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Woman Worker
*"S**»f
SEPTEMBER 1941

United States Department of Labor

Women’s Bureau

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Frances Perkins, Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
Mary Anderson, Director

THE WOMAN WORKER
PUBLISHED EVERY 2 MONTHS

No. 5

Vol. XXI

September 1941

CONTENTS
Women’s Part in Manufacturing for Defense_____________________________
Recent Trends in Women’s Wages and Employment_______________________
Women Workers in Michigan_____________________________________________
Toward Minimum Fair Wages_____________________________________________

Fair Labor Standards Administration—Public Contracts Administration—Mini
mum Wage in the States.
Women in Unions_________________________________________________________
Progress in Metal and Machinery, Textiles, Wearing Apparel, Other Manufactur
ing, Service, and Other Industries.
Employment Problems of Household Workers_____________________________
Labor Laws Affecting Women—1941_______________________________________
Industrial Home Work Curtailed in Two States__________________________
Hazards to Health of Employed 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

Page

3
4
6
7

12
13
14
15
16

Women’s Part in Manufacturing for Defense
work contributes largely to machinery establishments, which always
the labor force in many plants pro have been large employers of womeju In
March, placements of women had increased
ducing ammunition, explosives, firearms,
instruments and small parts for aircraft, 14 percent over February, those in the de
and other ordnance and defense products. fense industries about 13 percent. Among
Some of these are new establishments opened all placements of women in that month 57
in the last 2 or 3 months, others have been percent were in service industries, around 20
under construction and will open in the fall, percent each in manufacturing and sales
and many are older plants long in operation occupations.
but now being expanded.
Labor Shortages Call for Women Workers.
Data from a number of outstanding plants
Shortages of workers are occurring in occu
indicate the situation as to women’s em pations more usually engaged in by women,
ployment and types of work. A roughly as women are being drawn into manufactur
estimated 12,000 women are or shortly will ing industries, sometimes with better pay
be doing shell-loading operations in In or better conditions of work. Employment
diana, Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio in the Middle Service reports show a dearth of clerical
West, as well as in Utah and in Tennessee. workers in some places, of domestic workers
A similar number of women are performing in many localities (see p. 13 of this issue), and
or soon will perform processes on small- of sewing-machine operators in clothing
arms ammunition in Colorado, Connecticut, centers. Experienced typists and stenog
Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Loading bags raphers are so much in demand by the Fed
with powder or sewing such bags is a job eral services that examinations now are kept
for 5,000 to 6,000 women in Indiana, Ala open continuously until further notice.
bama, and Virginia. Many women are at
Among shortages reported by the Em
work on explosives in New Jersey, on air ployment Service in 78 defense occupations,
plane parts in Connecticut and New Jersey, one type was such as to call for women—
on assembling radios for airplanes or other that of detail assemblers in aircraft, in
small assembly, and on aircraft instruments which there were demands for 50 workers
in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. It is for every 1 registered. Workers most in
reported that some 2,000 women are to be demand included aircraft riveters. This
employed shortly in a new ammunition is a predominating job in the assembly of
plant in Des Moines, and that others will airplane parts, and a large proportion of it
work in an expanded Texas ordnance plant. can be done by women, especially if a short

omen’s

Placements of Women in Defense Industries.

In the first quarter of this year women
constituted well over a tenth of the workers
placed by the public employment services in
a selected group of 26 defense industries,
according to recent reports from the Federal
Bureau of Employment Security. This is a
large proportion in view of the fact that
many of these ordinarily are thought of as
the heavier industries. Nearly a third of
these placements were in jobs in iron and
steel and machinery plants, and a proportion
only slightly smaller were in electrical
405718-41

period of training is provided.
Though primary demands have been for
men and for the younger persons, the need
for workers has tended to relax arbitrary
restrictions such as those against married
women or against older workers, if they have
some needed special skill. A recent example
among many is that of a large southern
textile plant that has lifted its customary
ban on married women. That the future
may call for more women with experience
or ability to serve in executive capacities is
indicated by the fact that an official of a
3

THE WOMAN WORKER

large rubber company has predicted that
more women will be needed for supervisory
work in office forces.
Women Making Ammunition for Small Arms.

Women constitute a large proportion of
those making ammunition for use in small
arms. Women are about 40 percent of the
workers in a large arsenal that tends to
establish standards for this industry, accord
ing to a recent report of the Women’s
Bureau.1 This proportion could be in
creased considerably. Many of the plants
now being built, as well as expansions in
existing plants, will produce such ammuni
tion. The demand is almost unlimited, as
can be seen from the fact that a single air
plane can fire at least 160 rounds of ammuni
tion a second from each of its 8 or more
machine guns.
Women work on .30- and .45-caliber bul
lets, both ball (for use against persons and
light targets) and armor piercing. Men
work on larger bullets and on tracer bullets,
which have a compressed igniting charge
that gives a bright flame or trail of smoke,
and are used for observation and incendiary
1 See Women’s Bureau multilith, Employment of Women in
Manufacture of Small Arms Ammunition. June 1941.

purposes. Women do the assembling, that
is, putting the core into the jacket. They
also operate machines for pointing or nosing
the jacket, inserting the slug, and finishing
operations.
The primer, which is to be inserted in the
cartridge case, is a little brass cup that
contains the pellet charge, a small explosive
wafer pressed to a foiling disk; this is placed
in the cup under a tiny anvil through which
the flame from the ignited pellet passes into
the vent hole in the cartridge case to ignite
the powder. Women shellac the foiling
paper and operate a machine that presses it
over the primer. They place the small
anvils in the primer cups, a hand operation.
They inspect the finished primers.
Women are employed on various opera
tions in making the cartridge case, and in
loading it. After the brass case is formed,
women operate special horizontal spindle
machines that trim its top, and other auto
matic machines performing several processes
in perfecting the case, and in inserting the
propellent powder and the bullet. There
are many inspection operations covering
each stage of the processing of the various
parts, and these often are women’s jobs, as is
much of the packing of the finished product.

Recent Trends in Women’ Wages and Employment1
employment increased almost half the industries reported, less than 40
4 percent, men’s 10 percent, in the hours in all but one. Women’s earnings
for the week averaged $16.54 in manu
earliest months of the defense program,
according to figures just released for 24 facturing industries, which was less than 60
industries. These include large samples percent as much as men’s earnings, though
from all the industries that employ largest recent studies of living costs indicate that a
numbers of women in manufacturing. In working woman’s minimum for healthful
many cases, the greater part of the employ living is around $20.
1 Source: Pay-roll records mailed by employers to the Bureau of
ment advance had occurred after March
Statistics for 1 week in the month. Reports for October
1940. Women’s hourly earnings as well as Labor
1940 included over 433,000 women in 22 industries representing
nearly
two-thirds of all women in manufacturing, and nearly
their employment had increased in half the
32,000 women in laundries and cleaning and dyeing plants. Wage
industries reported. Comparisons are made and hour figures given cover all plants reported; percent changes
are computed from data for identical plants only. The 12 States
of the situation in October 1940 with that included
employ about three-fourths of all women in manufactur
in September of the year preceding, for ing—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
identical establishments.
Pennsylvania. Tables showing more complete data for October
The workweek of women in October 1940 1940 can be obtained from the Women’s Bureau. Earlier data
appeared in the Woman Worker for March and September 1938,
averaged less than 37 hours in more than May and September 1939, March and September 1940.
omen’s

September 1941

EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE TRENDS

The more notable changes in women’s
employment in identical plants from Septem
ber 1939 to October 1940, with those of men
for comparison, were in the following
industries:
Employment
Percent
increase 1
Women Men

Electrical machinery and supplies_________ 25
Glass and pottery______________________ 18
Woolen and worsted____________________ 16
Hardware____________________________ 14
Paper boxes (set-up)___________________ 10
Confectionery_________________________ 9
Radios and phonographs_________________ 8
Book and job printing___________________ 8
Auto tires and tubes____________________ 6
Cotton goods__________________________ 3
Hosiery______________________________
3
Women’s undergarments_________________ 2

8
12
13
9
11
19
4
2
6
5
7

en’s hourly earnings and some employment
advance for them: Undergarments, hosiery,
cotton goods, and cigars. Considerable
employment increases were found with slight
declines in hourly earnings in glass and
pottery, hardware, book and job printing,
and tires and tubes.
Notable advances in women’s hourly
earnings were accompanied by declines in
their employment that were marked in shoe
factories, moderate in cotton-dress shops.
Other industries in which women’s employ
ment decreased though their hourly earnings
improved were men’s cotton clothing, knit
underwear, silk and rayon, women’s coats
and suits, and men’s suits and overcoats.
The chief changes in average hourly earn
ings were as follows:
Average hourly
earnings
Percent increase 1
Women Men

Percent
decrease1

Women Men

Women’s coats and suits_________ _____ _ 5
Knit underwear_______________________ 6
Silk and rayon________________________ 6
Dyeing and cleaning___________________ 7
Men’s suits, overcoats__________________ 9
Boots and shoes (leather)________________ 10

22
6
6
1
5
3

1 Listed if change 4 percent or more for either sex.
2 Increase.

Changes in Women’s Hourly Earnings.

Women’s average hourly earnings had
increased in most industries, in a number of
them to a considerable extent. Most of the
few exceptional declines were of less than 1
percent. Women usually are paid less than
men, and since the increases in their hourly
earnings were in most cases greater than
men’s they indicate that State and Federal
legislation, designed to raise wages partic
ularly in the lower brackets, is having its
effect.
The advances in women’s earnings went
hand in hand with the employment increases
in about half the industries reported. Con
siderable increases in women’s employment
were accompanied by some increase in their
hourly earnings in electrical machinery and
supplies, woolen and worsted, set-up paper
boxes, confectionery, radios and phono
graphs, rubber shoes, and in laundries. The
following showed notable increases in wom

Women’s cotton dresses_____________
Women’s undergarments_____ .______
Men’s cotton clothing_______________
Hosiery___________________________
Boots and shoes (leather)____________
Cotton goods________________,_____ .
Knit underwear____________________
Silk and rayon_____________________
Woolen and worsted________________
Cigars____________________________
Women’s coats and suits_____________
Boots and shoes (rubber)____________

16
11
9
9
8
8
7
5
4
4
3
3

4
9
(2)
22
2
6
3
4
9
1
28
8

Percent decrease 1
Women
Men

Women’s dresses (not cotton)_________

Glass and pottery___________________

3 8

Hardware_________________________

1 Listed if change 4 percent or more for either sex.
2 Decrease.
3 Increase.

Average Week’s Earnings of Women.
Average week’s earnings of women had
increased to an even greater extent than
their hourly earnings. This was due to
somewhat longer hours combined with the
advances in hourly earnings. However,
women’s hours of work averaged less than
39 in almost all industries reported.
Earnings in the week—the amount a
working woman has to live on—averaged
between #15 and #20 in half these industries,
though in 8 they averaged less than #15.
Recent studies estimate that a working

THE WOMAN WORKER

woman’s minimum costs for healthful living
are about $20. In 20 of the industries
reported the average woman received less
than this, though men averaged less than
$20 a week only in cotton and shoe factories.
Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of
women in October 1940 averaged as follows:
Average
week's
earnings

Qvev

320:

Women’s coats and suits________ 323. 86
Auto tires and tubes____________ 23. 61
Hardware____________________ 21. 36
Electrical machinery and supplies,. 20.99
Over 315, under 320:
Women’s dresses (not cotton)____ 19. 63
Radios and phonographs________ 19.26
Boots and shoes (rubber)________ 18. 73
Woolen and worsted____________ 17.87
Book and job printing__________ 17.19
Glass and pottery______________ 17.07
Hosiery______________________ 16.92
Paper boxes (set-up)___________
16.87
Women’s undergarments________ 16. 81
Dyeing and cleaning___________
16. 61
Confectionery_________________ 15.65
Cigars_______________________
15.51
Under 315:
Men’s suits, overcoats__________
14.99
Laundries____________________
14. 57
Cotton goods__________________ 14. 53

Average
hourly
earnings
{cents)

81. 8
70. 5
55. 8
53.2

70.9
51.0
49. 2
48.9
46. 8
45.9
48. 6
41.8
45. 2
42. 0
41.6
41.5
53. 8
36. 2
40. 4

Average
week's
earn ings

Under 315—Continued.
Silk and rayon________________ 314.49
Knit underwear_______________ 14. 42
Men’s cotton clothing__________
14. 29
Women’s cotton dresses_________ 13.64
Boots and shoes (leather)________ 13.14

Average
hourly
earnings
{cents)

40.5
41.0
41. 6
40.6
43. 6

Situation of Men and Women Compared.

Changes in employment usually took the
same direction for both sexes, increasing in
the same industries for women and men, but
there still were wide differences in earnings.
Men’s hourly pay always averaged more
than women’s—at least 20 cents an hour
more in over half the industries. Men’s
weekly averages usually were above $20,
but women’s were below this in 20 of the 24
industries. Women suffer from another dis
advantage—greater irregularity of work
hours. Whether average work hours in an
industry had increased or declined, in the
majority of industries changes were greater
for women than men, notably the increases
in woolen and worsted, silk and rayon, and
undergarments, and the declines in plants
making boots and shoes, men’s suits and
overcoats, and confectionery.

Women Workers in Michigan
and women in stores and restau Earnings of Women in Stores.
rants in Michigan would be earning
At the time of the study a 30-cent mini
more, and the hours of most of them would
mum was mandatory for all workers covered
be shorter, if conditions prescribed in the by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and for
Fair Labor Standards Act applied to them many industries higher minima had been
as it does to those in factories and other set. In limited-price stores in Michigan
interstate industries. In order to recom nearly half of the women who were regular
mend favorable standards for these workers, employees earned less than this, as did more
the Women’s Bureau made a survey of the than one-fifth of the men. In other stores
State early this year, at the request of the the majority of the regular employees earned
State Commissioner of Labor and Industry. at least 30 cents. In limited-price stores
In the various types of stores and restau all salespersons were women, and their
rants covered, nearly 59,000 employees were hourly average was 29.8 cents. Averages
reported by the census in 1939. On the in Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids were
basis of the sample studied, women consti somewhat higher, but they were lower in
tuted more than three-fourths of the em the smaller places, which had more sales
ployees in general merchandise, depart persons than were found in Detroit.
ment, dry goods, and limited-price stores,
Not more than 15 percent of the men and
and well over half those in restaurants.
women who were regular employees in any
en

September 1941

WOMEN WORKERS IN MICHIGAN

type of store had worked as few as 40 hours.
However, unless provided by a union con
tract, there was no extra payment for more
than 40 hours as is required in interstate
industries. The State law allows women to
be employed 54 hours a week, and for men
there is no limit. Even among those classi
fied as extra or part-time workers, some had
worked more than 40 hours. This was true
of one-eighth of the women in limited-price
stores and one-fifth of the women and onethird of the men in other stores.
Earnings of Women in Restaurants.

An evaluation of earnings in restaurants is
complicated by the fact that workers more
often than not receive one or more meals as
part of their compensation, and in a few
cases lodging. The question of tips may be
disregarded. Tips vary widely from day to
day and from firm to firm. In the majority
of the firms visited, they were reported to
be an unimportant source of income. Re
gardless of supplements, 56 percent of all
men regular employees and 82 percent of all
women regular employees earned less than 30

cents an hour, while three-fourths of the
men and practically all the women earned
less than 40 cents. Cooks usually are the
best paid of restaurant employees. A sixth
of the men and practically half the women
cooks earned less than 30 cents an hour.
Approximately three-fourths of all men and
women extra or part-time workers were paid
less than 30 cents. The average earnings of
workers according to the number of meals
received show that many must fall belotv the
standards of the Federal act, even with the
value of meals added. This is especially
true of the women employees. These
averages were as follows:
Average hourly earnings, in cents,
for workers receiving—
No meals

Men................ ........... 32.9
Women___________ 25.5

1 meal

2 meals

34.3
27.6

33.0
23.0

3 meals

31.7
21.9

Hours of restaurant employees seldom
were as short as 40, except for extra or parttime workers. Nearly three-fourths of the
women and 93 percent of the men regular
employees had worked more than 44 hours.

Toward Minimum Fair Wages
Fair Labor Standards Administration
New Minimum-Wage Rates Established.

rates of 36, 38, and 40 cents
became effective as of June 30 for
certain paper products; and in July a
minimum of 40 cents for drugs, medicines,
and toilet preparations and for rubber
goods. On September 15 a 36-cent rate
will go into effect for seamless hosiery.
About 200,000 persons are employed in
the manufacture of paper products, more
than one-third of them women. Nearly
50,000 workers, probably more than half
of them women, will have their wages raised
by the order. Rates for the groups em
ploying the larger numbers of women are
as follows: Set-up paper boxes etc., 36
cents; paper bags and similar products,
38 cents; envelopes, blank books, stationery,
and the like, 40 cents.
inimum

About 44,000 persons are employed in
the making of drugs, medicines, and toilet
preparations, probably about half of them
women. It is estimated that wages of
9,000 will be raised by the order. A study
by the Women’s Bureau in 1938 indicates
that about 90 percent of those with earnings
below 40 cents are women.
Of about 132,000 persons in the rubber
industry more than one-fifth are women.
About 9,900 men and women will receive
increases as a result of the order.
The seamless hosiery industry, with some
62,000 workers, has been operating under a
minimum of 32% cents. It is estimated
that 27,500 persons are earning less than the
new rate of 36 cents. Sample studies in
dicate that large proportions receiving less
than this amount are women.
Piece rates for home needlework in Puerto
Rico have been revised, effective October 12.

THE WOMAN WORKER

Earlier rates set in December 1940 were
increased or decreased as a result of time
studies conducted by the Wage and Hour
Division in Puerto Rico.
Recommendations for Minimum Rates.
An increased minimum, 40 cents an hour,
has been recommended for women’s apparel
and for knit underwear, commercial knitting,
and men’s woven underwear.

For the lumber industry, a minimum of 35
cents has been recommended. Interstate
lumbermen encounter intense competition
from owners of small portable mills doing
business within the State and often paying
as little as 15 cents an hour. The situation
could be met by an amendment to the act
making “any minimum wage fixed under the
act applicable alike to all industry, including
intrastate operations affecting interstate
commerce.”
New Committees.

New committees have been appointed for
three industries now operating under a
minimum rate of 35 cents: Miscellaneous
apparel (neckwear, robes, accessories),
knitted outerwear, and shoes and allied
products. Each committee has one or more
women members. Dorothy J. Bellanca, of
New York, is an employee representative
on the miscellaneous apparel committee.
The others are public representatives, as
follows: Teresa M. Crowley, New York, and
Marian D. Irish, Tallahassee, miscellaneous
apparel; Elizabeth S. Magee, Cleveland, and
Elizabeth Morrissy, Baltimore, shoes; Mary
B, Gilson, Chicago, miscellaneous apparel
and knitted outerwear. Committees have
also been appointed to set rates for passenger
motor carriers, and for property motor
carriers.
Apparel Order Upheld.
Southern garment workers will receive
about $210,000 now held in escrow as a
result of a decision of the Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia. Effectiveness
of the same minimum rates for the South as
elsewhere also is established. Members of
a southern garment manufacturing associa
tion had petitioned the Court to set aside

the orders which established minimum rates
between 32% and 40 cents for divisions of the
apparel industry. The Court upheld the
procedure used in determining the various
rates, and rejected the contention that the
petitioners had not received a fair hearing.
While awaiting the decision, some of the
firms have continued to pay piece rates
yielding less than the minimum and have
put the difference in escrow. Most of the
31 firms are makers of men’s cotton garments
for which the minimum is 32% cents. The
petitioners attacked as unlawful the classifi
cation of men’s wash suits with the rest of
the men’s clothing industry, also the setting
of two rates for men’s single pants, depend
ing on whether or not they contained any
fabric other than cotton.
New Definition for Retail Sales.
Effective July 1 is a Wage and Hour
Division rule that unless at least 75 percent
of the sales of an establishment are retail,

rather than wholesale, commercial, and
industrial, the establishment is covered by
the Fair Labor Standards Act. Formerly
only 50 percent need be retail. A broader
concept of what may constitute “retail
sales” was established. Sales to industrial
or commercial purchasers may be included
as retail if they are sales of articles commonly
sold to both business and private buyers
and in a similar quantity or at a similar
price.
Learners in Textiles.

Rules governing employment of learners
in the textile industry have been materially
liberalized, following labor shortages that
have arisen in various textile centers because
of defense. Previously no person with the
required experience in any textile occupation
could be employed as a learner. The new
regulations permit the employer to pay
learners’ rates to a newly hired person ex
perienced in some occupation or on some
product in another plant during a period of
training in an occupation in which they have
not worked. No person employed in excess
of the learning period in one mill may be
retrained in the same mill at learners’ rates.

September 1941

If nonavailability of experienced workers is
shown, more than the standard number of
learners may be employed in new or expand
ing plants.

Public Contracts Administration
Certain Canners Exempt.

Since June 9 all contracts with the Govern
ment for future purchase of certain fruits
and vegetables listed (the kinds most used)
are entirely exempt from the provisions of
the Public Contracts Act for the remainder
of the year. This enables canners who
supply the Government to operate, like
other canners, under the Fair Labor Stand
ards Act, which requires payment of a
minimum rate of 30 cents an hour.
Attention may be called again to the 28week exemption of the canning industry
from the usual requirements of the Fair
Labor Standards Act as to rates of pay above
30 cents for overtime beyond 40 hours of
work in the week. (See Woman Worker,
September 1940.) The act itself exempts
the industry, for a 14-week period, from the
payment of overtime rates no matter how
long the hours worked. In addition, the
Administrator has ruled that canning comes
under the seasonal provision of the act, un
der which an added rate of pay is required
only for work beyond 12 hours a day, 56 a
week, instead of the usual rule that the
higher rate be paid after 40 hours. These
28 weeks in which the regular overtime-pay
provisions of the act either do not apply at
all or do not apply fully may or may not be
consecutive, though they must be within the
calendar year.

usually receive no wage, unless gratuities
fall below the $16 minimum. (See Woman
Worker, May 1940, p. 11.)
The court held that there was an implied
repeal of the section by the subsequent
passage of a tipping-sign law. This law
provides that any employer who collects
all or part of the tips left for workers, or
requires them to be deducted from wages or
accounted for in any way, must post a sign
where patrons will see it stating what dis
position that establishment makes of tips.
The Division of Industrial Welfare plans to
appeal from the decision. One of the rules
issued under the California Unemployment
Reserve Act states that tips are not deemed
wages upon which contributions are to be
paid by the employer.
New York—Laundry Workers’ Wages Rise.
Wages of New York women and minor
laundry workers have risen steadily since
they were covered by a minimum-wage
order, according to the third annual audit
of pay rolls for that industry in November
1940. Less than 1 percent are now paid
below the minimum hourly wage. Further,
employers are not keeping workers at the
minimum pay. A study made in 1937,
before the order went into effect, showed
that less than 35 cents an hour was received
by 39 percent of these workers in zone A
(the Metropolitan New York area), and by
75 percent of those in zone B (since combined
with A). In 1940 only 0.4 percent of the
workers in each of these zones had such
earnings. In the same period, the pro
portions of workers who received 45 cents
and over increased steadily, as follows:

Minimum Wage in the States
California—Tips as Wages.
That section of the minimum-wage order
covering hotel and restaurant workers which
provides that tips shall not be counted as
part of the legal minimum has been held
void by a recent court opinion in a test
suit brought by the California Drive-in
Association to determine whether or not
they must comply with this part of the order
in paying “car hops.” These waitresses

MINIMUM WAGE

Percent receivine
45 cents and over

Zone A

1937 _____
10.8
1938 _________________
13.5
1939 _______________________ 14.6
1940 _______________________ 15.8

Zone B

4.0
5.0
5.7
6.4

Oregon—Women in Canneries.

The Oregon cannery audit for last year
shows more than 10,000 women at work
in these plants at the peak of the season.
During the year women earned a total of

THE WOMAN WORKER

more than 1% million dollars. The average
hourly wage was practically 41 cents. The
great majority of hourly workers were paid
the minimum of 35 cents then in effect,
though a considerable number earned 40
cents or more, the highest being a single
instance of 60 cents. (The minimum for
the present year, effective June 8, is 42%
cents. See Woman Worker, July 1941.)
Piece workers constituted about a fourth of
the total, and the majority (60 percent) of
these earned from 35 to 45 cents an hour,
with a range from 30 cents to 75 cents.
There were more than 5,000 instances
in which a woman was paid overtime, as
required by the State order, after 10 hours
of work a day. Probably fewer women than
this were affected, since the same woman
may work overtime on two or more days.
During the time that the Federal standard
of 42 or 40 hours was in effect, overtime was
paid to women in 342 cases. In the 14
weeks when the Federal law entirely ex
empts canneries from the payment of over
time rates, no matter how long the hours
worked, there were 3,605 instances of women
working in excess of 56 hours a week; in
the majority of these cases hours did not
exceed 60, but in a few they exceeded 80.
Pennsylvania—Minimum-Wage Law Upheld.

The Pennsylvania minimum-wage law for
women and minors has been held constitu

tional in the Court of Common Pleas of
Dauphin County. This decision was given
by Judge John E. Fox on July 5 in dismissing
the petition of the Mechanicsburg Laundry
for a review of the mandatory minimumwage order for laundry occupations issued
December 19, 1940.
For more than 10,000 women in Pennsyl
vania laundries the protection of the order
establishing a minimum wage of 27 cents an
hour is now assured.
Utah—Order for Public Housekeeping.

Women and minors in Utah who are expe
rienced workers in establishments furnishing
lodgings are to receive for a 48-hour week a
rrtinimum of from $10 to $14, by size of
city in which employed, according to the
order for this industry effective July 14.
Workers with less than 3 months’ experience
may be paid $1 a week less. Included in
the establishments covered are hospitals and
institutions, rooming and boarding or apart
ment houses, and auto camps. The only
occupations in these establishments not
covered are those of registered nurse and
resident manager. For less than 48 hours,
experienced workers are to be paid minimum
rates of from 21 to 30 cents, learning rates
being 2 or 3 cents less. The minimum pay
for any day’s work shall be $1 for experi
enced workers and 60 cents for learners.

Women in Unions
T Tnion action is one of the best ways of
increasing earnings to meet increased
living costs, and great progress has been
made in this respect. The need to continue
such activity is shown by the fact that there
already are increases in the cost of living,
in spite of some success in the Government’s

efforts to prevent unwarranted price rises.
According to a report by the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics living-cost in
crease from May 15 to June 15 of this year
was just under 2 percent, but from June of
last year it was more than 4 percent and
from August 1939 it was as much as 6 per

cent. These figures are for city families. In
general, in these urban areas the rise in food
costs from mid-May to mid-June was about
twice the total increase. This is a serious
situation for low-income families, who must
spend larger proportions of total earnings
for food than do those who earn more. In
addition to their efforts to advance wages,
union contracts are more and more meeting
the legitimate need for rest and recreation
by providing for vacations with pay.
Progress in Metal and Machinery.

Many women will benefit from the 10cent raise gained for 175,000 automobile

September 1941

WOMEN IN UNIONS

workers, and for 25,000 on electrical equip
ment. Another automobile contract cover
ing 130,000 persons calls for wages equal
to the highest in the industry. This w’ill
require adjustment of from 5 to 30 cents
an hour. An agreement in a storage-battery
plant in Philadelphia provides a 10-cent
raise for 2,800 workers, and minimum rates
of 65 cents for men and 54 cents for women.
Further increases are to follow if living
costs go up. In an airplane plant women
who earned from 35 to 40 cents now get a
60-cent minimum. Some 1,700 makers of
small electrical equipment in Brooklyn,
many of them women, gained a 10-percent
raise and a $15.50 minimum following a long
strike. Previously, $12 a week at piece
rates had been common. Payment for
breakage is to be eliminated and waiting
time due to machine break-down is to be
paid for.
Progress in Textiles.

Union agreements help to maintain wage
increases that were general in textiles this
spring. Recent reports show that nearly
10,000 workers in 6 large mills in 5 States
had secured wage increases of at least 10
percent through union contracts. Several
recent contracts provide for wage adjust
ments as needed, sometimes at regular
intervals. Vacations with pay were nego
tiated in a number of these, though in two
extra pay in lieu of vacations will be
accepted voluntarily this year because of
defense contracts. Also helpful in defense
production are no-strike-or-lock-out provi
sions often included.
Progress in Wearing Apparel.
Firms affiliated with the Shirt Institute
have agreed with the union to a 10-percent
wage increase and paid vacations for about
15,000 workers. Wage negotiations for
50,000 employees of other employers were
begun soon after. A separate contract

covering 800 shirt workers in the South calls
for the same increase. An association of
more than 30 contractors on washable suits,
sportswear, and the like, has agreed to
raise the weekly minimum for 2,500 workers

from $14 to $16, thus making effective the
rate recommended under the Fair Labor
Standards Act.
An agreement covering 5,000 workers on
silk dresses in Chicago raised minimum
rates for the lowest-paid jobs by 50 cents a
week to the following amounts: Basters,
$16.50; pinkers, $16; cleaners, $15.50; sort
ers, $15. Contracts signed with two large
eastern dress firms brought wage increases
to more than 1,000 workers. In one, a
second increase will be received in about 8
months. Basic hours are set at 37% and 35,
respectively. In a Pennsylvania knit-under
wear mill, a 10-percent increase and paid
vacations were secured for approximately
1,000 employees. A system of deductions
for imperfect work was eliminated; instead,
imperfect goods are to be returned to the
worker for repair. About 300 workers on
gloves and mittens in Illinois negotiated
wage increases of from 6 to 9 percent and
vacations with pay. Recent reports show
that more than 4,000 workers on hats, caps,
and millinery in eight States and Canada
have secured wage increases ranging from
5 to 40 percent.
Progress in Other Manufacturing.

A raise of 3 cents an hour has been nego
tiated for tobacco workers in one plant in
North Carolina, and 5 cents for 2,700 work
ers in Kentucky, important gains in a lowwage industry. Workers for a Chicago
canning company, sometimes numbering
700, are given assurance of a minimum of
32 hours’ work a week. Wages are raised
by from $2 to $4 a week and vacations with
pay granted. In a cannery in Indiana, 500
year-round and seasonal workers have re
ceived a 10-cent raise in a renewed contract.
Some 1,975 workers in a Massachusetts
watch factory have ratified a contract that
provides for a raise of 2% cents an hour and
paid vacations. A contract with a Detroit
firm making waxed paper provides minimum
rates of 75 cents for men and 70 cents for
women. Wage increases were secured in
two New Jersey rubber companies, in one
a 10-cent increase for all workers, in the
other 3 to 10 cents for men and 5 to 7 cents

THE WOMAN WORKER

for women. In a New Jersey shoe com
pany, 125 workers have secured increases of
from 20 to 35 percent.
Progress for Service Workers.
A contract covering 20,000 workers in 88
New York City hotels provides wage in
creases of from $2 to $4 a week.

A strike of 255 restaurant workers in
Massachusetts was settled by the help of the
State Department of Conciliation and Arbi
tration. Ten-percent increases for wait
resses and certain classifications of men em
ployees, 7% percent for all other men, were
secured.
A 2-year contract ratified by about 5,000
laundry workers raised wages in the linensupply branch of the industry in the Detroit
area. It also provided a week’s vacation
with pay and time and a half for over a
48-hour week. The existing minimum is
to be raised next year.
Progress for Other Workers.
A contract has been signed covering 1,500

employees of a Detroit firm that publishes
directories. It provides a 14-percent wage
increase, 1 to 2 weeks’ vacation with pay,
2 holidays off with pay, and double time for
work on other holidays. Poor sanitary and
lighting conditions are to be remedied and
piece work eliminated in 3 departments.
Another contract covering 35 clerical work
ers secures time and a half for overtime and

8 holidays a year with pay, provisions
usually taken for granted for production
workers.
A department store contract covering 300 .
workers in New York City recognizes the
relation of the rising costs of living and
profits of the firm to wages. In August
1942 an increase is to be given based on the
ratio of these factors. For the present a
general raise of $1 a week and an increase
in commissions were secured, also minimum
rates of $19 for all salespersons, $27 and
$30, respectively, for women and men shoe
clerks. The contract provides a 40-hour
6-day week, but allows for the reopening of
the hour question if a major competitive
store goes on a 5-day week.
A contract covering 750 employees of
about 20 independent grocers in St. Louis
provides a basic 5-day week, each worker
having 1 day free besides Sunday. A mini
mum of $17 a week is provided for all clerks,
to be raised after 3 years’ service to $21
for women and $23.50 for men. A similar
agreement providing a 5-day 48-hour week
in an important chain of food stores has
been in effect in St. Louis since the first of
the year.
A strike of 4,500 warehouse workers in
California was called because, while granting
an increase of 10 cents an hour to men, only
5 cents was offered to 1,000 women. The
strike secured them 7% cents.

Employment Problems of Household Workers
Substitute for New York Curb Markets.
step has been made to do away with
the street-corner hiring of day work
ers that grew up in the Bronx during the
depression. Experimental hiring centers

were opened in May and June, providing
off-the-street quarters with adequate seating
and other facilities. Formerly, on some 50
corners and in all sorts of weather, house
wives bargained with unemployed girls.
Establishment of these centers is the result
of more than a year of work. A special
committee was formed at the request of the In

dustrial Commissioner of New York, headed
by Cara Cook of the New York Women’s
Trade Union League, with cooperation of
various public and private agencies. The
committee approved two hostesses to operate
the offices. Here employer and employee
meet and make their own bargains as they
used to do on the street. At first there was
no plan to set standards, but there appeared
a rather definite understanding that girls
would expect a rate of at least 35 cents an
hour. Telephone orders are accepted and
announced to the entire group or filled by

September 1941

PROBLEMS OF HOUSEHOLD WORKERS

the first girl arriving who is willing to take
the position.
Reports on Household Workers’ Wages.

That household workers’ wages remain
very low is indicated by several studies in
recent years. Over 400 Negro women em
ployed in Atlanta homes were interviewed
under the direction of the Phyllis Wheatley
Branch of the Y. W. C. A. in 1938. Twothirds of those paid by the week earned only
from $3 to $6, while over three-fourths of the
day workers averaged only a dollar a day.
In this city of more than 250,000, it was
estimated a few years ago that a family of 4
persons needed about $24 a week for ade
quate living, yet the household workers
reported were earning from $1 to $13 a
week. The fact that “living in” often is
expected and taken into consideration in
setting wages tends to keep the pay low.
Hours of work in domestic service often are
so long that if industry standards prevailed
in this employment time and one-half would
begin on Friday morning.
In Summit, N. J., an analysis of the open
ings for household workers occurring in 1
month in 1941 at the State Employment
Office showed wages offered ranging from $6
to $18 a week, with $7 to $12 most usual.
Shortages of Household Workers Occurring.
Employment Service reports already show
shortages of household workers, especially in
places where defense industries offer the

competition of shorter hours and higher pay.
Only by making jobs more attractive can
homes compete with industry for labor. For
example, such shortages have occurred in
Connecticut and New Jersey where the ex
panded metal, electrical, and arms industries
draw workers, in the Great Lakes area, in
Kansas and Missouri where more employees
are going to garment and shoe factories, and
in Washington State.
Need for Security in Old Age.
The need to include household workers in
the benefits of Social Security has been
stressed repeatedly by various official agen
cies and groups interested in the welfare of
workers, such as the Advisory Council on

Social Security, the American Association
for Labor Legislation, the Y. W. C. A., the
labor conferences of the Secretary of Labor,
and officials of the Social Security Board
itself.
Despite their low wages many household
workers earn enough to benefit from old-age
insurance if they could be included by an
amendment to the act. Such is the showing
in a recent sample study of some 550
workers in Philadelphia made under the
auspices of the National Council of House
hold Employment. Of all workers employed
at the time of interview, 68 percent had
earned $7 or more a week, 91 percent $5
or more. Even the latter amount exceeds
the required $50 a quarter.

Labor Laws Affecting Women—1941
to legislation reported in the Governor, in the interest of national defense,
July Woman Worker, the following to allow 10 hours daily, 55 hours weekly,
laws of particular interest to working women during an emergency. This provision is in
addition to the 10-55 hour allowance that
have been approved in the States.
may be granted by the Labor Commissioner
Colorado.
An act has been approved making it un for 8 weeks in a 12-month period.
lawful for an employer to claim tips given
his employees unless he posts a notice (of Massachusetts.
Amendment to industrial home work law
specified size) stating that tips belong to him
requires employer to pay, after the initial
and not to the employees.
$50 fee, annual fees ranging from $50 to
Connecticut.
The 9-48 law for women in manufacturing $300 according to number of home workers
has been amended by authorizing the employed.
n addition

THE WOMAN WORKER

New Jersey.

An amendment to the statutes provides
that in employment by the State there shall
be no discrimination based on sex or marital
status in compensation, appointment, assign
ment, promotion, transfer, dismissal, or
other matters.
A new industrial home work law prohibits
manufacture of listed articles; authorizes

Commissioner of Labor to prohibit home
work in any industry if found injurious to
welfare of home workers or detrimental to
factory labor standards; sets up conditions
to be met if home work is done.
Amendment to the minimum-wage law
eliminates the 9-month directory period,
provides that wage orders become manda
tory 180 days after issuance.

Industrial Home Work Curtailed in Two States
work in garment manufacturing provisions cited in the preceding paragraph
in California and in the glove indus will apply under these conditions also.
try in New York is practically eliminated A study of this industry showed that
in recent orders issued under the terms of home workers, sometimes assisted by other
home-work laws. Practically all handwork family members, in some years exceeded
on leather gloves and most of that on cotton, the number of women employed in the
silk, and woolen gloves has been done in factories.
A few small establishments
New York. About 40 percent of the home actually had no factory workers. At times
work permits for cotton garment work have large numbers of home workers were given
been in California, and this industry full employment while many factory workers
represents about half the home work in the had a short week. Wages of home workers
State.
were below subsistence level, and many of
the families were receiving public aid.
Home Work on Gloves in New York.
Average hourly earnings of home workers
Home work in the glove industry in New were substantially below those of women
York is restricted by a new order that became on the same occupation in the factory,
effective August 15, 1941. Included in the showing that their piece rates were lower.
provisions of the order are the following: For instance, makers of leather dress gloves
Permits will be granted only to employers averaged 38 cents in the factory and 32
and workers who held such permits prior to cents at home in the fall of 1938. The
April 1, 1941; home workers are to receive result was to depress factory earnings so
the same wages as factory worker's; no home that even these women did not receive a
work may be given to factory workers; home living wage. Average weekly earnings of
workers may not work for more than one women factory workers on leather dress
employer, and the amount of work they are gloves in November 1939 were $14; average
given in one week is limited; the employer year’s earnings, $652.
must cover his home workers by workmen’s
Home work has been increasing in New
compensation.
York State in recent years. In the middle
On May 1, 1942, after a period of adjust of January 1941, 178 firms in the glove
ment, home work will be prohibited except industry had permits to distribute home
for workers unable to accept factory em work and 5,422 home workers’ certificates
ployment because of age, or a handicap, or were outstanding. Probably not all these
because needed at home to care for an women were working, but on the other hand
invalid. After this date every employer of some worked illegally without permits.
home workers must maintain a glove factory When home work is allowed it is admittedly
and the home workers’ operations must be difficult to regulate.
the same as the factory operations. The
Home workers have been obliged to fur
ome

September 1941

HOME WORK CURTAILED

nish their own equipment, machines costing
on an average from $66 to $73, and to keep
machines in repair. These are costs now
generally recognized as the responsibility of
the employer. At present, some glove manu
facturers in New York, and most of those in
other States, operate without home workers.
Home Work on Garments in California.

The California order applies to any proc
ess, hand or machine, on any garment
regardless of material, except that hand
knitting is specifically exempt. After Sep
tember 1, home-work permits may be issued
only to persons unable to work in factories
because of age, physical or mental handicap,
or because needed at home to care for an

invalid. These persons also must have been
holders of permits before September 1.
The employer must cover his home workers
by workmen’s compensation. He must pay
them rates that will yield to workers on
similar operations in the factory at least the
State minimum. Work given out to an
individual in a week must not exceed the
average weekly amount produced by work
ers on similar operations in the plant work
ing the legal 48 hours. To insure these pro
visions, the employer must have at least
one employee in the factory on operations
similar to the home-work operations. Home
workers may work for one employer only,
and may not do factory work at the same
time.

Hazards to Health of Employed Women
Tuberculosis an Occupational Hazard.

20-year period, 21 women in Wis
consin have received compensation for
tuberculosis, at a total cost of nearly
$46,000, including medical care. All were
employed in tuberculosis sanitariums or
State mental institutions, and all but one
contracted the disease from a patient or
inmate. All were young, ranging in age
from 21 to 37, the majority under 30. Of
the women reported 3 died of the disease
and 1 was left with a 25-percent permanent
impairment; 1 was disabled for more than 3
years, 3 others for about a year. Three
were receiving compensation at the time of
the report early in this year, 1 since 1934,
and for these the final outcome is not yet
known.
n a

Organic and Mineral Dusts Hazardous.
Organic dusts are the most serious hazard
in woman-employing industries in Illinois
and Ohio. This was true also in earlier

studies in 5 other States (see Woman
March 1940). Of 49 specified
groups of materials, organic dusts were first
in Illinois and seventh in Ohio in number of
workers exposed.
Such dusts are present in all industries, but
Worker,

are especially prevalent in textile, tobacco,
and clothing manufacture, as well as in
furniture, food, and chemicals. The extent
to which control methods—ventilation,
respirators, or the use of liquid to lay the
dust—were in use for exposed workers
varied greatly, but in no case was such pro
tection complete and often it was supplied
for a minority only. In Ohio, where 89
percent of the workers on cigars were ex
posed to organic dusts, less than 4 percent
were protected in any way. In the making
of furniture women often are sanders and
upholsterers, both occupations exposing
them to dusts. Of all workers so exposed
in this industry, regardless of occupation,
considerably less than half were protected,
usually by local exhausts.
Another problem to be solved by ventila
tion or wet methods was that of exposure to
silicate or silica dusts. Women are exposed
to these hazards less often than men, but it
is a serious problem in pottery manufacture,
an important industry in Ohio, where women
were nearly one-third of the workers
studied. More than three-fourths of all
workers reported in this industry in the
State were exposed to silicosis, a disease with

THE WOMAN WORKER

very serious consequences. The chief con
trol reported was the wet method, but this
was supplied for less than half of all exposed
workers. Other protection was offered about
one-eighth of the workers. It was pointed
out also that if care is not exercised dusty
conditions may arise from the dried silica
and silicate materials that originally were
wet.
Women Frequently Affected by Dermatitis.

Dermatitis, or irritation of the skin,
usually is the most prevalent occupational
disease reported for women. While each
report shows dermatitis producers as a
separate group, this by no means indicates
the complete hazard, as many other sub

stances listed separately, such as alkaline
compounds, oils and greases, chemicals,
metals, and so on, are found to cause skin
infections in some people. Protective cloth
ing, chiefly gloves, would seem to be the
best preventive, with adequate washing
facilities, lotions, and the like. In no case
was protective clothing provided for as
many as a third of all the workers exposed to
any one material, and less than one-tenth of
those exposed to specific dermatitis producers
were so protected. In candy factories,
where women predominate, 60 percent or
more of all workers were exposed to a der
matitis producer, but less than 3 percent of
these in either Ohio or Illinois were furnished
any protective clothing.

Recent Publications
Women’s Bureau—Printed Bulletins 1

Other Publications

The Occurrence and Prevention of Occupational
Diseases Among Women, 1935 to 1938. Bui.

in New York. New York State
Department of Labor, Division of Women in Industry
and Minimum Wage. June 1941. 5ji.
This pamphlet “tries to follow the woman worker
from the beginning of the century up to the present
time.”
Workshop Sense. A Book Written for Munition
Workers and Other Entrants into Productive Indus
try. By W. A. J. Chapman. Edward Arnold & Co.,
London, 1941.
Women in the Working World (La Mujer en el
Trabajo). By Josefina Marpons.
The young Argentine woman who writes this unique
and important book also has put the problems of the
young business girl into a novel called “44 Hours a
Week.” These books, as well as current articles of
Miss Marpons appearing in “El Hogar” and “El Mundo
Argentino,” are worth reading.
“Women in the Working World” contains abundant
and reliable information about working women in
Argentina, and to a certain extent in other LatinAmerican countries, and gives frank and constructive
criticisms and ideas. It is full of concrete suggestions
that well might be considered for immediate adoption.
Seats for Workers in Factories. Great Britain
Ministry of Labor and National Service. Welfare
Pamphlet No. 6. Third Edition, 1940.

184. 46 pp. 10c.

Women’s Bureau—Mimeographed Material 1
Employment of Women in the Manufacture of
Small-Arms Ammunition. June 1941. 18 pp.
Employment of Women in the Manufacture of
Artillery Ammunition. July 1941. 31 pp.
Proceedings of the Tenth Minimum-Wage Con
ference, Washington, D. C., January 17-18,

1941. 79 pp.

Other Department of Labor Publications
War Time Regulation of Hours of Labor and
Labor Supply in Great Britain. Wage and Hour

Division, June 1941.

(Mimeographed.)

Money Disbursements of Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers, 1934-36. 42 cities in the

United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
638. (Last of series.)

Bui.

Study of Consumer Purchases, Urban Series, 193536. Family Expenditures in Selected Cities.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bui. 648, Vol. I,
Housing; Vol. VII, Miscellaneous Expenditures:
Recreation, Reading, Education, Gifts, and Com
munity Welfare. (Last of series.)
Maternity Care at Public Expense in Six Counties
in New York State. Children’s Bureau. Bui 267.
What Do I Get For My Money? An Employee’s

Views on Safety Services of Governmental Agencies.
Division of Labor Standards.

Women Who Work

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. Mimeographed reports are
obtainable only from Women’s Bureau.

<41

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I

Full text of The Woman Worker : September 1941, Vol. XXI, No. 5

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