were reported by sixteen laundries, as contrasted with 184 in all Chicago
laundries in 1910, gives evidence of an increase in the number of Negro
women in this field proportionately much greater than the increase in
Negro population in Chicago in the same decade. The opportunity to work
in a laundry was practically denied to Negro women until labor shortage
forced laundry owners to tap this reserve labor supply. Negro women were
eager to desert work as domestic servants and "family washer-women,"
with the social stigma and restricted human contact involved, to enter
laundries where more independence was possible, hours were better
standardized, and association with fellow-workers enlivened the work
day. The employment department of the Urban League experienced great
difficulty in supplying the demand for domestic servants and laundresses
in the home, but had no difficulty in filling openings in laundries.
The work of Negro women in this field has proved satisfactory except
in a few establishments. Of the twenty laundries which reported Negro
labor satisfactory or unsatisfactory (included in Table XXVI), four
failed to report separate figures covering male and female employees.
Of the remaining sixteen establishments, twelve, with a total of 409
Negro women, reported Negro labor satisfactory, and four with a total
of 134 Negro women, reported Negro labor unsatisfactory. The complaint
in two instances was unwillingness to work overtime and on Sundays. In
both these instances the employees interviewed complained that hours
were long (nine-hour day) and the treatment by the management harsh and
inconsiderate.
Laundries which did not make a practice of requiring overtime and Sunday
work found Negro women workers cheerful, loyal, and industrious. The
employees interviewed in these establishments expressed satisfaction
with working conditions and with hours.
One efficiently managed laundry, employing seventy-six Negro women and
six Negro men, out of a total of 110 employees, reported: "We have a
number of exceptionally good and loyal Negro employees. These men and
women need very little supervision. We got some who have never worked
in industries. They require more supervision and are not very steady.
On the whole, we are well pleased with our Negro employees."
_Sewing-machine operators and sewers._--Denial of opportunity to enter
the sewing trades is evidenced by the small number of Negro women listed
in the 1910 census as sewers and sewing-machine operators in factories,
the number being twenty-five. That this exclusion was not because of any
natural inaptitude for sewing is indicated by the fact that the 1910
census listed 867 Negro women as seamstresses not in factories. Negro
women have entered millinery work and proved apt hand workers; they have
also proved efficient sewing-machine operators in the manufacture of
automobile cushions. The lampshade manufacturers employed Negro women
as hand sewers and found them to be efficient workers. The clothing
establishments which reported Negro women workers found them satisfactory
machine and hand workers, with the exception of one apron factory which
complained that they are shiftless, often unreasonable, and do not stick
to the job. An investigation of this establishment by the Urban League
disclosed the following facts: The shop was located in a shabby-looking,
unclean store, inadequately heated by a coal stove. The work day was
nine and one-half hours, and piece rates on several operations were so
low that it was impossible to earn a decent wage. In this case the large
labor turnover was evidently a healthy protest against poor working
conditions.
[Illustration: NEGRO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN A LARGE HAT-MAKING CONCERN
This shop has been partitioned for the accommodation of Negro women
workers. The workshop is unattractive and the lighting extremely poor
for the character of work required.]
_Other industries._--Three paper-box-making plants employing Negro
women were investigated. They reported that Negro women had proved
unsatisfactory, either slow or lazy. The experience of a cheese factory
is worth noting in this connection. Because Negro women appeared to be
slow at their work it was decided to measure their tasks. It was then
found that many were doing as well as and some better than the white
girls in whose places they were working.
Whether such tests had ever been made in the box-making plants does
not appear. The employees interviewed in one box factory complained of
low wages and no chance for advancement. Negro women in this plant were
averaging only $2.40 a day. A cooperage company reported fifteen women
stave carriers and fifteen machine operators. Negro labor in this plant
was reported satisfactory. Negro women in the garage of a taxicab company,
cleaning automobiles, have shown themselves not afraid of hard work;
100 Negro women were reported working in this capacity. Negro women as
Pullman-car cleaners have also proved satisfactory.
Before the war Negro women were popularly thought of as a class of
servants unfitted by nature for work calling for higher qualifications.
It is difficult to say how long this popular misconception might have
survived had it not been for the labor shortage which forced employers
to experiment with Negro women workers and to learn with surprise that
they were as teachable as white women and became as efficient workers
after receiving the necessary training.
IV. INDUSTRY AS THE NEGRO SEES IT
1. ATTITUDE TOWARD INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES
In order to learn the attitude of the Negro toward his work, and his
special problems, including the treatment accorded him by foremen and
by fellow-workers, 865 Negro employees were interviewed by a Negro
investigator at their work or at home. Less than 1 per cent of those
interviewed complained of disagreeable treatment by white workers.
Approximately one-half had no complaints to make about conditions of
work. On the contrary, they expressed themselves as being glad of the
opportunity to work and earn good wages.
The attitude of a large number of the workers interviewed is illustrated
by the following:
C---- W---- was referred to in one of the industrial conferences
before the Commission. The superintendent of the foundry said
he was the "star molder" in the plant. When interviewed C----
W---- said he had come to Chicago in 1910 from Kentucky because
he was tired of being a flunkey. He had been in the high school
for two years, but could only get work as janitor in a public
building in his home town. After coming here he worked in a
foundry as a molder's helper until he learned the trade. "I
was getting 38 cents an hour then, but I got on piecework and
my wages have steadily gone up. I'm an expert now and make as
much as any man in the place. I can quit any time I want to,
but the longer I work the more money it is for me, so I usually
work eight or nine hours a day. I am planning to educate my
girl with the best of them, buy a home before I'm too old,
and make life comfortable for my family. There is more chance
here to learn a trade than in the South. I live better, can
save more, and I feel more like a man."
R---- N----, who is working as a helper in the same foundry,
says he has just gone from one job to another. In the South
he worked on a section gang on the railroad most of the time.
"Didn't have to know much to get a job on the section gang--just
able to lift." Friends here wrote him of the chances to make
money, so he came because he was just drifting anyway. When he
got here he thought Chicago was "full of life." Every night
for a month he went to cabarets. He likes his work and his
wages. "My wife can have her clothes fitted here; she can try
on a hat and if she don't want it she don't have to buy it.
I can go anywhere I please on the cars after I pay my fare,
and I can do any sort of work I know how to do."
When M---- G---- came to Chicago in 1900 he thought it "the
biggest place in the world and the world didn't reach much
further. Life is easier here because you can make more money.
Working conditions are better than in the South, but they could
be better still." He worked as a butler in the South, but when
he came to Chicago he got out of personal service and became
a laborer in the Stock Yards. Later he went to Gary, Indiana,
to the steel works, where he is earning about $40.00 a week.
His wife is doing clerical work in a mail-order house and is
going to night school three nights a week to learn typing.
H---- B---- with his family left Mississippi in 1916 and came
to Chicago, where he found work as a coal heaver at $3.20 a day.
His wife sorted paper in a junk house at $10.00 a week, and his
daughter entered a canning department at the Stock Yards at
$18.00 a week. When Mr. B---- was interviewed in June, 1920,
he was working in the Stock Yards and earning $27.00 a week
for an eight-hour day. He said he didn't have to work nearly
as hard here as in the South and was earning enough money so
his wife could stay at home. "In the South you had to work
whether you wanted to or not unless you were very sick. White
people did not work there as they do here. They made the Negro
do the work. Men and women had to work in the fields. A woman
was not permitted to remain at home if she felt like it. If
she was found at home some of the white people would come to
ask why she was not in the field and tell her she had better
get to the field or else abide by the consequences. After the
summer crops were all in, any of the white people could send
for any Negro woman to come and do the family washing at 75
cents to $1.00 a day. If she sent word she could not come she
had to send an excuse why she could not come. They were never
allowed to stay at home as long as they were able to go. Had
to take whatever they paid you for your work."
M---- H---- "likes the air of doing things here." He is able to
earn enough to keep the family without having his wife go out
to work. There are four "youngsters," the oldest being eight
years old. Mr. H---- came to Chicago in 1918 from Tennessee.
He complained that there was not much work for a man in his
home town. He did whatever odd jobs turned up. People there
were talking about the chances in Chicago, so he came here and
went to work as a monument setter on the West Side. Later he
found a better-paying job in a mattress factory and was able
to send for his family. He is now working in a foundry and
makes $35.00 a week but finds it hard to live on this. If he
can go to night school he feels he will be able to earn more
money.
Mrs. L---- works as an entry clerk in a mail-order house and
likes everything connected with the place. She used to be a
maid in a private family but says she wouldn't work in service
again "for any money. I can save more when I'm in service, for
of course you get room and board, but the other things you have
to take--no place to entertain your friends but the kitchen,
and going in and out the back doors. I hated all that. Then,
no matter how early you got through work you could only go
out one night a week--they almost make you a slave. You can
do other work in Chicago and you don't have to work in such
places."
Mrs. L---- had taught school in Atlanta, Georgia. After her
husband died she had tried to get back in the school but
could not. Friends here advised her to move to Chicago, so she
sold her property in 1915 and came here. She got work in the
Stock Yards but gave music lessons on the side to help keep
up expenses. "I hated the surroundings at the Yards and the
class of people who worked there, so when I had a chance to
work in a mail-order house I changed. The first work here was
filing. I learned it very quickly and tried so hard to make
good that they made me a supervisor." She likes the freedom
of the North and the opportunities to advance in work. Her
ambition is to get into the public schools as a teacher.
Miss T---- S----, twenty-two years old, started to work when
she was fourteen, helping her mother cook for a large family
in Lexington, Georgia. Her mother died when she was about
seventeen, and she continued to work in the same family about
three years. Then some relatives persuaded her to come north
with them in 1919. She worked as a waitress in Chicago until
her cousin got her a job in a box factory. "I'll never work in
nobody's kitchen but my own any more. No, indeed! That's the
one thing that makes me stick to this job. You do have some
time to call your own, but when you're working in anybody's
kitchen, well, you're out of luck. You almost have to eat on
the run; you never get any time off, and you have to work half
the night, usually. I make more money here than I did down
South, but I can't save anything out of it--there are so many
places to go here, but down South you work, work, work, and
you have to save your money because you haven't any place to
spend it."
Many of those interviewed were grateful for the opportunity to work
overtime at overtime rates. A number complained that they were able to
spend but little time with their families, or in recreation, because
they were compelled to live in districts far from the plants in which
they worked, so that two, and often three, hours a day were wasted on
the cars. The Negroes who had come to Chicago within the past two or
three years as a rule were satisfied with conditions of work, including
hours, wages, and treatment.
2. COMPLAINTS ABOUT CONDITIONS OF WORK
Among the Negroes who had lived in Chicago for a longer period the
most insistent complaint was lack of opportunity for advancement or
promotion. This was occasionally coupled with the complaint that foremen
discriminated in favor of the white workers. In certain industries no
complaint of treatment by foremen was made, while approximately 10 per
cent of those interviewed in three industries (mentioned below) complained
of discrimination in favor of white workers, in the distribution of work,
in recognition of efficiency, or in permitting the earning of overtime
rates. The industries registering the greatest percentage of complaints
were: (1) foundry and iron and steel mills, (2) Stock Yards, and (3)
railroad dining-car and Pullman service. The common complaints in each
of these fields are considered briefly below.
_Foundries and iron and steel manufacturing._--The ninety-three Negro
employees interviewed in fourteen establishments in this field were of
different grades of skill: fifty-nine unskilled, twelve semi-skilled,
nineteen skilled, and three apprentices to skilled trades. The length of
time in the plant varied from a week to twenty years (forty-one employees
less than one year, and eighty less than five years). To the inquiry,
"Is anything wrong with your conditions of work?" fifty answered, "No";
sixteen complained that hours were too long (in these cases the men
were working a twelve-hour day and a seven-day week); ten complained
of low wages; six that foremen or straw bosses were not fair in the
distribution of work or of "heats"; four complained that straight-time
pay only was allowed for overtime, three that working gangs were reduced
without decreasing the work demanded or increasing the pay of the men
who remained; one thought that Negroes were paid lower wages than white
workers; one said the work in his plant was much dirtier than it need
be; and two were dissatisfied because shower or locker accommodations
were insufficient.
A foundry company employing twenty Negroes out of a total of eighty
employees was one of the establishments reporting Negro labor
unsatisfactory. Negroes interviewed there complained of harsh and unfair
treatment by bosses and said that Negroes usually did not stay longer
than thirty days. The employment manager of a large foundry employing 427
Negroes out of a total of 2,488 employees told the investigator that the
foremen in the plant would refuse to use Negroes if white labor could be
obtained, and if such a time should come the foremen would have their
way, because it took years to make a foreman, but a laborer could be
picked up any day. The investigator was not permitted to interview any of
the employees at this plant, but he visited some of them at their homes.
They complained of harsh treatment by foremen, reduction in piece rates
without notice, and discrimination in favor of white workers. The labor
turnover reported by this plant was 70 per cent for Negro as compared
with 14 per cent for white workers. This contrast is readily accounted
for when the attitude of foremen toward Negroes is known.
Negroes interviewed at one of the plants of another foundry company
employing seventy-five Negroes out of a total of 300 employees complained
that the foreman in one department established conditions discouraging to
Negro workers. He had an even number of Negro and white workers employed
as partners on a certain process of piecework rates, each doing one-half
of a joint task. When a man was absent, partners would be shifted about
so that a Negro worker would be left without a partner instead of a white
man. This handicapped the single worker by slowing down the process so
he could not earn a full day's pay. Complaint was also made that the
same foreman allowed white workers to accumulate a supply of material
for their work, although he ordered Negro workers to stop this practice,
thus forcing them to lose time in making frequent trips for material.
In a large iron and steel plant a few of the workers interviewed
complained of unfair and abusive treatment by foremen. Numerous
complaints had likewise come to the attention of the industrial secretary
of the Urban League, who took the matter up with the chief of the
industrial-relations department of the company. An investigation was
ordered, and it was found that a certain foreman had made a threat to
drive all the "niggers" from the department. This foreman, who had been
employed by the company for more than sixteen years, was discharged
as a result of the investigation. The company states that considerable
pressure has been brought to bear for the foreman's reinstatement, but
that it will not reinstate him because it wants his case to be a warning
to others in the plant who may be prejudiced against Negro workers. The
discharged foreman has been told that he may seek employment with the
company in some other capacity, with the loss of his seniority rights.
In contrast with conditions in the preceding cases, the investigator
found no complaints of mistreatment by foremen or other causes for
dissatisfaction among Negro workers at another foundry which employs
125 Negroes out of a total force of 466 employees. Negro labor in this
foundry was reported "satisfactory" and as efficient as white labor.
The attitude of foremen evidently contributed to the contentment and
success of Negroes in this plant.
_Stock Yards._--Interviews with seventy-four Negroes employed in the
Stock Yards disclosed much dissatisfaction with treatment by foremen.
Specific instances of discrimination were cited in great detail, leaving
no doubt in the mind of the investigator that these workers felt that
they did not have an equal chance with white workers in many departments
in the Yards. Some of those interviewed were well pleased with the
treatment of present foremen, but had worked in other departments in
the same plants where they said foremen had been unfair and insulting
to Negroes. The Negroes interviewed, with one exception, considered
their treatment by white fellow-workers good or "O.K." The following
are typical of the complaints made by the men interviewed in three of
the large establishments in the Yards:
G---- R---- had worked in one plant in the Yards for four
years. He said that he was not given a chance to make overtime,
while Poles who had not been with the company as long as he
had were given this privilege.
Another worker had been dismissed by a foreman when a white
worker in the boiler room had shut off the supply of water
for washing hogs. No blame was attached to the real offender,
but the Negro worker was discharged. He wrote a letter to
the general superintendent, who investigated and ordered his
reinstatement. The foreman then tried to reinstate him as a
new hand, which would deprive him of his seniority rights.
Another worker interviewed said that one assistant foreman had
openly made the statement that he would not work with "niggers."
The foreman over pipe fitters was accused of placing new
Negroes on the hardest work, with no one to give assistance.
He permitted white men to work as helpers for two or three
months, and then to quit for a month or two and return as pipe
fitters, advancing them over Negroes who had more training
for the work.
The foreman in the sheep-killing department of one of the plants
was said by one worker to make advancement difficult, if not
impossible, for Negroes. Another worker complained that this
foreman had recently taken one man off the jaw-trimming machine
but ran the chain just as fast, with the evident intention of
overtaxing the remaining Negroes and reporting that they were
not equal to the job.
The foreman in the hog-killing department was charged with
showing preference to the Poles in shoulder sawing. If a Negro
made complaint to the superintendent and was sent back with
instructions to the foreman, the latter would try to "burn"
the Negro out with work.
It would seem from the discussion of the representatives of the packing
companies before the Commission that the Negro in reality has little
opportunity for promotion in the Yards. There are no Negro foremen over
mixed gangs. The highest position a Negro is able to reach is that of
subforeman over a group of Negro workmen. The general superintendent of
one of the packing companies admitted that he had never tried out a Negro
as foreman over a mixed gang because he wouldn't want to work under a
Negro himself. Such an attitude on the part of a general superintendent
closes the door to experimentation and limits the opportunities of
even the most capable Negroes. It was this same official who said, as
previously noted, that Negro labor required more supervision than white
labor, and that the turnover of Negro labor was greater. Lack of "hope
on the job" would seem an adequate explanation of both conditions.
_Railroad dining-car and Pullman service._--Negroes are used as
dining-car waiters on all roads running out of Chicago which carry such
accommodations. Certain of the roads also use Negro cooks and kitchen
help. The dining-cars on all roads are in charge of white stewards. The
source of greatest complaint among the 204 Negro waiters interviewed
was the arbitrary use of authority by the stewards and the fact that
color bars Negro waiters from becoming stewards. They say that when
stewards are needed, intelligent and experienced Negroes are passed over
and white men, often entirely ignorant of the work, are taught their
duties by these Negroes and are then placed in authority over them. One
road carrying seven dining-cars uses white stewards on two cars and the
remaining five cars are in charge of Negroes called "waiters in charge."
Negroes complained that these men get little more than the wages of a
waiter, and in many cases do all that is required of steward and waiter.
The outstanding complaint concerned the drawing of the color line in
promotion. In view of the fact that many college graduates are serving
as waiters, it would seem absurd to say that Negro waiters are incapable
of performing a steward's duties, which consist of receiving and checking
supplies for the car, seating dining patrons and issuing checks to them,
having general supervision of the other employees on the dining-car, and
making daily reports to the car superintendent of business transacted.
Race prejudice on the part of administrative officials of railroads seems
to be the only explanation for barring Negroes from becoming stewards,
in view of the fact that Negro waiters have been used in dining-cars for
over forty years and have been accepted by the white traveling public
as a matter of course, though some contend that some patrons who accept
Negroes as waiters would object to seeing them in positions of stewards,
particularly if that brought white employees under them.
Negroes are employed in large numbers in Pullman cars as porters,
cleaners, cooks, and mechanics. The main complaint made by the sixty
porters interviewed was poor wages and necessity of dependency on tips to
make a decent living. The wages of porters, as stated by a representative
of the Pullman Company before the Commission, are:
The minimum rate for a porter on a standard sleeping or parlor
car is $60.00 per month; when running in charge of one car the
rate is $70.00 per month; when running in charge of a private
car the rate is $75.00 per month; but when operating in charge
of two or more cars the rate is $155.00 per month.
In 1914 the minimum was either $27.50 or $30.00 per month. Asked whether
the Government Railroad Administration had anything to do with the
increase granted by the Pullman Company, he indicated that the Pullman
Company was under the direction of the Railroad Administration.
Another complaint by Pullman porters was that no promotion was possible
for them, since only white men are used as Pullman-car conductors.
The explanation of the company, given by one of its representatives at
a conference with the Commission, was: "It is merely carrying out an
ancient and honorable custom--we started out with white conductors and
colored porters and have always continued that way."
Interviews with Negro workers revealed individual differences in attitude
and temperament, but the more ambitious and thoughtful Negroes expressed
the conviction that they were barred by color from positions for which
they were better qualified than the white men who held them. Their
complaints were largely variations of the same theme--race discrimination.
V. INDUSTRIES EXCLUDING THE NEGRO
Several important industries in Chicago have not yet employed Negroes.
The traction companies (both elevated and surface) do not employ them as
conductors, motormen, guards, or ticket agents. The large State Street
department stores have no Negro clerks, and taxicab companies do not
employ colored drivers. In these industries, which depend directly upon
the public for patronage, it is to be expected that the employing of
Negro help will be determined by the employer's views of the wishes of his
patrons. If there is any fear that they are unfavorable, any individual
employer in a competitive industry will hesitate to try the experiment
alone. The employment managers of five State Street department stores
made the following statements:
1. Our customers would object to colored salespeople, I am sure.
2. We have never employed any Negroes in our Chicago
establishments. I don't care to go into the matter. It will
not do you any good and will not do us any good.
3. Customers and white employees would object if they were
used as clerks.
4. No Negroes are ever employed because we have sufficient
white applicants.
5. If we ever tried using Negroes as clerks the white workers
would make trouble, I am sure of that. Our customers would
object. A good many are from the South and would make trouble
even if Chicago people did not.
One large taxicab company, employing 250 Negroes for repair work
and upkeep of automobiles, does not employ Negroes as drivers. A
representative of this company stated that the company had gone as far
as many employers, and often farther, in the employment of Negro labor;
that it had done this in a progressive way, one step after another, but
had "not yet got as far as employing Negro chauffeurs," although this
might come in time. When asked whether he thought such action would
affect the company's business unfavorably he said, "I do not know. It
is a matter that I have never thought about."
The Chicago Telephone Company does not employ Negro telephone operators.
Its only Negro employees are porters, window washers, and maids. A
representative stated that it has always had sufficient white applicants
for positions as telephone operators and has not considered taking on
Negro girls, although the suggestion has often been made that Negro
operators be used at the Douglas Exchange (located in the Negro area of
the South Side). This official thought there was very little possibility
that they would employ Negro operators in the future. He feared objection
from white employees.
In connection with the foregoing it may be borne in mind that the company
has answered complaints of poor telephone service within the past few
years with the statement that it is difficult to secure capable girls,
and that the Telephone Company is continually advertising for girls as
operators.
_Social waste involved._--The industrial secretary of the Urban League
has called attention to the large number of educated Negro girls who are
unable to secure industrial openings where education is required. It is
impossible to estimate how great a social waste is involved in relegating
trained and educated Negroes to inferior positions, and there is evidence
that such waste is considerable. Negroes with college training are found
working as waiters; young women college graduates are frequently forced
to serve as ladies' maids, theater ushers, or in some other capacity
where they are unable to use their educational training. The fact that
it was not difficult to find over 1,500 Negro women of more than average
education for clerical positions in two Chicago mail-order houses when
the opportunity offered is some indication of the extent of the social
waste when Negroes are not used in other positions which require training.
VI. RELATIONS OF WHITE AND COLORED WORKERS
The entrance of Negroes into new industries and occupations means that
the workers already in these fields will meet increased competition. The
self-interest of white workers in a given shop may therefore cause them to
resent the presence of Negro workers. On the other hand, through contact
and association with Negroes during working hours, white workers may come
to look upon Negroes, not as members of a strange group with colored skin,
but as individuals with the same feelings, hopes, and disappointments
as other people. Whether the hostile attitude prompted by self-interest
or the friendly attitude born of understanding, acquaintance, and daily
association will prevail in any given shop depends on many factors, over
some of which the workers involved have no control. Some of these are:
1. The attitude of the management when Negro labor is first introduced.
2. Circumstances under which Negroes are hired, whether because of
recognized labor shortage, or as strike breakers, or to reduce labor
costs.
3. The attitude and characteristics of the particular Negroes employed.
4. The attitude of the white workers toward Negroes as a result of
previous contacts with Negroes.
The spirit displayed in the shop is likely to spread beyond it and affect
relations between the races on the streets and in cars and other public
places. It is therefore important to know what the relations between
white and Negro workers are, both because of their importance to the
Negro in industry and their bearing on the broader social aspect of race
problems.
1. RACE FRICTION AMONG WORKERS
Information concerning race relations in industry was received from
employers through questionnaires returned by 137 establishments employing
a total of 22,337 Negroes, through interviews at places of business
with representatives of 101 employers, through industrial conferences
held by the Commission, and through interviews with 865 Negro workers.
Since the best judges of the existence of race friction would be the
Negro workers themselves, who would bear the brunt of any ill-treatment
resulting from such friction, it was considered that any extended canvass
of opinion among white workers beyond the inquiries made in connection
with the trade-union investigation was unnecessary.
Race friction between white and Negro workers sufficient to interfere
with output would militate against the use of Negro labor. The fact that
Negro labor has proved satisfactory in the great majority of cases where
it has been used is therefore indirect evidence that race friction is
not pronounced in Chicago industries. Direct evidence from employers
on this subject was also secured in answer to a specific question on
the point. Out of 137 establishments employing Negroes, which returned
questionnaires, only two reported that race friction was a disturbing
factor in their plants. The facts in these two cases were as follows:
In a steel-manufacturing plant there was a total of 1,300 employees, of
whom seventeen were Negroes, eleven men and six women. During the steel
strike of 1919 Negroes were employed in this plant in large numbers.
Feeling was antagonistic on the part of the whites, "particularly
Austrians and Slavonians." The total number of Negroes employed during
the strike and the turnover were reported as "an average force of 175."
Friction in the foregoing case was probably due to the heritage of
bitterness over the use of Negroes as strike breakers and to irritation
caused by the low grade of workers employed more than to difference
in color. They were described by the manager as "irresponsible and
shiftless."
In the other case fear of Negroes' competition rather than race prejudice
was apparently the cause of friction. The manager of a wholesale millinery
house employing forty-three girls in one department, out of a total of
700 employees, said:
We decided to take on colored help in June, 1919. Our white
people resented very much the fact of employing colored people
in our business, and I believe the blame, if there is any, lies
as much with the whites as with the blacks in the difficulties
we have had. I find a great resentment among all our white
people. I couldn't overcome the prejudice enough to bring the
people in the same building, and had to engage outside quarters
for the blacks. We had a meeting of our colored operators
after employing the hand workers. We thought it would be nice
if we would start a school for machine operators. It was, of
course, rumored that we were going to do this, and I received
a delegation from our sewing hall who said they resented the
idea. They wouldn't listen to it at all, and I had to abandon
the project. Their argument was: "If you let them in it won't
be long until we are out entirely." The attitude against the
colored is only the same as it was against the Slavs or the
foreign races when they first intruded in the field. There
was no prejudice, particularly against the color. In millinery
establishments in New York City colored girls and white girls
work together and do not seem to have any trouble, but, we
can't do it here.
The resentment felt by the white girls in this shop may be accounted for
in part by a fact to which the manager apparently attached no importance.
In speaking of the loyalty and good spirit of the Negro girls, he said
casually:
In a few instances, where we have had difficulty in getting
work done by the whites, we have been able to use the colored
workroom as a level. We have sent it over to them and gotten it
out. The white girls have refused either through stubbornness
or some condition to get the work out.
Friction was also reported between women employees in a plant where
relations between the men of both races were reported harmonious. This
plant which manufactures machinery, has a total of 6,647 employees,
including 1,225 Negro men and sixty Negro women. A representative of
the company said:
Among the girls we had quite a lot of trouble in some
departments against our hiring colored girls. To every colored
girl employed we lost five white girls. There was friction in
the washrooms due probably to race, though it may have been
personal.
The report from a foundry employing 950 men, of whom 200 were colored,
said:
As a rule if any objection is made to working together it comes
from the white men (Polish) on the grounds that the colored
man is being given the preference.
A laundry company employing ten Negroes out of a total of thirty-five
employees, reported that when the first Negro girl was employed the
white girls threatened to quit. The manager asked them to wait a week
and, if they still objected, he would let her go. There was no further
objection; they grew to like her.
The reports of employers regarding the absence of friction between
white and Negro workers is borne out by the testimony of Negro workers
themselves. Among 865 Negroes interviewed in all the industries covered,
the number who complained of disagreeable treatment by white workers was
practically negligible. It is possible that some Negro workers among those
interviewed at their work places, sometimes with white fellow-workers
and foreman near by, felt hesitancy in voicing such complaints. But
the fact that the information was sought by an investigator of their
own race, and confidentially for the Commission, may be considered as a
factor likely to encourage the expression of any grievance, especially
if felt at all deeply.
Conditions of work in large foundries would seem to offer plenty of
opportunity for friction even where workers are all of the same race.
This is particularly true of foundries where the piecework system
prevails. The work is done in the confusion of smoke, heat, dust, and
noise, with men shouting at each other, each striving to be first to
receive this pouring of molten iron from the vats. Notwithstanding the
fact that the work is carried on under great tension, the ninety-three
Negroes interviewed in fourteen foundries, when asked how they got along
with the white men with whom they worked, said: "Good," "Fine," or used
other words to indicate friendly relations. Not a single complaint was
made against treatment by white workers in any of the foundries or iron
and steel establishments investigated.
One interesting instance of happy working relations in which several
nationalities of whites were involved was found at Hull-House. A Negro
has been in charge of the Coffee House there for six years. He had nine
employees working under him: three Negro girls, one German boy, one
Greek man, two Polish girls, and two Italian women. The Greek man and
the two Polish girls were in the employ of the Coffee House when he took
charge. The others have all been employed for a considerable period. In
commenting upon the amicable relations of people representing so many
different races and under a Negro manager, he said, "We are all working
for a living, and there will be no discrimination. It is very simple.
The thing to do is to get acquainted."
2. WORKERS REFLECT ATTITUDE OF MANAGEMENT
When the employment of Negroes is decided upon, there is an effort to
make the change with as little disturbance as possible to white workers.
Frequently the manager tries to imagine himself in the place of his
white workers in order to discover what their reaction will be. In so
doing, he considers, not what they will think or feel, but what a man
with his own social background would feel in their position. The attitude
of the management therefore determines whether Negro workers shall be
segregated or treated like other workers in the plant without regard to
color. Separation once decided upon and partitions erected, white workers
may insist upon the distinction being maintained where they would not
have raised the point in the first instance. Establishments following
both courses gave the Commission the result of their experiences. Of 101
establishments employing five or more Negroes each, eighteen maintained
separate lavatory and toilet accommodations for Negro workers. This
condition was accepted without complaint in some establishments, while
in others it was a source of dissatisfaction among the Negro workers,
who resented this manifestation of "Jim Crowism" in the North. The fact
is worthy of note that the eighteen establishments reporting separate
accommodations or separate departments for colored workers employed but
2,623 Negroes out of a total of 22,337 covered by the investigation, or
slightly more than 11 per cent. The remaining 89 per cent, or 19,714,
were using all accommodations in common with white workers.
One large foundry company employing 427 Negroes out of a total of 2,488
employees tried a different method in each of its three plants. In one
a partition in the locker and shower rooms was erected, to which the
Negro workers objected. The general superintendent said he would not
have consented to the erection of the partition in the first place, but
he was afraid to take it down. In the second plant separate lavatory
accommodations were provided in connection with separate departments for
Negro and white workers on different floors, and there was no trouble.
In the third plant, where no color distinctions were made, all workers
using the same lavatory accommodations, the manager never heard of any
complaint from white or Negro workers.
In another foundry employing 125 Negroes out of a total of 466 employees
the representative said that the Polish workers had objected "that the
colored people used the showers and basins all the time and they did not
get a chance to. We checked up on this and limited some of our showers to
colored only, and we only had two men use the white showers in something
like two weeks, time, and in the colored there was something like 200
baths taken." The use of the same accommodations in this plant caused
no further complaint after this incident. Another foundry reported that
the white and Negro workmen ate lunch and smoked together. There were no
separate accommodations and there was no ill-feeling whatever. Another
firm employing 500 Negroes out of a total of 3,000 employees reported:
"The relationship between our Negro and white employees is very friendly.
During the past year we have not had a single encounter of any kind
between the white and colored workers. They work together in most of our
departments, use the same locker rooms and washrooms, and eat in the same
restaurant in the plant." In one foundry the superintendent was nearly
compelled to install separate accommodations because of stealing in the
locker rooms. Suspicion was aroused against the Negro workers, and the
white workers had a shop meeting to demand separate accommodations. The
manager said: "The same day the janitor caught a red-headed Irish boy
red-handed. We paraded him through the shop and made quite a grandstand
operation out of it, and it ended my troubles from that time on, but if
I hadn't caught him I might have had to maintain separate locker rooms."
There were only six establishments which maintained separate departments
for Negro workers. In some cases segregation was effected by a partition;
in others by maintaining a complete Negro unit in a different part of
the city. The second plan has worked satisfactorily, but segregation by
partition in the same plant is resented by Negro workers. Representatives
of the largest employers of Negro labor expressed the opinion that
erecting a partition, by drawing the "color line," causes friction which
in all probability would not otherwise appear.
The industrial secretary of the Urban League, who has been actively
interested in extending the range of opportunity for the Negro in
industry, firmly believes that the attitude of the management on racial
matters is reflected by the employees, that wherever an uncompromising
stand is made for fair play for all employees, racial differences do
not cause annoyance. He cites the following incident as one of several
tending to support his view:
During the fall of 1919 the general manager of the S----
F---- P---- Company was approached on the subject of employing
colored girls. To our surprise, it was discovered that colored
girls were already employed by him in all branches of the
industry, and mixed freely with white employees. There was no
discrimination in the character or kind of work or the use of
plant facilities. Mr. N---- explained that he had never thought
of segregating white and colored workmen, and the wisdom of
his plan had been proved by the experience of his father, who
employs both white and colored girls, but keeps the groups
separated by a partition. According to Mr. N---- the partition
had been a source of trouble for the reason that the placing
of the partition itself indicated that the company intended
to make a difference between white and colored workers. This
put each group in a frame of mind which caused them to resent
the presence of any worker on the side of the partition on
which she was not employed. The elder Mr. N---- realized his
mistake but did not dare to take the partition down, fearing
that by so doing he would precipitate further trouble which
would result in the most desirable girls in each group quitting
the plant.
Foremen, because they personify the management in the mind of the workmen,
play a large part in shaping the attitude white workers adopt toward
Negroes. If the foremen are antagonistic or insulting in their treatment
of the Negro, white workers find favor with the foremen by adopting the
same attitude. A construction company employing sixty Negroes reported:
There were always difficulties with this gang when the Italian
foreman was here, as he constantly endeavored to place Italians
at work displacing some very good Negro workers. When I was
sent here I dug under the difficulties and found the Italians
were very clannish and were using the foreman to carry out
the plan of giving every Italian who came along a job, at the
expense of some Negro's job. I am a French Canadian and have
worked with colored men before. After failure in trying to get
Italians to see how bad the old system was, I was forced to
let all the Italians go. I have an excellent gang of Negroes
now.
The representative of a large foundry said:
I believe I have a harder time to get the Polish foremen to
handle Negro help than any other. Our foremen are accustomed
to handling the Polish workers pretty rough. While employers
don't want that, it goes on that way. A Pole is "cussed" around
and does not care what he is called. It's all the same to
him, but a colored man is a pretty thin-skinned individual.
You call a colored man something, and he will grab his hat
and is gone. He thinks that when the foreman uses those words
he means it. He will not stand for the same kind of language
that the Polak will.
3. USE OF NEGRO LABOR TO UNDERMINE WAGES
If Negroes are introduced into a plant during a strike and retained
afterward, a period of strained relations between white and Negro workers
is almost certain to ensue. They are given a similarly unfavorable
start when they are introduced to reduce labor costs. In the smaller
establishments, where wages and conditions of work were not well
standardized, white workers were suspicious that Negroes were working
for lower wages, and the Negroes suspected that they were being paid
lower wages than white workers. It is obvious that where mutual distrust
and suspicion are present, friction readily develops which may lead to
serious social consequences.
To what extent Negroes are being paid lower wages than white workers it
is impossible to say. In this connection the Chicago Urban League made
the following statement:
The charge of inequality in the wages of white and colored
workers is frequently made, but the League is not always
permitted to inquire into wage scales, and therefore
verification of some of these rumors has been impossible.
The League has taken up this matter with such companies as
----, ----, ----, and numerous others, with the result that
in each instance the statement has been made that white and
colored workers receive the same pay for the same work. There
is a deep-seated suspicion, however, that this is not true. In
some cases this suspicion seemed to be justified. Complaints
have come to our attention where colored people have been
mistaken for white in the offices of the ---- Company and
employed at a higher rate of pay than that given colored girls
for similar work. This, however, has never been verified. Pay
inequalities have been explained away by larger experience,
seniority, superior production, etc., in favor of whites.
The employment manager of one company has told representatives
of the Chicago Urban League that the colored girls employed
in their South Side Branch Office started at a wage in excess
of that given white girls for similar work in their main office.
The statement can be correctly made, however, that many
employers of colored girls, particularly in the needle trades,
have refused to pay colored workers a wage equal to that of
white. There are well-known instances of sweatshop tactics
used on colored girls because of their inexperience in industry
and lack of organization.
An official of the Women's Garment Workers' Union reported
that ---- Company, upon finding that they had to pay the union
scale of wages, requested the local to supply white girls
instead of the colored girls who were already in his employ.
The colored girls were employed to replace the striking whites.
No complaint has come to our attention of inequality of wages
in union shops employing white and colored workers, or in any
of the larger industries. Colored workers are usually exploited
in the smaller shops. White workers have been known to refuse
to work in shops paying white and colored workers the same wage.
All of the representatives of employers appearing in conferences and all
but one of the representatives interviewed stated that Negro and white
workers were being paid equal wages in their establishments. The exception
was a wholesale hardware company where the employment manager admitted
paying Negroes "a dollar or two less per week" because they could not
be shifted from one department to another as readily as white workers
on account of prejudice of workers or foremen in certain departments.
It was learned that employers occasionally refuse to hire Negro unionists
when they learn they must pay them "white men's wages." Unionists allege
that even Negro employers object to paying Negroes the same union scale as
white workers. To the extent that Negro labor is being used to undermine
wage standards, misunderstanding and race friction develop.
4. RELATIONS OF WHITE AND NEGRO WORKERS DURING THE RIOT
In contrast with the violence that characterized street encounters during
the riots it is significant that no unfriendly demonstrations occurred
between workers in any of the establishments covered by the investigation,
according to statements made by representatives of employers. On the
contrary, white workers are said by employers to have expressed sympathy
in many ways with their Negro fellow-workers. The general superintendent
of one of the largest packing companies in the "Yards" emphasized the
good feeling that existed between the workers at this critical time:
I think this Commission ought to know that there wasn't a
single case of violence in what we call Packingtown during
the race riot, and the morning that the Negroes were brought
back to work in this packing-house there was not a single
argument--there wasn't a single indication in this plant of
any racial feeling. In fact the two classes of common labor
we have are the Slavs and the Negroes, and they met as old
friends. In many instances they put their arms around one
another's necks. In one particular instance a Negro and a
Pole got on an elevated truck and rode all around this plant
simply to signify to the rest of the workers that there was a
good spirit existing between the two. There was nothing in the
contact between the Negro and the Pole or the Slav that would
indicate that there had ever been a race riot in Chicago, and
there was nothing from the beginning of the race riot to the
end that would indicate that there was any feeling started in
the Stock Yards or in this industry that led up to the race
riot.
That there was at least one case of mob violence is shown by the report
of the coroner's jury which investigated the riots. William H. Dozier,
a colored man, was killed in the Stock Yards, according to this report.
The jury's finding in this case was:
We find that during the race riots at a point about Cook Street
and Exchange Avenue in the Union Stock Yards, and at about 7:15
A.M., July 31, 1919, deceased, a colored man, was struck by a
hammer held and wielded by one Joseph Carka, that the deceased
ran east on Exchange Avenue toward the sheep pens at Morgan
Street, that he was followed and chased by a mob of white men,
and that while so running the deceased was struck by a street
broom, held and wielded by one Joe Scovak, and that he was
also struck by a shovel in the hands of an unknown white man,
and by one or more stones or missiles thrown by one or more
unknown white men; injuries sustained causing death.
This was the only serious case of violence in the Stock Yards discovered,
although a number of rumors were investigated, which could not be
substantiated by facts.
Because of the nature of the work in the "Yards" and the presence of
knives and other dangerous implements which could be turned to ready use,
it is significant that more rioting, with deaths and injuries resulting,
did not take place. But it is also true that the riot, which started on
Sunday afternoon, became so serious by Monday morning that few Negroes
made an effort to reach their work at the Stock Yards.
VII. FUTURE OF THE NEGRO IN CHICAGO INDUSTRIES
The investigation of the Negro in industry points to the conclusion that
Negro labor has made a satisfactory record, and that there is little
race friction in evidence between white and Negro workers. What the
future will hold for him depends upon many complicating factors, some
of which are: renewal of immigration in large volume, depressed business
conditions, attempted reductions in labor costs, increasing unemployment,
falling wages, the announced determination of many employers' associations
throughout the country to undermine the strength of unions by establishing
the "open shop" which might involve the use of Negro labor, and the
admitted prejudice of foremen against Negro labor in many plants. It was
labor shortage which forced employers to experiment with Negro workers
in new fields. Whether Negro employees will be retained when a surplus
of white labor is available is an open question.
Employers' representatives, in April and May, 1920, stated (with one
exception) that no reduction in labor force was contemplated; that when
such reduction became necessary, efficiency and seniority rights would
determine which workers would be retained; that the question of color
would not enter into the decision in any way. The employment manager of
a firm employing a very large number of Negroes expressed the general
opinion of the employers' representatives when he said:
I feel that our house will continue to run a colored office
as long as they can run it as efficiently and economically as
they could a white office; while, on the other hand, if they
could not run it as efficiently and economically of course
they wouldn't run it, because it's just a matter of dollars
and cents, and as far as charity and good will goes, all good
business men have it, but they are not going to run their
business according to that entirely.
On the other hand, the employment manager of an establishment which had
experienced friction between white and Negro workers was of the opinion
that white workers resented the intrusion of Negroes. He thought that this
feeling would be a factor if a time came when there was an oversupply
of labor; that Negroes would then have to give way because no employer
would be strong enough to resist the resentment of white workers; and
Negro workers would thus be thrown out of work and would be a standing
menace to the community.
The investigations and inquiries of the Commission in industry took
place almost entirely in the period from March to September, 1920, and
the statistics concerning Negroes employed were gathered in the earlier
part of this period. During these months the general industrial situation
was such as to demand all the labor, both white and Negro, that could be
secured. In the autumn of 1920, however, a period of decline began, with
increasing unemployment. This affected both white and Negro workers. Its
own investigational staff no longer available for additional service,
the Commission sought information concerning these changed conditions,
so far as they affected Negro workers, from the industrial secretary of
the Chicago Urban League. Through its industrial department the League
places more Negroes in employment than any other agency in Chicago. The
industrial secretary made the following statement on November 20:
At the present time the unemployment among colored people
has reached what seems serious proportions. While there is
no indication that colored people are suffering more in this
respect than any other group, the constantly swelling number
is a cause for grave concern. For three weeks our employment
office has been crowded with job seekers. At first it appeared
that those who failed to take their work seriously suddenly
found themselves unable to get employment, but now hundreds
of men with good records have been forced out by temporary
"shut downs" and reduced forces of various plants.
During the working days included between November 15 and
20, our attendance record is 1,073 job seekers with only 131
openings. One month ago the attendance figure was 571 persons
for the equal period (259 men and 312 women).
Our labor reports for May, 1920, indicated an attendance of
941 males and 739 females; about 1,000 orders for male help
and about 500 for female help; there were 722 placements for
males and 371 for females. The total attendance was 1,680;
orders, 1,500; placements, 1,093.
A casual survey including most of the leading industries ...
shows a general decline and a letting off of workers. Some
few report difficulty in keeping their present forces.
There have been some complaints of discrimination against
colored workers, but few comparatively.... Most industries
are keeping their proportionate share of Negroes. In some
instances the proportion has been slightly increased....
During the week, workers have registered from cities in states
from Mississippi to Michigan. Detroit predominates, where the
automobile industries show a marked depression.
Women's work presents a very discouraging outlook. Hundreds
of needle workers are out of employment by the closing of
many of the smaller shops which employed colored girls. The
Women's Trade Union League reports many workers unemployed,
due to the slowness of the trade. Immigrant white girls are
said to be consuming much of the work offered to domestics....
Colored women seem in most cases as reluctant as ever to accept
domestic employment.
The present unemployment problem is probably as serious as
any the League has known. What shall become of the army of
jobless men is a problem serious and perplexing.
As a result of the necessity of reducing costs in response to depressed
business conditions, managers of establishments employing both white and
Negro workers may be tempted to pit Negro and white workers against each
other, paying Negro labor less than white labor as a means of forcing
down wages or undermining labor-union organizations. Such attempts would
certainly be conducive to increased racial animosity. On the other hand,
managers who are hostile to Negro labor may take advantage of the change
in the labor situation by discharging Negroes indiscriminately, replacing
them with white workers.
During the period of business depression which had already begun, both
white and Negro workers seemed certain to lose some of the advantages
which they had gained as a result of the labor shortage caused by the
war. After the industrial depression has passed, discrimination against
the Negro, to whatever extent it may exist, will make the recovery of
lost ground more difficult for Negro workers than for white workers.
In considering the question of race discrimination, it is evident that
the Negro who has lived in the North for a number of years feels keenly
the fact that color bars even the most capable members of his race from
the hope of promotion to executive or administrative positions, while
prejudice on the part of persons in authority prevents the rank and file
of Negroes from developing the degree of efficiency which they could
develop if they knew their efforts would be judged on merit alone. Where
advancement is precluded by color, the incentive supplied by recognition
of effort is lacking.
One door of escape from the discouraging prospects held out in industries
managed by white men, where there is no chance for promotion to executive
positions, is the opportunity for an increasing number of the more
ambitious Negroes to enter business among members of their own race.
According to Black's _Blue Book_ (1919-20) there were over 1,200 Negro
business houses and professional offices in Chicago in 1920. Among
others, the list included five banks, forty dentists, fifteen druggists,
twenty-four employment agencies, six hotels, three insurance offices,
forty-eight real estate offices, eleven newspapers and magazines, 106
physicians, seventy lawyers, 161 barber shops and billiard rooms, and 120
hairdressing parlors. Although the list of Negro business men in Chicago
is growing rapidly, it must necessarily remain but a small percentage
of the total Negro population. The great majority of Negroes gainfully
occupied will continue to be employees in industry. Therefore the fact
that a large number of Negroes feel that discrimination is practiced and
that, no matter what abilities they show, they can "go so far and no
farther" in industries managed by white men is of great importance in
any consideration of race problems. These men are the more thoughtful,
aspiring members of their race, and their opinion accordingly carries
more weight than the opinion of an equal number of care-free Negroes who
may consider that the high wages of the present are an offset for all
handicaps. Negroes who feel keenly the injustice of unequal opportunities
are the ones to seek expression in Negro newspapers and magazines with
the aim of arousing widespread resentment against race discrimination.
Men who frequently would not resent discrimination directed against
themselves are stirred to resentment by well-told recitals of injustice
to others. Specific instances may seem to be of trifling importance, but
in being retold they reach an ever-widening audience, which is constantly
growing more race conscious.
B. ORGANIZED LABOR AND THE NEGRO WORKER
I. INTRODUCTION
Industry involves the continuous contact of more whites and Negroes than
any other field. It therefore affords wide opportunity for the operation
of racial misunderstanding and friction. It is also a field in which the
lines of economic interest are so tightly drawn and so closely watched
that any misunderstanding or friction is thereby greatly accentuated.
Irritation and clashes of interest have been conspicuous in the relations
between labor unions and Negro workers. This friction has extended to
the relations between whites and Negroes generally. The efforts of union
labor to promote its cause and gain adherents have built up a body of
sentiment that cannot easily be opposed by non-union workers. The strike
breaker is intolerable to the union man. Circumstances have frequently
made Negroes strike breakers, thus centering upon them as a racial group
all the bitterness which the unionist feels toward strike breakers as a
class. This tends to increase any existing racial antipathy or to serve
as concrete justification for it.
On the other hand, Negroes have often expressed themselves as distrustful
of the unions because prejudice in the unions has denied them equal
benefits of membership. They often find that their first opportunity in
a new industry comes through the eagerness of a strike-bound employer
to utilize their labor at wages more than they have previously earned,
even if less than the union scale. This often tends to make them feel
that they have more to gain through affiliation with such employers than
by taking chances on what the unions offer them.
There is a gradually increasing sympathetic understanding by unionists of
the struggle of Negroes to overcome their handicaps, and an increasing
realization of the importance to the unions of organizing them. Negroes
are themselves showing more interest in efforts toward organizations, but
there is still much mutual suspicion and resentment in their relations.
To understand these relations it is necessary to know (1) the policy and
attitude of organized labor toward the Negro and how its expressed policy
is carried out in practice; and (2) what the Negro believes the facts to
be and what his attitude is toward organized labor. In its investigation
the Commission used the following methods of inquiry: Questionnaires
were sent to all labor organizations; interviews were held with union
officials and members, both white and Negro, with officers and members
of Negro "protest" unions, with non-union Negroes, and with persons
who were not connected with unions but had certain special information.
Ninety-one persons, of whom twenty-five were Negroes, were interviewed.
Trade-union meetings were attended by the Commission's investigator. Union
constitutions, magazines, convention reports, etc., were collected and
studied. Conferences were held by the Commission at which the following
labor leaders and organizers presented their information and views:
George W. Perkins, president of the International Cigarmakers' Union,
and prominent in the affairs of the American Federation of Labor since
its organization.
Victor Olander, secretary-treasurer, Illinois State Federation of Labor,
and vice-president of International Seaman's Union.
John Fitzpatrick, president, Chicago Federation of Labor.
W. Z. Foster, organizer of the American Federation of Labor in the steel
and packing industries.
A. K. Foote, Negro, vice-president of Stock Yards Labor Council and
secretary-treasurer, Local 651, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen of America.
I. H. Bratton, Negro organizer for Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen of America.
John Riley, Negro organizer for the American Federation of Labor in the
Stock Yards district.
Max Brodsky, secretary-treasurer, Local 100, International Ladies'
Garment Workers' Union.
Agnes Nestor, president, Women's Trade Union League.
Elizabeth Maloney, treasurer and organizer, Chicago Waitresses' Union.
Robert L. Mays, Negro, president of an independent Negro union, the
Railway Men's International Benevolent and Industrial Association.
II. POLICY OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND OTHER FEDERATIONS
From its beginning the American Federation of Labor has declared a uniform
policy of no racial discrimination, although this policy has not been
carried out in practice by all the constituent autonomous bodies. At its
fortieth annual convention, held at Montreal, Canada, in June, 1920, a
plan was presented to "use every means in its power to have the words
'only white' members stricken out of the constitution" of the Brotherhood
of Railway Clerks, an organization which exercises jurisdiction over
100,000 colored employees, although barring them from membership, and
"admit the colored workers to full membership in their Brotherhood or
have them relinquish jurisdiction" over these Negro employees and allow
them to establish a brotherhood of their own.
This failed to receive favorable action, but a resolution was passed
reaffirming the position taken at the Atlantic City convention in 1919
that "where international unions refuse to admit colored workers to
membership, the American Federation of Labor will be authorized to
organize them under charters from the American Federation of Labor." This
means that in such cases the American Federation of Labor itself becomes
the national or international union of such locals. According to the
information given to the Commission by George W. Perkins, "the American
Federation of Labor has organized hundreds of local unions and thereby
directly attached to the American Federation of Labor colored workers."
President Gompers states: "Of the 900 unions affiliated directly with
the American Federation of Labor there are 169 composed exclusively of
Negroes."
A brief reference to the history of the national federations which
preceded the American Federation of Labor shows that the foregoing policy
has been followed since shortly after the Civil War.
The National Labor Union (1866-72), at its first convention in 1866, was
the first national federation of labor unions to deal with the problem of
meeting Negro competition after the Civil War. The formation of trades
unions among colored people was favored. In 1869 Negro delegates were
admitted to the annual convention. A separate national Negro Labor Union,
formed in 1869, was short-lived. The unfriendly attitude of the unions
toward the Negroes was the subject of bitter comment at the various
sessions of the latter organization. The Knights of Labor, which rose
to prominence after the decline of the National Labor Union, admitted
all workers without regard to color. Many Negroes in the South joined
the organization. When the leadership of organized labor shifted from
the Knights of Labor to the American Federation of Labor in the late
eighties, the Federation continued to express the policy of no racial
discrimination and has stood for that policy to the present time.[75]
At the convention of the American Federation of Labor in Atlantic City,
1919, there were present about fifty Negro delegates, men and women.
A large number of Negro delegates also attended the last convention of
the Federation at Montreal.
The policy of the Illinois State Federation of Labor was outlined to
the Commission by Victor Olander, secretary-treasurer, as follows:
The State Federation of Labor is under the jurisdiction of
the American Federation of Labor, and the laws governing the
national would necessarily govern the state federation, so
that in respect to law they are the same. I might add that
they are carrying out the law in much the same manner with
respect to the Negro. There hasn't been a convention of the
Illinois State Federation of Labor held in many years that
hasn't had in attendance Negro delegates. That is the usual
thing at every convention. There is no discrimination.
The Chicago Federation of Labor is the city central body of the various
local unions in Chicago which are connected with the American Federation
of Labor. Each of these local unions elects delegates to represent it
at the semi-monthly meetings of the Chicago Federation. Negro delegates
take an active part in these meetings, and are cordially received. The
Federation and its president have been very active in all efforts to
organize Negroes, especially in the Stock Yards, the steel industry,
and the culinary trades.
III. POLICY OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL UNIONS
In considering the policy of national and international unions, that
of the unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor will
be discussed first, and following this the policy of six of the most
important of the independent internationals.
1. UNIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
The American Federation of Labor has consistently followed a policy of no
racial discrimination. It has, however, no power to compel its constituent
national and international unions to follow this policy. The question of
race discrimination by an autonomous national or international union has
been frequently the subject of spirited discussion at American Federation
of Labor conventions, but the outcome has been merely a recommendation
to the offending union that the discrimination be discontinued. Since
strict autonomy of national and international unions is recognized in
the constitution of the American Federation of Labor, no more effective
action can be taken.
In order to learn the racial policy of the 110 nationals and
internationals affiliated with the American Federation of Labor inquiries
were sent to each, and direct responses were received from sixty-nine.
The policy of twenty-five additional unions was learned through their
district councils or locals in Chicago. Thus all but sixteen of the 110
national and international unions in the American Federation of Labor
were covered. Of these, two were suspended from the American Federation
of Labor in 1919-20. Only three have locals in Chicago, and all have
little significance for Chicago. Information concerning the racial policy
of the sixteen unions not heard from was supplied by labor leaders in
touch with the whole union situation and able to speak with authority
on this subject.
Of the 110 national and international unions affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, eight expressly bar the Negro by their constitutions
or rituals. These unions are: Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America,
International Association of Machinists, American Association of
Masters, Mates, and Pilots, Railway Mail Association, Order of Railroad
Telegraphers, the Commercial Telegraphers' Union of America, American
Wire Weavers' Protective Association, and Brotherhood of Railway Mail
Clerks.
Thus 102 of the 110 national and international unions affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor admit Negroes. Not all of these unions,
however, have Negro members, notwithstanding the fact that Negroes are
eligible to membership. In accounting for the absence of Negro members,
twenty-eight national and international unions reported "no Negroes
in the trade," or "no applications ever received." Certain of the 102
nationals and internationals reported a small Negro membership with the
following explanations:
Eleven stated that employers discriminated against Negro members of the
union--wanted white men if they had to pay the union scale of wages.
Seven internationals and five delegate bodies reported that special
efforts were now being made to organize Negro workers.
Twelve internationals called attention to long periods of
apprenticeship--four had a three-year period, six a four-year period,
and two a five-year period--as a factor which accounted for the failure
of Negroes to join.
In their comments, some of these union officials unconsciously express
their prejudice, sometimes attributing traits to the Negro which they
seem to take for granted as being characteristic. The following are some
examples:
No Negroes have applied for membership in our union or did
not have nerve enough as it requires lots of climbing.
We do not have any Negroes in our organization, but there is
nothing in the constitution which prevents them from becoming
members after they have learned the trade. No one has ever
made application for a Negro. I judge this is because they
have to blow in the same pipe [in glass blowing].
I find nothing in our laws which bars Negroes from becoming
members of this union, but in my thirteen years in this office
I have never known one to make application for membership.
This may be due to the hazardous nature of our work.
Ours is usually very hard work. Negroes as a whole do not like
hard work. They instead very often prefer employment where
they can get along at their own gait or in their own way,
especially working in gangs.
National and international unions which had Negro members in appreciable
numbers reported the following facts:
Sixteen had Negro officers or organizers.
Twenty-three reported that relations between the races in the unions
were undisturbed by race prejudice.
Thirty-three stated that Negroes had belonged to the union for the
following periods:
Number of
Unions
2 years or less 12
2 to 4 years 8
4 to 6 years 1
6 to 8 years 2
8 to 15 years 4
20 years 4
25 years 1
35 years 1
2. UNIONS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
There are a number of unions[76] not affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, of which the most important are: the four railway
brotherhoods--Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen and Enginemen, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Order of Railway
Conductors of America--Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; Industrial
Workers of the World (I.W.W.). The four railway brotherhoods exclude
the Negro by constitutional provision. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers
of America and the Industrial Workers of the World admit the Negro and
make special efforts to organize Negro workers. The I.W.W. has its main
foothold in the lumber, mine, and textile industries and does not have
any strong unions in Chicago.
Disregarding the classification of nationals and internationals based
upon affiliation with the American Federation of Labor, a review of the
figures presented above shows that 104 national and international unions
admit the Negro, and that twelve exclude the Negro by written provision.
The outstanding fact with reference to these twelve organizations is that,
with the exception of the Wire Weavers, they are all connected with the
transportation industry: seven are members of the American Federation of
Labor Railway Department and the other four constitute the big "railway
brotherhoods." The latter are sometimes referred to by members of the
unions as the "aristocrats in the labor movement." All of these unions,
except the Masters, Mates, and Pilots, have been organized more than
twenty years. None of the unions formed within the last twenty years,
except the Masters, Mates, and Pilots, excludes the Negro.
In these crafts, excepting such trades as carmen, machinists, clerks,
and firemen, it may be that in general the Negro would not be much of
a factor at present, because these trades demand an amount of education
and skill not yet possessed by a large percentage of Negroes. But this
by no means proves that the Negro would not acquire the necessary skill
and education if opportunities in these trades were actually open to him.
The Railway Department of the American Federation of Labor is composed
of fourteen craft unions, all but two of which exclude the Negro worker.
The Stationary Firemen and Oil Men of the American Federation of Labor
Railway Department are openly soliciting Negro members. The only other
craft organization which admits Negroes is the Maintenance of Way Craft,
which really means the common labor group. Negroes can get into this
craft through an auxiliary charter to a Negro local. Regardless of how
skilled or how intelligent the applicant may be, or how logically he
falls into some other craft, he can only come in through one or the
other of these two craft unions.
The attitude of the railway brotherhoods is typified in remarks made to
an investigator for the Commission by a member of the Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks who is now serving on an important public commission.
He was emphatic in upholding the brotherhood's policy of excluding
Negroes. "As long as the engineers have anything to say about it, they
certainly will not get in." He said that the modern locomotive was a
highly complicated and scientific mechanism, and that the Negroes "did
not have brains enough to run one."
As showing the contrasting view of another trade-union man, an employee
of the public commission mentioned said that he had been a member of the
United Mine Workers since 1901, and in that organization no color line
is drawn; that he had worked beside Negro miners and feels no prejudice.
He pointed out that the national conventions of the miners always have
a large representation of Negro delegates, and some of the ablest and
best speakers come from the Negro race. He expressed the feeling that
the policy of the railway brotherhoods is a mistake, and is a case of
"swell-headedness."
The general exclusion policy of the railway brotherhoods and certain of
the unions in the Railway Department of the American Federation of Labor
has created a feeling of bitterness among Negroes which spreads beyond
these crafts and is directed against unions in general, notwithstanding
the constructive and progressive policy of the many unions which admit
Negroes. In the transportation crafts it has led to the formation of a
"protest" Negro railway union.
_The Railway Men's International Benevolent Industrial Association._--This
organization is a labor union open to Negro railway employees. It is
a protest organization which has grown up because of the exclusion of
Negroes by the railway brotherhoods and certain unions in the Railway
Department of the American Federation of Labor.
The Association was organized May 12, 1915, and has seventeen locals
in Chicago and a membership of about 1,200, all railway employees. The
leaders of this group disclaimed any intention of building up "a rival
American Federation of Labor among Negroes," but stated that, as far as
they were personally concerned, they would be willing to affiliate with
the American Federation of Labor in its proper department, _providing_
all forms of discrimination in national and international unions, both
in constitution and practice, were done away with, and the Negro worker
was assured of equal treatment and opportunity with the white worker.
They realize that the highest welfare of both groups depends upon
co-operation. But, as to what the membership would want to do when that
time comes, they of course do not know.
Mr. Mays, the president of the organization, was asked by the Commission's
investigator what he would do in a situation where both Negroes and
whites were organized separately, and the whites were going out on a
strike and had requested the Negroes to come out also. He stated that
several such local strike situations had arisen in the South, and that
he had advised the Negro union in each of these cases to use its own
judgment, but that if it decided to support the white unions, it should,
before doing so, have a joint committee of both groups meet and make
it understood absolutely that any agreement finally reached with the
employers must include both groups on equal terms. In one case, after
such an agreement had been reached and the men had gone back to work,
the employer tried to keep out certain Negroes, but the white unionists
insisted that the agreement must be lived up to.
The officials of this organization are exceptionally capable Negroes;
its advisers are professional men, well educated and thoroughly familiar
with the history and tactics of white labor unions.
A more definite statement of the purpose and policies of this protest
organization was made before the Commission by R. L. Mays:
The Railway Men's International Benevolent Industrial
Association really protests as an organization against unfair
and bad working conditions of the employer and against unfair
practices on the part of the American Federation of Labor and
the railway brotherhoods.
This is the crux of the problem as we see it. We agree with
the policies and principles of the American Federation of
Labor so long as they are American and in the interests of the
workmen, but if their practices are against Negroes, then we
are against the American Federation of Labor unflinchingly.
_Question_: To what extent have you found their practices
unfair to the colored people?
_Mr. Mays_: There are fourteen unions in railway employment
in the American Federation of Labor. The United Brotherhood of
Railway Employees has been accepting Negroes in full membership,
but the other thirteen organizations do not accept Negroes in
membership. As a matter of fact, they are secured on contract,
which is the greatest holdback for the Negroes and breeds more
distrust on the part of the Negro in these places, so far as
the American Federation of Labor is concerned.
Before the roads were under government control certain
discriminatory practices were found in the South, but now
you will find colored men in certain skilled positions. In
the Brotherhood of Carmen, if a colored man is not organized
into the local union, he cannot advance automatically from
repair to car building. He might be a member of one of these
local unions chartered by and affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor. But under contract they say their members
must be white, and they use only white men. In the South our
men have enjoyed these jobs; under war conditions they were
brought here, but under this contract no Negro can be employed
as a carman, although he has all the experience in the world.
They refuse to take the colored man but take the white man.
No colored boy can go in as an apprentice and work up to a
skilled mechanic's position. Consequently they are reducing
the Negro railway worker to a position of common laborer and
automatically are keeping him down. If this is the condition
in the railways in the North, I say it will prevail everywhere.
I have said that it is a northern prejudice coming South.
[Illustration: OFFICERS OF THE RAILWAY MEN'S INTERNATIONAL BENEVOLENT
INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION]
IV. ATTITUDE AND POLICY OF LOCAL UNIONS IN CHICAGO
1. WHITE AND NEGRO MEMBERSHIP IN CHICAGO LOCAL UNIONS
Much effort was made to obtain statistics of white and Negro membership
in local trade unions in Chicago. Information was sought through requests
addressed to the national headquarters of all national and international
unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor for data as to
any local unions they might have in Chicago. Requests were also addressed
directly to these local unions as listed in a directory published by
the Chicago Trade Union Label League. Further requests were addressed to
local unions in Chicago directly affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor as listed in a directory of all such unions published by that
organization.
It was difficult to ascertain the exact number of local unions in
Chicago. Those covered embraced, however, as full a list as could be
supplied by trade-union offices in Chicago. But the president of the
Chicago Federation of Labor said that the number of local unions was
changing so continually by reason of the organization of new ones and
the consolidation of two or more into one, that no accurate list was
available.
Data for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and for the Railway
Men's International Industrial Benevolent Association were obtained
directly from those organizations.
Reports were received from the railway brotherhoods saying that they
exclude Negroes, but giving no data as to the number of white members.
The information which was obtained may be summarized as follows:
Members
371 local unions affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, comprising locals of national and international unions
so affiliated, and also federal and local unions directly
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor 253,237
11 local unions of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America 40,000
17 local unions of the Railway Men's International Industrial
Benevolent Association 1,200
-------
294,437
The total Negro membership reported for Chicago by the foregoing
organizations was 12,106. The number of locals through which this Negro
membership was distributed cannot be stated with any approach to accuracy,
due to the fact that in a number of cases the district council or the
national body reported the membership for its Chicago locals jointly.
In such cases it could not safely be assumed that each of the locals in
question had Negro members. Disregarding all such cases, however, there
still remains a total of at least eighty-five Chicago locals for which,
individually, Negro members were reported.
It is interesting to note that, judging by the figures here shown as to
white and Negro membership in local unions in Chicago, the proportion of
Negro union members to the Negro population in Chicago is almost exactly
the same as the proportion of white members to the white population in
Chicago.
2. METHODS OF DEALING WITH NEGRO APPLICANTS
If the unions which bar the Negro are chosen as examples, organized labor
might appear to be very unfair to Negro workers. On the other hand, if
unions which admit them into the same locals and have Negro organizers
and officers are chosen as examples, it might appear that there was no
prejudice whatever against Negroes on the part of trade unions. Neither
extreme would represent the facts. On the basis of policy toward the
Negro, unions in Chicago may be divided into four classes or types.
These classes are:
A. Unions admitting Negroes to white locals.
B. Unions admitting Negroes to separate co-ordinate locals.
C. Unions admitting Negroes to subordinate or auxiliary locals.
D. Unions excluding Negroes from membership.
The existence of these classes indicates the fact that the union
attitude and policy toward the Negro cannot be summed up by any simple
generalization. Each class or type has its own policy, and even within
the class there are minor variations of attitude and policy.
A. UNIONS ADMITTING NEGROES TO WHITE LOCALS
Wherever and whenever Negroes are admitted on an equal basis and given
a square deal, the feeling inside the union is nearly always harmonious.
This is true in such unions as the Butcher Workmen's, Hodcarriers', Flat
Janitors', and Ladies' Garment Workers', which include important fields
of Negro labor in Chicago.
_Stock Yards' unions._--The Stock Yards' strike of 1904 was broken by
the use of Negroes. This was the opening wedge for the admittance to
the union of the large number of Negroes which followed. No organization
thereafter could hope to amount to anything in the Yards unless it took
in Negroes. From 1917 until the riot of 1919 Negroes in large numbers
were joining the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen's Union of
North America. Forty locals were formed. The Negro was welcome to join
any local he desired, whether it was predominantly Polish or Irish or
Negro. However, the majority gravitated to Local 651, which was composed
mainly of Negroes and had Negro officers and organizers and headquarters
near the "Black Belt."
This was not unnatural, since the headquarters of the various local unions
are distributed over the city with a view to their convenience for the
members. Most of the Negro members live within the "Black Belt." The
most active Negro organizer in the city is connected with this local.
Negroes living outside this area belong to the locals nearest their homes.
Efforts to organize Negro workers in the Yards are commented upon in
the _Negro Year Book_ of 1918-19 in the following paragraph:
That the unions are doing much to organize Negro labor is
indicated by the fact that of the more than ten thousand
Negro workers in the Chicago packing houses, over 60 per
cent are reported in the unions. The International Union of
Butchers' Workmen, which has jurisdiction over 90 per cent of
the employees in the packing houses of the country, has three
paid Negro organizers. In other lines of work there is equal
activity in organizing Negro labor.
The unions succeeded in securing an agreement under which Judge Samuel
Alschuler was mutually accepted by the packing companies and the unions
as an arbitrator on matters affecting working conditions in the Yards,
especially hours and wages. This agreement applies to all who work in the
Yards, whether in or out of the union, but, according to labor leaders,
union action and union money "put it across." Consequently there was
the feeling that all who benefited should join and help share in the
expense, and a feeling of hostility toward such Negroes, and whites
as well for that matter, who did not join because they found that they
could get all the benefits of the arrangement without paying dues.
While the Commission's investigator was interviewing the officials of
one of the unions of the packing industry at their headquarters, a number
of the white members dropped in to pay their dues. In conversation they
showed, quite unsolicited, that considerable feeling existed because the
Negro workers were not coming into the union. They felt that the Negroes
were receiving all the benefits secured for the workers by the unions
without paying their proportion of the expense of the organization. In
fact, several used rather strong terms with the words "fink" and "scabs."
The sentiment of the men present seemed to be that, while mistakes had
been made on both sides in the 1904 strike and since, the antagonistic
feeling had been pretty largely eliminated, as was shown by the large
Negro membership prior to the riot, and they said that every effort was
being made at that time and since to bring the Negro into the union.
Conferences had been held with Negro ministers and other organizations
explaining the position of the unions, literature had been distributed,
and a great deal of money had been spent through Negro organizers, and yet
the results were disappointingly small. These white union men contended
that they were opposed by an effective combination of "packers'" influence
hard to beat and intensively interested in keeping the races apart for
its own purposes in opposing union organization.
_The Hod Carriers_ have sixteen locals in Chicago with a large total
membership. No racial record is kept, but Negroes are admitted without
discrimination into all of the unions. A few years ago the Negro
membership was between 1,200 and 1,400; at present with an increase of 300
to 500 from the South, the secretary of the executive council estimates
the total Negro membership to be at least 1,700, most of whom have joined
two locals. The president of the Evanston union and the vice-president
of the Chicago Heights union are colored. No feeling of discrimination
exists, all being treated alike as long as they pay their dues and live
up to the rules. The Hod Carriers have joint arbitration agreements with
the employing contractors' associations in this industry, and no strikes
have been called since 1900.
_The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union_ is another illustration
of a union which accords Negroes the same treatment as white members,
and where the relationship is entirely harmonious. This union has never
drawn the race, creed, or color line and is trying to leave out the word
"white" and "colored" from its minutes and reports. The Negro girls came
into this industry as strike breakers within the last three years.
The officials of this union, in interviews and in testimony before the
Commission, claimed that whenever any friction did arise it was due
to the fact that the employers in this industry discriminated against
Negro girls and paid them less than white girls. The agreement between
the ladies' garment manufacturers and the union provided a weekly
wage of $37.40 for skirt and dress operators--85 cents per hour for a
forty-four-hour week. Negro operators in non-union factories for the
same work were being paid from $18.00 to $25.00 per week. Union skirt
and dress finishers were being paid $26.40 per week--60 cents per hour
for forty-four hours. Negro operators in non-union factories averaged
$15.00 per week for the same work and frequently worked longer than
forty-four hours.
The relations of whites and Negroes in the union were discussed before
the Commission by Max Brodsky, a representative of the union, who said:
As a result of the 1917 strike we have now about 450 colored
women workers in our industry. We lost the strike, and this is
how the colored women got into our industry. Now the union knew
the object of the colored women coming into our industry, and
we decided to have them organized just like the white women
and girls, so we established this particular union. They are
at present conscientious union girls and women. It was the
policy of the union not to discriminate against the colored
women who broke the strike in 1917. This helped us.
At the same conference, Agnes Nestor, president of the Women's Trade
Union League, testified as follows:
_Miss Nestor_: In the ladies' garments work, the unions have
taken in colored girls on the same basis as the white girls.
They made a colored girl a chairman of their shop meeting.
There is no feeling there with them as far as I know.
_Miss McDowell_: Didn't they elect a colored girl as shop
steward where they had both white and colored girls?
_Miss Nestor_: Yes.
As an illustration of employers' discrimination against Negro workers,
and of the efforts of the union to protect Negroes when they become
members of the union, the case of a manufacturer was cited whose shop
had only Negro workers. Shortly after the union had organized them they
were locked out. Later the employer was willing to settle "providing
you sent us a set of white workers." The union refused to do this and
called a strike.
The union claimed that in many recent cases where Negro girls were sent
out on jobs the employers would refuse them when they found out that
they had to pay them the same scale as white workers. During 1917-18,
owing to the war, the manufacturers worked in harmony with the unions
because they had to; since the war, and largely within the first few
months of 1920, the manufacturers have opened many shops on the South
Side employing only non-union colored girls. In the various strikes
in which this union has been engaged for this same period, the strike
breakers have been Negro girls secured for the employers through a Negro
minister acting as a labor agent or solicitor.
_The Flat Janitors' Union_ has a membership of approximately 5,000, of
whom 1,000 are Negroes. It includes many nationalities with strong racial
feelings, yet, as stated by Mr. Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago
Federation of Labor, rarely is any complaint made against this union by
Negroes.
Interviews with the president and other officials, attendance at a
session of the Executive Board, and attendance at a crowded meeting of the
union, where transaction of general business, nomination of candidates
for the coming election, and initiation of new members occurred, gave
the Commission's investigator ample opportunity for observation of the
attitude toward Negroes.
This union, organized in 1904, started out with a Negro as recording
secretary and business agent. At the time of the interviews, the
vice-president and three members of the Executive Board were Negroes.
These had been elected for a three-year term. At the general meeting
attended, the Negro officers were renominated unanimously to hold office
for a period of five years. In addition, several more Negroes were
nominated as stewards and as delegates to the Chicago Federation of Labor.
According to the members, discrimination in this craft is practiced by
the flat and apartment owners. The experience of the union is that as
soon as a Negro is taken into the union and demands the union scale the
owner calls up the union and says, "If I have to pay these wages I'm
going to get a good white man."
The position taken by the union is that if a Negro has had the job he
must be allowed to stay there and get the scale, and the union will back
him up in the fight for it. The threat of a strike against a building
is usually effective.
Inquiry among Negro janitors in the residence districts brought up a
case in which one Negro claimed that Negroes were forced into the union
and then usually found themselves discriminated against by the white
members, especially by Belgians, and soon or later, were squeezed out of
the good jobs. However, this Negro admitted that he had not attended a
union meeting since his initiation, except to stop in to pay his dues,
and that he had never made a complaint to the Negro officer of the
union. The officers of the union admitted that there was, in the many
racial groups in this craft, strong racial feeling, especially among
Austrians and Belgians, who seemed to feel that whenever a janitor died
or left the job, or an assistant or helper was needed, such job should
always be filled with members of their own nationality. However, the
Negro officials claimed that with three Negroes on the Executive Board
and a Negro vice-president, any complaint coming from a Negro would
surely be fairly dealt with; but that unless their attention was called
to unsatisfactory conditions the union could not be expected to know of
them, and in such cases it was not the union that was to blame, but the
member himself.
Frequently, in those unions in which the Negroes are not admitted into
the same locals with the whites, the reasons given for putting them
into separate locals or auxiliaries is that the white members object
to the close physical contact or association in meetings, especially
where there is some element of ritual in connection with the meetings.
At the meeting of the Janitors' Union attended by the investigator,
new pass words were given out, and all members, white and Negro, had to
come before the Negro vice-president, who whispered the words to each
and they in turn repeated them to him. Not the slightest hesitancy was
noted on the part of the white members, but rather a hearty handshake or
a slap on the back seemed to be the rule. Again, in taking in nineteen
new members, four of whom were Negroes, the major part of the ceremony
was performed by the Negro vice-president. At this meeting, packed to
standing-room and attended by well over a thousand members, Negroes were
a large percentage of those present. These were not confined to a group
by themselves, but were scattered in all parts of the hall and seemed
to be in cordial conversation with the white members.
A number of interesting comments by members and officers of unions
admitting Negroes on equal terms with whites were volunteered, either
in interviews or in correspondence. In one union of 700 highly skilled
workers receiving $1.50 an hour, or $12.00 a day, no Negroes were found
to be members, although they are not barred by the constitution. It was
suggested that the five-year apprenticeship period discouraged Negroes. It
was further noted that admittance was by a two-thirds vote, a provision
which could easily result in the exclusion of any race which two-thirds
of the members did not like. The investigator's report of his interview
says:
The business representative of this union was strongly of
the personal opinion that unions had made a mistake in ever
admitting the Negro into any of the unions. He claimed that
the employers' only interest in them was as a lever to keep
wages down for the workers.
Two other members of the League took a contrary position and
held that Negro labor was in the field, and that while the
employer's interest in the Negro was simply to play one group
against another to keep expense down as low as possible, it
was really up to labor itself to solve the question and that
the Negroes must be taken into unions. They admitted that
undoubtedly prejudice existed, but that it was gradually being
overcome.
Other comments are as follows:
From an officer of the Teamsters and Chauffeurs: "We have had one Negro
holding office as trustee for several years. So feeling is brotherly."
From an officer of a specialized mechanics' union: "There has been no
sign of race feeling or hatred since we have been organized. We have
six officers (one colored). I myself, being colored, have no complaints
whatever against my white brothers."
From a Negro officer of the Mattress Makers: "Discrimination and race
prejudice does not exist in this union. We are one happy family. It seems
impossible to organize the other Negro mattress makers. Would appreciate
some assistance."
B. UNIONS ADMITTING NEGROES TO SEPARATE CO-ORDINATE LOCALS
Certain unions organize Negroes into separate locals which are in all
respects co-ordinate with the white locals belonging to the same unions.
The reason for maintaining separate Negro locals is either (1) preference
of the Negro workers for locals of their own, or (2) unwillingness of
white workers to admit Negroes to white locals. It often seemed that
the second indicated the real situation, the first reason being given
as an excuse for it.
The important factor is the reason for the existence of separate Negro
locals rather than the fact of separation. This is illustrated by the
experience of the Painters' and Musicians' unions on the one hand, and
that of the Waiters' Union on the other.
During July, 1920, twenty Negro painters applied to the Painters' District
Council for membership in the Painters' Union. They passed the required
examination but, instead of being placed in the existing Painters' Union,
were given temporary working permits which identified them as members of
"South Side Colored Local." They immediately suspected that some effort
was being made to place them in a separate Negro local in which they
could not get the full benefits of union membership. They then went to
discuss the matter with the editor of a Negro paper which had expressed
the point of view of many Negroes concerning labor unions in its editorial
columns. This editor told them his belief that the Painters' District
Council was merely duplicating the practices of several other unions in
the city, and was attempting to limit these men to a "Jim Crow" union.
They returned to the president of the District Council, who explained
that he had to keep track of all temporary permits issued, and inasmuch
as the charter for their local was not yet issued he could not know
the number until issued. He had to put the description on the cards to
identify the men temporarily.
A charter for the local was given from national headquarters, and the
new cards were issued, designating them simply as members of Local No.
----. The membership of this local, exclusively Negro, grew from twenty
to seventy-five in two months. One of the Negro officials of the local
stated that its members had been working in all parts of the Chicago
District, including the North Side and Evanston, and that they had
a representative on the District Council. The attitude of the white
workers, he stated, was a little cool on the first day, but there is
now no evidence of friction. He thought that the members of this local
were well pleased and happy.
_The Negro Musicians_ are organized into a strong separate local,
chartered in 1902. It has a membership of approximately 325. It has held
the Municipal Pier dance-hall contract for three years, and besides
many other contracts in the city. It furnishes players for various
occasions for a considerable territory outside of Chicago. This group
much prefers its own union, but works jointly with the large white union,
the Chicago Federation of Musicians, whenever matters come up affecting
both organizations. Both unions have the same wage scale.
Where Negro workers are permitted to join white locals but prefer to have
their own colored local there is no feeling that they are discriminated
against, occasional joint meetings with white locals being characterized
by friendly interest and good fellowship. Where, however, a union closes
the door of its white locals to Negroes and organizes them into separate
locals because the white members object to contact with Negroes, a very
difficult situation exists. This condition is illustrated by the methods
of the Waiters' Union in Chicago.
Negro waiters are not admitted into the white Waiters' Union, but are
placed in the Pullman Porters and Dining-Car Waiters' Union, which is
a local affiliated with the same international as the white Waiters'
Union. The makeshift of putting Negro waiters, although employed in city
hotels, restaurants, and cafés, into this local is pointed to by Negroes
as unmistakable evidence of discrimination.
The culinary strike in Chicago, which started May 1, 1920, resulted in
failure for the unions concerned largely because Negroes acted as strike
breakers. This is easily accounted for by the fact that seventeen years
ago Negro waiters lost their positions in many of the first-class hotels
and restaurants in the business district through circumstances in which
they felt that they had been "double-crossed" by the unions, of which
they then were members.
The Negro strike breakers in 1920, however, found themselves again
displaced, this time through the action of employers. A typical instance
was found in the restaurant of a hotel patronized largely by people of
German descent, the managers as well as many of the former waiters being
of German extraction. These waiters, some of whom had been employed for
many years in this restaurant, were members of the union and went out
when the strike was called. The managers replaced them with Negroes.
The latter filled the positions with apparent satisfaction for nearly a
year, when suddenly they were all discharged and the old waiters taken
back.
A regular patron of the restaurant, a man of German descent, expressed
vigorous views upon the "injustice" with which the Negroes had been
treated by the management, which should have appreciated their service
through the period when the former waiters caused trouble. He said he had
always found the Negroes efficient and willing, and many of them "very
intelligent fellows." Although of the same nationality as the managers
and the former waiters, many of whom he had known for years, he did not
let this national feeling blind him to what he considered most unfair
treatment of the Negroes. He said that he had discussed the matter with
one of the managers and had been told that the reason why the Negroes had
been discharged and the old waiters taken back was because of complaints
against the Negroes by patrons of the restaurant. He added, "I think
that's bunk."
A change in the officers of the Waiters' Union at the recent election
has placed in power a group which recognizes that the entire policy of
the culinary unions must be co-ordinated and proper provision made for
the large Negro element in the field. If this is not done, it is felt
that a rival Negro union may be organized, similar to that organized
by the Negro railway workers. In fact, even now a beginning has been
made toward such an organization by a few high-grade Negro waiters who
have been in active charge of the waiters of several of the large hotel
dining-rooms during the recent strike.
C. UNIONS ADMITTING NEGROES TO SUBORDINATE OR AUXILIARY LOCALS
The practice of admitting Negroes to subordinate locals appears to be
very unusual in Chicago. The investigation disclosed only one instance
where the policy of the union was to admit Negroes only to subordinate
locals. The Commission is not at liberty to publish the name of this
union, which makes the following provision for Negro locals in its
constitution:
Where there are a sufficient number of colored helpers they
may be organized as an auxiliary local and shall be under
the jurisdiction of the white local union having jurisdiction
over that locality; and minutes of said auxiliary local must
be submitted to duly authorized officers of said white local
for their approval.
In shops where there is a grievance committee of the white
local, grievances of members of said auxiliary local will be
handled by that committee.
Members of auxiliary locals composed of colored helpers shall
not transfer except to another auxiliary local composed of
colored members, and colored helpers will not be promoted to
... or helper apprentice; and will not be admitted to shops
where white helpers are now employed.
Auxiliary locals will be represented in all conventions by
the delegates elected from the white local in that locality.
The officials of this union stoutly maintain that the provisions above
quoted are not discriminatory, and they are at a loss to explain why
attempts to organize Negro workers in Chicago into auxiliary locals have
not met with success.
D. UNIONS EXCLUDING NEGROES FROM MEMBERSHIP
Chicago locals which exclude the Negro do so either in conformity with
the laws of their national unions or in the exercise of "local option."
Locals belonging to the national and international unions which bar the
Negro by written provision in their constitutions or rituals are obliged
to follow the same racial policy as their parent bodies. This number
includes the Chicago locals belonging to the eight American Federation of
Labor national unions which exclude the Negro, and the locals of the four
railway brotherhoods which likewise exclude the Negro by constitutional
provision.
In addition to the locals which are bound to follow the policy of their
nationals, there are certain other locals which are known to reject
Negro applicants. By allowing their locals to practice "local option"
or to require a majority or two-thirds vote for election to membership,
the progressive policy of certain American Federation of Labor national
and international unions which admit the Negro is nullified.
The Machinists' Union has frequently been referred to as a union which,
although complying in its constitution with the American Federation of
Labor policy of no racial discrimination, still effectually bars the
Negro by a provision in its secret ritual. In effect, however, there is
no real difference between such a policy on the part of the Machinists'
Union and that of the unions which apparently practice exclusion as
an unwritten law. With the Machinists' Union must then be grouped such
unions as the Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' International Alliance,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers of America, and United
Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters of United States and Canada. The
Electricians' Union has only one Negro member out of a total membership
of 11,000 in Chicago.
V. ATTITUDE OF NEGROES TOWARD UNION ORGANIZATION
From its attitude toward labor unions the Negro population of Chicago
may be considered in four groups: (1) racial leaders outside the labor
movement--ministers, editors, politicians, etc.; (2) Negroes with a
special interest in opposing unions; (3) Negro workers outside of the
unions; (4) Negro workers within the ranks of the unions.
1. RACIAL LEADERS OUTSIDE OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT
Within this group are found many sincere workers for the welfare of the
race. Their attitude is determined by the apparent practicability of
courses of action for Negroes in relation to the unions. These attitudes
again depend upon their familiarity with the principles and purposes of
unionism. They recognize that the entrance of large numbers of Negroes in
industry has been recent. The belief is that the employers rather than
the labor unions provided this first opportunity, and since, under most
frequent circumstances, the holding of these positions has been due to
the kindly attitude of employers, they felt that first loyalty was due
to them.
They have also been affected by experiences with labor unions which in
the past have not been disposed to accept Negroes freely into membership
with them.
Although the interest of employers in securing Negroes has not always
been merely the granting of an opportunity for work, where Negroes
have entered as strike breakers they have usually remained. This recent
entrance into industry has made them, for the first time, a considerable
factor, and they feel that the unions, recognizing their importance
to the accomplishment of union aims, are making appeals to them for
membership, not out of a spirit of brotherhood, but merely to advance
their purposes.
These considerations have largely determined the attitude of many Negro
leaders, especially the ministers, some of whom have been requested
by employers to recommend members of their congregations for jobs in
various fields of industry. At a recent industrial convention of Negro
organizations controlling the employment of thousands of Negro workers, it
was decided that Negroes would not be sent as strike breakers to plants
where the strikers' unions accepted Negroes, and that they would advise
Negroes to join the unions wherever possible, but that where Negroes
are offered positions by employers in trades where Negroes are excluded
from the unions, they would not be advised to forego the opportunity.
An intelligent Negro woman, who has been active in trying to acquaint
ministers with union aims and methods, commented upon the fact that
until recently Negro ministers knew very little about unionism, except
that employers were opposed to it. This was enough to influence many
ministers to urge Negro workers to stay out of labor unions and thus
demonstrate their loyalty to employers who had given them a chance in
industry.
A prominent Negro leader, a member of the Illinois legislature, stated
his position respecting unions, at one of the industrial conferences
held by the Commission, as follows:
I want to confess that I have never felt that I could
intelligently advise the colored people who ask me whether
laboring people should join the unions. It has been the opinion
of the leaders of our race for years that employers of labor
felt more kindly toward colored labor and were less concerned
about the color of the workmen--were only concerned about the
character of the service. We felt as leaders of the race that
the labor employer was given a square deal much more than the
employee himself.... We had a strike here of waiters several
years ago when the Kohlsaat lunchroom waiters were involved.
I was the president of a men's Sunday club, and some labor
agitators got the colored boys to join the white Waiters'
Union, and I remember when the matter came before the club I
told them, "They raised your wages to the white man's scale,
and the white men are raising you out in the street," and that
is what they did too.... I have been somewhat influenced by
that experience.
2. NEGROES WITH A SPECIAL INTEREST IN OPPOSING UNIONS
The rift between employers and labor unions has provided a field of
exploitation for certain less responsible Negroes. Their operations
have occasioned bitter feeling between Negroes and labor unions and have
accomplished little or nothing for the Negro workers. A Negro editor of
a small and irresponsible paper advises Negro workers not to join the
white man's union, but instead to join a union which he has formed and of
which he is president. He is looked upon with suspicion by representative
Negroes of Chicago, who believe that he is willing to sacrifice the best
interests of the race to serve his own purposes. A well-informed Negro
outlined the method employed by the editor in question to represent
himself to employers of labor as one who controls large numbers of Negro
laborers. In furtherance of this plan, which appears to have prospered,
he organized a group which he called the "American Unity Labor Union."
The appeal on the one hand to Negroes was that white unions would not
admit them on an equal basis and that white employers preferred Negro
non-unionists to white unionists and would pay them the same wages while
according them better treatment. To white employers he represented the
Negroes as being opposed to unions because they were white men's unions,
and as such discriminated against Negroes, and that they belonged in
large numbers to his organization, which was designed to improve the
quality of Negro labor by increasing Negro pride in special and unmixed
endeavors.
That certain employers did give money for this kind of service is apparent
in several instances. A Negro ex-clergyman secured for a long period
something like $2.00 per capita for every Negro supplied by him to any
one of ten iron foundries in the Calumet district.
The following are typical of advertisements which appear regularly in
the paper of the Negro editor referred to above:
WANTED
100 Building Laborers to work in the city of Chicago at Building
Scale Wages. Union Job. If you are not a Union man you can
get a permit to work as a Union Man at ---- Indiana Avenue.
Do not pay $33.00 to join a white man's union, when you can
join the black man's union for $5.00 and work on any building
in Chicago.
WAGE EARNERS CLUB
American Unity Labor Union was organized March 10th, 1917,
Chicago, Illinois.
GET A SQUARE DEAL WITH YOUR OWN RACE
Time has come for Negroes to do now or never. Get together
and stick together is the call of the Negro. Like all other
races, make your own way; other races have made their unions
for themselves. They are not going to give it to you just
because you join his union. Make a union of your own race;
union is strength. Join the American Unity Packers Union of
the Stock Yards, this will give you a card to work at any
trade or a common laborer, as a steam fitter, electrician,
fireman, merchants, engineers, carpenters, butchers, helpers,
and chauffeurs to drive trucks down town, delivering meat as
white chauffeurs do for Armour's and Swift's, or other Packers.
A card from this Union will let you work in Kansas City, Omaha
and St. Louis, or any other city where the five Packers have
packing houses.
This Union does not _believe in strikes_. We believe all
differences between laborers and capitalists can be arbitrated.
Strike is our last motive if any at all.
_Get in line for a good job. You are next. Office, ---- Indiana
Ave._
THE WORKING MEN'S CLUB
Join the American Unity Steel and Metal Union, a Union of your
own race with officers of your own race with a President. A
card from this Union will entitle you to work any place in the
United States as a steel and iron worker, craneman, engineer,
molders, rail straighteners, and any job that it takes brains
and skill to do and common laborer. _Join one big union and
demand a square deal with your own strength_. 8 hour day's work.
_Get in line for a good job. You are next. Office, ---- Indiana
Ave._
All classes and kinds of work waiting for good people in our
Association.
During the latter part of December, 1920, the editor in question visited
the large daily newspapers in Chicago and presented an article which
purported to tell of a large mass meeting of his union at which this
group decided that they would work at the Stock Yards, steel mills, and
all other plants in Chicago and the Calumet region and at all foundries
and factories at a 15 per cent discount on wages previously paid for
skilled labor, and 10 per cent on common-labor wages. Although only one
paper gave any attention to this statement, the opinion of some of the
more responsible Negroes was expressed in a Negro newspaper in Chicago,
which characterized the man as "a public nuisance" and his story as
"bunk."
3. NEGRO WORKERS OUTSIDE OF UNIONS
Negro workers outside of the union ranks often do not see any necessity
for unionism or do not understand its aims and methods; many are frankly
suspicious of the good intentions of white unionists toward Negroes;
others condemn unions generally because of some bitter experience with
a particular union, while still others are enthusiastic believers in
unionism and expect to join a union at some time. Several shades of
opinion are illustrated by the following quotations taken at random from
interviews with a large number of Negro workers.
H---- G----, thirty-four years old, left a farm in Georgia
to come to Chicago in October, 1919. Employed as a laborer
in a paper-box manufacturing plant. He said he didn't know
much about unions but couldn't see what good they were doing.
They made prices go up, but wages didn't go up with prices.
If unions did any good he would join, but he can't see that
they do.