Full text of Series of Studies on Employment of Women in Various Defense Industries : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 192 : Women's Employment in Foundries, 1943 : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 192-7

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS,

Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON,

Director

+

Women’s Employment
in
Foundries, 1943
b7

FRANCES E. P. HARNISH

■iNrEsO*

!

Bulletin

of the

Women’s Bureau, No. 192-7

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1944

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.
Price 10 cents







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CONTENTS
Page

Foundries visited-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Extent of the use of women and factors influencing such use
Description of foundry work and women’s work in foundries________________
The pattemmaking department 3
The coremaking department 3
The molding or moldmaking department
4
The furnace or melt department
8
The metallurgical laboratory
8
The cleaning and finshing department:
Heat-treating or annealing of castings 10
Inspecting and testing 11
Painting 11
The shipping department 11
Occupations common to all departmentss 11
Die-casting foundry work______________________________________
The foundry environment 16
Noise 16
Floor hazards 16
Dust and fumes:----------------------------------------------------------------------------Eye hazards_____________________ :_________________________________
Hazards of molten metal___________________________________________
Overhead hazards-------------------------------------------------------------------------Wages, hours, and working conditions_____________________ 18
Wages 18
Hours 19
Food services and facilities 21
Medical facilities---------------------------------------------------------------------------Work-clothing requirements and practices 22
Toilet facilities for women________________________________
Absenteeism and turn-over
Personnel policies in hiring, training, and advising women
Employee organization and affiliation-------------------------------------------------------Summary---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Women’s distribution by department in 6 of the foundries surveyed by
Women’s Bureau------------------------------------ • 13
List of occupations filled by women in 13 foundries




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2

8

12

17
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17
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21
23
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25
27
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14

Women’s Employment in Foundries, 1943
FOUNDRIES VISITED

,

During the second half of 1943, representatives of the Women’s
Bureau of the United States Department of Labor visited eastern and
middlewestern foundries in connection with studies the Bureau was
making of the utilization of women in the heavy metal-working indus­
tries. Some of the foundries were a part of good-sized machine-tool
establishments, and some, though engaged primarily in foundry work,
had small machine-tool production departments; the majority,
however, did no machine-tool work other than that required for
maintenance.
In the foundries visited most of the castings were being made of
steel, but some foundries were also making cast-iron and malleableiron castings. One, which specialized in making steel castings, also
had a smaller foundry where brass castings were made, and here, the
parts handled being smaller, more women were used than in its steel
foundry. Another foundry made castings entirely of aluminum or
zinc and differed from all the others in that it used the die-casting
process.
This report will be confined to women’s work in the foundry itself,
excluding separate machine-tool divisions and the office, maintenance,
and service departments. Plant statistics made it impossible to arrive
at figures with exactness—for example, in some cases there were em­
ployees who did maintenance work as well as production—but incon­
sistencies probably are slight. Women in appreciable numbers were
employed in the administrative offices and in plant clerical work, and
a few were in maintenance and service, though as recently as 1 or 2
years ago the firms employed practically no women in any capacity.
While most of the foundries were job-production plants, they had
war orders that called for a certain amount of production of a repeti­
tive nature. A few of the foundries produced small as well as large
castings. The wide range of products made by the companies visited
included castings for the following: Locomotives, turrets for tanks
and gun carriages, gun mounts, leveling sockets for guns, elevator
parts for airplane carriers, armor for tanks, tank hulls and housings,
hydraulic presses, rolling-mill machinery for steel mills, large parts
for machine-tool builders, ships’ parts, towing and hoisting equip­
ment; various parts for trucks, tanks, and torpedo boats, turbo super­
chargers, valves and fittings, various smaller parts for machines, and
ordnance and ammunition components.
EXTENT OF THE USE OF WOMEN AND FACTORS
INFLUENCING SUCH USE
The foundries studied differed in size and in the type of work being
done. The plants (excluding, as already explained, those sections not



1

2

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

directly connected with the foundries) ranged in total employment
from 254 to 5,275 workers, and in number of women employed from
4 to 819. Of a total of 22,622 workers in the foundries covered, exclud­
ing all clerical workers, 3,631 of the workers, or 16 percent, were
women. The percentage of women in these various foundries ranged
from 1.6 percent to 43.4 percent. The foundry with the greatest total
employment (5,275) employed only 10.8 percent women, and the one
with the greatest percentage of women (43.4) had a total employment
of only 495 persons.
.
Obviously, the proportion of women did not depend on size of
foundry. Instead, it depended in varying degree on such factors as
the shortage of male workers in the labor market; the size of the cast­
ings that were being made; and the extent to which the foundry was
engaged in job or production work. Probably male-labor shortage
was the chief determining factor, for while some of the plants visited
that made very large castings required weight-lifting which, they
believed, could not be eliminated, other plants broke down similar
jobs to permit the use of more women where there was a great shortage
of male labor. Foundries engaged largely in job work, sometimes
making no more than one casting from a pattern, could not utilize
“green workers” so easily as production foundries where some of the
jobs could be broken down to utilize unskilled workers on mass pro­
duction or repetitive work. Due to the labor market, some of the
foundries were using women on jobs not really suitable for women, and
others were not utilizing women to any degree though they could have
employed them in many suitable jobs.
Some foundries mentioned the fact that they could use more green
help” (or women) if they were able to secure more skilled workers.
Men have been avoiding foundry work and therefore in many foun­
dries there are too few skilled workers available to keep production
up to capacity. It is easier for foundries operating to capacity and
using a large force of workers to utilize women, because these foundries
can often subdivide jobs so that some of the weight-lifting and strain
incidental to many of the jobs can be removed and so that some jobs
or parts of jobs can be done by unskilled workers (dilution of skills).
It was not always true that the foundries with the most favorable
working conditions and the most modern labor-saving equipment
made the greatest use of women. The foundries visited presented
great contrasts in working conditions or general environment.
DESCRIPTION OF FOUNDRY WORK AND WOMEN’S
WORK IN FOUNDRIES
A foundry is that branch of the metal-working industry in which
an object of metal is made by pouring molten metal into a mold of
the desired shape. The metal solidifies and is called a casting. The
casting, though given a preliminary cleaning and finishing in the
foundry, usually is the rough piece of metal on which fashioning is
done in machine shops.
.
.
If the casting made in the foundry is to have a hollow interior, a
form in the desired shape of the hollow interior is made. This is
called a core. The core is inserted in the mold so that the metal flow­
ing into the mold flows around the core.



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

3

Cores and molds are made, generally speaking, of a mixture of sand,
clay, and a fluid binder. Different formulas are followed, depending
on the size and shape of the casting and the metal to be used. Less
frequently loam is used in place of sand in the formula, and sometimes
molds and cores are made of a cement mixture. The mold and the
core can he used for only one casting, except in the uncommon and
limited die-casting process where the mold is made of metal and can
lie used over and over again. (See p. 12.) In this study most of the
description of the various departments of a foundry will be confined
to the typical foundry where the sand core and the mold must be
destroyed after each casting is made.
The pages following give an abbreviated and simplified account
of the work done in the production departments of a foundry, to­
gether with a summary of the types of work that women now are
doing in the various departments in the foundries visited by the
Women’s Bureau. At the end of this section of the report (page 14)
there is a list, by department, of the occupations filled by women in the
13 foundries surveyed, together with a table showing the distribu­
tion of women in the several departments in 6 of the foundries that
had the most complete statistics (page 13).
The Pattern making Department.
The pattern is the wooden (sometimes metal) form into which
sand (or other material) is pressed to shape the core, or the wooden
pattern around which sand is pressed to shape the depression in the
mold. The pattern is not destroyed, as the core and mold are, but can
be used over and over again. Pattern making is exacting and highly
skilled work. Patternmakers in wood are skilled woodworkers, having,
in addition to that skill, an understanding of mathematics and blue­
print reading and a knowledge of casting problems, such as where
molten metal should enter the mold for a particular type of casting,
how much to allow for the shrinkage of the metal after it is poured, and
where to mark the pattern for vents. The maker of metal patterns
must be a skilled machinist.
r The patternmaking shop usually is separate from the foundry.
There is also a pattern storage room where patterns are received,
classified, stored, and issued.
Work for Women.—In the foundries surveyed patternmakers had
trained unskilled women helpers to clean, sand, letter, shellac, or
paint wooden patterns, to attach the little fillets that are pasted on pat­
terns to round off sharp corners where parts are joined, and to check
or measure patterns against blueprints. Women were also used oc­
casionally as helpers to metal patternmakers. They very readily do
pattern-storage work where small rather than large patterns are
involved.
The Coremaking Department.
The core, around which molten metal flows at pouring time, forms
the interior of a hollow casting. The core is made separately from
the mold and is inserted in the depression in the mold that shapes the
outside of the casting. In some foundries both core and mold are made
of cement, but in the usual foundry both core and mold are made of a
special type of sand. When sand has been firmly packed into the



4

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

wooden core-pattern the pattern is turiled over on a board or steel
plate and tapped lightly with a mallet. It is then removed from
the sand core, which retains the shape of the pattern. This will be
half of a core, since cores usually are made in halves, to be joined
after the cores are baked in ovens. A number of small cores can be
turned out on one plate. 'The plates are then lifted to racks and later
moved into the bake ovens.
After baking, each core is inspected, patched where required, and
painted or given one of several types of coating. The parts of the
core are pasted together or assembled. Women are generally said to
be especially good at making the small cores because of their finger
dexterity, which usually is superior to that of men.
Some cores are so large that the pattern is in sections, with sides that
are bolted together and that later, after the core has been turned over,
are removed one by one to release the core. The coremaker tamps in
large quantities of the specially prepared sand. He uses bent steel
wires called gaggers, or heavier rods, depending on the size of the
core, as reinforcing inserts in the sand. With a wire or wax tapers
the coremaker makes special openings for vents in the core. After the
core box has been turned over on a plate, the core box is removed and
the huge plate containing the core is set aside ready for the oven.
Sometimes more than one man has to do the lifting, and hoists and
conveyors also are used. Skill as well as strength is required for the
making of large cores. Coremaking machines of various kinds are
used to some extent in foundries but these machines do only part of
the work of coremaking.
Work for Women.—In the foundries visited, a few women were
making cores of the larger sizes, but this was production rather than
job work and required less skill. A few women were operating core­
making machines.
Women were used as helpers throughout the core shops. They were
doing such jobs as tending the ovens, sandpapering or finishing the
baked cores, measuring and inspecting them, patching them by filling
in rough edges with a putty-like mixture that dries in air, painting
them or coating them with a silica wash. They were pasting the two
halves of the core together or joining, by pasting, additional core sec­
tions, since on some complicated cores there are projections that have
to be made separately and joined to the main body of the core after
baking. The work of women on these relatively unskilled jobs is
limited in extent if cores are large and if the foundry provides no help
in lifting.
The Molding or Moldmaking Department.
Preparing the Mold.

The mold is the body or mass of sand containing the patterned
cavity that determines the external shape of the casting. Molds, like
cores, generally are made in halves, and these are fitted together after
the core is set in. Molds may be made of cement but usually are made
of sand. There is a four-sided container, sometimes of wood, some­
times of steel, called a flask, into which the sand is packed. The
flask for the top half of the mold is called the cope and the flask for
the bottom half is called the drag. The pattern for the cavity to be
made in the sand is placed in the flask, specially prepared fine facing



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

5

sand is packed around the pattern, and coarse backing sand is then
piled into the remainder of the flask as a support so that the mold
will not break apart when the molten metal strikes it.
The sand or cement in the molds is reinforced with wires and rods
and sometimes wire grills or arbors. Sometimes pieces of metal, called
‘ chills,” are placed against the pattern when the facing sand is beingpacked around the pattern, to regulate the cooling of the molten metal
when it strikes the sand for castings whose parts are of unequal
thickness. When the flask has been turned over, the flask for the second
half of the mold is prepared like the first. After completion this is
lifted from the pattern and is turned over. The pattern is then
removed from the first flask.
In the process of moldmaking, the moldmaker makes an opening
m
sancl f°r fTio entrance of the metal and connects this, by
molding and cutting a runway in the sand, with the patterned cavity
m the mold. This entrance and pathway for the molten metal is
called a gate.” The moldmaker also punches holes in the sand of
the mold for vents to allow the escape of gases at pouring time.
There is an additional section to the patterned cavity called the
riser, ’ into which some of the molten metal may rise, at time of
pouring, to allow for a supply of metal as the castiiig contracts while
cooling. All extraneous parts of the casting, like the gates, the
risers, and the fins (rough edges where the two parts of the mold
are joined), must be removed from the casting later in the cleaninoor finishing department.
&
The moldmaker and his helpers inspect and clean the patterned
cavity m the sand, patch any broken sections, and strengthen the
curved edges, in some of the larger molds, by inserting steel nails
sometimes themolder applies a wash to the cavity and dries the
sand of the cavity either by torch or in an oven,
i ^flfihe co™’ ProPerly supported, has been set into one completed
haft of the mold, the other completed half of the mold is placed over
it and the two halves of the flask are bolted together. Sometimes
the flask is removed before pouring.
Many foundries have machines to assist with the making of molds.
The squeeze machine, which makes smaller molds, and the jarring or
jolting, or jolt-roll-over machines for larger molds, come in different
sizes and types. In principle, however, they pack the sand in the
flask and remove the pattern, and the roll-over machines also turn
over the heavy flasks. There is more or less heavy work for the
moldmakers using these machines, however. For instance there is
some lifting and turning of flasks on the squeeze machines and on the
jolt-roll-over machines some tamping of top backing sand with pneu­
matic rammers, not to mention the sifting of facing sand over the
pattern from sieves, or the shoveling of backing sand, hand work that
sometimes is required of the machine molder.
In floor molding for the very large molds, workers may use long
heavy vibrating pneumatic rammers to pack in the sand tightly.
Some foundries have a sand-slinger machine that runs on track's and
ejects sand into these large molds with such force that the sand is
made firm and compact. The operator of the sand-slinger machine
may be a woman, but the worker who stands beside the mold and
579587°—44------ 2




6

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

pushes and pulls the heavy impelling head of the machine, from
which the sand is forced into the mold, has work that is not only
dirty but far too heavy for women. It is said that many of the men
doing this work have acquired hernias.
Molds, when ready, are moved to the proper area for pouring. For
the largest molds, pouring is done in the area on the floor, or in a
pit, where the mold was made. Molds frequently are braced to pre­
vent their breaking apart when the metal is poured. Very large
molds may be braced with huge steel beams that are clamped to the
tops, sides, and at the base of the mold.
There are five classes of molding:
(1) Bench molding, or the preparation of small and simple molds.
(2) Squeeze-machine molding. Some lifting is involved even on
the smallest squeeze machines.
(3) Molding-inachine or jar, jolt, roll-over, or jolt-roll-over
machine molding for larger molds than those prepared by
the squeeze machine.
(4) and (5) Floor molding for the largest molds. This includes
side-floor molding and big (or main-) floor molding. Some
of the largest castings are made in sunken pits.
Work for Women.—In some of the foundries surveyed, women were
making bench molds. In others, they were acting mainly as helpers
to the skilled moldmakers at machine molding, side-floor molding,
main-floor molding, and pit molding. Some of the women helpers
were little more than errand girls and laborers and some were doing
rather skilled work, patching and helping with the fine finishing of
the molds, or placing some of the small cores. In some of the foundries
jobs were so broken down that the women, instead of doing a variety
of work as helpers, specialized in such jobs as drying the mold cavities
with gas torches, checking the size of the mold cavity, assembling
arbors and straightening gaggers, and greasing “chills.” A few
women wmre operating the sand-slinger machine.
Preparing Sand for the Core and for the Mold.

In most cases exact formulas are followed for the preparation of
the sand for coremaking and for the facing sand used in the molds.
Different formulas may be followed for different jobs. Determining
the formula and testing a sample of a prepared batch of sand-mix is
a laboratory control job in many foundries. Sand is tested for per­
meability, moisture, compression, green strength (before baking), and
dry strength (after baking).
The ingredients are mixed in the foundry in large quantities. Most
foundries have large, electrically operated mixing machines called
sand mullers or sand mills. Sometimes the loading of the machine—at
least in part—is a laboring job.
Sand-conveyor systems, often enclosed to prevent dust, convey sand
to the various parts of the core and mold departments, and the operator
of the sand-conveyor system sees that hoppers are filled when neces­
sary. The sand-conveyor operator often sits on a catwalk above the
work section of the molding department.
In some foundries the sand is not prepared or tested so carefully as
here outlined. The sand may be mixed with other materials right on
tfle floor of the coremaking or molding department, either by hand for




WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

7

small quantities or by sand-cutting machine for larger quantities.
Sometimes machines are used for the drying of sand. When used
molds have been broken up, the used sand is reclaimed. Used cement
also is reclaimed, being ground up in enclosed machines.
Work for Women.—In a number of foundries women were operating
the sand mills and the sand-conveyor system and in some cases they
were doing the laboring connected with supplying the sand-mill
machines.
Women were observed, in various foundries, operating the reclaim
machines, the sand-drier system, shoveling and mixing sand, and doing
other laboring jobs connected with the sand system.
Women were employed as sand testers (sometimes in the laboratory)
in many foundries and were said to be especially good at this work.
Pouring Molten Metal Into the Molds.

Molten metal is brought from the furnace section of the foundry to
the mold section and is poured into the molds. Pouring may be done
off and on throughout the day or only at a stated and limited time.
Molders may act also as pourers, but this practice is unusual. Pour­
ing for small molds may be done from long-handled ladles carried by
hand (this is heavy work), or from small ladles guided along a mono­
rail support. Pouring for large molds is done from ladles carried by
overhead crane. The metal pourer, with his helpers, not only guides
the ladle into place over the gate of the mold but controls the stopper of
the ladle when the ladle is bottom-poured, or the tipping of the ladle
when the ladle is lip-poured. The pourer must not miss the gate
of the mold, he must not allow the molten metal to overflow from the
gate, he must know how much and how fast to pour. Skill and re­
sponsibility are involved in pouring. Not only is this a hot job but
it has its hazards.
No women were used at metal pouring in any of the foundries
surveyed.
Shaking Off the Molds, Knocking Out the Cores.

Small molds are broken up very soon after the metal is poured, and
the casting is picked out of the broken-up sand. Cores inside the cast­
ing also are broken up and shaken out and the loose wire gaggers are
removed. With small molds this is sometimes accomplished simply
by throwing the warm molds into a pile on the floor, helpers fishing out
the small, hot castings from the pile of sand with hooked picks. Fre­
quently larger molds are battered by weights from a crane, or are
placed on a grating where the sand is shaken loose by an electrically
operated shake-out machine. Even with the shake-out machine much
hand labor and lifting is required of laborers; the work is dirty; the
castings are hot; and the machine is noisy and causes much vibration
for the operator.
Cement molds on large castings are not easy to remove. They are
first battered by weights carried by cranes, to break off some of the
cement. Later, after the castings have been allowed to cool slowly for
some time, the remainder of the adhering cement, with its many heavyrod reinforcements, must be loosened by long, heavy, pneumatic chip­
ping hammers. The cement cores with their reinforcing rods and
bracings also must be removed, by long chipping hammers, from the
inside of the castings. This is strenuous, dusty, noisy, and very difficult
work.



8

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

Work for Women.—Only in one foundry were women doing any
work connected with the removing of castings from the molds. There
women were operating the shake-out machine, and the work was
thought to be not entirely suitable because of the vibration.
The Furnace or Melt Department.
Metal for castings may be prepared and melted in electric furnaces,
open-hearth furnaces, cupolas, reverberatory or air furnaces, tilting
furnaces, and crucible furnaces, depending on the requirements of the
foundry. The type of furnace used makes practically no difference in
the work, so far as the possible utilization of women is concerned. A
small crew of melters and melter helpers, or furnace tenders and fur­
nace chargers, work at the furnace or furnaces. The work involves
much skill and responsibility and sometimes strength; there is, in
spells, much heat; and there are all the hazards of work with hot
metal. When the furnace is tapped, the melters and their helpers
take charge of the pouring from the furnace.
Furnaces and ladles have to be patched or completely relined at
intervals with heat-resistant material. Ladle liners and their helpers
tear out old linings, patch linings, lay bricks for new linings, and dry
out the ladles or keep ladles hot with oil jets and air set on fire.
, Work for Women.—In the foundries surveyed women were used in
the melt department of only one foundry, acting as helpers for the
furnace charger and giving most of their time to the weighing of
scrap. One woman was operating a crane to supply stock to the melt
department but she was not transporting molten metal.
The Metallurgical Laboratory.
Not only must a sample of the molten metal be tested by the melter
at the furnace at intervals throughout the melting, but samples of
every heat are sent to the metallurgical laboratory for physical and
chemical testing. The work in the laboratory has been broken down
so that much of the routine testing can be done by relatively unskilled
workers under the direction of a skilled chemist or metallurgist.
Various machines are used for making physical tests.
Work for Women.—In the foundries visited by the Women’s
Bureau, women were operating machines for physical tests, making
routine chemical tests, making spectroscopic tests, acting as laboratory
aides, charging castings to testing furnaces, and repairing instruments
for the laboratory. There were a few women who were skilled
chemists.
The Cleaning and Finishing Department.
Castings, when removed from the mold, are “in the rough.” Sand
that adheres to the surface of the casting must be removed by sand­
blasting, fins must be ground off, gates and risers must be cut or burned
off, rough surfaces must be smoothed by grinding, and defects must
be patched by welding.
Sandblasting.

Sandblasting of large castings is done in specially constructed, en­
closed sandblast rooms, where the sandblaster operates a pneumatic
hose to shoot steel shot, steel grit, or, less commonly today, sand
particles at the rough castings. The worker has to exercise judgment
in the amount of sandblasting that is done, and much lifting and



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

9

turning of castings is sometimes necessary. The occupation is a
lough one and a hazardous one, with a danger of silicosis, though the
worker today wears heavy protective clothing, a helmet over his head,
and is supplied with compressed air for breathing.
Smaller castings are cleaned in an enclosed sandblast machine, in
many cases a rotary machine. The worker feeds castings to the
machine and removes them, often giving them a quick visual inspection
at tne time. Though these machines are enclosed and have exhaust
connections, some of them permit sand dust to escape into the foundry
when joints of the machine are not completely tight.
Work for Women. In several of the foundries visited, women were
doing this feeding and taking-off of work at the rotary sandblast
machines when the parts to be lifted were not too heavy for a woman
to handle.
Small castings may also be cleaned in revolving tumblers and
women were doing some of this work.
Chipping.

Cleaning of larger castings involves chipping with pneumatic chip­
ping hammers or chisels, large and small. On very large castings,
especially on the castings made in cement molds, there is much of
this strenuous work. Chipping hammers, if large, cannot be managed
by women. Though women can handle smaller chipping hammers,
the work is generally considered unsuitable for women because of the
vibration Very small pneumatic chisels for bench work may not
be harmful for women to use. Since chipping hammers frequently
are used to clean large castings, weight-lifting may be necessary,
unless the job has been so broken down that all turning of castings
m done by laborers or hoists. Chipping hammers are very noisy.
I here is the constant danger of eye injuries from flying chips of
metal. All workers in the cleaning department of a foundry should
J
wear goggles.
. ^°rk for Women. Women were working as chippers in the found­
ries visited Those who operated the small pneumatic chisel
grinders or bench chisels did not object to the work, but frequently
some woman operator of the larger chipping tools would give up
her job because she could not stand up under the work. ^
1
Grinding.

Giinding of castings, to give them a smoother finish, may be done
with the large swing grinders; against stationary grinding wheels,
large and small; or with portable grinding wheels or lightweight
portable pneumatic grinders of different shapes and sizes.
11 orb for Women.- The swing grinder consists of a large grindin^ wheel supported by a long arm and counterbalanced. The
worker stands between two metal handlebars, which he manipulates
,‘rl . le Pushes, pulls, and guides the wheel over the large casting
This work requires considerable strength. There is also great vibrftion, felt over the entire body. The work is not suitable for women
Women were operating swing grinders of smaller and larger size
m some of the foundries visited.
s
’
• Stationary grinding or stand-grinding involves pressing and hold-

ISr a

are
be done by women. Women were standarf small this work can revolving.grinding wheel. If the castings



10

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

grinders, at both large and small grinding wheels, in several of the
foundries surveyed.
The operation of portable grinding tools, if the tools or the parts
handled are not too heavy, is entirely suitable for women, and women
were doing this work in some of the foundries visited by the Wom­
en’s Bureau. They were using the 3-inch to 5-inch portable grinding
wheel and the small pneumatic “pencil grinders.”
Burning.

Risers and gates usually are removed from the larger castings by
burning, using the acetylene torch. The metal fumes from burning
are a gastric irritant to some workers, though respirators can be
worn. There is also the danger of small burns. The job, unless so
broken down that weight-lifting is done by crane or laborers, often
involves turning and lifting the heavy castings.
Work for Women.—A few women were employed in the foundries
as burners. More women were merely burner helpers and did none
of the burning or weight-lifting.
Welding.

Arc or acetylene welding is done to patch up defects in the casting
and not to join parts. Where very large castings are involved the
welder may have to work inside the casting as well as outside, and
this is true also of burning. Welding may involve some lifting of
heavy castings.
A few women were working as welders in the foundries.
Power-Operated Machines.

There are various machines, automatic in operation, in the cleaning
department of the foundry. For instance, hydraulic straightening
presses, large and small, are used to true up parts of castings. Feed­
ing the machine may involve some lifting of heavy parts. Further,
the operator cannot be unskilled, since judgment is required to know
what should be done to the casting and where the pressure should be
applied. In a job shop where the work is not repetitive “green”
workers are not likely to be trained for this work.
Automatic machines (shears) to cut off sprues or gates may be used
on small castings. Metal bandsaws or handsaws also may be used
to saw off gates, and hand files may be used to remove burrs.
In some establishments, such as die-casting foundries (quite dif­
ferent from the usual foundry), there may be machine-tool work for
finishing the castings, and many automatic machines, especially
adapted for the cleaning and finishing of the castings, may be in
operation.
In the foundries surveyed by the Women’s Bureau some women
were found doing the foregoing types of work.
Forging.

A few foundries do some forging. Women seen in one foundry were
operating the drop hammer, under the direction of the blacksmith.
Heat-Treating or Annealing of Castings.
Many castings have to be heat-treated to relieve stresses or strains
created during casting and cooling of the metal. Small castings may
be fed by hand to a continuous belt that leads into an annealing fur­




WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

11

nace, while larger castings may be stacked in the furnaces by hand
or lifted in by crane, or may be placed on a car, electrically operated,
and run into and out of furnaces on tracks. Tenders of the heat-treat
furnaces must light and regulate burners, regulate flow of oil, air, and
water, watch recording instruments for temperature, open and seal
doors, time the heat-treat, and so forth. For short periods of time
the worker is in contact with heat. Some castings have to be quenched
in water, and some in oil, and sometimes this involves weight-lifting.
The jobs in the annealing section may be broken down in various
ways to utilize women workers.
Work for Women.—Several plants visited used women in the
annealing section, as annealers, annealer helpers, gas operators, gasfurnace operators, and heat-treat-furnace operators. There were
women who lighted burners, tended the controls of the furnaces, and
read the dials; there were others who did only part of the work of
operating the furnaces, some merely feeding parts to the furnaces,
some tending doors, some acting as helpers to the male operators. All
weight-lifting that might be too great for the women and all “quench­
ing” of castings was done by male workers.
Inspecting and Testing.
Castings must be inspected and tested. Much of the work is visual
inspection in the cleaning department, and in job shops where large
castings are made some of the visual inspecting of large castings may
require the exercise of considerable judgment and an understanding
of foundry processes. There are also various tests of castings, such
as the water test (a bench-work job) for small castings, magnaflux
testing, the Rockwell hardness test, fluoroscopic tests, and X-ray tests.
Work for Women.—In foundries doing production work on small
castings, many women were used at bench work for visual inspection,
as “first inspectors,” combining a quick hand-cleaning operation with
visual inspection, as “floating inspectors,” and as “final inspectors,”
sometimes combining the weighing and counting operations with the
final inspection. In other foundries, some women were giving a visual
inspection to larger castings, using a lamp or flashlight and marking
defects in the casting. Women were also working at all the special
tests mentioned above.
Painting.
Castings usually are painted, often spray painted, to protect them
from rust before they leave the foundry. Women were doing some of
this work in the foundries visited.
The Shipping Department.
Weighing, counting, packing, and checking of castings, in some
cases done in the shipping department of the foundry, frequently are
done by women if the castings are small. Women do some of this
work where large castings are involved if jobs are broken down to pre­
vent weight-lifting.
Occupations Common to All Departments.
The Operation of Lift Trucks and In-Plant Tractors.

Electric tractors or lift trucks cannot in all cases be operated by new
workers, especially women, in a foundry. Floors are likely to present



12

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

difficulties, with broken sections, different levels, crowded aisles, dirt,
and clutter. Not only is there much jouncing in a tractor, which may
bother women, but it may be difficult for an operator to manipulate
the vehicle safely if he is unfamiliar with the foundry. Women have
proved excellent workers at driving lift trucks and tractors in many
of the war industries, but the suitability of their work in this con­
nection in foundries—though a few women were found doing this
work—will depend largely on the environment of the particular
foundry.
The Operation of Cranes.

Electrically operated overhead and side-wall cranes and magnet
cranes are utilized for lifting in modern foundries. In crowded
foundries where cranes pass directly over the heads of workers, the
crane operator has tremendous responsibility not only for the valuable
castings, the molds and the cores, but for the life of his fellow workers.
Crane operators who carry ladles of hot metal must be highly skilled
and dependable.
Work for Women.—In the foundries surveyed, no women were
operating cranes that conveyed molten metal or were used to break
up cement molds, but women were operating cranes in almost every
other section of the foundry. Women make excellent crane operators,
but it is easier and safer to use new workers, whether women or men,
as crane operators where there is more space and where the work can
be arranged in such an orderly fashion that cranes, with their heavy
and dangerous loads, can pass over free aisles for much of their con­
veying rather than over the heads of helpless workers.
General Labor.

Much continuous and hard labor is necessary to the operation of
a foundry, but only two of the foundries visited seemed negligent
about guarding women against lifting more than a woman should
handle. Many women were used in the separate departments or
throughout the plant for either the light-labor jobs, such as the neverending sweeping and clean-up work (some of the women at the con­
stant “dry sweeping” in the dusty foundries wore respirators), the
carrying of core plates, and the wheeling of core racks into the ovens,
or for the heavier-labor jobs that involve such tasks as shoveling,
filling, pushing, and dumping wheelbarrows, stacking bricks, and
unloading boxcars and hopper cars. The unloading of hopper cars,
with their slanting bottoms, is not always pleasant work for the
laborer, who must maintain his footing inside the car while he shovels
out material that sticks to the sides of the car.
DIE-CASTING FOUNDRY WORK

Die-casting foundry work, where the metal poured is often alumi­
num or zinc, is not typical of the usual foundry. In the die-casting
process the metal is cast directly by machines in permanent steel dies
rather than in sand molds. The dies are set in large casting machines.
In oversimplifying the description of a die-casting foundry it can be
said that the operator of the machine sets the die in the machine, pours
in a small quantity of molten metal for each casting operation, pulls
the long lever that activates the hydraulically operated machine, and



13

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

removes the completed casting. In such a plant the foundry proper
consists, therefore, largely of rows of die-casting machines together
with a furnace section or melt department. Castings made by this
process—a process that is limited to certain types of work and cannot
be adopted by most foundries—are relatively clean, and when they
leave the machine are already made to tolerances that approximate
fairly closely the size and shape required in the finished product.
Therefore, much of the work done in inspection and in the cleaning
and finishing departments is bench or machine work that more nearly
corresponds to what is done in companies specializing in the final
machining of castings rather than in the making and selling of the
rough casting. At time of visit the one die-casting foundry surveyed
was using no women in the melt or die-casting-machine departments
and there were no jobs in those departments that were considered
entirely suitable for women. Though the die-casting machine is
power-operated, the operator must have considerable strength for the
continuous work and he must know also how to handle emergencies
when anything goes wrong with the machine. The machines in this
one plant were crowded rather closely together and in some sections
of the area there was heat, since the furnaces were nearby and small
ladles of molten metal were being transferred throughout the shop at
frequent intervals. More than 28 percent of the workers were women,
but they were engaged almost entirely in the cleaning operations—
which in this plant involved hand work or the use of automatic ma­
chines for the most part—and in inspection, testing, weighing, and
packing.
Women’s Distribution by Department in 6 of the Foundries
Surveyed by Women’s Bureau
Foundry—
Department
A

Women employed in
foundry proper:
Number- _
Percent.. . ___

B

30
100. 0

79
100. 0

c

54
100. 0

D

E

586
100. 0

F

214
100. 0

341
100. 0

Percent distribution of women by department

Drafting (tracers,
blueprint workers,
etc.)
_____
_
Pattern shop.. _ __
Coremaking _ _ ____
Molding and sand system
_
_
Cleaning and inspectmg-------------Melting furnace______
Laboratory
Lift-truck operating. _
Crane operating.
.
General labor




10. 1

3. 7
7. 4
1G. 7

0. 3
3. 6

35. 0

14. 7

16. 7

16. 5

5. 5

17. 9

3. 7

21. 1

20. 0

38. 0

25. 9

53. 1

60. 7

1. 3

13. 0

21. 5
12. 7

27. 8

2.
4.
1.
17.

19. 3
1. 2
1. 8

5

11 7
30. 2

50. 6

3. 3
10. 0

6
1
0
4

14

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

List of Occupations Filled by Women in 13 Foundries
(Some of tlie occupations overlap, since jobs are broken down differently in the various
shops)
Drafting

or

Engineering Department

Blueprint maker.
Blueprinter and blueprint filer.

Draftsman (skilled).
Tracer.
Pattern Shop

Laborer, pattern shop.
Pattern-storage labor (shellac, sand,
Metal-form (metal pattern) helper.
paint, letter, glue fillets).
Patternmaker checker (pattern checker,
Metal-form labor.
Pattern sander and painter.
learner).
Pattern storage (receive, store, issue
patterns).
Department

Bench coremaker.
Core assembler, core joiner, or core
jointer.
Core cleaner.
Core finisher.
Core gager.
Core giazer.
Core inspector.
Core painter.
Core paster.
Core-plate handler.
Core-shop labor.

Core stacker.
Core-storage worker.
Coremaker (maker Of large cores).
Coremaker (maker of small cores).
Coremaker helper.
Gate coremaker.
Laborer.
Lift-truck operator, core room.
Oven tender.
Transfer-table operator.
Turnover-machine operator (coremak­
ing machine).

Molding Department

Assembler of arbors.
Bench moldmaker.
Chill greaser.
Crane operator.
Lift-truck operator.
Mold checker.

Mold drier.
Mold finisher.
Mold-machine helper.
Molder helper.
Sand-slinger operator.
Shake-out-machine operator.
Sand System

Batchman.
Dumper.
Laboratory helper (sand tester who also
acted as pyrometer helper for melt
department).
Laborer.
Reclaim labor.
Reclaim operator.
Melt

Charger helper.
Crane operator—stacker.

or

Sand-buggy operator.
Sand-conveyor operator. Conveyor girl.
Sand-drier operator.
Sand-mill laborer.
Sand-mill operator.
Sand mixer.
Sand tester.

Furnace Department

Weighman.
Heat-Treat Department

Annealer helper.
Annealer operator.
Annealer-overman.
Annealing-furnace helper.
Furnace checker.




Furnace-door-tender operator.
Gas-furnace operator.
Gas operator.
Heat-treat-furnace operator.

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

15

Metallurgical Laboratory

Analytical chemist.
Assistant chemist.
Casting charger.
Chemical laboratory laborer.
Instrument repair.
Laboratory aide.

Laboratory helper, physical testing.
Machine operator.
Physical tester.
Routine chemist.
Spectroscopist.

Cleaning

and

Finishing Department

Arc welder.
Automatic-machine feeder.
Band-saw operator.
Burner.
Burner helper.
Casting painter.
Casting spray-painter.
Chipper.
Chisel grinder.
Crane operator.
Dark-room attendant.
Dimensional checker.
Drill-press operator.
Final inspector.
First inspector.
Floating inspector.
Fluoroscope operator.
Forming-press operator.
Foundry Gantry-crane operator.
Grinder.
Inspector.
Kick-press operator.
Laborer.

Lathe operator.
Light hand filer.
Magnaflux-macliine operator.
Packer, light.
Portable-grinder operator.
Punch-press operator.
Rockwell hardness-testing machine op­
erator.
Rotary-sandblast-machine operator.
Sandblast helper (helper to sandblast
operator).
Stand-grinder operator.
Straightening-press operator.
Supervisor of inspectors.
Supervisor of weighers.
Swing-grinder operator.
Tapping-machine operator.
Tractor operator.
Tumbler operator.
- Water tester.
Weigher.
X-ray developer.
X-ray operator.
Forge

Drop-hammer operator.
General (for

several departments of foundry)

Clean-up labor.
Crane operator.
Crane operator learner.
Elevator (freight) operator.

Hooker (crane follower).
Labor.
Lift-truck operator.
Tractor operator.
Maintenance

Construction labor.
Guards.

Storeroom labor.
Maintenance—Machine Shop

Crane operator.
Heat-treat of chisels.
Laborer.
Lift-truck operator.
Machine operator (drill press, radial
drill press, milling machine, grinder,
lathe, gear cutter, and power saw).

Machinist helper.
Millwright helper.
Oiler.
Tool cleaner.
Tool grinder.
Toolroom attendant.
Welder.

Maintenance—Electrical Department

Armature winder.
Crane operator.
Electrician.




Electrician helper.
Oiler.

16

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3
Maintenance—Service Facilities

Janitress.
Loeker-room attendant.
Matron.
Nurse.
Porter.

Bus girl.
Canteen clerk.
Cashier.
Cook.
Counter girl.
Dishwasher.

Plant—Clerical

Checker.
Expediter.
Factory clerk.
Foundry-sehedule-room clerk.
Production clerk.

Schedule clerk.
Stock-record clerk.
Storeroom clerk.
Timekeeper.
Valve chaser.
General Office

Secretary.
Stenographer.
Superintendent of women
counselor).
Switchboard operator.
Typist.

Bookkeeper.
Clerk.
Interviewer.
Machine operator.
Messenger.
Receptionist.

(women’s

THE FOUNDRY ENVIRONMENT
Though not all foundries have modem equipment, all the 13 sur­
veyed in this study had, to a greater or less extent, modern conveying
equipment and modern labor-saving machinery. A few of the
foundries also had new, large buildings with the best of dust-arrest­
ing, ventilating, and vacuum-cleaning systems and much space for the
arrangement of their work. Some of the foundries, with their war
orders, were crowding too much work into a space that originally was
planned for a normally smaller production, and some had attempted
to add modern equipment to a building that was too small. Crowding
seems to be one of the outstanding problems in the foundry environ­
ment. Older foundries are likely to be too small in area because,
in the days before modern conveying equipment was available, it, was
necessary to have all the work processes close together, especially to
prevent cooling of the molten metal before it was poured. A few of
the foundries visited were especially interesting in this connection
because there were both new foundries and old foundries in the same
plant.
Noise.
There is excessive noise in most busy foundries. This is especially
true of the cleaning and finishing department, with its pneumatic
chipping, its sandblasting, and its various methods of grinding. Elec­
tric furnaces—if such are used—are objectionably noisy. The molding
machines, the pneumatic rammers, and the shake-out machine, which
breaks up the molds and cores from the newly made castings, cause an
intermittent racket in the molding department.
Floor Hazards.
As a rule, though there are great contrasts among foundries in this
respect, walking about in a foundry has its hazards. Floors in some
cases are uneven and broken; there is great clutter everywhere, no
matter how constant the cleaning; sand accumulates on the floor of



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

17

the molding department; and castings of all shapes and sizes, in
various stages of the cleaning process, are scattered about the floor
of the cleaning section. Other castings, partially removed from
cement molds if such are used, may lie about in the molding or pouring
section, with projecting and warped reinforcing rods sticking danger­
ously from the broken cement. In crowded foundries even the aisles
are not always kept open.
Dust and Fumes.
The air of a foundry is heavy with sand dust, especially if the
foundry is making very large castings or is crowded into an old build­
ing of inadequate size. Foundries built in recent years usually have
modern dust-removing, ventilating, and vacuum-cleaning systems, and
many of the newer buildings are spacious, with exceptionally high
ceilings. However, even these improvements cannot keep a foundry
entirely free of dust while work is going on, because of the nature of
the work. Though today much of the sand may be carried in a covered
conveyor and rotary sandblast machines are supposed to be airtight,
busy foundries sometimes allow equipment to get out of order and
more sand escapes than should be the case. The sand used in found­
ries contains silica. There is also some metallic dust in the air, espe­
cially in the cleaning department. Hence there is, for all foundry
workers, some likelihood of eventually contracting siderosis from the
metallic dust or silicosis from the sand dust. At pouring time the air
of the foundry is oppressively heavy with the smoky smell that rises
when molten metal strikes the sand in the mold. Metallic fumes are a
gastric irritant to some of the workers who are near the burning
operations in the cleaning department.
Eye Hazards.
Where electric arc welding is being done in the cleaning section, not
all foundries are careful about shielding the work so that nearby
workers may be protected from the arc. Flying chips of metal are a
special hazard in the cleaning department, and workers do not always
wear goggles when they should. Radiant heat is injurious to the eyes
of workers whose occupations keep them in contact with molten metal.
Hazards of Molten Metal.
At the furnaces there are all the hazards, together with the heat,
that are connected with the preparation and melting of metal. In the
pouring section there is the danger of molten metal slopping over from
the hand ladles as the workers rush back and forth at their work.
There are the hazards of molds exploding when the metal is poured,
or of the spatter or “running over” of molten metal if the pouring
from the large ladles is not carefully done. Cables to which are
attached the large ladles of molten metal, carried overhead by crane—■
sometimes over the heads of many workers on the floor—have been
known to break.
Overhead Hazards.
Overhead cranes with their heavy loads pass constantly back and
forth throughout all sections of the shop—cranes carrying heavy steel
flasks containing molds, cranes carrying huge castings, cranes carrying
molten metal, magnet cranes carrying scrap. In foundries that are
new and large, where the work can be arranged in more orderly



18

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

fashion than in old plants, it is often possible for cranes to transport
much of their heavy burden over free aisles rather than directly over
the heads of busy workers.
Work in foundries may be dirty, heavy, and dangerous, but it is
interesting. In spite of the notable exceptions in certain occupa­
tions, workers in the heavy metal-working industries often appear
less harassed and worn than workers in lighter but speeded-up work
at line production. Foundry employees often have breaks in their
labor, an opportunity to pause, look around, and talk with one
another, and a variety of things to do in their work that relieves
monotony. If the environment of the foundry is not too bad, if
there is a good safety program, if the worker is assigned to a job
that is suitable to limited strength and endurance, there is no reason
why women, as new “green” workers, cannot fill a limited number of
the less skilled jobs in the foundry, and no reason why some women—
since women vary in their preferences as men do—might not find
these jobs more interesting than the usual “woman’s job” in certain
factories.
WAGES, HOURS, AND WORKING CONDITIONS
Wages.
Minimum starting rates for women production or plant workers
in foundries were concentrated at 70 to 71% cents. In 9 of the 13
plants, with three-fourths of the women workers, the beginning
minimum for women fell in this small group. In all but 2 of these,
men’s beginning minimum was the same as women’s; in the 2 ex­
ceptions it was several cents higher than women’s. In the large foun­
dry that had more women than any other 1 plant the beginning rate
was 78 cents for both sexes. At the other extreme were 3 small
plants, with few women, that started women at only 45, 55%, and
60% cents, respectively. Here the corresponding figures for men
were 50,65%, and 71% cents. Thus 8 of the foundries paid men and
women equal starting rates, while in 5 there was a sex differential of
from 5 to 11 cents an hour in favor of the men.
In about half of the foundries there was a provision for an
automatic wage increase over the starting or minimum rate—a spe­
cific amount after a definite time interval. Sometimes this was ac­
complished in one step, sometimes in two steps. The amount of the
increase varied from a total of 5 cents an hour to a total of 10 cents
an hour, in each case after 3 months.
In 11 of the plants surveyed there were, for all workers except those
in the unskilled jobs or in the “labor pool,” definite job rates, some­
times with a range of rates on each job allowing for increases by merit
and seniority. In at least 11 plants some of the women had been
advanced to specific jobs and were receiving job rates rather than the
unclassified labor rate. In one of the foundries paying equal start­
ing rates, women placed on jobs with job rates were kept in the learner
classification for 30 days longer than men. In the foundries that paid
women a lower starting rate than men it was also true that when the
women had been placed on a specific job carrying a job rate (above the
starting rate), frequently such rate was lower for women than for
men on the same job. It was claimed by management that some of
the jobs had been broken down in order that women might be able to



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

19

do them, and that in the instances where rates were different for men
and women, the women were not doing the whole job as it had been
done by men.
The wage rate was figured on an hourly basis in all the plants. For
a number of the jobs in each of 8 plants there were either additional
incentive rates or departmental production bonuses divided among the
workers.
The prevailing rate paid to women production workers at time of
study ranged from 65 cents to $1 an hour.1 However, since some firms
included the incentive earnings in this estimate and some did not,
comparisons cannot be made. In at least 4 plants the prevailing rate
was still the starting rate. In 8 plants the apparent increase in the
prevailing rate as compared to the starting rate ranged from 3y2
cents an hour to 22 cents an hour. It is likely that incentive earnings
were included in the estimates for the higher prevailing rates, but this
cannot be determined from the data available.
In 9 plants a higher rate was paid to workers on the second and
third shifts, in some cases slightly greater on the third than on the
second shift. This shift differential varied from 2i/2 to 6% cents
an hour in one system of figuring, and from 5 percent to 10 percent
over the worker’s base rate in another system. A third method of
providing for a shift differential was to pay the workers on the second
and third shifts for a full 8-hour day though they worked but 714
hours.
Hours.
It is difficult to summarize weekly hours of work with accuracy,
since sometimes there are departmental variations within the plant.
Also, hours within a department may fluctuate, due to shortage of
workers or to rush orders or a cut in orders. Very occasionally second
and third shifts are somewhat shorter than the day shift, to provide
time for lunch and a reward for the workers on the less desirable shifts.
In States whose laws require that women be allowed a definite lunch
period, women in some cases (see p. 20) are paid for a shorter day
than the men, though the over-all hours of work may be the same.
In the foundries visited by the Women’s Bureau the most usual
pattern (day shift) was a 48-hour week of six 8-hour days. In 1
plant the men were working only a 5-day, 40-hour week, and in 4
plants the men were working more than 48 hours, some working (by
department) 50, some 55 or 56, some 60, and a few 72 hours a week.
Women’s hours, considering the time taken off for the lunch period,
fell into the following groups: 40 hours a week, 5 days (1 plant) ;
45 hours, 5i/2 or 6 days (2 plants); 47% hours, 5y2 days (1 plant);
48 hours, 6 days (7 plants); 45 or 48 hours, 6 days (1 plant); and 50
hours, 5 or 5y2 days (1 plant). Thus the most usual hours were 48,
on six 8-hour days.
All but 3 plants were working 3 shifts, and 2 of the exceptions were
working 2 shifts. In 5 of the plants women worked on only 1 shift;
in other cases they worked on all 3. There was an arrangement for
weekly rotation of shifts in only 4 foundries. In the others, with
occasional departmental exceptions not affecting the women, shifts
remained fixed. One company stated that it made special effort to
1 Ascertained not from an examination of pay rolls but from an estimate made by manage­
ment, and hence only approximate.




20

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

help working housewives and mothers by arranging suitable hourly
shifts for individual women, but another reported that most of the
women were obliged to wprk on the second or third shifts because the
union protected the seniority rights of the regular male workers and
most of the men preferred the first shift.
Though men were required occasionally to work more than the
scheduled hours—sometimes a 7-day week or sometimes through more
than one shift in continuous operations—it was reported that at date
of survey there was little overtime for men or women. Some plants did
not permit women to work beyond the number of hours scheduled, and
in no instance was a woman required to work more than 50 hours
a week.
Because there is very little that approximates line production in
the metal-working industry, formal arrangements for rest periods are
not common, nor perhaps always necessary. However, the environ­
ment of a foundry is not pleasant and the work is often exhausting,
and consequently a formal rest period—especially to break the long
morning—is considered by some foundries as contributing to better
work. A formal rest period of from 5 to 15 minutes in the middle of
both morning and afternoon was allowed for men in 2 plants and for
women in 3 plants. In 3 other foundries there was a formal rest period
of 10 minutes for both men and women in the morning. In several
foundries with no formal rest periods, provision nevertheless was
made for definite intervals of time off the job for metal workers, crane
operators, and a few others, depending on the nature of the work.
In plants having 3 shifts of an 8-hour turn it is not possible to permit
a lunch period without extending hours so that shifts overlap, and
an overlapping of shifts is almost never feasible. Therefore, even on
jobs that do not require it, the custom is for workers to eat on the job
or at their work. At this time they usually are allowed a little less
than 30 minutes’ leisure, more frequently 15 minutes, on company
time. In foundries, as in steel mills, workers often have “spells” of
waiting on different processes, or breaks in their work, and so, if they
bring their lunches or buy refreshments at the canteen or from the
snack truck that goes through the plant, they have plenty of time for
eating and frequently are found lunching at odd hours of the day.
However, this arrangement does not permit a worker to go to a cafe­
teria for a hot lunch and proper relaxation.
Many State laws provide that a female employee must have a
definite lunch period of at least a half hour. Because of this there
were 2 foundries among those visited by the Women’s Bureau that
paid women for a 7%-hour turn though the men, who probably had
as much time in which to eat, were paid for an 8-hour turn. The
men’s lunch period was not indicated definitely and they may not
have been so free ds the women to leave the job for a full half hour.
In 2 foundries with the 3-shift arrangement, both men and women
on the first shift had a definite half-hour lunch period, not on com­
pany time. This was due to the fact that second- and third-shift
workers, whose half-hour lunch period was on company time, worked
less than 8 hours (though paid for 8 as an incentive to work on the
less-desirable shifts). In 2 of the 3-shift foundries women were
employed in departments that worked only on the day shift, since
not all departments in 3-shift plants worked the 3 shifts, and so it
was possible for the women, and some of the men, to have a 1-hour



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

21

lunch period. In 3 of the 3-shift plants, and in some departments
of a fourth, women, like men, had a lunch period (less than a half
hour) on company time. In the 3 foundries that, with some de­
partmental exceptions, operated only 1 or 2 shifts, the women and
most of the men had a 30-minute, 55-minute, or 114-hour lunch period.
Food Services and Facilities.
Four of the 13 foundries surveyed maintained 1 or more cafeterias
that served hot meals and food of considerable variety, and 1 other
plant was adequately cared for by a restaurant across the street
from and controlled by the plant. Another 2 of the foundries had
commissaries, without seats or tables, where the workers could buy
sandwiches, hot and cold drinks and desserts. Another had a similar
commissary where hot plate-lunches could be bought. In the 5
foundries where there was neither cafeteria nor commissary, milk
and cold drinks were available in 2, and in another sandwiches,
coffee, and other light refreshments could be bought at a conces­
sioner’s lunch wagons that passed through the plant.
Six of the foundries that had no cafeteria where workers could
sit down to eat provided at least tables and chairs for this purpose
either in the women’s rest rooms or in special “lunch-eating” rooms,
and in 1 of these rest rooms coffee and tea were made ready for the
women by the matrons at lunch time.
In 2 of the foundries there was a special food service for those
who ate on the job and could not get to the cafeterias and for those
who wanted refreshment during the day. “Snack trucks” with light
lunches went through the plant not only at noon but also in the
middle of the morning and tiie afternoon. This kind of service is ap­
preciated in large plants where all workers are not equally close to
the cafeterias and cannot get to them conveniently in the short lunch
periods. Two of the foundries surveyed attempted to meet this
problem by having cafeterias in more than one building of the plant.
It is interesting to note that only 1 foundry was completely indif­
ferent to supplying any place to eat or any food for the workers. In
the other foundries, though great differences in the food services
were apparent, there seemed to be a growing interest in providing ade­
quate food and a place in which to eat.
Medical Facilities.
Because foundry work is heavy and hazardous, all the foundries
surveyed required a preemployment physical examination, 9 of them
including X-ray of the lungs for men and 8 including X-ray of the
lungs for women. Only 3 plants definitely required a Wasserm'ann and
2 required a blood test. Considerable emphasis was placed on exam­
ination for hernia, blood pressure, and heart condition. One plant
specified that it did not require so rigid an examination for women
as for men, and one that its examination was more rigid for women
than for men. Because of the tight labor market in this war period,
probably no company has been so careful in the selection of workers,
on the basis of a physical examination, as it was in the past.
All but 1 of the foundries had some kind of hospital or dispensary
at the plant, but there were great differences in the facilities provided;
some were units of several rooms, with small bed wards and all kinds
of equipment for examination and treatment, and others were simple



22

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

dispensaries, a few being crowded, untidy, and ill-equipped. All
these 12 services had registered nurses on duty, usually throughout
all shifts. Occasionally a medical student, a practical nurse, or a
first-aid man served in place of the registered nurse on the third or
smallest shift. In the case of all dispensaries there was at least 1
doctor on call at all times, and in 7 of them physicians were on duty
at regular hours for part of the day.
Reexaminations of workers in the more hazardous occupations were,
with few exceptions, not required. A few companies required that
sandblasters be reexamined at regular intervals.
The one foundry that had no dispensary took care of minor injuries
in the personnel department and had neither nurse nor doctor on duty.
The personnel workers and some other employees throughout the plant
were trained in first-aid work. This plant sent workers for exami­
nation, and treatment when required, to an industrial clinic several
miles from the plant.
The plants surveyed reported that the new women workers, though
“green” and not used to the environment of the foundry, proved to be
safe and careful workers on the whole. Of course, the women work­
ers were not employed on the more hazardous jobs, but like all workers
in a foundry they were subject to the dangers and to the unfavorable
environment of the plant. Slight bums and cuts, an occasional toe
fracture or small foot injury from falling objects, a smashed finger,
foreign objects in the eyes, wTere the most frequent of the accidents
that had been reported for women. The one serious accident reported
was the falling of a woman from a crane while she was learning to
operate it. A few women operating lift trucks had been injured when
their trucks backed into objects in the crowded foundries, and several
women operating lift trucks complained of the constant jouncing
caused by operating trucks on the uneven floors.
Some women seemed to be doing work that was too heavy for women
and some were subject to harmful vibration. This was especially
true of the women operating swing grinders and chipping hammers.
One plant reported that the turn-over- rate among women chippers
was very high. The harmful effect, if any, of these occupations that
are considered unsuitable for women cannot be determined at this
early date. Constant standing; heat, on some of the jobs; the danger
from objects falling from overhead cranes; the dust-laden air; the
fumes, the dirt, and the noise were objected to by some of the women.
Work-Clothing Requirements and Practices.
There is not much danger of women insisting on wearing impractical
or glamorous clothing in a foundry, and the observance of the simple
factory rules in regard to clothing seemed to be better in foundries
than in some other plants. Some of the foundries reported that they
secured the willing cooperation of the women by making the rules
advisory rather than mandatory, and one company, which was very
strict in enforcing its rules, allowed the women to take part in the
making of the rules when first they were drawn up.
In only two of the plants were there no requirements, mandatory or
advisory, about clothing. In one of these plants the women sometimes
wore house dresses rather than slacks and some of the women wore
open-toed shoes. In all the other foundries women wore serviceable
coveralls or slacks or men’s overalls, and though, unfortunately, few



WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES. 1943

23

wore safety shoes, most of them wore heavy and sensible shoes. The
majority of the women kept their hair covered to protect it from the
dust, usually wearing bandannas.
Women frequently wore canvas gloves at their jobs, and where the
job required it some wore protective equipment, such as respirators
and goggles. Compliance with plant rules in regard to the wearing
of goggles, where required by the job as is true of so much of the work
in a foundry, was complete in some plants and half-hearted in others.
Some companies required that all workers wear goggles throughout the
whole foundry. Special protective clothing was required for the men
working around the furnaces and at the pouring.
Six of the plants sold safety shoes and five sold slack suits, cover­
alls, or overalls, at the plant. Two companies supplied the women
with their first uniform free of charge.
Toilet Facilities for Women.
Toilet facilities for women were adequate in all the foundries.
There were great differences in rest rooms insofar as appearance and
an atmosphere of cheer were concerned. Some of the toilet-rest-room
units were purely functional and had no equipment that might en­
courage resting. In other plants management had made an effort to
supply comforts and to create a pleasant environment for the women’s
leisure time. There was special reason for the latter arrangement in
plants where the lunch period was sufficiently long for the women
to enjoy the services provided.
Washing facilities were adequate and kept in good condition in
practically all cases. Paper towels and soap generally were supplied,
and where there were no dispensers of women’s sanitary supplies these
usually could be bought from the matron, stationed in the toilet rooms
of some foundries. Ten of the foundries had provided showers and 10
had provided full-size individual lockers. Two companies supplied
small purse lockers and clothing was hung below them on hangers. One
plant, without space or equipment for lockers, met the problem by
having a checking system in charge of the matron in the toilet room.
Many of the toilet-rest-room units comprised more than one large
room, and frequently the cot or cots were in a separate room. Nine of
the foundries supplied at least one cot, some of them several cots. A
number had couches also, and fairly comfortable chairs for lounging.
Nine of them provided extra space, in some cases large, in some small,
with tables and chairs, for eating lunches in the rest rooms. In two
cases there was an electric stove where tea and coffee, soup, and so
forth could be prepared or heated.
Many of the larger plants had, in addition to the main toilet-rest­
room unit, separate toilets and washing facilities in various sections
of the shop.
Drinking facilities usually were adequate and sanitary throughout
the plant.
Absenteeism and Turn-over.
The method of keeping absence and turn-over statistics differed so
among the plants as to make comparison of findings hardly prac­
ticable. While four plants found women’s absentee rates noticeably
higher than men’s, four others claimed that women’s rates were lower
than men’s, and in still four others women’s and men’s rates seemed to
be very nearly alike.



24

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

In two companies that had machine-tool plants and that kept
absence statistics broken down by foundry, machine-tool plant, and
office, the absence rate both for men and for women was much higher
in the foundry than in other .parts of the plant. The following are
some of the causes of absenteeism mentioned by management: Sick­
ness, tension and fag from long hours of work, necessity to care for
personal and family problems, the nature of the occupation and the
unpleasant environment of the foundry, and the poorer quality of
some of the workers now employed. Lack of adjustment to the work,
among new workers, together with the fact that the natural process
of selection has not had time to cull out from among them the illadapted, means of course that the absent rate, as well as the turn-over
rate, usually will be higher among newer employees than among the
regular workers who have been employed by the plant for some time.
The companies surveyed had not, as a rule, any particular complaint
about women’s turn-over rate being too high; in some plants their
rate seemed lower and in some plants higher than the men’s rate. In
speaking of turn-over in general, management seemed to feel that
a high turn-over rate was to be expected in foundries, because the
work is laborious and the environment unpleasant and hazardous.
Foundry management’s chief worry was the difficulty of securing
workers while jobs in other industries were plentiful, this difficulty
being aggravated by the fact that the wage level in foundries is not
high, considering the nature of the work. Though management was
inclined to believe that most men left their jobs because they were
unstable or because they wished to “better themselves,” it was likely
to attribute other reasons to the women who quit, such as, “the work
proved too heavy,” “the glamor of war work had worn off in the grime
of the foundry,” or “there were personal and family problems.” Wives
of service men, leaving their jobs in foundries as in other industries
to join their husbands, frequently have a high absence and turn-over
rate. In one foundry bad personnel practices were thought to be
the cause of a high turn-over among all employees.
A few foundries gave some attention to a good exit interview with
all workers desirous of leaving the company, and some of the person­
nel directors thought this had real value in aiding management to
detect weaknesses in the supervisory staff and to discover other prob­
lems, but few personnel workers thought the exit interview was of
any noticeable value in cutting down turn-over.
Every community today has housing and transportation problems,
but these problems were not so great in the areas where the 13 foundries
were situated as to be considered important causes of absenteeism or
turn-over. Oidy 4 of the foundries visited reported a housing shortage
in the area, and none of them, with the possible exception of one that
was trying to encourage a public housing project, was supplying any
definite services to workers in finding housing. All but one of the
companies tried to assist in simplifying the transportation problem,
through the services of a special clerk, the personnel director, or a
transportation committee, by taking care of gas and tire rationing
and arranging for car-pooling schedules.
Though all the companies employed women with children and
though home duties were admittedly a cause for some of the absentee­
ism and turn-over on the part of women, no company felt that there



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 194 3

25

was enough definite evidence of need of community nurseries and
after-school care to work on this problem itself. Some personnel
directors were becoming interested in the subject of child care, on the
supposition that public child-care facilities might become necessary
if the war were to continue much longer. For the present, however,
most companies felt either that there were sufficient facilities available
in the locality for those whose home problem could be met by such
services, or that there was still a sufficient supply of women available
to make it unnecessary to employ mothers who had no relatives at
home to care for their small children. Since these foundries were
using local rather than inmigrant women, there was likely to be a
relative or neighborhood friend of the woman worker who would
help in the care of the children. Sometimes the best worked-out plans
went awry, however, and the woman had to return to her home. All
the foundries agreed that there was not yet such a shortage of female
workers that the company must employ women who were needed in
their homes more than in the war industries.
PERSONNEL POLICIES IN HIRING, TRAINING, AND
ADVISING WOMEN
Because jt has been especially difficult to secure the male workers
needed in foundries, and because foundry work not only does not at­
tract many women but in general is heavy work, it is not surprising
that the foundries visited by the Women’s Bureau placed few restric­
tions on the hiring of workers. There were no intelligence or aptitude
tests and, except for the skilled jobs that women were not prepared
to fill, requirements in regard to education, previous experience, or
vocational training were limited to laboratory and plant clerical work­
ers, where a high-school education sometimes was required. Of course
this relaxation of hiring rules is not uncommon in other industries
today. The emphasis in selection, in the foundries, was on stability
and good health and strength. The preemployment physical examin­
ation and, usually, a good first interview in the employment office were
considered important. There was some attempt to fit the woman to
the job. Agility and dexterity might be required on some jobs and
physical strength and endurance on others.
For these reasons none of the foundries visited had any hard and
fast rule in regard to the maximum age of the women employed. Four
of the plants felt that the work was too strenuous for most women over
50. However, women of 50 were not uncommon and there were a few
over 60 who were doing a good job at very hard work. Eighteen was
the minimum age for women in 10 of the foundries, and 20, 20, and 21
were the minimums in the 3 others. Nine foundries preferred women
over 30 (up to 35, 40, 45, and 50) and only 1 reported a preference for
women under 30. The foundries that stated definitely that they pre­
ferred the mature woman worker gave as their reasons the fact that
the older women had proved, by and large, to be more stable, less un­
settled by the “urge for glamor,” more conscientious and harder work­
ers. A few stated that though the older woman might be better on
the harder jobs, the younger woman was necessary on the jobs that
required agility or constant standing. There seemed to be no general
policy in regard to age. All the firms agreed that the problem was
less a matter of age than one of personal fitness.



26

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

Some of the women employed were housewives who had had no ex­
perience at work outside the home or had been away from such work
for a long time, others were women used to hard work in the home
or on the farm (from the semirural areas), and still others had been
working in nonessential industries. Many were wives of service men.
Most of the women came from the local community or the surrounding
territory and were recruited from among the relatives or friends of
workers already employed by the company.
At time of visit, since standards had been lowered, only one of the
foundries excluded women who had small children. However, in all
the plants it was usual for the employment office to ask women appli­
cants if they had provided adequate care for the children and to refuse
to hire women who had been unable to make arrangements for such
care. There is apparent a slight tendency in personnel and employ­
ment departments toward a relaxation of this rule, because of the
difficulty in securing women workers. This was indicated by per­
sonnel workers who said that it did little good to worry about the
woman’s home obligations when she was applying for employment,
because even under the best of arrangements emergencies could arise
when she would have to give up her work in favor of her duties in
the home.
Most of the foundries stated that the foundry was “no place for the
pregnant woman.” A few of the plants had a general pregnancy policy
for all their female employees, permitting employment for a few
months and a return to work after confinement provided the worker
secured a doctor’s certificate, but it is not clear, since women are new
in the foundries and not all the women in the plants work in the
foundry proper, that this policy would apply to women working in
the foundry itself.
Eight of the foundries employed Negro as well as white women.
All training for new, “green” workers who are to be used during
the war emergency was on-the-job training in the foundries visited.
Some had used vocational-training schools and vestibule classes for
training their first new workers, but all the emphasis at time of survey
was on training on the job. To improve supervision, at least seven
of the foundries had taken advantage of the Training-Within-Industry
courses of the War Manpower Commission, but in only one of the
foundries were there any women in these classes (a few women “key
workers”).
Very little was done by the foundries in the way of special orienta­
tion of new workers. Only one had an “induction class” (of 3 hours)
in which plant policies were explained to new employees. In two
plants the women’s counselor talked at some length about plant rules,
jobs, and so forth, to each woman worker as she was inducted. In
two foundries this introduction to the plant was cared for in varying
degrees of thoroughness by the industrial nurse, in one by the safety
engineer, in one by the employment interviewer, and in one by the
personnel director. However, all plants agreed that the foreman to
whom the worker reported had most of the responsibility for orienting
the woman to the job and to the plant.
Five of the foundries employed a woman to act in the capacity
of women’s counselor, though she was not called by that title.2
Though the major emphasis in their work differed in the various
8 One of the five women was lost recently to the “armed services.”



WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

27

plants, all five of these “counselors” were assigned the task of listen­
ing to and advising the women who had personal grievances or
family problems that they wished to discuss in the office. While
there is need of women counselors in every shop where women are
employed for the first time, to assist the foremen and fellow work­
men as well as new women workers in adjusting to unusual condi­
tions, such women advisers can aggravate the problem if they lose
themselves too completely in the role of sympathetic listener and
unconsciously encourage the women to bring too many of their per­
sonal and family problems to the plant for consideration. Never­
theless, male personnel directors who have the time to do good per­
sonnel work often state that they do much to improve plant morale
when they listen to and advise male workers who bring a variety
of problems to them. It is advisable for women’s counselors to con­
fine their activities to subjects of plant concern and to refer workers
with family or. other problems to the proper social-service agencies
in the community.
Four of the women’s counselors employed had a sound under­
standing of the jobs in the foundry and the work women could do
there, and though they could not interfere with the foremen in the
matter of women’s work they were, in at least two instances, supposed
to advise on the suitability of various foundry jobs for women.
Two of the counselors, who gave a great deal of time to the
first employment interview and to the orientation of the new women
workers, were in the employment department and were able by this
means to learn a good deal about the women and to become acquainted
with them. This interviewing of applicants can be a handicap to
a women’s counselor if the employment office is swamped with ap­
plicants, but it is a good introduction to counseling work if there is
time for other duties.
These five women’s counselors sometimes had something to do with
exit interviews or absentee visiting. Sometimes the counselors were
in charge of the upkeep of the women’s rest and toilet rooms, and fre­
quently they were required to enforce rules regarding women’s work
clothing and behavior in general. In these five plants, as elsewhere,
the counselor had a job that was rather indefinite in outline. Every­
where the job grows and takes form only as management, the fore­
men, and the workers become accustomed to making use of the women’s
counselor, and provided that she herself has the tact, the under­
standing, and the ability to “make something of the job.”3
In plants that had no woman definitely assigned to the work of
women’s counselor there was in many cases a nurse in the dispensary,
or a matron in charge of the toilet and rest rooms, or a woman inter­
viewer in the employment department to whom it was customary to
bring personal problems that could not be handled by the male
personnel director.
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION AND AFFILIATION
In three of the foundries surveyed there was no labor organization,
and in a fourth, which was in the process of being organized against
the strenuous opposition of management, there was a company union
« See in Women’s Bureau Special Bulletin 16, The Woman Counselor in War Industries—

An Effective System, 1944.




28

WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN FOUNDRIES, 1943

that was relatively inactive. In eight foundries the CIO represented
the workers, though in three of these a few craftsmen, such as the ma­
chinists and the patternmakers, were members of the AFL. In one
foundry the AFL represented all the workers. Women were reported
as interested members of the unions, but of course they were too new
in the industry and too greatly in a minority to exert much influence.
Two of the. small craft unions did not admit women, but this was of
no particular importance during the war emergency since there were
no women with the skills necessary for admission to the craft. Two
of the large plant locals showed some discrimination against women
in the matter of seniority and wage rates.
SUMMARY
There are skilled or semiskilled jobs in a foundry—for example,
burning and welding—that do not require many months of training;
there are other jobs, such as molding, that require a long period of
apprenticeship. In many foundries a skilled worker, to be valuable,
must have a knowledge of casting problems in addition to the skills of
his craft. He must be able to exercise a degree of independent judg­
ment on each job assigned to him. This is, of course, true chiefly of
job foundries where almost every casting order presents a special prob­
lem, or of smaller foundries where the individual workman may be
required to have a knowledge of more than one type of work. A large
proportion of the jobs in foundries, even of the skilled jobs, involve
physical exertion—heavy lifting, hard labor. Some of the jobs are
hazardous. The general environment of the foundry, affecting all
workers,4s not only relatively unpleasant but more or less dangerous,
partly because of the accident hazard and partly because of the danger
of silicosis, siderosis, and other ailments, due to the air being laden
with silica and metallic dust.
It is apparent that women, even if they wished to remain in foundry
work after the war, would have little or no opportunity to acquire the
higher skills or advance up the job-progression ladder. The heavy
nature of much of the work would in itself preclude that, even for
women as capable as men of learning the skills. The foundry is likely
to remain a man’s world.
Where foundries are so organized that jobs can be broken down to
prevent heavy lifting and where skills can be diluted, there are many
jobs that women can fill during the war emergency. A few of the
foundries visited by the Women’s Bureau indicated that they might
even wish to keep women after the war in some of these jobs. O'her
individual foundries mentioned special jobs in which their women
excelled, such as clerical work, drafting, laboratory work, sand testing,
operation of the heat-treat furnaces, and the making of small cores,
and stated that women might be retained on these jobs. Many foun­
dries agreed that women were better than men at the making of small
cores. Whether, with the limited opportunities open to them and with
the unpleasant environment of the foundry as a deterrent, women will
care to remain in such jobs after the war is a question that cannot be
answered at this time. It seems improbable that many foundries will
be interested in retaining these small groups of women, even in jobs in
which they excel, in an industry that is predominantly male.




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