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Woman Worker
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MAV 1941

United States Department of Labor

Women’s Bureau

We i \ 1 --• ■

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Frances Perkins, Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
Mary Anderson, Director

THE WOMAN WORKER
PUBLISHED EVERY 2 MONTHS

No. 3

Vol. XXI

May 1941

CONTENTS

Pag*

Women Workers and Family Finances.......................................................................................

Women in the Labor Market in the States............................................................................

Women’s Job Chances in Defense and Other Work..............................................................

Women Workers..........................................................................................

Women in Unions...............................................................................................................................

Proposed Laws

for

Court Decisions on Unions—Union Progress in Defense Industries, in Women’s Wear,
in White-Collar Work—New York Jobs for Dress Workers.
Minimum-Wage Progress.................................................................................................................

Fair Labor Standards Administration—Minimum Wage in the States—Rates Set on
Public Contracts.
News Notes.........................................................................................................................................

Mediation Board Appointed—Red Cross Plans for Defense—Philippine Women Em
broiderers—Injuries to Missouri Women—Hand Weaving and Dyeing in Texas—
New Director at Hudson Shore—Jobs for Older Women.
Recent Publications.........................................................................................................................

Published under authority of Public Resolution No. 57, approved May
11, 1922 (42 Stat. 541), as amended by section 307, Public Act 212, 72d
Congress, approved June 30, 1932. This publication approved by the
Director, Bureau of the Budget
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., at 5 cents a copy
or 25 cents a year

Women Workers and Family} Finances

MAY I 2

daughter living at home is ilies her contributions are from a fourth to
numerically the most important among a half of the family income.
women wage earners. So reports to aWomen living apart from their families
Women’s Bureau study of about 6,000 women constitute a fifth of all those studied. For
in two widely diverse localities—Cleveland, a wholesome life, a woman living alone needs
Ohio, whose industrial structure affords a minimum of 584 in Utah, more in a city
broad opportunities for women in commerce, the size of Cleveland. About three in
manufactures, and all the professions and eight of these women send money regularly
services, and the State of Utah, where an to their families, though their earnings aver
agricultural and mining economy limits age 596 a month in Utah, 5103 in Cleveland.
women’s opportunities chiefly to the pro
The group interviewed was carefully
fessions and services found in every com selected to represent a cross section of
munity. The picture of personal and family women who are at work at different ages,
demands afforded by this survey was ob with varying marital status, and different
tained by interviews with the working occupations and earning power. The re
women themselves. Only households with port is a thoughtful appraisal of the entire
women at work or seeking work were situation, a count of earners and nonearners,
covered.
and an estimate of the total income. From
The importance of women’s earnings to this it appears that Cleveland’s 100,000
the family exchequer is strikingly shown. women workers earn about 596,000,000 a
Almost four-fifths of all the families visited year, nearly one-fifth of the earned income of
live entirely on the earnings of their mem all the city’s employed. No estimate is
bers. Women’s earnings constitute the made for Utah, but with 25,000 at work the
entire support of well over a third of the amount must be considerable.
families of two or more persons. In nearly
These women are not employed casually.
one-fifth, women contribute half or more, About half have worked 10 years or more,
though not all, of the total income. In only one in four at least 15 years. A fourth are
3% percent of the instances do women keep as much as 40 years of age. A third are
their earnings entirely for their own needs. not yet 25, hence much of their work exper
When unmarried sons and daughters in the ience is still ahead.
same family work, more daughters than sons
Earnings differ markedly with occupation.
give all their earnings to the family, and more Professional workers receive most, averaging
daughters contribute large proportions of 5134 a month in Cleveland, 5120 in Utah.
their salaries, though they usually earn less Service workers, at the other end of the
than sons. In Cleveland the month’s scale, average less than 560 in each case.
earnings of daughters average $7S, their Household employees are not included.
contributions average 540; son’s earnings
More than a third of the households
average 586 in the month, their contribu visited are broken and composite families.
tions 537. The corresponding averages for The most common type is one in which the
Utah are respectively 577 and 527 for father is missing, leaving, in many cases,
daughters, 572 and 519 for sons.
a mother with children too young to help.
The wife or mother is a wage earner in
Normal families usually contribute to the
about a third of the Cleveland and in one- support of persons not of the household, this
half of the Utah families. When the wife being reported most frequently by families
or mother is at work as well as the husband of husband and wife only, and by women
or father, in 60 percent or more of the fam living apart from their families.
he single

306755—41

THE WOMAN WORKER

Women in the Labor Market in the States
census figures now issued Percent Women Are of All Workers.
estimate the total number of women
The proportion of women among all the
in the labor market for the various States
Nation’s workers shows some increase, now
as well as for the country as a whole. These being 24.3 percent while in 1930 it was 22
1940 figures include job seekers with no percent. In none of the various States was
experience, which is not the case with the the difference from 1930 to 1940 greater
1930 figures for gainfully occupied persons. than about 4 points, and it was as high as
Hence the entire increase in woman-em 3 points in only 8 cases, most of them not
ployment is appreciably less than the among the major industrial States—Dela
20-percent increase shown from the number ware, Oklahoma, New Jersey, West Vir
gainfully occupied in 1930 to the number in ginia, Florida, Nevada, Montana, and South
the labor force in 1940 would indicate. This Dakota. Declines in the proportions of the
also partly explains the fact that in most workers who were women were found in
States, as well as for the country as a whole, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and
these proportional increases among working Arkansas, and only very small increases in
women were greater than the increase in the Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, Utah, Massa
woman population.1 (Exceptions, States in chusetts, and Washington. These propor
which women had advanced more in popu tions are as follows in the 14 States leading
lation than in employment, are Alabama, in the employment of women, which have
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, two-thirds of all the women workers in the
Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, entire country:
Utah, Washington.)
reliminary

Percent women were among—

Increased Numbers of Women in Labor Market.

The figures so far available on employ
ment are preliminary estimates from a
5-percent cross section of the complete data,
and may be changed later. Comparison of
the numbers of women in the 1940 labor
market (including new workers) with the
numbers gainfully occupied in 1930 shows
the greatest increases in New York, Cali
fornia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, and
New Jersey, adding respectively from
287,000 to 102,000 women workers. Over
50,000 were added in Michigan, Ohio, North
Carolina, Florida, Virginia, and Missouri.
The only State showing a decline in number
of women workers was Mississippi, but in
the following States the increase was so
small that if the untrained youth were sub
tracted advance would be slight—Alabama,
Nevada, Wyoming, Arkansas, Utah, Ver
mont.
1 Comparisons throughout are of those 14 years of age and
older.

State l

All in labor
Gainful workers,
1930
market, 1910

New York
______ 25.6
Pennsylvania
______ 21.6
Illinois__
______ 22.5
______ 22.3
California
Ohio
. __ ___ ______ 20.6
Massachusetts
. _
_____ 29.2
Texas __
______ 19.0
New Jersey__ _____ . ______ 24.3
Michigan..
______ 18.7
Missouri. . _
______ 20.5
North Carolina
______ 23.8
______ 26.8
Georgia
Indiana _ ________ __ ______ 18.8
______ 19.1
Wisconsin

28.5
24.3
25.3
24.8
23.0
30.6
21.9
27.9
21.4
23.2
25.9
27.8
21.3
21.1

* Each of these States had over 258,000 women in 1940 labor
market. Next State (Minnesota) 243,550. States are listed
according to number of women in labor market.

Percent of All Women That Go To Work.

In general, the proportion of the entire
woman population that now is in the labor
market differs very little from formerly. In
1930, 24.3 percent of all women 14 and over
were in gainful work; in 1940, 25.5 percent
were in the labor market. The difference

May 1941

LABOR MARKET IN THE STATES

probably is little or no greater than could
be explained by inclusion of new workers in
1940 and their omission in 1930. In only
one State, Delaware, is this difference con
siderable—28.4 percent in 1940 as against
23.9 percent in 1930.
In 10 States there actually were declines
from 1930 to 1940 in the extent to which
the women in the population had jobs or

sought employment. Most notable of these
was Mississippi, where 26.7 percent of the
women were in the labor market in 1940 as
against 32.3 percent gainfully occupied in
1930. Other States in a similar situation,
though less extremely so, were Alabama,
South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colo
rado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Utah, and
Washington.

Women’s Job Chances in Defense and Other Work
are receiving a share of employ Chances Outside Defense Industries.
ment in the rapidly increasing defense
While there has been much preoccupation
industries. Visits made by a Women
’s employment in defense industries,
with
Bureau agent in October and again in Febru opportunities for the greatest numbers of
ary to certain New England munitions and women still lie largely in other fields. Men
airplane factories showed that in some of move into defense industries and women
these the force of women workers had take the places of the men who move; or the
increased by about 50 percent, in some it well-trained woman may secure a defense job
had doubled. In several plants combined, and another unemployed and perhaps less
where some 2,600 women were employed in well trained may succeed to the job left.
October, over 4,500 were at work in Febru
The Bureau of Employment Security
ary. A plant being built for the manu stated recently that from all over the
facture of small arms ammunition in Kansas country come reports of household help and
is expected to employ over 2,000 women; farm workers obtaining employment in
an Ohio munitions plant will absorb some factories or arsenals. As a result, some
2,500 in the early summer. In Florida, shortages of farm and household workers
women as well as men are to be considered have been reported. An analysis of 660,000
for positions as aircraft fabric workers. In a placements of women in the latter part of
Virginia plant to open in the fall, 1,500 or 1940 shows that of every 10 of these nearly
more women are to be employed in making 6 were in service occupations and 2 each in
bags, and sewing them closed after loaded manufacturing and trade, with negligible
with powder, the latter requiring great proportions in agriculture, transportation,
and so forth. Eighty-one percent of the
care to prevent accident and injury.
service placements were in domestic work.
Places Increase for Women.
If the active file of individuals seeking jobs Women in Defense Occupations.
The Bureau of Employment Security is
at public employment offices declines, it is a
pretty good indication that workers are now reporting placements in a selected list
finding jobs. After June 1940, the active of defense occupations, and gives this by
file declined steadily for the country as a sex. In these specific occupations data for
whole, and by December its lists showed 2 late months of 1940, when defense em
about 20 percent fewer women job hunters ployment was advancing rapidly, show that
than in June. In the latter half of 1940 women constituted only a little over 3 per
about 38 percent of all placements were cent of all such placements through the
those of women, though women constituted offices, though many women had found jobs.
only about 24 percent of all persons in the No full record by sex of hirings at the plant
gate is obtainable.
labor market as reported by the Census.
omen

THE WOMAN WORKER

In the groups including the heavier in
dustries, construction, transportation, and
mining, as well as manufacturing, in the
latter half of 1940 about 60 percent of the
placements of men but only a little over
40 percent of those of women were in general
labor occupations, while 10 percent of the
women and 23 percent of the men were in
occupations shown as the most skilled.
The two major industries for women
were foundry and forge plants and electricalgoods manufacturing, in which were 75
percent of the women’s but only 12 percent
of the men’s placements in the last 2
months of 1940. Most women placed in
foundry and forge plants were operators of
some type of press; a very few were core
makers. In electrical plants the great

majority of women placed were assemblers,
some were armature winders; a few assem
bled radio equipment or operated winding
machines.
In two large groups that absorbed over 60
percent of men’s placements, only 15 percent
of those of women were found. One of
these was in the machine-shop and machinetool industries, where the largest proportion
of women were drill-press operators, tool
makers, and machine operators at benches;
a very few were inspectors. The other
industry was construction, where a very few
women were placed as sheet-metal workers.
Other occupations in the defense list that
absorbed a few women: Spray painter,
jeweler, worker on final assembling in air
craft, upholsterer, and hand writer of signs.

Proposed Laws for Women Workers
Hours of Work

same and extend laws to men (H. 1433, H.
643, S. 42).
Nebraska.—See bill No. 486 following.
ills that have been introduced as to
New Jersey.—To change women’s hours
hours of work include several to ex from 10 to 8 a day; extend coverage (A. 113).
tend coverage of existing laws to occupations New York.—For household employees: To
not now included, or to men; some seek to provide 60-hour week; strike out exemption
increase exemptions in the law; some to in basic 8-hour law (A. 484). For hospital
shorten hours; several bills deal with hours employees in large cities, 8-48 hours, with
certain exemptions (S. 513).
of night work; and some refer to spread of
Oklahoma.—To reduce hours from 9-54 to
hours, rest periods, mealtime, holiday pay, or 8-48 in intrastate industries (H. 220).
vacations. The more outstanding of these
Vermont.—To extend coverage of 9-50
bills are listed below, though action on them hour law for women (H. 84). Withdrawn.
Wisconsin.—To fix 48-hour week for retail
may be decisive before the Woman Worker
and service workers unless paid 1% times
appears in print.
regular rate (A. 499).

To Shorten Hours or Extend Coverage.

California.—For domestic workers: If liv
ing in, 2 bills, 54-hour week; if living out,
these same bills differ: A. 2414 fixes 6-day,
52-hour week, S. 431, 48.
Connecticut.—To limit hours on bakery
products to 40 a week for machine, 48 for
hand work (H. 720).
District of Columbia.—To improve enforce
ment and broaden coverage of women’s 8—48
law, but exempting, for example, women
receiving #35 or more a week and those in
general and professional offices (S. 1006).
Maine.—To reduce women’s hours from
54 to 48 a week (H. 1435). Other bills do

Night-Work Hours.
Connecticut.—(Present laws prohibit wom
en’s work 10 p. m. to 6 a. m.). Restaurants:
To permit women over 21 to work to 1 a. m.,

with 52-hour-week limit (S. 1181). Enter
tainers in them, no night ban (S. 20, S. 1179).
Manufacturing, mercantile: To permit all
females to work to 11 p. m. (H. 2175). See
bill H. 1187 following.
Massachusetts.—To continue suspension
of 6 o’clock law for women in textile mills to
April 1, 1943 (H. 563). Law approved.
Nebraska.—See bill No. 486 following.
New York.—For restaurants: To eliminate
night-work prohibition in 8-48 law (also
extend law to men) (S. 729).

May 1941

PROPOSED LAWS FOR WOMEN WORKERS

To Increase Exemptions or Lengthen Hours.
California.—For certain clerical workers:

To exempt from women’s 8-48 law (A. 1525);
to allow 12-hour day, 60-hour week, if 1%
time paid for hours over 8-48 (A. 1524, S.
890).
Connecticut.—To exempt from State hour
and night-work laws factory workers covered
by Federal law (H. 1187).
Maine.—To extend exemptions from wom
en’s 54-hour-week law to administrative,
supervisory, etc., workers (H. 1235).
Nebraska.—To make 9-54-hour law State
wide, limit it to girls under 21, and allow
work to 1 a. m. (now 12:30) (No. 486).
North Carolina.—To amend women’s hour
law from 10-55 to 10-56 for seasonal indus
tries, with 1% times regular pay for overtime
(H. 304).
To Extend to Men.

Connecticut.—8-48 mercantile, 9—48 manu
facturing (H. 1185, H. 2174, S. 806).
Maine.—To provide 8-hour day or 48-hour
week or both (S. 42).
New York.—%-tf> (S. 729).

Minimum Wage

To Extend Present Law or Increase Rates.
California.—Extends present rates to men
or new law for men (A.3, A. 1015, S.940).

To cover agriculture (A. 10).
Massachusetts.—To extend to domestic
workers and fix rates in law (H.1682).
Nevada.—To increase rates (A.33, A.75).
The latter also exempts employers subject
to Federal wage and hour law.
New Jersey.—Extends to hotels (A. 174).
New Law or Changes in Administration.
Michigan.—New law, #16 weekly mini

mum for women (H.51, S.44).
Minnesota.—To eliminate discretion of
commission to investigate and require rate
fixing to consider value of services and abil
ity of industry to pay (H.994).
New Jersey.—To eliminate directory pe
riod, orders to be effective 120 days after
issuance (A.152). To reduce directory pe
riod to 90 days (A.70).
Washington.—To establish minimum-wage
division and repeal present law (H.348).
To require employer to keep records, pro
vide compensation for conference members,
and authorize home-work regulation (H.452).
Wisconsin.—Repeals present law; fixes 40
cents an hour minimum for all workers
(A.186).

Home Work
California.—Amendment permitting work
on children’s wearing apparel (A. 152, A.
2202).
Connecticut.—To clarify law (H.33O,
H.266, S.72, S. 610).
Delaware.—To regulate home work, pro
hibit on listed articles, allow Commissioner
of Labor to further prohibit (S.102).
Massachusetts.—To amend law to provide
fees for employers’ permits according to
number of home workers (S. 254).
New Hampshire.—To regulate home work,
allow Labor Commissioner to prohibit
(H. 232).
New Jersey.—To regulate home work, pro
hibit on listed articles, and authorize Labor
Commissioner to further prohibit (S. 201).
Washington.—Permits regulation of home
work, with other provisions (H. 452).

Married Women’s Employment
In New Jersey another effort has been
made to safeguard freedom of employment
in public service. Assembly Bill No. 214
would make it illegal to deny or abridge the
right to hold office or employment on the
basis of sex or marital status. In 1939 a
similar bill passed only in the Assembly.
Bills in nine States would abridge married
women’s employment; three of these apply
to women alone, five to either spouse; three
of them already are defeated.
Connecticut.—To prohibit employment
and require dismissal within 30 days after
passage of bill of any woman in public
service whose husband’s income is #1,500
a year or more. To prevent any married
woman taking examinations for such service
until commissioner has determined her need
for employment. (S. 1618, H. 717.)
Idaho.—Defeated by a 2-to-l vote, a bill
to prohibit employment of husband and
wife by an agency financed by public taxa
tion whether State, city, county, or Federal
if the combined earnings of both amounted
to as much as #150 a month.
Indiana.—Bill has been tabled, to prevent
employment of person in public work if
spouse on public pay roll. Discharge by
July 1, 1941. (S. 114.)
Massachusetts.—Proposed amendment to
State constitution to permit laws regulating
or prohibiting married women’s employment
in public service (S. 195).

THE WOMAN WORKER

Minnesota.—Decisively defeated, a bill
to prohibit public employment of any person
whose spouse earns over #150 a month
(H. 29).
Ohio.—To prohibit appointment and re
quire removal within 30 days from effective
date from any State office or educational
institution any person whose spouse is at
work in any such service (S. 63 and H. 111).
Pennsylvania.—To require Governor to
report to the legislature names, addresses,
departments, and salaries of married women
in State employment and of husband also
when so employed (H. R. 7). Bill to restrict
employment of married women teachers.
Utah.—Bill against married women in
troduced.
Wisconsin.—To prohibit public employ
ment of married person whose spouse earns
over #1,500 a year plus #250 for each de
pendent child, or if combined salaries over

#2,000 plus #250 each dependent child
(A. 135).

Legal Status of Women
In Congress.

H. R. 3096 would prohibit discrimination
for age, sex, race, or color against persons
employed or seeking employment on na
tional defense or other government con
tracts.
H. R. 1836 would permit women’s service
on Federal juries. At present Federal
courts choose juries under law of the place
where the case is tried.
In the States.

Bills in six States would open jury service
to women—Georgia, Maryland, Nebraska,
Texas, Vermont, West Virginia. All but
Texas would make jury duty mandatory
for women.

Women in Unions
Court Decision on Unions.

Supreme Court has decided that
disputes between labor unions do not
constitute a violation of the Sherman AntiTrust Act. An employer had contracts
with two unions with the same affiliation.
One was given a particular job which the
other claimed. The losing union struck and
began a “we-do-not-patronize” campaign.
These activities formed the charge of the
indictment as a criminal combination and
conspiracy.
he

Union Progress in Defense Industries.

Contracts negotiated recently with a
number of metal-goods factories provide
minimum rates which, while lower for
women than for men, are in all cases above
the averages reported in March 1940. In
hardware manufacturing, in 12 States, men
65 cents, women 44 cents. The new min
imum rates in 6 contracts range for women
from 50 to 72 cents, for men from 67.5 to
87 cents.
A number of the contracts provide wage
increases. One in aircraft provides a gen
eral increase of 6 cents an hour. Another
provision increases the 50-cent hiring rate

to 55 cents, with 62% cents to be paid after
4 months. At least one of the two plants
covered employs women.
Women are given 10- to 15-minute rest
periods in three contracts, and in two of
these a 5-minute clean-up period is provided
all workers at the end of each half shift.
Most contracts provide a 5-cent bonus for
the second and third shifts, 2-hour call-in
pay, and vacation bonuses. In one, the
union shares timing of jobs with the man
agement.
Wage increases were secured in at least 45
rubber plants in 1940, in amounts ranging
from 1 to 25 cents an hour. Information as
to 5 of these showed that from some 50 to
over 400 women were employed in each. In
one plant minimum rates were raised 5 cents
for men and 3% cents for women. Minimum
rates were set in two contracts as follows:
Men 60 cents, women 45 cents, in one; men
54 cents, women 44 cents, in the other. The
latter is in a plant that employs about 260
women. A number of the recent agreements
provide for paid vacations.
A contract covering some 6,000 workers in
three States has been signed with a shirt
manufacturer. Eventually it may raise earn

May 1941

WOMEN IN UNIONS

ings for some 100,000 employees. It pro
vides for two wage increases, at different
times, of 4 percent each; a 40-cent minimum
beginning April 1; a 5-day week with time
and a half for Saturday; one week’s vacation
with pay; equitable division of work; arbitra
tion and grievance machinery; a preferential
union shop. The union is to have a voice
in changing wage rates and fixing operations.
Sick-leave provisions are to be worked out
later. The minimum rate for this industry
under the Fair Labor Standards Act is 32%
cents. Many women were active in negoti
ating the contract and in the strike preceding
it. Probably four-fifths of all workers in this
branch of the clothing industry are women.
Continuity of production and employment
are insured by a new 2-year contract with a
woolen company employing 28,000 in four
States. Strikes and lock-outs are forbidden
and all disputes and grievances, including the
subject of wages, are to be arbitrated. A 10percent increase with a 40-cent minimum,
which was to have become effective May 12,
has been deferred so as to finish a part of
Government business now on hand.
A contract signed with a large New Jersey
canning factory will add 5500,000 to the
workers’ income during the year. The 5,000
year-round employees and 3,000 seasonal
workers will receive a 7%-percent increase,
aside from other individual adjustments.
Minimum pay was established at 62 cents
an hour for men, 50% cents for boys, and 48%
cents for women, with time and a half for
more than the basic 8-hour day, 40-hour
week. The higher rate applies also for
Saturday and Sunday work, except during
August and September when the bonus will
be 10 percent. Work done between 6 p. m.
and 6 a. m. also will be paid the 10-percent
bonus. Paid vacations and holidays, senior
ity and grievance machinery, and a policy
on the part of the company to give all regular
employees 40 hours of work a week, are
provided.
tOver 4,000 cannery workers, citrus by
products workers, and packers, in eight firms
on the Pacific coast, have secured wage
increases of from 2% to 5 cents an hour.

A contract with a Delaware leather com
pany, covering 800 workers, provides a
minimum-wage scale of 50 cents an hour for
men and 45 cents for women, a 40-hour 5-day
week, seniority, a shop steward, and griev
ance and arbitration procedure.
New York Jobs for Dress Workers.

Jobs for 25,000 dress workers were found
during the first 8 months’ operation of a
special bureau setup in May 1940 at the
request of the International Ladies’
Garment Workers, representing 80 percent of
the industry. Under an agreement between
the New York State Employment ^Service,
of which this bureau is a part, and the em
ployers and employees in the industry,
dress manufacturers and contractors are
required to use the special dress-industry
placement office as the sole source of labor
for the industry. Similarly, the union
dress workers must seek work only through
the special office.
Union Progress in Women’s Wear.

A contract signed in February with the
five associations of dress manufacturers in
New York City seeks an important new
objective: By developing more efficient
management, to bring greater stability to
the industry and steadier employment to
the 85,000 workers involved. About twothirds of these are women. The contract,
which is to run for 3 years, provides that—
Workers, through their union, have a right to secure
efficient shop management from their employers.
During the term of the 3-year contract, industry
and labor will cooperate in raising from 53,000,000 to
54,500,000 to promote their industry and establish
New York City as the fashion center of the world.
An efficiency department will be set up in the office
of the industry’s impartial chairman to assist employers
in improving shop management.

Some of the methods that make for
efficiency are described as practiced in a
certain shop. When cutting is completed,
work is sorted; all parts of the garment
requiring shirring, pleating, embroidery,
buckles, and so on, are set aside to be done
first. No bundles are given to operators
until all trimmings and accessories are

THE WOMAN WORKER

available. In the operating room each
worker receives her quota of dresses—ap
proximately a full day’s work. All are in
one color so that there will be no changing
of thread. If faster operators complete
their work before the end of the day, they
are supplied with fill-in bundles kept espe
cially for the purpose. Spare machines and
motors are always at hand so that when a
machine breaks down it takes only about
2 minutes to put another in its place.
A new clause in the contract governs
overtime in the height of the season. No
overtime is allowed on Saturday. On other
days it is limited to 1 hour a day, 5 hours a
week, for each worker. No overtime is
permitted unless (1) all the employer’s shops,
both inside and contract, are supplied with
a full week’s work, and (2) there are no
vacancies in the shop. Basic hours remain
35 a week, and time workers are to be paid
for ovetime one and a half times the regular
rate.

Progress of White-Collar Workers in Unions.

Office workers of a garment factory have
secured an increase of #2, a #21 minimum,
union recognition, arbitration of all griev
ances, holidays with pay, 10 days’ sick leave,
and 2 weeks’ vacation. In another clothing
office, workers are guaranteed 52 weeks of
work a year, sick leave, 1 week’s vacation
with pay, and a 5-day week in July and
August.
A contract with owners of a chain of
limited-price stores in Detroit provides for
an increase in the minimum rate from #12
to #15.50 a week for employees who went on
strike, and #15 a week for the others. Wage
rates are to be increased 50 cents a week for
each year of seniority up to 6, and 25 cents
a week thereafter. Union members with
1 year of service are to be guaranteed 42
weeks of work at full time and 30 hours a
week for the rest of the year. Overtime
pay for over 48 hours a week, vacations and
holidays with full pay, are provided.

Minimum-Wage Progress
Fair Labor Standards Administration
Minimum-Wage Rates.

enameled-utensil industry now has
a rate of 40 cents an hour. A rate of
40 cents an hour has been recommended
employees engaged in the manufacture of
drugs, medicines, and toilet preparations.
If approved, wages of some 9,000 employees
will be increased. A study of the industry
by the Women’s Bureau in 1938 showed that
in plants visited nearly half the employees
making drugs and medicines, and threefourths of those making toilet preparations,
were women. Nearly 30 percent of the
women in drugs and 40 percent in toilet
preparations earned less than 40 cents.
Other rates recommended are: 36 cents
in seamless-hosiery mills; 40 cents in grayiron foundries, and in rubber. More than
one-fifth of the wage earners in rubber are
he

women. Rates would be raised for about
9,900 of 132,000 workers. Margaret C.
Hemrick, of Ravenna, Ohio, was one of the
workers’ representatives.
Rates
for in Puerto Rico.

In Puerto Rico a rate of 16 cents an hour
went into effect March 22 in the canning of
fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices. Wage
rates have been recommended for a number
of other industries, but none so important
a woman-employer as needlework, for
which rates already have been set. The
rates proposed are: Packing vegetables, 15
cents; making ocean pearl buttons, 27%
cents; making raffia handbags, hand sewing,
12% cents, other operations, 20 cents. The
raffia-handbag industry is a new one on the
island; it is probable that women do the
sewing. At least 25 cents was recommended
for eight other industries investigated:

May 1941

MINIMUM WAGE

Hosiery; hair net; cigar; cigarette; mattress,
quilt, and pillow; bay oil, bay rum, and
aromatic alcohol; the straw-hat industry
(straw used in the trade sense); and the
manufacture of prepared coconut.
New Committees.

Committees have been appointed for two
industries, each part of a larger group for
which rates already have been set—seamless
hosiery, and men’s shirts, single pants, and
allied garments. A minimum of 35 cents
now is fixed in manufacture of men’s wash
able service garments, of 37% cents in mak
ing single pants not all cotton. For the
other items of men’s wear covered by the
new committee the rate is now 32% cents.
A new committee has been appointed for
the textile industry, including cotton, rayon,
silk, and certain textiles other than wool.
This industry now has a 32%-cent minimum,
and the constitutionality of the act and the
procedure under which this order was issued
were upheld recently by the Supreme
Court. The committee includes two women:
Amy Hewes, of Mount Holyoke College, a
public representative, and Elizabeth Nord,
of Connecticut, an employee.
The twenty-fourth committee to be ap
pointed is for certain clay products; this does
not include refractories, nor the branches
most likely to employ large numbers of
women, pottery and ceramic whitewares.
Recent Court Decisions on Coverage.
According to court decisions, the follow
ing employers are exempt from the Federal
Fair Labor Standards Act: A wholesaler who
sells entirely within the State, though buy
ing from outside the State; a maker of a
product as an experiment, sent outside the
State for analysis, not profit; a baker whose
sales outside the State amount to only about
3 percent of total sales; the operator of a
restaurant in a railroad terminal. Deci
sions declaring that employees are covered
by the act include the employees of a broad
casting station and the rate clerk of a motor
carrier. In the latter case, the employer
had held that the Interstate Commerce Com

mission should fix maximum hours, but the
authority of that agency is exercised only
where the safety of operation is affected.
The contention that overtime may be
paid at the minimum rather than the actual
rate has been rejected by court decision.
An agreement whereby new employees
paid, or had paid for them, tuition during a
learning period, has been held invalid, as
has an attempt to segregate employees who
work only on goods for sale within the State.
Handicapped Workers Granted Certificates.

The annual report of the Wage and Hour
Division shows that by June 30, 1940, ap
plications had been considered for the em
ployment of 7,000 handicapped workers
under the provision of the act. A little
more than half these were granted, more
than two-thirds of them for women. While
age was the handicap most frequently re
ported in applications granted for women,
it accounted for only 30 percent of the total.
Other important handicaps were rheumatic
and similar disabilities; diseases of the heart,
circulation, and blood; orthopedic and eye
defects; and mental and nervous impair
ments. All applications giving slowness as
the handicap were denied. There was no
concentration of women workers in any
age group, though comparatively few were
under 25. Practically all the women were
to be employed in manufacturing, almost
half in apparel industries, about one-sixth
in tobacco and in hosiery.
In this connection it is interesting to
note findings of the committee on employability of the handicapped of the American
Association of Industrial Physicians and
Surgeons. This committee reported 4 mil
lion handicapped persons in the United
States, 70 percent males. A little less than
half are unemployable because of age.
While most of the others have jobs or are
too severely handicapped to be able to work,
300,000 need employment. Surveys show
that 61 percent of all were handicapped by
accidents, but only a small proportion of
these occurred because of occupation.

THE WOMAN WORKER

Learners Allowed Certificates.

An analysis of learners’ certificates granted
by the Wage and Hour Division from July 1,
1939, to June 30, 1940, is given in the divi
sion’s annual report for three industries,
hosiery, house and wash dresses, and knit
wear. Apparently the need for learners was
greatest in hosiery mills, 69 percent of all
factories in the industry being granted
certificates, allowing training of 27,000
workers; nearly a fourth of these were to
meet plant-expansion needs. Only 4 per
cent of the knitwear mills received certifi
cates, allowing for the training of 1,730
learners in all. Plant expansion as creating
a need for learners was recognized here much
less frequently than in hosiery. Of factories
making house and wash dresses, 22 percent
were granted certificates that would author
ize the training of 3,552 learners in all.
One-fifth of the certificates were issued to
meet expansion needs.
Exemptions Under Area-of-Production
Provision.

A new ruling on “area of production,”
effective April 1, extends to the processing
off the farm of all agricultural and horticul
tural commodities, including dairy products,
the definition previously issued for fresh
fruits and vegetables.
(See Woman
Worker, September 1940.) Under this
definition workers engaged in plants with
10 or fewer employees in the exempt opera
tions, and drawing the commodities from
farms in the “general vicinity,” are within
the “area of production” and by the act
exempted from the wage and hour standards.

Minimum Wage in the States
California—Unclassified Order Void.

The State supreme court has decided
that a blanket order issued in California to
cover any occupation or industry not in
cluded elsewhere is void. The minimumwage law of California requires the com
mission first to determine that existing
wages in a given industry or occupation are
insufficient to supply the cost of living.
The court held that inadequacy of wages

could not be determined at the same time
for occupations as diverse as boot blacking
and taxi dancing, both admittedly covered
by the order for “unclassified occupations.”
The remedy is for the commission to con
tinue to fix wage rates by occupation.
California—Wage Violation by Dental School.

Complaints were made that under the
guise of student experience dental-assistant
schools were sending out students to work
in dentists’ offices without paying the legal
minimum and dentists were permitting
women to work without pay, in order to get
experience. Women dental assistants are
covered by the order for general and profes
sional offices. The violations found have
been corrected. Dental schools now are
cooperating with the division of industrial
welfare and State dental associations are
publicizing in their magazines the minimumwage requirements.
Connecticut—Beauty-Shop Order.

The first wage order covering men in
Connecticut has been issued—a revision of
the beauty-shop order, which previously
covered only women and minors. The
rates fixed for male operators are identical
with those formerly applying to females. For
full-time work $18 a week for 3-year opera
tors, $15.50 for 2-year operators and clerks,
and $14.50 for 1-year operators. Outstand
ing changes of the revised order are a reduc
tion from $4 to $3 in the daily rate for parttime operators (those employed 1, 2, or 3
days a week), and addition of an apprentice
rate of $10 a week. The rates for porters
and cleaners are the same as those for maids,
$15 a week. Overtime is to be paid after 48
hours rather than after 46 hours as for
merly, but the rate is fixed at 60 cents for
all operators, while in the old order the rate
was 60 cents only for the 3-year operators,
50 cents for the others.
Illinois—Beauty-Shop Order Revised.

The mandatory order for beauty shops in
Illinois has been revised. The basic weekly
rates, now to be paid for 40 hours, instead
of 45 as before, and up to 48, remain the

May 1941

MINIMUM WAGE

same: Registered beauty culturists, mani
curists, desk clerks, shop managers, #16.50;
apprentices, #10 the first year, #12.50 the
second; maids, #15. Overtime, Sunday,
and holiday rates are raised by 2 to 6 cents an
hour. Cleaning women are still paid the
straight hourly rate of 30 cents. For part
time, apprentices are to be paid the full
weekly rate. Registered beauty culturists,
manicurists, and so forth, and maids, respec
tively, are paid rates of 50 and 45 cents an
hour, but not less than #2 and #1.80 daily,
#3.30 and #3 if the day is 6 to 8 hours. In
the old order all but cleaners were paid #3 a
day for 8 hours or less.
Kentucky—Laundry Wages Raised.

Wages of women in Kentucky laundries
have risen somewhat since the blanket wage
order covering all industries went into effect
in 1939. In the largest cities the increase
was a little more than 5 cents an hour.
While average daily hours had dropped, the
average weekly pay had advanced from
#10.22 to #11.81. In the other two zones
hourly pay had increased by about 4 cents
while hours had decreased. A board has
been appointed to recommend a minimum
for the laundry and dry-cleaning industry.
If the board’s recommendations are ac
cepted, a specific wage order for the industry
will be issued.
Massachusetts—Rates for Office Workers.

Effective April 1 in Massachusetts is a
rate of #16 for experienced office workers
employed for 36 or more hours a week, and
one of #15 for those with less than 1 year
of experience. Messenger boys and girls
with 1 year or more of experience are to be
paid #13.50, others #12. For less than 36
hours a week, hourly rates are to be paid as
follows: Office workers—experienced 47
cents, inexperienced 44 cents; messenger
boys and girls—experienced 39 cents, inex
perienced 35 cents.
New York—Compliance in Hotels.

That the hotel industry in New York
State has adjusted itself quickly to the
terms of the wage order that went into effect

November 25 is shown in the first check-up,
the results of which were reported in March.
Of the women and minors employed in 845
hotels inspected in the first 2 months, 12,600,
or 88 percent, were receiving at least the
minimum at the time of the first inspection.
Nearly 500 underpaid workers got what was
due them at once, and 375 more within a
few days. Underpayments generally were
due to lack of understanding of the order.
Employers were reminded of 1 cent an hour
increases for most workers, March 3.
New York—Law Constitutional?

The Court of Special Sessions in Bronx
County has held the minimum-wage law
unconstitutional in its provision that an
employer can be prosecuted criminally for
failure to pay the minimum wage under a
mandatory order. However, the court up
held the part of the law requiring accurate
records to be kept, and held the employer
guilty on that count. The case resulted
from action against the operator of a beauty
shop for failure to pay the minimum rate,
and also for failure to keep accurate records.
The following day, a court of equal rank
in Manhattan ruled in an identical case that
the law was constitutional and that the
employer was guilty of paying rates below
those fixed in the mandatory order.
The New York Division of Women in
Industry and Minimum Wage gives the
following summary of the decision of the
Bronx County Court.
1. That the law is constitutional in all respects in
reference to civil actions.
2. That the law is constitutional in reference to
criminal actions for failure to keep true and accurate
records as prescribed by the statute or a minimum-wage
order, since such records are essential for a successful
prosecution of a civil action.
3. The Court held the law unconstitutional as to
criminal actions for failure to pay the minimum-wage
rate in a mandatory minimum-wage order for the
reason that there is an invalid delegation of legislative
function to the industrial commissioner to declare what
is a crime and what is not a crime in view of her power
under section 561, subdivision 1, of the labor law to
declare to what extent a new order following the
reconsideration of the minimum-wage rates in manda
tory order, shall be directory and to what extent it shall
be mandatory.

THE WOMAN WORKER

New York—Minimum Wage in 1940.

The annual report of the New York Divi
sion of Women in Industry and Minimum
Wage gives new evidence of the great bene
fits to women of minimum-wage legislation.
In four industries that had minimum-wage
orders in effect, wages had gone up, not only
for the workers at the bottom of the scale
but for all workers.
Women had not been replaced by men be
cause of these raises. Employers had been
able to stabilize the workweek in relation
to the minimum-wage rates and thus to
cut down on part-time work. And as the
hourly and weekly earnings of workers in
these four industries rose, so did the business
in the communities where they lived. It
was at this point that the much-talked-of
increased purchasing power entered the pic
ture. A study of this phase of minimumwage orders proved conclusively that more
money—even though the amounts are
small—in the hands of many, was good for
business.
Collections Under Wage Orders.
Not only are workers benefited by collec
tion of wages due those who have been under
paid, but purchasing power is increased as

well. Recent reports from three States show
the following amounts collected in 1940 by
minimum-wage authorities:
New York, $123,212 under six orders.
Ohio, $106,604 under four orders.
Minnesota, $53,404 under four orders.

Other Activities.
In Oregon a new order for the canning

industry, effective April 1, raised women’s
rates from 35 to 37% cents an hour. The
rate for men is recommended, and was
raised from 45 to 50 cents.

In New Hampshire the retail-trade order
and in Pennsylvania the laundry order have
been made mandatory. In Illinois the
restaurant wage board is preparing its
report to submit to the director of labor,
and a study of wages in retail trade has
been completed. In Massachusetts the
report of the restaurant wage board has
been submitted to the commission. The
New Jersey commissioner has rejected the
recommendation for beauty parlors, and a
new board is to be appointed. New York
reports that a study has recently been com
pleted on earnings, hours, and working
conditions of 9,804 women, 437 male
minors, and 127 home workers in paper
and paper-products industries. Prelimi
nary work has been started on a study of
retail trade. In Rhode Island a study has
been made of hotels and restaurants.

Rates Set on Public Contracts
Wage rates for the uniform and clothing
industry became effective February 25.
In the coat and suit branch a minimum rate
of 60 cents an hour, or #24 for a 40-hour
week, has been set. Auxiliary workers, not
to exceed 20 percent of the working force,
are to be paid not less than 40 cents. In
cluded in auxiliary workers are bundle and
floor boys, pairers, finishers, bushel-women,
cleaners and basting pullers, boxers, stamp
ers, and labelers. For outdoor jackets
(wool or wool-lined) and for wool uniform
trousers, the rate set is 40 cents an hour.
The rate of 42% cents for leather and sheeplined jackets is not changed. These rates,
like all those set under the Public Contracts
Act, apply only in cases of contracts of
#10,000 or more.

News Notes
Mediation Board Appointed

representing employees. The Secretary of
Labor is to certify to the board for appro
n March 19, the President appointed
priate action any controversy or dispute
the National Defense Mediation that “threatens to burden or obstruct the
Board of 11 members—3 representing the
production or transportation of equipment
public, 4 representing employers, and 4 or materials essential to national defense,”

May 1941

NEWS NOTES

and that cannot be adjusted by the Con
ciliation Service of the Department of Labor.

Red Cross Plans for Defense
Volunteer workers as well as the regular
staff of the American Red Cross may find a
place in the specific services now being
conducted or planned for the future if need
arises. These were outlined at a recent
field staff conference by DeWitt Smith,
director of domestic operations. Volunteers
in great numbers may be needed in the
production of surgical dressings and articles
of clothing for use in army hospitals. Blood
donors already are being enrolled, and this
service may be considerably expanded.
Carefully selected and trained volunteers
may be used along with the paid staff in
medical social service, and possibly as occu
pational therapy aides in the general Army
and Navy hospitals. The Red Cross will
continue and expand its plan for enrolling
personnel needed by the medical depart
ments, including nurses and dietitians. It
also will help to enroll and check on the
qualifications of others not employed by
the organization, including laboratory and
X-ray technicians, dental hygienists, phar
macists, and others.

Philippine Women Embroiderers
Embroidery is essentially a household in
dustry in the Philippines. However, a
study of 15 establishments that practically
control the industry showed that in 1939
about 2,800 wage earners were employed
in the factories, 83 percent of them women.
The average daily wage of all women was
nearly 1 peso (about 50 cents), and a few
large groups averaged more than that. The
most important were 382 pressers and 108
scallop cutters, each group averaging 1.30
pesos or a little more. The average day’s
wage would buy one hen and about 2%
pounds of potatoes, at prices reported for
July 1939; or one could choose about 2
pounds of beef or a little more of pork, 1
pound of imported onions (cheaper than
native), and 2 pounds of potatoes. It is

not surprising at this rate that rice and fish
constitute the chief diet.
It is estimated that from 30,000 to 50,000
home workers are employed by the industry
on a part-time basis. In spite of the high
grade of workmanship required, the wages
paid are very low, since a share of the labor
cost goes to contractors and another to
subcontractors.

Injuries to Missouri Women
Industrial accidents caused compensable
injuries to Missouri women workers in
7,749 cases according to a State report for
1940. These were nearly one-eighth of all
injuries reported. Death resulted from 1
of these injuries to women, and permanent
disability from 58. The others caused tem
porary disability only, but this must have
lasted at least 4 days, since the law requires
that compensation cannot be claimed unless
an injury incapacitates the worker for that
period. In 6 cases, disability to women was
the result of occupational disease. Half of
the injuries where ages were available in
volved women 18 to 25 years old, but in
48 cases the women were 65 or older, one
being 81.

Hand Weaving and Dyeing in Texas
A new industry has been growing up in
Lubbock, Tex., in the past 2 years in a weav
ing and dyeing project set up by the W. P. A.
and sponsored jointly by the city and county
and by the Texas Technological College.
To determine what Texas plant material
could be used for dyes, and to discover the
commercial value of certain raw materials
spun and woven into various products by
hand, have been objectives. More than 200
native plants have been tested and many
staple dyes developed, giving colors that
cannot be duplicated by chemicals. Wool,
rayon, mohair, and cotton have been used.
One successful experiment was the use of
short-staple cotton grown in West Texas,
which is of little value in machine weaving.
The project started with 20 women; 125
have been trained to date and 40 are now
carrying on the work.

THE WOMAN WORKER

New Director at Hudson Shore

Jobs for Older Women

Following the resignation of Jean Carter
because of illness, Marie Elliott Algor,
W. P. A. supervisor of leadership education in
Philadelphia, has been appointed director of
the Hudson Shore Labor School. Last year
the workshop method was the basic plan
used in a new project for teacher training
made possible at the school by a grant from
the American Association for ^.dult Educa
tion. The summer school provided an ex
cellent laboratory. The girls in training
assisted the instructors, entering into all
phases of cooperative living and learning.
They kept records evaluating their work,
which are being combined in a report by the
supervisor of the project, Madeleine Grant.

To find work for its members, all of whom
are over 40 years of age, is the object of
Women, Associated, formed recently in Los
Angeles. Members must be citizens and
voters, be able to maintain themselves until
placed, and be willing to give at least 12
hours of work a week to the organization.
They must have been executives at some
time, and have earned $2,000 a year. In a
recent report the organization had 45 active
members, had had about 102 in all, about
two-fifths being now employed, many in
permanent positions. A roster of member
ship briefing the training and experience of
each, all carefully verified, has been sent to
Los Angeles businessmen.

Recent Publications
Women’s Bureau—Printed Bulletins 1
Women Workers In Their Family Environment.

Bul. 183.

82 pp.

150.

Lifting Heavy Weights in Defense Industries.

Special Bul. No. 2.

11 pp.

5 cents.

Keep Up Standards for Women’s Work. July 1940.
Women Who Can Work in Defense Industries.

September 1940.
November

1940.
Processes Women Are Performing in Defense
Industries. January 1941.
Women’s Chances ' for Defense Jobs. January

1941.
Conference on Training Women for Defense
Needs. January 1941.

Other Department of Labor Bulletins
Study

Consumer Purchases, Urban Series,

1935-36. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
West Central-Rocky Mountain Regions (7 urban
communities), Bul. 646, Vol. I, Family Income.
Seven New England Cities, Bul. 645, Vol. II,
Family Expenditure.
Pacific Northwest Region (4 urban communities),
Bul. 649, Vol. II, Family Expenditure.
Methods of Assessing the Physical Fitness of
Children. Children’s Bureau, Bul. 263.
The Worker’s Safety and National Defense.

Division of Labor Standards, Special Bul. 2.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bul. 672.
The Wage and Hour Structure of the FurnitureManufacturing Industry, October 1937. Bureau

of Labor Statistics, Bul. 669.

Reprints From The Woman Worker

Women Workers and Defense Jobs.

Problems of Workmen’s Compensation Adminis
tration in the United States and Canada.

Other Publications
Women Under the Social Security Act.

Social

Security Board. Pamphlets.
The Wage-Earning Woman.
The Wage-Earning Married Woman.

The Working Man’s Widow and Children.
The Working Man’s Wife.
The application of the law in each case is described
briefly and simply.
The Woman’s Collection. A bibliography of
material pertaining to women’s interests, added to
the Woman’s College Library of the University of
North Carolina. 1941. 55 pp. 75ft.
The Electrical Age. Published quarterly by the
Electrical Association for Women, Inc. London.
Workers’ Education Today. By Mark Starr.
League for Industrial Democracy. New York City.
1941.
Selected References on Occupations for Girls
and Women. Excerpts from “References and Re

lated Information on Vocational Guidance for Girls
and Women.” Federal Security Agency. U. S.
Office of Education, Washington. 1940.
1 Bulletins may be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, D. C., at prices listed. A discount of 25 percent on
orders of 100 or more copies is allowed. Reprints are obtainable
only from the Women’s Bureau.
u. s.

Government printing office:

1941

Full text of The Woman Worker : May 1941, Vol. XXI, No. 3

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