about seventy years," they thought. The girls are working for the most part on the least skilled process, that of stripping,' which is pulling the midrib from the tobaccq leaf, and is the first step in the manufacture of cigars. While it is the least skilled, it requires considerable dexterity and speedi It is extremely monotonous and is usually done in dark and crowded rooms, where the workers sit on low stools or boxes. Very few white girls do this work, but many colored ; one factory alone employed 175, and in eleven establishments there were 425, They are skillful strippers, and most of the employers say they would not have white women for the work. In one place where both white and colored women work, the colored make more money than the white. Stripping is almost entirely piece work, and the women come and go as they please. When asked how many hours they worked, one foreman said, "Oh, some come in for only seven hours a week." In only two establishments were colored girls employed on other processes; in one, 150 girls were packing *See above "Note on next five industries." 18 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS cigarettes, and in the other, one girl was banding and one pack ing cigars. "Banding," which is pasting the paper band around the cigar, is not skilled work; but "packing," which is sorting the cigars according to shades and placing them in boxes, is an operation that requires some skill and experience. No colored girls were found as "makers," the most skilled process in the industry. During the war they were put on trial in this process in one factory. At the end of two months the experiment was abandoned because, as the manager said, "the girls were too slow in their movements ever to become good makers." It was rather difficult to secure through the investigation information concerning wages in the tobacco trade. According to the statements of 9 employers, the average wage was $18, but the 5 tobacco workers interviewed averaged only $10. In the Monthly Labor Review* for March, 1920, there is published a study of wages and hours in the tobacco industry. Six Phila delphia establishments, with 354 strippers, were covered, showing the average wage as $10.85 a week and the average number of hours worked a week as 42,6. In the factory where the girls packed cigarettes, they were paid better wages and worked in light, well-ventilated quarters and were said to be very satisfactory. No fault was found either with their speed or with the regularity of their attendance. They received from $12 to $16 a week. Department Stores** Most of the larger department stores have had colored girls many years, "ten years at least," said one employment manager. The majority work as maids, cleaners, elevator operators and waitresses, with some as stock girls, wrappers, soda fountain girls, porters and sorters (of packages)— principally, it will be noticed, in capacities in which they do not come in contact with the public. Five of the largest department stores employ about 400 at wages ranging from $8 to $12, with the greatest number receiving $8, $9 and $10. Waitresses are paid from $4 to $6 plus tips, but the girls say that even with tips one seldom averages more than $12 a week. ?Bureau of Labor Statistics, U S. Department of Labor. •?See above "Note on the next five industries." IN PHILADELPHIA 19 Shirts* ' Seven girls were interviewed who were pressers or power machine operators in shirt factories. Their wages ranged from $9 to $33 a week, and averaged $15. However, these included two very experienced operators who made $20 and $33 a week respectively. The remainder averaged only $10 a week. Candy* It was said in one of the largest candy factories which has been employing colored girls since the war, that they now number at least 50 per cent. Thirty-one girls who had worked there or were working there at the time this study was made described conditions. Those who had left complained of wages that were not only low, but lower for colored than for white, of trouble with the white foreman, and of friction between them and the white workers. All complained of insanitary toilets and lack of adequate facilities for washing, dirty conditions in the factory, and insufficient locker space ; some that they were subject to sore hands as a result of working in chocolate without rubber gloves. "Girls come and go frequently," they said, and the ever-present "girls wanted" sign in the window seems to substantiate this criticism. Wage reports were obtained from twenty-one girls now working there. They range from $8 to $13, with only one receiv ing $13, one $12, two $10, thirteen $9, and four $8; only four, therefore, were receiving more than $9. The two girls who were getting $12 and $13 were machine feeders; the others, wrappers, packers, moulders, mixers and machine operators. There seemed to be no policy concerning raises; in fact, few had had them. Six of the girls had worked for one year or more and were still receiving the initial wage, $8 or $9; for only eight had there been a raise. Some complained that they had been promised an increase, but had never received it. Colored girls were found in three small factories as packers, dippers and helpers. One shop employing five colored girls and twice as many white, had three colored girls as helpers, one as a dipper, and one who worked with the candy makers, doing work usually done by a man. In these smaller shops the wages ranged from $9 to $15, with the majority at the lower wages. ?See above "Note on the next five industries." 20 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS Wages in the candy industry are low generally. In "Wages Of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919," a study made by the Women in Industry Service of the United States Department of Labor, it is stated (page 17) that the median weekly wage of 1,246 candy workers was $10.30. In the present study the wages of the colored seem to average even less. Candy making is a seasonal industry, which means that the yearly earnings are less than represented by the weekly statements. Paper Boxes and Paper Novelties* Low wages are also general in the paper box and paper novelty industries. When learners, the girls get from $7 to $10 a week, and when experienced, seldom make more than $14 or $16. The hand work of folding and packing requires little skill, but operating cutting, taping and stitching machines calls for quickness and accuracy, and colored girls were working on all these processes. Two employers interviewed said that they had proved very satisfactory, and one factory employed only colored girls. A novelty shop that makes paper caps and horns employed only colored girls, cutting, covering and pasting. They were not considered so skillful as the white girls whom they had replaced, but as they had been employed only four months, it was rather soon to expect them to have acquired skill. A large lithographing company making calendars, postcards and holiday cards, employs about 25 colored girls and 74 white girls. The white girls tint the cards and operate the presses for the most part, while the colored girls fold and pack the cards, and assist at the presses. The work is easy and pleasant and the conditions are good, but as the wages are only $7 and $8, the employer is continually trying to replenish his labor force. Cleaning and Dyeing Pressing in the cleaning and dyeing establishments has been done by colored women for the last eight or ten years. This is done with a heavy iron and necessitates continuous standing. Six establishments were visited ; five had employed them at least six years, three had employed no white pressers, and in the three ?See above "Note on the next five industries." IN PHILADELPHIA 21 others the majority were colored. In these six establishments 188 women were employed, of whom 77 per cent, were colored. The wages are usually based on piece rates, and range from $10 to $20 a week. Nine women interviewed averaged $15 a week. They said that the work is seasonal and the slack period lasts from October to March, so that they may be out of work as many as six months during the year. Preference is given to colored women in this industry as they are considered the more skillful.Laundries Before the war the colored girls were assigned principally to the mangles, where the freshly washed pieces are passed between two heated rollers. Generally they stand on raised plat forms for this work. With the coming of the war and the exten sive adjustments in industries, opportunities to do the more skilled work were given ; from mangling they advanced to machine ironing, sorting, marking and hand ironing. '* There they have remained to a limited extent, although some of the better laundries either discharged them or so reduced their wages that they were forced to go back to their less skilled work, or to seek employment elsewhere. Seven laundries about which information was secured, employed 310 colored women and 212 white women ; one of these alone having 165 colored out of a total labor force of 200. The wages of 24 laundry workers interviewed ranged from $7 to $13.50, with an average of $10. Nine received this amount and only four a larger wage. They were said to be efficient, though somewhat slower than white girls. Glass and Files In the majority of industries the colored girl has been the marginal worker, the last to be hired and the first to be dis charged. In spite of this, in some instances she has gained a permanent place, especially when she has proved herself supe rior to the worker displaced, as in the glass industry. Boys, from fourteen to sixteen years of age, were formerly employed to open and close the moulds in which the blowers place the hot glass, and to carry the glass, after it has been blown, to the ovens for baking; but colored girls after trial were said to be 22 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS far more reliable and capable and better able to stand the heat than were the boys, and to have better judgment. A few clean glass globes with acid. They seemed to enjoy glass factory work and to be willing to travel long distances to and from the factory. In the same way colored girls were taken on in the file factories. Here they replaced young boys as assistants to the men at the forges, and they were also scraping files. In two glass factories employing 90 and • 30 colored girls respectively, the wage is $12 for a 48-hour week. In a file fac tory employing 50 colored girls on the two processes already mentioned, wages are $12 to $18 for a 53j4-hour week. Jellies and Preserves Preference was shown colored women in the canning fac tory visited, and the same preference was reported to be given in similar establishments because, as was said, "colored women can stand the heat." The season is very short and the hours are long. The wages paid depend upon the amount of work to be done and the labor supply available, and were said to average $12 to $14 a week. Railroads The railroads, offering colored women work that is similar to much of the domestic labor that has been their lot almost entirely, have employed them for a number of years, mostly as car cleaners — sweeping, mopping, washing woodwork and win dows, and polishing metal fixtures. Recently they have advanced them to the position of linen clerk, in which they received soiled linen from the Pullmans, count it, keep record sheets, and bundle it for the laundry; and when it cOmes from the laundry, count and apportion it for each. Wage information was obtained from the union and also from the workers; linen clerks are paid about $95 a month, car cleaners, 45 cents an hour, or an average of $20 to $22 a week. About 50 women are employed for the latter work, and of these very few are not colored. The work is hard and dirty, and takes the car cleaners out about the rail yard in getting to and from cars and the central office; but the wages and hours (eight-hour day) are good, which is probably a cause for the colored workers' regularity in this trade. Of nine women interviewed, three had . IN PHILADELPHIA 23 done this work for one year, three -for two years, two ior three years, and the other did not state for how long. Arsenal After the need for production in the garment department of the Arsenal had passed, some of the colored women were trans ferred to the cot salvage department. Here they proved them selves very efficient examining the cots, and recommending and making the necessary repairs. All of this is done standing and most of it is heavy and noisy carpentry. Metal joints and broken parts of the framework are removed and new joints and parts substituted. This had been men's work, but the colored women seem well satisfied. They like the standards of the arsenal — eight- hour day and an initial wage of $2.50 a day with regular increases (after six months the wage is $2.50 with a compound bonus which makes it $3.26). There are separate lunch rooms, lockers and toilets for the colored. Knitting — Sweaters and Hosiery Knitting mills have only recently accepted colored girls and even now they seldom employ them on any operations except the least skilled. In one hosiery mill there are 30 colored girls; some press the stockings by fitting them on steam-heated forms, others match, pair and stamp them. This is all piece work and the girls average from $7 to $20, in a 54-hour week. One girl interviewed had worked two months as a presser and was mak ing from $12 tp $15 a week. A large sweater mill, employing about 250 women, intro duced colored girls as an experiment during the war and found them so satisfactory that it has retained about 50 girls for hand- machine sewing. The wage for a learner is $6 a week, and in addition she is paid the regular piece work rates ; the week rate is decreased as the worker increases her piece work until she works entirely on a piece rate basis. The wages range from $7 to $18 with the majority receiving the lowest figures. Another mill making the same product has a total labor force of about 60 women, of whom half are colorefl. It has employed them for the last five years as hand sewers, menders, button sewers, machine sewers and operators. Twenty are con- 24 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS sidered to be efficient and reliable and to compare favorably with the white workers, but the employer expressed an opinion that it would probably be necessary to try out an additional hundred in order to secure ten more good workers. He believed that the industry had not been. opened to them long enough to produce experienced workers, but, as his best colored operators had .proved so successful, he was willing to train others. The girls in this factory seemed to appreciate this employer, and one said, "Conditions in the factory arc splendid, and as for the employer, he is so kind you wouldn't know he was white." The initial wage was paid by the week and was only $8 ; at the end of two weeks the girls were put on piece work. A third sweater factory with 100 women employees has col ored women workers as follows: 7 as winders, 13 as machine sewers, 2 as examiners, and 7 as operators. Two of the operators ¦ who have had ten months' experience average $18 a week. Elevators The public is generally aware that, since the war, colored girls have been employed in great numbers as elevator operators in stores, apartment houses and office buildings. The median weekly wages according to records in employment agencies is $10. This was corroborated by the two girls interviewed. Restaurants and Hotels The public is also doubtless aware that colored girls are employed in great numbers as maids and cleaners in stores, the atres and hotels, and as waitresses, cooks and pantry girls in hotels and restaurants. The maids and cleaners interviewed received from $8 to $13 a week. The wages of the waitresses, cooks and pantry girls were hard to estimate because of the tips received and the meals furnished.* One girl who worked five hours a day received $4.50 a week and two meals, and with her tips she averaged from $16 to $20 a week; another received $8 a week and three meals for ten hours' work. Eleven girls who worked in restaurants and hotels averaged $10 a week, including tips, and received either two or three meals a day. ?It is to be noted that the Minimum Wage Board in the District of Columbia has ignored tips in setting a wage for workers in hotels and restaurants. Tips are too irregular to be depended upon to cover the minimum essential cost of living. IN PHILADELPHIA 25 Waste, Overgaiters, Buttons, Pickles, Millinery Trimmings, Textiles, Bakeries and Private Dressmaking Sorting rags and feeding picker machines in waste mills, sewing buttons on overgaiters, operating button covering machines in button factories, cutting pickles in a pickle factory, winding ribbons and braid, and making ornaments in a millinery trimming shop, sorting pieces of cotton goods in a textile fac tory, cleaning and greasing pans in a bakery, and assisting in private dressmaking were other occupations in which they were found. One waste mill had about 30 colored and no white girls. The only definite information that the Consumers' League has con cerning the wages in this industry was secured during the war; at that time all women's wages were supposedly high, but in thir teen of these factories the wages for white and colored ranged only from $7 to $16.50 a week, with the colored on picker machines receiving $11. The girls who worked in the overgaiter factory were said by the employer to start at $8 a week; the button factory girls received from $7 to $8 a week; the pickle cutters $1 for every barrel ful cut, and two barrels a day was the record of a woman with seven years' experience. In a large establishment manufacturing millinery trimming, where about 50 women were employed, there were 25 colored women as helpers. They wound braid and ribbon on board forms, and, in the busy season, made ornaments and sewed braid. There was a flat wage of $12 to $14 a week, according to information secured from the employer, but according to the girls, in the busy season they were put on piece work and could make from $12 to $20. One bakery employing 50 girls had 15 colored to clean pans, put icing on cakes, grease pans, and lift heavy pans in the baking room — work to which white women objected, as the employer said. They were started at $12 a week. One colored girl interviewed, assisted in a dressmaking establishment at $3 a day. Note In considering the employment of colored women and in planning for the future, it might be helpful to note that 8 26 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS of the 190 girls interviewed during this study were working as typists, stenographers, clerks or bookkeepers, with an average weekly wage of $11. One bank, owned and operated by colored people, employs them as stenographers and clerks. With the withdrawal of men tellers for war service, women were secured and proved so successful that they have been retained. Colored women are acting as ushers and ticket sellers in theatres. From January, 1915, to June, 1919, 81 colored girls grad-. uated from the Philadelphia Normal School for Girls — of these, 63 were assigned to Philadelphia schools as teachers, and in November, 1919, 56 of them were still serving. It is not uncommon to find colored women conducting busi nesses for themselves ; they manage small stores, run dressmaking establishments and hairdressing parlors. To the better educated colored girls "nursing" is one of the few professions open. Two Philadelphia hospitals that are maintained for the colored people have colored nurses and the doctors report that they "are for tunate in having excellent ones." Some social work among col ored people is now being carried on by trained colored women. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND THE COLORED WORKER The American Federation of Labor has gone on record in respect to the colored worker.. In June, 1919, in Atlantic City, at their annual convention, they voted to open the doors of all labor organizations to the colored. It is to be noted that hitherto they had often been discriminated against, and that they had had to plead for recognition. One colored worker is reported to have said on the convention floor : "If you can take in immigrants who cannot speak the Enghsh language, why can't you take in the Negro, who has been loyal to you from Washington to the battlefields of France." In the convention of 1920, held in Montreal, the Federation again discussed the question. Apparently some local unions were still opposed to the application of the principle adopted in 1919, Three industries open to colored women, the Arsenal, the railroads and the garment trades, stand out as having good con ditions, opportunities for advancement, or good wages. These have collective bargaining. Recognition of the right of its IN PHILADELPHIA 27 employees throughout the country to organize is given by the United States Government, and is expressed in the Federal Employees' Union. The colored arsenal workers, therefore, have the right to collective bargaining. They are not affiliated with their union, but they work under the same conditions as those who are. The colored railroad workers are 100 per cent, organ ized, and belong to the Railroad Coach and Car Cleaners' Local No. 16702, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. This is composed almost wholly of colored, and the officers are colored men ahd women. The garment industries have strong organizations and they admit colored. Shirt workers belong to the Amalgamated Cloth ing Workers of America, which is not affiliated with the Ameri can Federation of Labor, and the others, to Local No. 15 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. During the war one local reported that colored women were in 50 per cent, of its shops. However, it cannot be said that any large percentage of these women are union members; only 14 of the 54 inter viewed by the Consumers' League were. Sixteen of these 54 women worked in union shops and averaged $19 a week; 38 worked in non-union shops and averaged $13. Unquestionably those in union shops fared better as to wages. The feeling on the part of the union that the unorganized colored are undercutting them and are undermining their attain ments in the trade in general, is borne out by the many instances of the colored used to break strikes and to displace union girls. One employer admitted he had secured all colored workers "because the white girls go out on strike so often." The girls in his shop are averaging" $6 a week less than those in union shops. On their part, the colored realize that they frequently get their jobs because of these conditions. The pressers, in a factory where all the operators were union members, wanted to affiliate with the union. When the foreman overheard their plans, he threatened to discharge them if they did, and to give their jobs to white girls. One girl continued to agitate for collective bar gaining and was told not to return for work. The union, how ever, compelled the employer to reopen her job to her. There still lurks in the minds of some colored women a suspicion of the union's insincerity, for, as one girl said, "They 28 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS never ask us to join except when they want to strike ;" and there is always the fear that they may not receive justice in the union. Furthermore, they realize that much of the social intercourse coming through the organization and supplying necessary recrea tion to the workers, is either not open to them, or, if open, holds no inducements. On the whole, however, there is approval of the union, for it is recognized as the only means of protection against low wages, long hours, and particularly against differences in the wage scales. All of the women interviewed not only knew about unionism, but held opinions either for or against, and were ready with their reasons to support their opinions. A few of the girls were not aware that the unions were open to them. Those girls who were members appreciated the protection of the union, the increase in wages they had received, and the opportunity to be on an equal footing with the white girls in regard to wages. Only two girls made complaints — one that the union gave "all show to the white girls," and another that "the union did not help," because since she joined she had not been able to make more than $12.50 a week and "that is not a living wage." One woman was a most enthusiastic union member and thought that every colored girl should join; she herself had organized several shops for the union. Some of the organized girls felt that the unions might do more successful work if they approached the colored girls in the trade through colored organ izers and if they delegated colored chairladies for colored workers, THE COLORED WORKER It is a question how far some of those now in industry can be classified as industrial workers, because they alternate between factory and house work. One girl can be cited as typical of this group. Earning only $7 to $9 a week and paying $6.50 of this for room and board, she was continually running short in her budget. At such times she would return to domestic work and save, eventually seeking factory work again. Then there was the girl who worked in a candy factory for $8 a week, left for a boarding house position at $8 a week and meals, and at the time interviewed had returned to the candy factory, saying she liked a nine and one-quarter hour day, and Saturday afternoons and Sundays off. IN PHILADELPHIA 29 The majority of the industrial workers have come from domestic service, 54 per cent, of those interviewed having done house work at some time; only a few said they would consider going back and this was because they liked receiving room and board which made their real wages higher. An equal number of girls were strongly opposed to domestic work because "the work was too hard," "the wages were so low," and "they work you too hard for no money." One girl said she felt so strongly on the subject that she would rather starve than ever do it again. The majority of the girls did not object to the work itself, but preferred the freedom of the factory, the release from a personal boss, the definite and shorter hours, and the free nights, Sundays and holidays. The latter were given in almost every instance as the reasons for preferring factory work. Budgets The most salient fact emerging from a study of colored women in industry is that with few exceptions they are receiving appallingly low wages. Fifty per cent, of 177 women interviewed received $10 a week or less. (Ten who worked in restaurants, and the three who were waitresses in department stores, are omitted because their wages could not be estimated on account of irregular meals given.) Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have followed England and Australia and New Zealand in establishing by law the right of women workers to a wage sufficient to cover the cost of the necessaries of life. The most recent wage set by the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia is $16.50, and applies to women workers (white and colored) in restaurants and hotels and allied industries. Eighty per cent, of the colored women interviewed received less than this amount. Because of the low wages, the Consumers' League was con cerned with what could be done with so little and what was the result. Forty girls were found living away from home, and with only two exceptions, they rented rooms with the privilege of using the kitchen, where they prepared their own food. This is a common practice among the colored ; often several families, some times related, live in one house, each furnishing and preparing its own food in the common kitchen. 30 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS , Thirty-onq -of these girls gave estimates of the amount spent for rent and food. Rents ranged from$l to $3 a Week, and the average and median were $2. This is 65 cents less than the aver age amount asked in 1919 for single rooms for white women, according to information taken from the files of the United States? House Registry Service with regard to rooms costing $3.50. a week and under. The cost of food ranged from $2.50 (one girl insisted that she did not and could not afford to spend more than $2.50 a week for food) to $7.50 a week. The most frequent sum and also the average was $5. Room and board averaged $7, $2.30 less than the amount accepted by the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Conference in 1919-1920 as the minimum allow ance for room and board. For seventy-two girls, who lived at home and who paid a certain amount to the family purse each week, the median amount contributed was $5, and the amounts ranged from $1.50 to $12.50 a week. Twenty-five girls gave no certain amount to the family. They either contributed different -amounts each week, or gave when the family needed it, or put the entire amount into the family pocket book and received room, board, clothes and sun dries (all of which usually exceeded the amount given) in return. Of the married women who did not make a definite con tribution each week, thirteen gave various sums; twelve gave all for family expenses ; five saved their money, putting it in the bank to meet some future emergency, or invested it in a building and loan association ; or used it to help buy a home. It was noticeable that when the women were paid higher wages their standard of living rose accordingly. Twenty-six candy workers, whose wages averaged $9 a week, averaged only $5 a week for room and board, or $4.50 for contributions to the family; those in the laundries, another low paid industry, averaged only $10 a week and paid $5.50 for room and board, or gave $5 a week to the family. On the other hand, fifty-four garment Workers, who received on an average of $15 a week, paid (on an average) $7.50 a week for board and room, or contributed $7 a week to the family. The nine women who worked on the railroad and received $22 a week, paid $8.50 IN PHILADELPHIA 31 a week for their room and board, or gave $9.50 a week to the family. It is an interesting fact that 182 of these girls interviewed carried insurance— only 8 did not — and the majority of the policies were for sickness and accidents. Forty-six per cent. had one policy, 32 per cent, had two, and 14 per cent, had three, 4 per cent, had four, and 5 per cent, had five. The premiums paid ranged from 5 cents to $2.85 a week. Half of the girls paid 38 cents a week or more. Those girls who were receiving low wages and who were forced to economize usually did so by curtailing their expendi tures for food, thereby lowering their vitality. A machine oper ator whose wage averaged $10 a week was living with a brother and a sister and was paying $1.75 a week for rent, and 35 cents a week for insurance. She had been sending her fifteen- year-old son, who could not be kept in school here, to a school in Virginia, for which she was paying $17 a month. Her sister, who earned $17 a week, had been helping her. She said they tried to reduce expenses by cutting down on their food. "We never bother about breakfast, but we eat one or two sandwiches for lunch, and then we get a Httle something to eat when we come home at night." , A girl who had received from $7 to $11.50 in the last year and a half, paid $1.50 for her room and $4 a week for her food, which she herself prepared. When asked what kind of food she had she replied, "Oh, I have lots of bread and tea and coffee," and she found it difficult to think of anything else, Another girl who received $10 a week as a wrapper in a department store, paid $3 a week for her room and was able to get her board for $4 by helping with the housework. Even so she found it impossible to get along if she did. not do extra work at night — she did typewriting at 30 cents an hour as often as her health would permit. With most of the girls the struggle to pay the room rent, board, insurance, and carfare is hard enough, but securing clothes is an even greater problem. The League interviewed a southern girl who had worked four months in a munition factory at $16 to $20 a week when the armistice was signed. An illness wiped 32 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS out her savings that had been intended to pay her railroad fare home, and she found nothing more lucrative than work in an embroidery shop that paid $6 at the start and increased to $11. Her room cost $3 a week, her groceries $5, her insurance 25 cents, and her carfare 60 cents. When new shoes, or new clothes, were bought, she allowed the room rent to lapse for a week, and borrowed extra money from her girl friend (returning it when her friend wished to buy clothes). Purchasing clothes on "store orders" is a method pursued by some girls. Credit for a certain amount of money is bought from an agent. This credit is honored in a long list of stores, and is very expensive — it is reported that as much as $5 is paid for the use of $30. Schooling and Training The colored women have been in industry too short a time, perhaps, to draw conclusions about education on the one hand and progress and opportunities open to them on the other. As will be shown later on, certain vocations are open to them as to others, only on the basis of education. Many take advantage of this and, having acquired the requisite education, become teach ers, nurses, stenographers and typists, and clerks in banks run by the colored. However, the placement of colored girls who have had training is extremely difficult because of the limited numbers of establishments employing colored. This is a deterrent to all, but the most ambitious and persistent, from special training. Of the girls interviewed, 25 per cent, had had high school, normal school, or Southern college training. Twenty-nine per cent, with a majority of them from the south, had never reached the sixth grade. Ninety-nine had gone to school in Philadelphia, and of these 25 per cent, started to work before they were 16. Four girls said they had had courses in domestic science (mostly in high schools), 9 in millinery, and 2 in power machine operating in a trade school. According to records in the office of the Bureau of Com pulsory Education about 40,000 general working certificates and 13,000 vacation working certificates were issued to all children in the last two years. To colored children only 19 general cer tificates — 3 for restaurants, 12 for factories, and 3 for general IN PHILADELPHIA 33 housework — were issued, and 8 vacation certificates — 1 for a store, 1 for a restaurant, and 6 for factories. This small number of certificates issued may be due in part to the general retardation of colored children in the schools.* Many of them do not reach the sixth grade before they are 16 years of age and after that they are not required to secure working certificates. Very few colored children are in the continuation schools where they have an opportunity to continue with their education up to the age of sixteen years while employed. Those girls who had had more than an eighth grade educa tion were found in candy factories, restaurants, laundries, offices, in clerical positions, department stores, on the railroads, and in garment factories, in fact in almost all the industries in which those with less education were employed. Their wages ranged from $7 to $39, but the median wage was only $10. For those who did not go beyond the eighth grade the range of wages was from $6 to $33, also with a median wage of $10. It seems a great pity that more schooling has not repaid with higher wages, and it is suprising that the colored girls continue beyond the required grades in the face of such a discouraging prospect. One girl who had had four years of normal training and who had taught school for three years in another state found employment in a candy factory at $7 a week. At the end of two years she was making $10. Another girl, 23 years old, with three years high school training was working in a laundry for $10. Other examples of like nature could be cited. Some, not all, of the trade schools of the city are closed to colored ; but few colored girls have taken advantage of those which are open to them. In the Philadelphia Girls' Trade School, in 1919; 13 out of the 157 students in the day school are colored; 9 are taking the elementary dressmaking course; 2, the power machine operating course ; and 2, the intermediate and advanced ?According to a paper written by Daniel A. Brooks, Principal, Reynolds-Gratz School and published in the Christian Recorder for Thursday, October 2, 1919, 'Tour times as many are doing the work of special classes as normal children would be, or putting it in an other way, wc are found to place four times a normal number of children in the backward classes. For the city, the grammar pupils arc 70 per cent, of the number of primary pupils; for the colored children the grammars are only 44 per cent." 34 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS dressmaking course. In this school there has also been a night class in power machine operating for colored girls who are em ployed during the day. An industrial school for colored, with an enrollment of 130 girls, offers courses in dressmaking, plain sewing, needlework, tailoring, printing, stenography and academic work. Recently a hosiery company has installed knitting machines here and instruc tion is given to about forty girls. A small weekly wage is paid. How She Finds Employment In comparison with the opportunities of white women in industry, those of the colored are very limited. Out of the long lists in the advertisements of the newspaper columns, only those places are open to them that specifically say so, and sometimes for days and days none will be so listed. Of those who stated how their positions were obtained, 63 per cent, obtained their jobs, or heard about them, through other employees ; 29 per cent, answered advertisements in the paper and only 1 per cent, had obtained posi tions through an agency. The following table will explain more in detail : Positions obtained All Through Employees Advertisements " Sign oh factory. " Trade School .. " Union Agency Civil Service . . . Not stated Number 190 8941 4 1 32 1 49 Conditions in Factories in Which She is Working No general statement can be made about the character of the factories open to colored women. It is unfortunately true that there are many buildings that are old, poorly lighted, and poorly constructed, and have narrow hallways and stairs. In these build ings it is not uncommon to find poor ventilation, insanitary toilets, and no provision for dressing rooms. Formerly, the most recent immigrants found work in these until better opportunities came along and they moved on, to be replaced by others less fortunate IN PHILADELPHIA 35 than they. The colored have been among the less fortunate in recent years. They are ready, however, to join those in pursuit of higher standards of working conditions, just as soon as the oppor tunity presents itself, for they are very conscious of the differences between these shops and better ones, and they talk about the sub ject and bring it up for discussion when gathered together in their meetings. On the other hand, some of the newest and most up-to-date factories are employing colored women. The fifty-four garment factories visited were rated as follows: Sixteen were superior; twenty-six, average; eight, rather inferior, and four, inferior. Some of the tobacco factories were crowded into old build ings, with poor seating accommodations and with much tobacco lying about to be stripped. A candy factory referred to in this study, had conditions that were objectionable enough to convince one that if the health and comfort of the workers is not important enough for the community to be concerned about, at least the product which is for consumption should be — some of these condi tions were insanitary toilets, lack of proper and adequate washing facilities, the substitution of petticoats for towels, and the custom of returning chocolate, dropped onto the floor, to the vats for further use. Aside from the health hazards existing in insanitary factories, there is this added harm to colored women in general who must work — it is almost impossible to open up new opportunities of work in the same neighborhood. Poor factories attract, or at least hold, a poor type of worker, and the impression created by these girls seems to affect the minds of the neighboring employers to such an extent that they are not willing to offer colored women opportunities. Perhaps this point can be made clearer by a defi nite illustration: A manager with a good plant was asked by a colored employment agency to try augmenting his depleted force with colored women, but he positively refused to consider the proposition on the ground that he had seen enough for himself. As a matter of fact, he had seen the poor grade girls who work in a most undesirable plant. The garment factories that are organized have a forty-four- hour week, and some of them concentrate this time into five days a week; unorganized shops work longer. The railroad and 36 COLORED WOMEN A8 INDUSTRIAL WORKERS arsenal workers have an eight-hour day. Pennsylvania still has al fifty- four-hour law, and many of the other industries worked to the limit allowed by law. It is to be. noted that in seeking for causes of labor turnover, the girls very often said "the hours are too long." Health In considering the colored women as workers in this first study of the subject, the Consumers' League thinks it advisable to call attention to the report of the Health Insurance Commission of Pennsylvania, 1919, pp. 59 and 60. In a section captioned, "Extent of Sickness by Color, Race and Location," it says: "The negro population has a higher sickness rate than the white, according to available evidence. Since negroes from the south are at present migrating to Pennsylvania in large numbers, this means the possibility of a great increase in the sickness problem of the state, particularly during the period of acclimation when pre-disposition to disease is markedly > shown "Three of the seven districts covered by the Philadelphia Survey were inhabited mainly by negroes, and, while the average sickness rate found in the survey was 4.28 per cent., the rates in these districts were 4.45, 9.20 and 3.87 per cent., ,t respectively. The abnormal rate of 9.30 was in a district of negroes fresh from the south, receiving low wages and livirg under crowded, insanitary conditions. Dr. Miller, who had the survey in charge, felt that unless drastic measures to improve the health conditions were taken in this neighbor hood, there was danger of an epidemic which might menace the city. ' "If we consider mortality statistics as an indication of the extent of sickness, the same high rate among negroes appears. In 1916 the death rate in Pennsylvania from all causes was 14.3 per 1,000 white persons as against 23.6 for the colored population. "The rate among negroes in the cities was about IS per cent, higher than among those in the rural districts. Analyzed by diseases, the greatest differences appear in organic heart disease, pneumonia and tuberculosis in all its forms, where the rates for the colored are more than double those for the white population. Tuberculosis of the lungs, for instance, had a rate in 1916 of 105. 0 per 100,000 for the white population, but a rate of 389.3 for the colored. Other forms of tuberculosis showed rates of 7.7 vs. 16.3 and 9.4 vs 25.8, more than twice the rate for the white population in each case. Communicable diseases, diabetes, cancer and suicide are apparently slightly less frequent among the colored than among the white. "The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company made for the Commission a special compilation of claim-rates in Pennsyl vania among Industrial Policy Holders, classifying the in sured by color, over a period of three years— 1915, 1916, 1917. Rates are given for twenty-six localities in the state, in addi- IN PHILADELPHIA 37 tion to fourteen districts in Philadelphia and four in Pitts burgh. In practically every instance, the' rates are from 50 to 100 per cent, higher for the colored than for the white policy-holders. Por the entire state the claim rates were 12.4 for the white, in 1917, and 15.7 for the colored. . . These claim rates, of course, must be viewed in the light of varying sex and age characteristics of the several groups, and of the degree to which the company has developed its Nursing- Service in the district. "Examining tlie claim rates by cause of death, the same differences appear as are evident from the general mortality statistics of the state. Deaths from typhoid fever, tubercu losis, and pneumonia, show decidedly higher rates for the colored, while communicable diseases, cancer, cerebral hem orrhage and external causes are somewhat lower." CRITICISMS BY EMPLOYERS As has been pointed out, colored women workers have run the gamut of criticism from "satisfactory" to "incompetent," con cerning the quality of work done. However, on the railroads, i where the colored have been employed for many years, very few white women are employed ; the garment industry is anxious to have experienced workers or people whom it can train ; in cer tain processes in cleaning and dyeing, and in making cigars colored women are employed almost exclusively ; and many establishments which employed them as an experiment are retaining them as a permanent force. In some factories judgments of "stubborn," "lazy," "indifferent" and "slow" have been passed. Many employers reported that colored workers needed more instruction and more careful supervision than white girls, and, as one, who ;was well satisfied with his colored workers, said, "one must be willing to teach a colored girl, not once, but several times." Another reported it difficult to train colored girls because they were so apt to take offense at correction, thinking they were : being corrected merely because they were colored. Several com plained that colored girls were lacking in ambition, and, there fore, did not make speedy workers, and for this reason they were put on piece work, so that the responsibility for making good wages was left to them. One, who employed during the war about twice as many colored girls as he now has, said, "Most of the colored girls did abominable work, and only because of the stress of war did their work pass — and some of the girls made as much as $40 a week." He felt that making the readjustments which would 38 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS result in better work and in wages more commensurate with the grade of work, would be difficult. But the most general criticism is that the colored women are irregular. "They are late in getting to work"; "they do not come to the factory every day"; and "they do not stay long in any factory." A garment manufacturer had on his force a col ored girl who had been with him three years, and who, in that time, had never worked a full week, although she had been offered, in addition to her $20 wage, a bonus of $1 a week if she did so. "Their work is all right, but I cannot rely upon them," said another. "I may have some special work to get out on Saturday morning and not a presser [he had six] will show up. Monday morning, when I ask them why they didn't come, one will say, 'I had to do my marketing for Sunday' ; another, 'I had to buy a hat,' and another, 'I had to do my washing.' " Once an employer reported that although he had more colored than white, and he found the grade of their work satisfactory, he con sidered it necessary to employ two white girls who could operate any machine, so that absences among the colored workers would not interfere with continuous processes. Among the other reasons given by the employers for this irregularity were the following: "They stay out two or three days a week to do 'day's work' to make more money" ; "the mar ried women [and there is a large percentage in this class] stay out to do their own house work" ; "the colored women are content to live on their earnings of a few days, if they are paid well"; and "sickness." * These shortcoming are in no sense to be overlooked, but it does seem that in justice to the workers a word should be said about the peculiarities of operation and management in many of the industries employing colored. For instance, these industries are themselves irregular; they are "seasonal" in character; they have regular periods of great activity and then regular periods of slackness or no work whatever. This is particularly true in the garment industries, in cleaning and dyeing, and in the manu facture of candy. While this study was in progress, some gar- *On this point, see Section V. The Colored Worker— Health, for an abstract from Report of the Health Insurance Commission of Pennsylvania, 1919, pp. 59 and 60. IN PHILADELPHIA 39 ment shops had been closed five months, some four and three months, and some had only part-time work each week for several months. The workers interviewed corroborated the state ment made in the report on "Wages of Candy Makers in Phila delphia," that this industry has one slack period after Christmas and another in summer. How far then are occupations that are "seasonal" in char acter responsible, if not for the irregularity of workers, at least for a lack of appreciation of regularity. ARE THE COLORED GETTING A SQUARE DEAL? The colored complain most frequently of the difference in wage scales for the white and colored employees, and in many cases their complaints are well founded. In one candy factory the colored girls are started at $8 and $9, and the white girls at $9 and $10, and the colored girls are given the harder and more unpleasant work to do. A white investigator, who worked in the factory, was told by a forelady, "The colored girls start at $8 a week ; of course, they wouldn't pay a white girl that." That same difference seems to exist with raises, for some colored girls who have been there a year and a half are still receiving the initial wage, while the investigator received a raise of $1 a week on the second day. The manager of a large lithographing establishment, that was greatly in need of labor, stated that the initial wage was $10 a week. But the colored girls who applied for positions there were offered $7. When the employer was questioned concerning the discrepancy in wages he stated that that was the wage paid to white girls and he really was not aware of the amount paid to colored girls, although in one department they were doing the same work. He said he was ready to assure any colored girl that her wages would be rapidly increased if she showed a willingness to stay. And yet one of his colored girls interviewed started at $7 a week and did not receive a raise until three months later, and then she had to ask for it ; another worked five months before her wage was increased to $9. A white girl who started at $10 was given a raise of $1 after two weeks. Colored girls had worked for months as assistants <$) COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS :to the press feeders, .but when a vacancy came as press feeder, a white g-'rl who had been there only a few! weeks was given the .job. The employer apparently did not realize that there might be any connection between this and the exceedingly high turnover among his colored labor, and the continual friction between the white and colored in his shop. A large department store replaced white girls, receiving $12.50 a week, by colored girls at $10 a week, in spite of the fact that the head of this store took time to come into the work room to shake the girls' hands, and to assure them they were doing their work quite as efficiently as their predecessors. One employer, when asked if his colored workers were as satisfactory as his white workers, said, "Oh, yes, even more so, for white women would not have the patience to sit there and work for as little as they [the colored] are paid." Few firms are as willing to admit the difference in wages, as was the laundry that, applying to an employment agency for colored women, wrote, "Girls without any laundry experience are paid as follows to start: white girls, $12 up per week; colored girls, $9 to $10 per week." ' Other unfair distinctions are said to be made; for instance, j'they-are often given the oldest and hardest machines to operate; they are not permitted to do piece work,- which would increase their earnings ; they are not allowed to work after they haVe earned a certain amount; in one case they have to go downstairs for their materials, while the white girls have materials brought to them; they have poorer workroom conditions and sanitary provisions; they have the darker and more poorly ventilated section,, the smallest locker space, the worst sanitary provisions; and they are discriminated against in the matter of rest rooms. A laundry that employs 165 colored women and 35 white women has a large rest room for the white and a small one for the colored, and some factories that have rest rooms for the white have none for the colored. On the first point a girl who had been making $11.50 a week testified that when she was given a better machine, making pos sible an increase of $5.50 in her earnings, the white girls objected and the employer moved her back to her old machine. Another girl complained that when new machines were bought they were IN PHILADELPHIA "' <¦ 41 given to white girls and the discarded machines' were transferred to the colored working in another building belonging to the same employer. WILL THE COLORED AND WHITE WORK TOGETHER? To the employer who is introducing colored labor, one of the most important questions is, will the white and the colored work side by side ? They have heard rumors, or they have been told something that leads them to question. Perhaps the story reached them of the knitting mill that was in dire need of workers during the war and brought a government official to state the need and to ask for the approval of the workers to admit the colored. -As the story was given to the writer at the time, no complaints were heard and the official departed, thinking the men and women were willing to work with the colored. They were not, as a matter of fact, and said so very plainly, and no colored were employed. It should be added that this neighbor hood once had been the scene of an unfortunate strife between white and colored. As might be expected, the testimony of the employers was contradictory. Some said their white employees would not work in the same room, on the same floor, or in the same factory with colored girls ; yet other employers reported that white and colored worked together and that there had been no trouble. The working arrangements in fifty-four garment shops were studied. In two, colored only were employed; in twenty- four, the white and colored girls worked together; and in twenty-nine, they were separated. The reasons given for the separation were, in fifteen cases, that they were not doing the same kind of work and were necessarily placed in different parts of the shop ; in twelve, that the white girls refused to work with the colored ; and in two, that it would avoid trouble. Some firms which have had colored or which now employ only one or two to do the least skilled work, or to do cleaning, reported that they would not employ colored again, or that they would not employ more, because it ;was. impossible to secure the best class of white girls if they had colored. Many employers 42 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS who tried colored and white girls together, have now separated them and find that the friction is eliminated, in this way. An employer who had colored and white girls working together with no trouble find it advisable to have separate dress ing rooms, "Because," he said, "if anything is missing the white girls are certain to blame it on the colored girls." "When the colored girls first came I had to be continually on the job to settle disputes," said one man ; "now I have no trouble." He said he had taken pains to prevent friction from the very first. Not only are colored and white working side by side, but in a small candy factory white girls were found working under the direction of a colored forelady. The manager said the white girls rather objected at first, until he explained that she was the only one who knew all the processes and it was necessary to have some one who could teach the others. No trouble was expe rienced after that. The almost unanimous opinion among employers is that where colored workers are in a department by themselves the most satisfactory arrangement is to have a colored rather than a white forewoman. The fact that colored and white girls are working side by side is proof conclusive that they can do it. A great deal depends upon the manner in which they are introduced, whether they are brought in as equal workers or whether, as the girls suspect, they come as possible undercutters ; and upon the attitude of the employers toward them. Discrimination on the part of the employers means antagonism on the part of the employees. RECOMMENDATIONS A.— For Workers 1. Since the criticism is made with apparent justification that colored women are irregular in getting to work on time and in working a full week, effort should be made to correct these faults if the colored people expect to enjoy equal opportunities in industry with the white. 2. Workers should try to ascertain conditions within an establishment before working there, especially sanitary and wage conditions. IN PHILADELPHIA 43 3. Since higher wages and better hours seem to prevail in shops having collective bargaining, it would seem wise to endeavor to work in union shops, and to affiliate with the organization. B. — For Employers 1. To those employing colored workers it is recommended that they make no discrimination solely on account of color, but allow them equal pay for equal work, and as good machines, sanitary facilities and opportunities for advancement as the white workers of the same grade. 2. To those contemplating employing them, it is recom mended that they should not judge all colored workers by those who work in factories of the poorest sort. C. — For Organizations, Public and Private 1. The Consumers' League especially begs consideration of the section of this study bearing on the sickness record of the colored, as given by the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Commis sion, and recommends that a program be formulated for the improvement of the health of the colored population. 2. It calls attention to the need for raising the standard of education among the colored. 3. Since 50 per cent, of the women interviewed for this study received $10 a week or less, while the amount necessary to cover the essential cost of living for a single woman has been variously estimated at from $8.53, in 1914, to $16.76, in 1919, and since thirteen states and the District of Columbia have pre vented such impossible situations by legislation, the Consumers' League recommends that the next Pennsylvania Legislature enact a Minimum Wage Law. 4. The interest in the progress that colored women are mak ing is great enough to suggest that it would be most desirable to have the United States Department of Labor make a compre hensive report for the United States. APPENDIX Containing Tables and Schedules 46 COLORED WOMEN AS INDUSTRIAL WORKERS Schedules of Factories and Women by Industries INDUSTRIES All Garment Caps Quilts , Embroideries , Tobacco , Department Stores Candy Paper boxes and paper novelties Cleaning and dyeing Laundries Glass Files , Jellies and preserves Railroads Arsenal Knitting Elevators , Restaurants, etc Waste Overgaiters Buttons Pickles Millinery trimmings , Textiles Bakeries Private dressmaking Clerks All 298 118 1 2 6 14 17 28 9 15 25 3 2 1 9 3 10 2 14 2 111 3 1 11 8 NUMBER Factory 108 64 1 1 1 95 2 4 6 1 2 Women 190 54 1 5 5 12 26 5 9 24 1 1 9 2 6 2 IN PHILADELPHIA 47 Weekly Wages Received by Women Interviewed* WEEKLY WAGES All $6 and under $7. , 7 " " 8., 8 " " 9.. 9 " " 10., 10 " " 11.. 11 " " 12.. 12 " " 13. 13 " " 14. 14 " " 15., 15 " " 16. 16 " " 17. Number of women re- , celvlng each wage 177 1 4 17 2642 8 1313 8 4 5 WEEKLY WAGES 17 and under 18. 1819 2021222324 25273339 19. 20.21.22.23. 24. 25. 26.28.34.40. Number of women re ceiving each wage 684 5 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 Median Weekly Wage $10.00 Ten who worked in restaurants, and three who worked in de partment stores as waitresses are omitted. School Grades Completed by Women Interviewed GRADES All 1st ...... 2d 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th Number of Women who completed each grade 190 1 24 13 16 22 26 GRADES 8th 1st year high school 2d 3d " 4th • Normal College (Southern). Grade not stated .. Number of women who completed each grade 48 11 9 1313 6 4 2 -¦u«prr'»raaf «jmipw^Tw»w wnwn J'WWWWimhimw ¦*»'»(« AGR INTERVALS Ages of Women Interviewed AGR INTERVALS i f i • I i < All 16 and under 17 1718 19 2021 22 23 18. 19.., 20.., 21... 22.., 23.., 24, Number nf women ot each ago 190 5 1517 17 18 12 1312 24 and under 25,, 2530 354045 50 to 293439..44..49.. 54.. Age not stated Number of women at each age 8 29 2513 3 1 1 1 v;> w ,j D Q WDC oco > Oho 2 Al SI'. U'J. 'A. i * - i r , 1 I ¦¦¦t i _ 0 1 «i "5 II ¦o 'S o "8 2 a ¦ •rg 21 a: 5 (J 0 s b "t c o .3 s . 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