Full text of Women Workers in Some Expanding Wartime Industries: New Jersey, 1942 : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 197

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS,

Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Directgk
♦

Women Workers in Some
Expanding Wartime Industries
New Jersey, 1942

Bulletin of the Women’s Bureau, No. 197

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1943

For sale by the Superintendent of Document!, U. 8. Government Printing Office
Washington, D. C - Price 10 cent!

:
!* ' ■ \

■,

CONTENTS
I’age

Letter of transmittal____ ________
m
Constructive Importance of the survey
iv
I. Scope and character of the survey________________________________
II. Effect on women’s employment of the shift from peacetime to wartime
production
Changes in the number and proportion of women__________________
Women as replacements for men
Women’s occupational distribution
New sources of woman labor^______
Requirements for the employment of women
12
III. Conditions of work
14
Hours and shift systems_____________________
Lunch and rest periods and plant provisionfor food________________
Wages----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Exposure of women to health hazards
28
Effect of war conditions on industrialhealth
28
Potential exposures of women___ ,;________________
Systemic poisoning
28
Dermatitis producers
29
Respiratory diseases______________________________________
Other exposures
31
Plant conditions and facilities
32
Ventilation
32
Aisles and stairs~~
General safety
33
Seats”
Job strains______________

Service facilities_________ 135
Absence and turn-over~~_
Morale1________________________________ 40

l
5
5
7
7
11
16

20
24
28
gi

33
34
33
30

TABLES
1. Number of plants visited, number of persons they employed, and number
of home visits made by Women’s Bureauagents, by industry________
2. Employment of women and of men In factory and office, by industry _
3. Percent of increase from 1940 to summer of 1942 in numbers employed
by 128 identical plants holding war contracts, by industry_________
4. Proportion of women in 128 identical plants holding war contracts, 1940
and summer of 1942, by industry..
B. Distribution of women productive workers according to occupational
status, by industry
6. Employment of women in their pre-war occupations, in occupations new
to the plant, and in occupations previously performed only by men _
7. Pre-war employment status of 4a9 women war workersI_
8. Usual weekly hours of women factory workers, by industry_________
9. Employment of women on the various shifts, by industry...'__________
10. Employment of women factory workers, by Industry and shiftZ_II_H_
11. Percent distribution of women time workers according to hourly rate
by industry
25
12. Number of women on a piece-rate and on a time-ra te basis and percent
distribution of time workers according to hourly rate, by occupation.
11

2
8
6
0
0
9
11
17

is
19

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, June 4,1943.
I have the honor to transmit a report of the first survey of
war’s effect on women and women’s employment in a cross section
of war industries ranging from the manufacture of wool and clothing
to the manufacture of explosives and technical instruments. While
the survey covers industries in one State, it reflects the changes taking
place throughout industry and the effect of good and poor conditions
of employment and personnel policies on the morale of women war
workers.
During the course of this survey employers were kept informed
of conditions found and cooperation in securing corrections was
excellent.
The field survey was under the direction of Caroline Manning
and the report was written by Dorothy K. Newman and Miss Man
ning. Margaret Mettert prepared the summary of hazards.
Respectfully submitted.
Mart Anderson, Director.
Madam :

Hon. Fbances Perkins,

Secretary of Labor.

CONSTRUCTIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE SURVEY
The New Jersey survey here reported was made in the summer
of 1942, when firms were experiencing the throes of tremendous
expansion to meet the pressure for war production. At that time
a few companies had not devoted much thought or effort to the
plant conditions that contribute to human efficiency. Since then
there has been great improvement in these matters, as evidenced
by the following excerpts from letters of employers to the
Women’s Bureau.
These tell of new buildings occupied, of specific conditions
remedied, and of a general understanding of the importance of
human satisfactions in a. successful prosecution of the war.

•

You may be interested to know that our new building is in partial
operation and we expect to have it in full operation within the very
near future.
I am glad to report that our new enlarged hospital-room facilities
have been taken care of and have been in use for some time now. Other
alterations and extensions under construction and revamping when you
were here have also been completed.
A survey of our lunch-wagon service is being made, the results of
which will be analyzed and corrective measures taken to insure
improvement along these lines.
You may be assured that we are correcting the crowded toilet
conditions as rapidly as possible.
The pressure of the war program prevents our complying with many
excellent ideas as promptly as we would like, but I am sure you will be
glad to know that we are carrying through with the matron suggestion
beginning next week.
Most of the unsatisfactory conditions reported have already been
corrected.
You will be interested to know that we are going to carry out the
constructive suggestions to the best of our ability.
You gave us several very constructive suggestions and it has been a
pleasure on our part to follow these instructions. On another visit
you will find a marked improvement in the handling of the matters
that were brought to our attention.

WOMEN WORKERS IN SOME EXPANDING
WARTIME INDUSTRIES—NEW JERSEY,
1942
I. SCOPE AND CHARACTER OF THE SURVEY
Army uniforms, communication equipment, chemicals—in fact,
myriads of manufactured products—go into battle just as do planes,
guns, bombs, and tanks. Many other articles play an essential part
behind the lines. Every branch of American industry is contribut
ing directly or indirectly to the war effort either through the con
tinued manufacture of all or part of its peacetime products or by
conversion of plant to meet special war needs.
With this in mind the Women’s Bureau in the summer of 1942
undertook a survey of women workers in a cross section of industries
represented by 137 plants devoting 50 percent or more of their produc
tion to war-contract work. All are in New Jersey; and well over half
are engaged in war work alone. One of the most highly industrialized
and economically diversified States in the country, New Jersey holds
fifth place in the employment of women in factories. Woman-em
ploying industries that are especially important there, such as apparel
manufacture and the production of electrical equipment and machin
ery, are now using women in increasing numbers, while industries
ordinarily chiefly male-employing are taking women on in jobs they
have never before filled. This is in response to the need for meetingwar contracts that by June of 1942 amounted in New Jersey to well
over four billion dollars, and meeting them in a labor market that is
fast losing available male reserves. The New Jersey situation,
besides being vital in itself, reflects the important changes that are
occurring in industrial employment throughout the country.
The majority of the plants visited had reached volume production
before Pearl Harbor and many were manufacturing war materials in
considerable quantity even before the fall of 1940, a year after the war
began in Europe. Four of the factories were built expressly for war
work and in all but 21 of the rest major adjustments had teen made
in plant or machinery. Most adaptations of plant facilities consisted
in the introduction of new machinery or equipment, the addition of
a new building or buildings to existing structures, the accession of
floor space or full utilization of heretofore idle floor space.
Physical conversions in plant were only occasionally the result of
important changes in process requiring different machinery and ex
tensive. change-over in technique. Actually, only one in six of the
firms visited, more than half of them in ordnance manufacture alone,
are now producing materials substantially different from those made
before the war.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

The plants visited reported the employment in the summer of 194‘2
of 233,014 workers, 68,607 of them, or nearly 3 in 10, being women.
They fall into 14 main industrial classes, as listed in table 1, ranging
all the way from the usual civilian activities of textile and apparel
manufacture to the production of ammunition, gun parts, and other
ordnance accessories.
.
Table 1.—Number

of plants visited, number of persons they employed, and num
ber of home visits made by Women’s Bureau agents, by industry
Home visits

Plant. survey
Employees
Industry

All industries. ------------------------------------- --Ammunition, gun parts, and other ordnance acces-

Num
ber of
plants
visited

Total
number

137

Women

Num
ber of
plants
repre
sented

Num
ber of
home
visits

Num
ber

Per
cent of
total1

233,014

68,607

29.4

138

37,086

3,314

8.9

15
27
5
37
18

21, 538
7,913
9, 243
79, 506
66, 232

6, 544
5,451
1,296
30, 654
26, 034

25.7
08.914.0
38.6
46 3

14
31
5
36
18

54
156
21
197
121

10
9
9
4
9
3
4
8
13

10, 768
12, 506
22, 196
4, 664
12, 298
2,252
7,432
13,702
15,184

3, 2i7
1, 403
7, 483
815
2,030
572
1,231
6,988
3,229

29.9
11.2
33.7
17.5
16.5
25.4
16. 6
51.0
21.3

10
8
9
5
7
3
3
9
14

46
30
36
26
29
17
15
82
53

Motors, generators, and other electrical prod-

696

i Percent of women in these industries, especially aircraft engines and propellers, has increased materially
between date of survey and that of publication.

The men in the surveyed firms were productive workers in somewhat
larger proportions than the women, though even among the latter only
16 percent worked in the office as compared with 84 percent employed
in the factory. In the separate industries the proportions itr factory
and office varied widely. For example, nearly a third of the women
in chemicals and drugs, nearly two-fifths in machines and machine
tools, and well over two-fifths in the aircraft engine and propeller
firms surveyed were office force. On the other hand, almost all the
women in clothing plants and textile mills were factory workers. In
only four industries were over 10 percent of the men in the office: in
the communication-equipment firms, more than 20 percent were office
personnel, exceeding even the proportion of women in the office. _
To supplement the industry investigation, 696 women workers in 138
factories (most of the plants identical with the 137 surveyed) were
visited in their homes. Information was secured from these women
concerning conditions outside the plant that influence their effective
ness as employees; for instance, the extent of their household duties
and the way in which they provide for their children’s care during
working hours. Insight was secured also into their attitudes, toward
such job conditions as night work, overtime, rotation of shifts, the

Table 2.—Employment

of women and of men in factory and office, by industry
Wqmen

Industry

Aircraft engines and propellers_______
Ammunition, gun parts, and other ordnance acces
sories ___________
Apparel and other fabricated textile products___
Chemicals and drugs__ .
Electrical products__________
Communication equipment___ __
Motors, generators, and other electrical products^
Wire and cable_ _ .
Instruments, professional, scientific, and other. _
Machines and machine tools
Metal parts, small _____
Plastic products ____ ___
Rubber products__________ ____ _____ ___________
Textile-mill products_______ _
Miscellaneous__________ ___________

Total
number
of em
ployees

Total
number

In factory

Men
In office

Number

Percent

Number

In factory

Percent

In office

Total
number
Number

Percent

Nnmbar

Percent

137

233,014

68,607

57, 717

84.1

10,890

15.9

164,407

143, 769

87.4

20,638

12.6

37,086

3,314

1,812

54.7

1,502

45.3

33, 772

28, 043

83.0

5, 729

17.0

15
27
5
37
18
10
9
9
4
9
3
4
8
13

21, 538
7,913
9,243
79,506
56,232
10.768
12, 506
22,196
4,664
12.298
2,252
7,432
13, 702
15,184

5, 544
5,451
1,296
30, 654
26,034
3, 217
1,403
7,483
815
2,030
572
1, 231
6,988
3,229

4,806
5, 323
870
25,697
21,931
2, 799
967
6, 545
501
1,447
454
909
6,703
2,650

86.7
97.7
67.1
83.8
84.2
87.0
68.9
87.5
61.5
71.2
79.4
73.8
95.9
82.1

738
128
426
4,957
4,103
418
436
938
314
583
118
322
285
579

13.3
2.3
32.9
16.2
15.8
13.0
31.1
12.5
38.5
28.7
20.6
26.2
4.1
17.9

15,994
2,462
7,947
48,852
30,198
7, 551
11,103
14,713
3,849
10,268
1,680
6, 201
6,714
11, 955

14,633
2, 372
7, 377
41,160
23. 585
7, 068
10, 507
' 13,366
3,316
9,131
1, 565
5,641
6,400
10, 760

9L5
96.3
92.8
84.3
78.1
93.6
94.6
90.8
86.2
89.0
93.2
91.0
95.3
90.0

1,356
90
570
7,692
6, 613
483
596
1, 347
533
1,137
115
560
314
1,195

8.5
3.7
7.2
15.7
21.9
6.4
5.4
9.2
13.8
11.1
6.8
9.0
4.7
10.0

WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

All industries________________

Total
number
of plants

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARflUME INDUSTRIES

lunch period, and the like. The pre-war employment status of these
women was obtained, that some light might be shed on the extent of
in-migration among women and the source of the expanding woman
war labor force in the area.
Employers, especially those hiring women for the first time, were
eager for suggestions on specific situations in their own factories.
Repeatedly during the plant visits the conversation turned to occupa
tions suitable for women, not only those on which they were already
employed or had replaced men, but occupations that offered possibili
ties of expanding' the employment of women. In more than 50 plants
jobs were indicated in which women had worked with success else
where and in which their employment had already passed the experi
mental stages.
The following is a summary of topics on which special recommenda
tions with regard to conditions seemed called for and were made:
'Number of
plants

Night work; rotation of shifts; hours In general
5(1
Lunch periods; rest periods
46
Aisles, stairs
19
Ventilation
11
Safety
20
Safety clothing
15
Seats
20
Job strains----------------------------------------------Service facilities:
Wash rooms
38
Lunch and food facilities---------------------------------------------------------‘ Rest rooms__________________________________________________
Matrons
10
Drinking fountains___________________________________________

19
29
27
6

II. EFFECT ON WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT OF THE
SHIFT FROM PEACETIME TO WARTIME PRODUC
TION
Changes in the number and proportion of women.
Industrial employment in New Jersey has increased by well over
one-half (53 percent) since the beginning of 1940. Women account
for an estimated two-fifths of the increase, with approximately 115,
000 additional workers up to early in 1943. Some industries, such as
automobile, apparel, and textile manufacture, lest personnel, while
four industry groups—transportation other, than automobile but in
cluding aircraft, electrical, machinery, and chemical—absorbed nearly
nine-tenths of the new workers. All four of these groups are repre
sented in the Women’s Bureau sample.
Firms primarily engaged in war work, such as those covered in this
survey, would be expected to show more than the average increase in
employment. This is actually the case and to a marked degree. With
the use of employment figures published in the Industrial Directory of
New Jersey of 1940-41, it has been been possible to estimate the pro
portion of increase in employment of women and of men between 1940
and the summer of 1942 in 128 identical plants. Total employment
in these plants increased in this period by as much as 88 percent, wom
en’s employment alone by more than 100 percent. Most of the in
crease in women’s numbers, as distinct from the percent of increase,
occurred in communication equipment, instruments, ordnance, air
craft engines and propellers, and apparel, in that order. The rise in
total women employed in the communication-equipment industry ac
counted for two-fiftlis of the entire increase of women in the sample.
Though the numbers involved in chemicals and drugs and in the manu
facture of small metal parts are not great, it is nevertheless significant
that the percentage increases among the women employed there are ex
ceeded only by that in aircraft engines and propellers. These are. all
three, industries in which women have made amazing inroads since
1940. Women grinding- and milling-machine operators; store-room
clerks; foreladies; and lathe, drill-press, and bench machine workers,
show especially marked proportions of increase. Women assemblers,
inspectors, and miscellaneous hand workers on process, however, have
made the largest net gain in numbers.
Twenty-two of the 137 plants visited are employing women for the
first time because of the war emergency. These 22 plants, represent
ing fewer than a dozen industries, alone account for the recent em
ployment of more than 6,000 women in New Jersey.
Though women are making great strides, men continue to pre
dominate in numbers. For example, the men show a net gain in the
sample plants more than twice that of women, though their propor
tion of increase is lower. In aircraft engines and propellers and com642219°—43—2

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

Tabu: 8,—Percent

of increase from 1940 to summer of 191$1 in numbers employed
by 128 identical plants holding ivar oontracts, by industry

Industry

Number
of
plants

Percent of increase in numbers
employed
Total

All Industries...............................................................................

Women

Men

128

87.8

101.6

82.7

3
15
22
5
37
18
10
9
9
3
6
3
4
8
13

171.7
98.6
77.9
85.1
86.8
107.9
137. 8
13.9
100.2
61.8
105.0
7.9
30.3
6.5
118.9

427.7
146.3
103.1
195.9
111.2
114.0
142.8
36.5
146.0
65.9
ice. 1
38.2
72.2
7.3
111.7

159.3
86.1
40.9
74.4
74.2
102.9
135. 7
11.6
82.9
62.9
96.8
.4
24.3
5.7
120.9

i Figures for 1940 are from the Industrial Directory of New Jersey, 1940—11, compiled by New Jersey
Bureau of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor, Trenton, N. J, Figures are for the average
number of employees, adults and minors. For numbers in plants in summer of 1942 jlgures are those secured
by Women’s Bureau agents from plant officials.

munication equipment alone, the additional men employed since 1940
number more than the increase in all women together. The percent
of gain among the men is greatest in aircraft engines and propellers
and in the manufacture of motors, generators, and miscellaneous
electrical products.
In spite of their expanding number, men’s proportional importance
in the firms visited has been declining; in fact, the ratio of women to
Table 4.—Proportion

of women in 128 identical plants holding war contracts,
1:940 and summer of 1942,1 by industry
Percentage of women among
total employees
Industry

Number
of plants
In 1940

All industries.................................................................................
Ammunition, gun parts," and other ordnance accessories----------

In sum Increase
mer of (number
of points)
1942

128

27.3

29.3

2.0

3
15
22
6
37
18
10
9
9
3
'6
3
4
8
13

4.6
20.8
59.6
8.8
34.1
45.0
29.3
9.4
27.4
15.6
11.8
19.8
12.5
50.6
22.0

8.9
25.7
68.0
14.0
38.6
46.3
29.9
11.2
33.7
15.0
15. 4
25.4
16.6
51.0
21.3

4.3
4.9
8.4
6.2
4.5
1.3
.6
1.8
6.3

2.6

3.6
5.6
4.1
.4
2.7

1 Figures for 1940 are from Industrial Directory of New Jersey, 1940-41, compiled by New Jersey Bureau
of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor, Trenton. Figures are for the average number of
employees, adults and minors. For numbers in plants in summer of 1942 figures are those secured by
Women’s Bureau agents from plant officials.
* In this case there was a decrease.

WOMEN WORKERS INI EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

total personnel has increased within the last 2 years in almost every
industry group represented. The ratio change has been especially
marked in the apparel, instrument, plastic, and chemical firms visited.
This trend shows direct and effective adjustment to a male labor short
age that is fast becoming acute.

Women as replacements for men.
By June of 1942, the date of survey, more than 1 in every 9 of the
factory women for whom data were available were holding jobs ordi
narily filled by men. If the largely woman-employing textile and
apparel industries are excluded, the ratio becomes approximately 1
in every 7. Almost half the women in men’s occupations are in air
craft engine and propeller firms and electrical plants; yet these 2
industries are very different in the matter of women’s employment.
The electrical industry is long established and traditionally womanemploying. It is hiring even more women today and in addition is
substituting women for men in many jobs. This is to be expected in
an industry that is accustomed to women in productive work, unlike
the manufacture of aircraft engines and propellers, a comparatively
new venture and known previous to this war as an almost exclusively
male-employing enterprise. All women working for the three im
portant aircraft engine and propeller firms surveyed are replacing
men. In contrast, only 7 in every 100 women in the electrical plants
are substitutes; most of the others are in occupations that have al
ways been women’s.
Women are in men’s jobs to the extent of well over two-fifths of
their total in the chemical and drug plants visited, one-tliird in the
machine and machine-tool factories, and considerably more than a
fourth in those making small metal parts. The extensive conversion
necessary to change over from civilian production affected consider
ably the occupational alinement in the ordnance plants surveyed,
and in 1942 more than twice as many women were employed on jobs
entirely new to the establishment as were on jobs formerly held by
men. Industrial conversion accounted also for the fact that, except
for aircraft engines and propellers, ordnance showed the smallest
proportion of women of all the industries covered in jobs women held
before the war.
Though the management may be unaccustomed to employing women,
and in some cases may have resisted such action, it is interesting that
women in the factories visited tended to comprise a substantial pro
portion of the personnel in productive occupations that ordinarily are
men’s domain. Except in airplane engine and propeller manufacture,
where the ratio was only 1 woman to 10 men, the ratio was never so
low as 2 to 10, and in rubber products reached well over 15 to 10. In
machine and machine-tool production and in ordnance manufacture,
women were half of the personnel in factory jobs where substitution
had been made.
Women’s occupational distribution.
Almost no discernible change had occurred in the occupations of
women in textile and apparel manufacture, in which women have for a
long time played an important part. For this reason these industries
are excluded from further occupational discussion and analysis.

Table 5.—Distribution

of women productive workers according to occupational status, by industry

Pre-war occupations
Total num Total num
ber of
ber of
plants
women

Industry

Occupations new to
plant

Occupations formerly performed by
men only, now performed by men
and women

Nun her of Percent of Number of Percent of Number of
plants
plants
plants
women
women

All industries 3_____________ _____ _______ __________

35,187

Ammunition, gun parts, and other ordnance accessories.........___
Chemicals and drugs ____________________
Electrical products_________________________________ _______
Instruments, professional, scientific, and other
Machines and machine tools___________
Metal parts, small ___________ ____ _________ ________ ____
Plastic products_______ _______ _____ ________________ ______
Rubber products
Miscellaneous _________________________________ ____ _____

3
11
5
34
9
4
9
3
4
11

1, 450
3,387
534
18, 353
6,003
510
1,569
420
851
2,060

75
9
3
32
9
2
6
3
4
7

79.3
41.2
54.1
91.5
88.7
52.4
71.5
96.2
85.5
75.6

i Based on reports from 51 of the 67 plants.
* Apparel and textile-mill products excluded, as occupations not comparable with those in other selected industries.
* Not computed; base too small.

26
5
1
10
1
2
1
3
1
2

Percent of
women

Percent
women are of
total employ
ees in these
occupations i

5.4

15.3

17.5

41.5
3.9
1.9
.1
14.5
.4
1.7
.1
1.3

3
7
4
24
6
3
8
1
3
8

100.0
17.4
42.0
6.6
11.2
33.1
28.1
2.1
14.3
23.1

9.1
49.1
30.0
22.9
18.5
49.7
37.4

<»)

63. 5
72.9

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

Women’s employment in—

m
Table 6.—Employment

of women in tlieir pre-war occupations, in occupations new to the plant, and in occupations previously performed
only by men

Pre-war occupations
•

Occupation

Total
number of
plants

Total
number of
women

Occupations new to
plant

Occupations formerly performed by
men only, now performed by men
and women

Number of Percent of Number of Percent of Number of Percent of
plants
plants
plants
women
women
women

All occupations______________
Assembler____ _. ______
Bench worker, hand______
Bench worker, machine____________
Draftsman and tracer _ _
Drill-press operator _____
Forelady... ____ ...
Gear-cutting-machine operator_______
Grinding-and-polishing-machine operator, optical glass
Grinding-machine operator
Hand worker n_ e. e
_
Inspector_______
__
Job setter....... ........................
Lathe and screw-machine operator______
Machine operator n. e. c., in electrical products .
Machine operator n. e. c.
Milling-machine operator
____
Packer and wrappk-_______ _______
Painter__________ _______
Punch- and forming-press operator__________
Service and maintenance worker___ _
Solderer__________________
Storeroom clerk_____________
Tool-crib attendant________
Welder________ _____
Winder, coil and armature______

*98

58
26
33
6
46
7
2
2
15
46
66
1
21
17
42
13
35
17
38
14
14
9
7
8
17

31,145
552
824
17
1,195
21
49
389
2,378
5,176
148
428
1,291
1,469
210
1,308
322
1,305
348
853
71
58
89
1, 450

75
17
13
17

3
37
1
14
26
25
10
25

• ..

77.8
54.8
56.0
5.9
40.5
51.4
8.7
74.9
74.0
100.0
25.2
87.4
78.1
6.7
73.8

68.9
48.3
96.2
4.2

7
17

97.8
93.6

21
11
21

4
5

5.4
—

5
9

15.8
11.2

27
2
2
12
18
24

A
8

6.2
32.2
32. 2'
94.1
54.1
48.6
100.0
100.0
91.3
9.3
14.8
69.9
20.1
92.3

1.7

18.9
50.0
3.4
95.8
100.0
2.2
5.9

Percent
women are
of total
employees
in these
occupations1
17.8
25.0
32.6
8.2
47.4
17.3
L3
31.2
16. 2
25.6
1L0
27.3
33.2
11.0
42.1
29.1
25.1
100.0
33.3
60.2

w o m en w orkers in expanding w artim e in d u str ies

Women’s employment in—

1 Based on reports from 51 of the 57 plants.
jstrfe?115 eiceed totals’ 88 Pl-ts report on more than one occupation. Apparel and textile-mill products excluded, as occupations not comparable with those in other selected

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME ENiDUSTRIES

When the specific occupations were examined in which women were
being employed as replacements in the other industries, some very in
teresting facts were brought to light. It became evident, tor examp e,
that the new occupations for women varied from factory to factory.
Actually there were few types of jobs in which women were being
substituted for men in some plants that they were not regularly holding
before the war in other plants. Only 4 m-a group of about 25 factory
occupations in which women were employed at time ot survey wei e not
represented among those that women held in one or more establish
ments before the war. And, likewise, except for the job setteis in one
large electrical firm, each and every one of the 25 jobs was named some
where in the sample as one that women were filling lor the fiist tune
in a specific plant. No women were employed before the war as gear
shapers, hobbers, and cutters, optical-glass grinders, automatic-screwmachine operators, and tool-crib attendants m the New Jersey firms
visited, and few as storeroom clerks and draftsmen or tracers, these
more than any of the others seemed to be truly new jobs for women.
Women appeared to be replacing men more rapidly at machines than
in any other type of work. Machine operators were less than a fourth
of the women in pre-war jobs, but they were half of those who had
recently been substituted for men. What is more, women appeared to
be making substantial inroads into fields of machine operation difleient
from those to which they had been accustomed. Whereas 3 in 5 ot
the women in pre-war machine jobs were coil winders or workers on
other machines peculiar to the electrical industry, and punch oi form
ing-machine operators, only 1 in 6 of the women substitutes were doing
this work. Instead, they were operating drill presses, grinding and
milling machines, various bench machines and lathes, in very substan
tial numbers. Factories making instruments and aircraft engines and
propellers alone accounted for well over two-fifths of the women re
placements on machines.
.
After the machine operators, the most important occupational groups
from the standpoint of numbers of women in jobs formerly performed
by men were assemblers and inspectors. The majority of the assem
blers were in electrical firms and the factories making small metal
parts. Two aircraft engine and propeller firms alone claimed more
than half the substitute inspectors.
Women who were replacing men were still a relatively small pro
portion of the total workers employed on machines. This is not true,
however, of any other occupational group. Women substitutes formed
at least a fifth of all the workers in every other job where replace
ments had been made and in some they accounted tor an even greater
proportion. For example, they were a fourth of the assenibleis, in
spectors, and service or maintenance workers, about 3 in 10 of the store
room clerks, well over two-fifths of the packers and wrappers, and all
of the solderers where they had recently taken jobs previously held by
men.
.
,
_ .
B
An important question arises when the replacing oi men with women
in factory jobs is discussed: Do the women actually perform the same
work as the men before them or has it been necessary to adjust the
job in some way? This question was asked of firm officials in the 67
plants surveyed in which women were employed as substitutes. 1 wenty-seven of the plants, or 2 in every 5, reported no adjustments of any

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

kind in any of the jobs in which women had been hired to replace men,
but changes were made in 40 plants. Men were assigned in 18 of the
40 to set up and service the machines that women were taken on to
operate. Men did the heavy lifting for the women on some jobs. In
describing others, the management claimed in a few instances that
women were given the easier^ simpler, or lighter operations to perform.
The jigs and dies were modified in one concern and in another a con
veyor had been installed. A few firms reported that women did only
one operation of a complex job, whereas men performed many.
Though women had been substituted for men on the drill press in
18 firms, in only 7 was it considered necessary to retain men to set up
and service the women’s machines. Likewise, in the case of lathes, the
women performed their own set-up work in 8 of the 11 plants in which
they were replacements for men. No adjustments in the job had been
made for the newly employed women gear shapers and hobbers, opti
cal-glass grinders, or automatic-screw-machine operators.
As their activities have changed or expanded, a number of firms
have altered or added to the steps in their productive process, thereby
developing in many cases an entirely new group of jobs. Nearly a
fifth of the firms visited reported having hired women to fill such va
cancies, well over half as inspectors, assemblers, or punch and formingpress operators, but many in other machine and hand operations.
However, ordnance and electrical plants account for nearly all the
openings for Aomen in jobs that were new to the plant; these open
ings, furthermore, occupied but 5 percent of all tlie factory women
employed.

New sources of woman labor.
From what sources have the many women who have recently entered
war industries in New Jersey been recruited? Whether women have
been hired for the first time or as replacements and additions to an
already existing female staff, they have been secured by the great
majority of firms from local inexperienced reservoirs, some never be
fore in the labor force. Of 416 factory women visited in New Jersey
who had been with their company 2 years or less, fully half had had
Table 7.—Pre-war employment status of 439

women war workers

Women with 2 years or less of servioo in present plant
Pre-war employment status

Total

Productive
Clericalnumber

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

439

100.0

416

100.0

211
228
6
83
83
14
87
15
11
5
24

48.1
51.9
1.4
7.6
7.6
3.2

207
209
6
18
33
14
87

49.8
60.2
1.4
4.3
7.9
3.4
20.9
8.4
1.9
1.2
5.8

4
19

15
1.1
5.5

1
6
24

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIIME INDUSTRIES

no experience in industry before taking their wartime productive jobs.
One in every five had been recruited from the ranks of the local house
wives and almost one in four from such groups as domestic, clerical,
sales and service workers, beauticians, teachers, and students.
Rehiring of former employees who had left or been laid off oc
curred in approximately one-fourth of the plants; one-third reported
taking transfers from other local firms. Few establishments were
hiring women who had recently migrated from other areas, and in
almost every case the proportion of newcomers taken on was insig
nificant. So far as women were concerned, in fact, in-migration ap
peared to present no problem in the New Jersey defense area.
It cannot be said from the data that women were not readily avail
able for war work in New Jersey. Almost 2 in every 3 women inter
viewed secured their jobs by personal application at the plant and
most of the others were recommended by a relative or friend. Few
answered advertisements or resorted to the use of a private employ
ment agency. Only 60 of a total of 689 women reporting used the
public employment service.

Requirements for the employment of women.
The training required of women in the 137 plants surveyed was
not then extensive. Well over three-fourths of the employers inter
viewed required no training of most of their women employees other
than simple instruction on the job. In 8 cases, however, Vocational
Education for National Defense courses were reported necessary.
One ordnance plant required 6 weeks of outside training and in addi
tion 2 weeks in the plant. A clothing factory was demanding 80 hours
of outside schooling for machine operators and reported sending back
for more instruction some wdio were inadequately trained in that
time. Vocational training in soldering, testing, and assembling was
required in one communication-equipment plant. Several firms
wanted V. E. N. D. background for some jobs, but for others plant
classes were held, or only instruction directly on the job was given.
In 14 factories surveyed, general classes or classes providing train
ing for specific occupations were being held. For example, one plant
reported special in-plant training on milling-machine and enginelathe operation. An apparel plant was planning the training of 10
women as foreladies under the auspices of the “Training Within In
dustry” program sponsored by the War Production Board. Only two
other firms reported training under this plan, and in both cases the
emphasis also was on developing supervisory personnel. Vestibule
schools were conducted in at least four places.
By the date of survey, however, only 6 women among 489 inter
viewed had received in-plant class training. A much larger number,
comprising 1 in every 9 or 10 reporting, had been through an outside
vocational school, but the great majority had had no special instruc
tion except that ordinarily given directly on the job. Most of the
women reported their training as having been adequate.
Educational requirements seldom enter the picture in hiring women
for factory work, and few women were required to show experience
of any kind to get a job in the New Jersey war plants surveyed. Only
19 plants of 182 reporting preferred experienced workers; 19 others

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

asked for experience in the case of specific jobs, but not generally.
Actually, however, among 416 women interviewed and in factory
work, at least half had industrial experience before taking their war
jobs.
Besides training, experience, and education, requirements made of
women war workers in New Jersey had to do for the most part with
citizenship, age, race, and marital status. But only in the case of
citizenship were definite and restrictive demands generally made.
Almost all the employers interviewed except those in clothing manu
facture demanded American citizenship or first papers. In most cases
where aliens were employed, special investigation into their back
ground, or special permission involving investigation by the War
Department, was required.
_ There was almost no discrimination against married women work
ing. Moreover, few employers set a maximum age beyond which
women would not be employed. However, of 9 maximum-age limits
reported, 4 were as low as 35; none were over 55. Most plants did not
take women younger than 18. A physical examination was required
by 24 of the companies surveyed.
It was the expressed policy in only a few firms not to employ Negro
women on productive work. In most cases there were no such restric
tions, though in a substantial proportion no Negro women actually
were employed except in maintenance or service capacities, and the
data in general show that Negro women were not doing factory work
in significant numbers except in rare instances. Such cases include
a large electrical firm in which Negro women were working not only
in the factory but-in the office. "Also 3 clothing plants employed
Negroes to the extent of at least 10 percent of the total productive
labor force at the time of visit. Excuses offered by plant executives
were that trained Negroes were not available or that Negroes were
unable to meet health or other work standards; many reported that
Negroes did not apply and some feared the result of Negroes working
side by side with whites in the factory. In a few cases, companies
that were not employing Negro women reported that they were con
sidering taking some on in the future.

042219'—48

III. CONDITIONS OF WORK
Working conditions were inspected and discussed in all plants vis
ited. In connection with the suggestions made for improvements,
bulletins of the Women’s Bureau setting forth standards in sanitation
and safety were distributed. These standards are based on the proved
experience of many plants with women in their employ over a long
period of years and represent conditions favorable to maximum
output.
The suggestions made on hours of work were in agreement with the
standards approved by the War Department, Navy Department, Mari
time Commission, Public Health Service, War Manpower Commission,
War Production Board, Commerce Department, and Labor Depart
ment in the summer of 1942. These standards, based on the results
of scientific investigations made both in the United States and in
Europe, recommended (1) a weekly day of rest, (2) a 30-minute meal
period, (3) an 8-hour day and a 48-hour week, with overtime limited
to extreme emergencies, (4) vacations.
Also very opportune was the publication in June 1942 of a report,
“Optimum Hours of Work in War Production,” by J. Douglas Brown
and Helen Baker of the Industrial Relations Section of Princeton
University. This too emphasizes the efficiency gained through lunch
and rest periods and moderate hours of work.
All told, suggestions for the betterment of sanitary and safety con
ditions, hours, and industrial relations were made to as many as 136
firms. Usually, even when the general level of conditions was high
there were isolated spots that needed attention; especially in large
organizations, conditions varied from department to department.
Occasionally as many as 8 or 10 suggestions covering specific points
in almost the entire range of topics were made in an individual plant.1
The sudden demands made upon industry by the expanding war
program were great. For example, one firm that had done largely
experimental and custom work previous to Pearl Harbor had ex
perienced almost a 100-percent plant expansion and had about 4 times
as many employees as before; within a few months they probably
would have 6 times the original number. At time of writing the
employment is well over one thousand.
Obviously, service facilities were wholly inadequate for the enlarged
work force, especially at hours of changing shifts or of rest periods,
and a need developed for even an increased janitor force. For those
occupying rented quarters these problems sometimes were doubled.
Furthermore, ingenuity was taxed by the increasing difficulty in
obtaining material and equipment for service facilities. Much
thought was expended in improvising lockers, shifting from metal
to wooden seats, buying second-hand lunch-room equipment. Uncer
tainty as to the continuation of war contracts, as well as material
1 See Women’s Bureau Special Bui. No. 1.
Defense Program. 1940. 22 pp.

Effective Industrial Use of Women in the

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

shortages, was responsible in some cases for the delay in furnishing
facilities adequate for the increasing number of employees.
Several firms were occupying new modern buildings or expecting
to occupy them in the near future, and in such quarters housekeeping
worries were at a minimum. But it was not always the new modern
buildings where conditions were best; the old ones sometimes sur
passed the new ones in housekeeping and comfort details. For in
stance, in the old building of one firm ventilation was described as
“excellent, many fans, and heat not noticeable,” but in the firm’s new
building, which was supposedly the last word, expansion had been so
much greater than anticipated that workers were already crowded
into dark, close corners originally intended for storage space and the
firm was planning improvements in the new structure.
Some firms had been obliged to spread production into four or five
scattered buildings and had taken over old manufacturing plants that
had long stood vacant. In remodeling what was available they had
more.often than not done a good job, but they were expending ad
ditional effort to maintain uniformly good standards in a group of
scattered buildings. Even when so pressed for production space they
made room for the installation of service facilities, thereby decreasing
congestion and time lost from work.
Of many plants, reports of the Women’s Bureau agents contain
some or all of the following: Facilities adequate in number, convenient
and clean. Hot water, soap, and towels supplied. Comfortable
chairs in rest rooms. Cafeteria patronized by production workers on
all shifts. Full-time doctor and nurses. High stools for machine
operators. Girls rotate on jobs to get change of position and break
monotony. And so forth. Or in some cases: Efforts to increase rest
room, lunch, and first-aid facilities have been successful notwithstand
ing the difficulties involved. New building is fireproof; workroom
airy, clean, fluorescent lighting; excellent ventilation. Old building
very well kept up. Hot food service all shifts; good washing facili
ties ; electrically cooled drinking fountain.
Much could be written about the model dressing and wash rooms,
rest rooms and lunchrooms, or the prevalence of good-posture seats,
of the last word in ventilating systems, and of the artificial lighting
that was outstandingly good m the vast majority of plants, but the
emphasis in this report has been placed rather on the shortcomings
disclosed by the plant inspection so that the corrective measures in
dicated might be given attention as soon as this was possible.
The following discussion of the working conditions that called most
loudly for correction is illustrated by extracts from reports of Wom
en’s Bureau agents who visited the plants and from the many reveal
ing comments made by employees. In general, names and addresses
of employees were furnished by management; trade unions and other
public and private organizations contributed a number. In age the
employees interviewed covered a wide range, from young girls to old
women. About three-fifths were over 25 years of age, and more than
half were married or widowed. Of this married and widowed group
almost three-fifths had young children.
Frequently almost identical comments were made by several per
sons, but there has been no attempt to show the extent of such repeti
tion ; the quotations are merely samples.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

HOURS AND SHIFT SYSTEMS
Acting on the first impulse to push up production by lengthening
the workday, many firms had resorted to the policy of increasing
the normal hours of women employees from 40 to 48, to 54, and some
times to 56 and 60 hours a week, and from 5 to 6, sometimes to 7, days
a week.
The New Jersey State hour law limits the employment of women
to 10 hours a day and 54 hours a week. In no case did a firm report
that the usual work schedule exceeded these limits, but there were in
dividual exceptions where it did so in actual practice. For example,
the firm’s standard schedule beginning at 8 and ending at 5 had been
stretched to begin-at 7 and end at 6, making a week or 60 hours; and
in some departments this work schedule was followed for all 7 days of
the week.
In summary of the hour schedules reported by the firms: Most of
the women in the New Jersey war factories surveyed were working
more than 40 hours a week, except where clothing and other fabricated
textile products and chemicals and drugs were being made. About
one-third of the 137 firms visited reported a workweek of 48 hours for
factory women; almost one-fourth showed a longer schedule. Twentytwo plants were employing women 54 hours, the full maximum allowed
by State law. The longer hours were especially prevalent in ordnance,
aircraft engines and propellers, instruments, and small metal parts,
industries particularly vital in the war effort. Men’s regularly sched
uled hours were in many instances longer than women’s, and, according
to report, men more often than women were called on to work overtime.
An 8-hour day and a 6-day week was the most common schedule for
women factory workers in the plants visited. Usually the office was on
a different schedule from the factory, the women office workers being
employed generally 8 hours or less daily, 5 or 5y2 days, and 40 hours
or less a week. A 9-to-10-hour day for factory workers was reported
in 29 plants, 12 of these in ordnance or instrument manufacture alone.
Few firms ran their factory shifts less than 8 hours, and few, other
than apparel plants, were on the 5-day week. By and large the apparel
factories visited were still operating on a routine of one shift of 8
hours daily and a 5-day week of 40 hours.
In order to legalize the employment of women after midnight, in
December 1941 the New Jersey State legislature amended the statute
which prohibits the employment of women after 12 midnight and
before 7 in the morning. This amendment conferred on the Governor
the power to suspend this restriction in time of war. Acting on this
provision, numerous firms had applied for this privilege and in due
time, after investigation, many had received permits to employ women
on their third shifts. When the firms were visited in this survey, 5 of
them were employing women after midnight without the permits as
provided for in the amended law.
Though New Jersey law also limits employment to 6 days a week,
there were occasional instances in which this provision as well was not
being observed.
Calling attention to the relation of good hour standards to sustained
maximum output, general recommendations were made in many of
the plants on the length of the workday and the workweek. Also
suggestions embodying standards for employment on night shifts

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

and rotation of workers from one shift to another were given to several
firms.
Table 8.—Usual

weekly hours of ivomen factory workers, by industry
Number of plants reporting weekly hours of—

Industry

num
ber of
plants

137
Aircraft engines and propel
lers.____________________
Ammunition, gun parts, and
other ordnance accessories.
Apparel and other fabricated
textile products____ _____
Chemicals and drugs___
Electrical products:
Communication equip
ment......... .......................
Motors, generators, and
other electrical prod
ucts_________ _______
Wire and cable.................
Instruments, professional,
scientific, and other
Machines and machine tools.
Metal parts, small............. .
Plastic products................... .
Rubber products.....................
Textile-mill products
Miscellaneous......................... .

Un
der
40

Over
44,
under
48

Over
48,
under
50

27
5

22
3

10
e

3
2

0
4
9
3
4
8
13

1
1
1

1
2
3
4

1
1

2
1

3
6

4
3
4

2
2
4

Over
60,
under
54

Irregu
lar or
not re
ported

22
1
6

2
1

There was no doubt about the attitude of employees as to the length
ened hours. They were most appreciative of the extra overtime pay,
but comments, especially of those not new to industry, indicated a
growing sense of fatigue, though coupled in many cases with an
expression of willingness to try to keep up the pace for the duration.
About the 7-day week especially they reported that the pace was ex
hausting and emphasized the need of recreation and time for their
family and household duties. Some said very definitely that their
production suffered. Typical statements made include the following:
No time to do housework, no time to be with family. It is too much.
Would prefer to work longer than 8 hours other days and have Sunday free.
(Wage rate $22 for a 40-hour week.)
I take Sunday off occasionally to rest. Have lost weight since working 7
days. Am very tired.
I could not stand it any longer. (Had worked 10 hours a day, 7 days a week,
for a few months.)

Other comments on long hours:
Working 6 days
It is the sixth day that fags me.
Five days would be better, but you’d not get the extra money.
It gives you extra money and that is handy, so I don’t mind, but I am more
tired. The day goes slower.
Working 9- and 10-hoar days
Tou don’t want overtime. Eight hours of that is enough.
Personally I’d prefer shorter hours; 54 hours are too many. Tou have no
time for yourself. I can use the extra money, but it’s what it takes out
of you.
I'd like shorter hours, but I couldn’t possibly get the work they give me done
in 8 hours. I need 10 hours for that.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

Only 2,201 women were reported on a night-to-morning shift, prac
tically 4 in every 100 of those in factory jobs. In contrast, nearly
11,000 women were employed on the second or evening shift, and 44,600,
or well over three-fourths of the women on production in all 137 plants,
were working during the day. This is true in spite of the fact that
twice as many factories were visited that operated three shifts as
that operated two or only one. Approximately 1 in every 9 workers
on the third shift, and 2 in every 10 on the second, were women. There
were nearly 3 women in every 10 workers on the day shift. Twice as
large a proportion of men as of women were employed on the “grave
yard” shift.
Table 9.—Employment

Industry

of women on the various shifts, by industry
Total
number
of
plants

137
Ammunition, gun parts, and other

Number of plants employ
ing women on—
1 shift
only

2 shifts

3 shifts

1 shift
only

2 shifts

generators,* and other

Instruments, professional, scientific,

3 shifts
70
3

1
2
8
4

1
3
25
11

3
1

6
8

4
1
3

1
1

1
4

4
3
6
3
4
6
8

27
5
37
18

25
1
12
4

1
1
16
7

1
3
10
7

10
9

6
2

3
5

1
2

9
4
9
3
4
8
13

2
1
4
1
1
1
4

5
1
4
1
2
6
9

2
2
1
1
1
1

Apparel and other fabricated textile

Motors,

Number of plants
operating—

4
3

In general, women who have worked on either the evening or
the graveyard shift do not like it. The most frequent reason given
concerns irregularity in sleeping and eating, resulting in fatigue and
sleepiness during working hours on the one hand, and indigestion
and loss of weight on the other. Young people complain that the
evening shift interferes with recreation and social life. Married
women object to being away from their families in the late after
noon and evening, and many perform their household tasks during
the day and are tired when worktime comes. Of those who re
ported that they liked night work, the chief reason given was the
fact that they had the daytime hours free in which to take care of
their children and do their housework. Not infrequently their hus
bands were on the day shift and took over the children’s care when
the women left for work. Some women prefer the night shift be
cause the noise and confusion are considerably reduced, and a few
like it in summer because it is cooler.
Married women, especially those with children, were somewhat
more numerous than single women among those who preferred to
work in the evening, that is, on the second shift. Thirty percent of
the 696 women workers interviewed had children. Most of these

WOMEN WORKERS IN' EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

mothers had more than one child, and in four-fifths of the cases at
ieast one of the children was under 14 years old. A substantial
proportion of the mothers had children under 6. Children in the
younger groups require constant adult supervision and care. Those
who are attending school should be in a responsible person’s charge
before and after school hours, yet of 167 monthers with children under
14 years, as many as 38, well over one-fifth, left their children to
their own devices while at work. The children simply took care
of themselves. More than half the workers left their young chil
dren with husband or other relative and some had older children
who took care of the younger. Few of the mothers employed help
or patronized a day nursery. These data indicate a very real prob
lem in view of the increasing number of housewives who are taking
war jobs in industry.
Table 10.—Employment

of women factory workers,1 by industry and shift
Total

Industry

Women on—

Day shift
Num Num
ber of ber of,
plants women Num
Per
ber
cent

Evening shift
Num
ber

Per
cent

Night shift
Num
ber

Per
cent

All industries...................... .........

137

57, 717

44,601

77.3

10,915

18.9

2, 201

3.8

Aircraft engines and propellers
Ammunition, gun parts, and other
ordnance accessories________ ____
Apparel and other fabricated textile
products_________ __________ . ..
Chemicals and drugs.............................
Electrical products................................
Communication equipment
Motors, generators, and other
electrical products___ ________
Wire and cable _
Instruments, professional, scientific
and other.............................................
Machines and machine tools..............
Metal parts, small......... ................ .
Plastic products.....................................
Rubber products...................................
Textile-mill products................. ..........

1,812

1,033

57.0

440

24.3

339

18.7

4, 806

3,705

77.1

902

18.8

199

4.1

27
5
37
18

5, 323
870
25, 697
21, 931

5, 235
672
20. 304
17, 204

98.3
77.2
79.0
78.4

54
105
4,548
3,985

1.0
12.1
17.7
18.2

34
93
845
742

.6
10.7
3.3
3.4

10
9

2,799
967

2, 544
556

90.9
57.5

253
310

9.0
32.1

2
101

.1
10.4

9
4
9
3
4
8
13

6, 545
501
1,447
454
909
6,703
2,650

4,600
324
1,183
371
706
4,609
1,859

70.3
64.7
81.8
81.7
77.7
68.8
70.2

1,426
124
246
65
195
2, 019
791

21.8
24.8
17.0
14.3
21.5
30.1
29.8

519
53
18
18
8
75

7.9
10.6
1.2
4.0
.9
1.1

1 Excludes women in the office.

Though many of the firms had employed married women and
mothers habitually for years, there were evidences that on the whole
management was now giving thoughtful consideration to the policy
of employing those responsible for young children. Occasionally,
however, an employer expressed himself by saying, “It is no concern
of mine if the women have children at home.” Most felt that during
the present emergency it would be more or less necessary to employ
these mothers, but that the care of the children and other household
burdens were the problem of the individual mother.
Very few of the women visited worked from midnight to morning.
Of those who did, the following are typical comments:
Working 12 to 8 a. m. is hard on the nerves. Your vitality is low.
You don’t get your proper rest. Well, not in this house, with the children
to keep you awake.
Time after 12 midnight is the hardest to work.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

Company hired all new women for the third shift because old employees
wouldn’t do it.
I get sleepy when working nights.

The Women’s Bureau recommends2 that work after midnight be
resorted to only as the lesser of two evils in an emergency, the other
being long overtime hours for day and evening shifts. Further,
measures should be taken when night work is introduced to moderate
its difficulties and dangers. One of the methods by which this may
be done is the rotation of shifts at intervals long enough to allow
sufficient time for readjustment and rest. Rotation should not occur
so often as every 2 or 3 weeks nor so infrequently as to develop
chronic fatigue on the part of night workers. Though it is difficult
to suggest a set rule, since conditions vary widely and authorities
differ in their recommendations, the optimum for most cases appears
to be between 1 and 4 months. There is universal agreement among
authorities that excessive fatigue is engendered in both day and night
workers, with consequent lag in production, if shift rotation is too
frequent or if night work is continued too long.
In nearly half the plants in which women worked on more than one
shift there was no rotation of shifts. Of those that did rotate,
three-fifths changed every week and only two firms changed so in
frequently as once a month, the longest period reported without a
change of shift.
The following summarizes comments made by some of the women
visited concerning the rotation of shifts:
Rotating weekly
Just get used to it when we change again.
Rotation every 2 weeks or every month would be better, as it would not
be quite so upsetting to meal hours.
Rotating every 2 weeks
Just get into one routine when you have to break it tor another.
No more rotating for me. It had me crazy.

Several, however, felt that rotation was fair, as thus all shared
alike. The day of shift changes was difficult for some—arriving home
at 1.30 a. m. from one shift and getting up at 5.30 to be at work
by 7 for the next day. “That was tough. That kept me tired all
the time. When the shift changed you got no sleep.”
LUNCH AND REST PERIODS AND PLANT PROVISION
FOR FOOD
With the increasing pressure for sustained effort to achieve high
production rates day after day, week after week, and month after
month, emphasis on nutrition and health is more necessary now
than at any previous time. The importance to war production of
rest periods, of an unbroken lunch period, and of hot food or at
least a hot drink at lunch time in a clean and convenient place away
from the job cannot be too strongly stressed.
2 &ee Women’s Bureau Special Bui. No. 6.
In War Plants. June 1942. 8 pp.

Night Work for Women and Shift Rotation

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

A type of cafeteria that serves the purpose well in one plant may
not be feasible in another, but something more than a counter with
the usual candy, cake, and “cokes” should be available.
Specific suggestions were made to about one-third of the firms rela
tive to the advisability of allowing at least 30 minutes for lunch and
short rest periods in each work spell, and in no less than 29 plants
wheie practically no provision had been made for lunchroom fa
cilities or food definite recommendations were made for such equip
ment.3
Fully aware of these shortcomings, more than one manager dis
cussed the lack of food facilities and their plans for future improve
ments. They expected to have “better facilities ready by fall,” or
said “We plan to have a cafeteria in our new building.” As already
mentioned, difficulty in obtaining equipment was a serious obstacle.
hood was available in 48 (just over one-third) of the 137 plants
scheduled. _Of this number 30 had cafeterias and restaurants serving
a variety of foods, in 9 plants there were lunch counters, food bars,
and canteens, and in 9 arrangements could be made with vendors
lor box lunches. 1 hough lunch facilities in general were inadequate,
more than one woman interviewed referred to the fact that in her
plant hot coffee was furnished free. Over one-half (73) of the firms
provided nothing in the way of lunchroom facilities or food, and
moie than a tenth of all had only a space with tables and chairs but
no food. -No firm with fewer than <50 workers maintained a cafeteria
or restaurant, and only 4 of the 30 with cafeterias had fewer than
1,000 employees. Though no evaluation was made of the food service
given, at seveial of the lunch counters and canteens little more than
a snack—a bit of pastry, a candy bar, or a soft drink—could be pur
chased, and management assumed no responsibility for the adequacy
and quality of such food supply.
Neither were all the cafeteria arrangements perfect. Workshops
m some cases were too remote for employees to make use of the cafeteiia services in the short time allowed for lunch; others were too
expensive; some were too small to take care of the large numbers
even by staggering the lunch periods. A few apparently catered
only to office and supervisory help, so were avoided by the production
workers.
'
On the other hand some firms, convinced of the dependence of
efficient production on proper nourishment, made every effort to serve
good and appetizing food. In addition to central cafeterias a few
large firms had service to the workrooms. One such is described as
follows. A large cafeteria, attractive and cool, with excellent and
cheap food available for all shifts. There is also an organized rout
ing of wagons from the cafeteria to each workroom, and these carry
soup, vegetables, meats, salads, desserts, and beverages, which may
be eaten at the workbenches or in rest rooms convenient to the shops.'”
Another large firm served all employees on all shifts in the cafeteria
by staggering the lunch periods. The service was operated at a slight
deficit, but the company felt it was worth it and furnished food at cost.
Other cafeterias were described as “complete”; one as “furnishing
s See Women’s Bureau Special Bui. No. 5.
for Meals and Rest. May 1942. 4 pp.

Women's Effective War Work Requires Time

WOMEN" WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

substantial meals at cost for three shifts.” Of another it was said,
“Cafeteria available for workers on the first and second shifts, but only
canteen with cold food for third shift.” Some employee objections to
the night shifts were that they could buy no food in the plant on the
second shift and at night.
.
In the plants with no lunchroom conveniences—almost two-thirds
of all—thousands brought their lunches from home and for the most
part ate at their work benches, many of which were dusty and dirty
from the nature of the work.
For the majority the only alternative to eating at their work tables
was to “lunch in the dressing room,” “in the crowded washroom,” “in
a corner of the toilet room,” “in the warehouse, but if it is nice we go
outdoors.” Of one plant it was said, “The girls need a place to eat.
It is too dirty and dusty to eat in the workroom. It is not pleasant
to eat in the toilet room and it is expensive to eat out.”
Twenty-six of the firms, including 20 in the apparel group, made no
provision for lunchrooms or food but allowed 1 hour for the noonday
break so that there was time to go to nearby restaurants and drug stores
or to go home, Many of these plants were in small communities and
drew largely on the immediate neighborhood for their employees. For
the employees who did not live fairly near there was no choice but to
eat a cold lunch at the workbench or to go to an outside lunch counter.
Size of plant appeared to have some relation to food service. In
numbers employed the plants ranged from less than 100 in a few cases
to over 20,000 in two. Of the total 137 firms reporting, more than onefourth (38) had less than 250 employees; 27 had 250 and under 500;
19 had 500 and under 1,000; and 53, about two-fifths of all, employed
1,000 or more. Of the 53 firms with 1,000 or more employees, 26 had
cafeteria or restaurant service of varying degrees of adequacy, but 17
had made no provision whatever for food service though 4 had set
up tables and benches. In the others there was some sort of canteen
or food bar, a number serving soup, sandwiches, milk, and coffee, but
several were very inadequate. Thus two-thirds of the largest plants,
in contrast to just over one-third of all plants, provided food service
of some sort, in most cases cafeterias or restaurants.
In March 1942 the New Jersey legislature amended the statute re
quiring at least half an hour for a meal period after continuous em
ployment of not more than 6 hours. The amendment gave the
Governor authority to suspend this provision during the present war
but only after investigation showed that an order suspending the
lunch period would not “in any way impair or endanger the health
or productive effectiveness of those affected by such order.”
At the time of this survey the half-hour lunch period prevailed in
the plants covered and no official permits had been issued that granted
suspension of the 30-minute lunch period. In 6 establishments, how
ever, employees were working through the shift without any lunch
period and in 11 others employees were limited to 15 or 20 minutes
for lunch.
The “work while you eat” plan was limited to the textile and wire
industries. It did not affect all departments but prevailed where
some of the heaviest jobs were performed, as for example the card,
spin and spool, and weave rooms in the textile mills and the braiding
and weaving in the wire mills, departments where much of the work

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

was piece work and the deafening noise and vibration of the machin
ery never stopped.
This was not a new policy arising from pressure for greater war
production, for this generation of weavers had inherited the custom
from their fathers. One manager insisted that no official permit was
needed to shorten the lunch period, as they had operated this way
for years and the workers had always managed somehow to get some
thing to eat while they watched their machines; it was no hardship.
It is noteworthy, however, that in other plants in this vicinity and
in other States which were keeping up their production schedules on
similar and sometimes identical Government items the power is turned
off, the machines stop, and the workers pause for a period of rest and
refreshment.
One young woman described her 15-minute lunch period as follows:
“Can’t leave work until the buzzer rings. Must rush to rest room to
eat and rush back. Have to wash up and must choke the food down.
Do not have time to eat, for if we get back to work after the buzzer
rings they give us an argument and say they’ll cut our pav for being
late.”
Expressions from other women indicate how they regarded the
policy of having only 15 or 20 minutes free for lunch, or no time
whatever.
Walk and eat at the same time.
Sometimes bring lunch back home with me. Don’t have a chance to eat it.
Frequently don’t eat because there is too much wool to watch.
Walk all day back and forth ; machines never stop.
No time off for weavers. We eat as best we can while machines keep
running.
We eat while working. This is no good. At-------- (competing company)
they have half an hour to eat and make as much In TVi hours as we do
in 8.
Who could get to the cafeteria and back in 15 minutes?
We get indigestion ; it is always hurry.
Cannot sit down. Must swallow food while the machine runs.

Operators of machines fitted with automatic stops found it easier
to adjust to the no-lunch-time policy, but even so they stood by ready
to make the necessary repairs.
The plants allowing only a 15-to-20-minute break represented
various industries but were alike in that all were operating 24 hours
around the clock with three 8-hour shifts. Further, employees were
paid for 8 hours, including the short meal period on the company
time. In some cases the union had bargained for this concession by
management in recent years and this fact undoubtedly colored the
discussions of lunch periods with the employees. While admitting
the inadequacy of 15 minutes, one woman probably expressed the atti
tude of many when she added, “but I prefer 15 minutes with pay to
half an hour without it.”
Despite the fact that they were paid for this brief lunch period
there was evidence that some had not become adjusted to it. An
industrial nurse, from one of these plants reported several cases of
nervous indigestion, thought to be caused by bolting lunches.
Further, of these 16 firms that had either no lunch period or a
very short one only 1 provided for a formal rest period at any time
during the work shift. In fact, only 25 firms of the entire number

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

visited were reported a.s having formal rest periods, customarily from
5 to 10 minutes in each work turn.
WAGES
Where men and women were on the same job for the first time in
the war emergency and worked on a time basis, almost two-fifths of
the plants reporting current entrance rates were paying both sexes at
the same rate. There was no apparent controlling difference, m the
scheduled sample, between the plants that had and those that had not
a wage differential based on sex. As might be expected, in jobs
where there was no such differential women generally could command
higher rates than where a differential existed. Xot one of the nuns
paying women the same hourly rates as men offered them less than
48 cents for any job, whereas there were 11 separate jobs on which
women began at less than this figure in plants with a differential.
The principle of the rate for the job, regardless of the worker’s sex,
has been advocated officially or ordered put into effect by nearly a
score of agencies of the Federal Government over more than 40 years.
Now especially this principle should prevail in order that the war
effort may be strengthened at home through all-round industrial
efficiency and democracy. Discrimination in wages paid to men and
to women was one of the causes of discontent among the workers in
several of the factories visited in New Jersey. To illustrate with
two or three cases:
In soldering the same parts, the scale for women ranged from 50 to 53
cents while that for men ranged from 70 to 90 cents.
Men operating the same drill presses on identical parts had a 10-cent higher
base rate than women, though women excelled in production.
Women resented the fact that irresponsible young boys were hired as chore
boys at a beginning rate of 60 cents while women’s minimum was 45 cents
and many who had worked for years were still earning less than 60 cents.

None of the 132 plants reporting on entrance rate started women at
less than 35 cents an hour; in fact, 6 in every 10 offered women a
beginning rate of more than 40 cents. About three-fourths of the
factories paying 40 cents or less were in only two industries, clothing
and electrical products; almost half were in clothing alone. In 13
of the scheduled firms women were receiving at least 60 cents an
hour to begin with, and in 8 of these plants women productive
workers were an innovation with the wartime emergency.
Where the minimum entrance rate was less for women than for
men the difference amounted to 10 cents or more in two-thirds of the
cases. In well over half the firms where the minimum entrance rate
was the same, both men and women were getting 40 cents or less.
A definite wage-progression policy was followed in a significant
proportion of the factories in the 'survey, but especially in those
making communication equipment, ordnance, and small metal parts.
A popular plan was to raise the worker about 5 cents an hour after
a period of service of 3 months or even less. In a number of films
automatic wage raises were spread over two steps and in a few there
were three, and even four or five steps, but the total amount of in
crease seldom exceeded 15 cents an hour. An established wageprogression policy was followed in many firms even where there was

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

no regular learning period. After the basic rate for the job had been
reached in the case of learners or all automatic increases had been
earned, further progress depended on skill and seniority.
There were scores of firms, however, in which management ad
mitted during the interview that there was no definite policy of wage
progression. “It is pretty much up to the foreman.* And in too
many companies there was evident need of interpreting to the workers
in simple language the company policy in regard to job rates, wage
raises, and the production bonus, where this was in effect. Ignorance
and confused ideas were expressed repeatedly by the women about the
method of computing production-bonus payments.
Well over three-fiftlis of the women time workers for whom data
were available were paid at the rate of at least 60 cents an hour. The
5-cent interval 65 and under 70 cents claimed a very much larger
group than any other. (See tables 11 and 12.) Rates paid women
time workers differed considerably, however, according to industry.
Only two of the industries represented in the survey, electrical prod
ucts and small metal parts, paid at least 60 cents to more than threefifths of their women time workers. In the remaining industry
groups less than half the women time workers were paid this much;
not quite one-third of those in machine and machine-tool plants were
so reported. No women were paid at the rate of less than 50 cents in
the aircraft engine and propeller plants, and in each of the industries
covered few if any had an hourly rate under 45 cents. In instrument
manufacture 25 percent of the women time workers for whom data
were available, in contrast to 6 percent in all the industries together,
were paid 45 and under 50 cents an hour.
According to table 12 the most highly paid occupational group
among the women time workers for whom data were reported were
the job setters, followed by machine operators in the electrical-prod
ucts industry, coil and armature winders, and assemblers. Painters
and solderers commanded comparatively low rates.
Women who worked on the second and third shifts, and especially
those on the third, generally received a wage differential of some kind.
In most cases the differential was a percent increase or additional sum
TabEf, 11.—Percent

distribution of women time workers according to hourly rate,
by industry

Industry

All Industries L_.............
Aircraft engines and propellers
Ammunition, gun parts, and other
ordnance accessories______
Chemicals and drugs.
Electrical products__________
Instruments, professional, scientific,
and other___________
Machines and machine tools...
Metal parts, small______
Textile-mill products...
Miscellaneous_________ _____

Num
Percent of women time workers with hourly rate of—
ber of
women
time
45,
50,
55,
60,
65,
70,
75
workers Under under under under under under under cents
45
report
50
55
60
65
70
75
and
cents
ed
cents cents cents cents cents cents over
18,182

1.3

5.7

6.7

23.0

11.1

12.3

38.3

21.2

6.0
5.2
3.2

19.3
41.6
2.8

37.7
5.8
12.4

9.3
31.2
4.4

10.9
3.9
62.9

1.1
12.3
9.0

14.9

25.3
15.4
18.0
8.5
.5

8.0

23.2
52.0
6.4
54.3
40.6

13.7
7.5
37.0
27.0
21.8

2.4
8.2
3.2
2.8
6.9

13.0

9.4
17.0
6.1
4.4
15.4

624
3,245
154
9,779
577
306
1,141
1, 292
1,064

.8
1.4
5.0
3.3
.5

.9
1.5
9.2

36.8

i Apparel, plastic, and rubber industries not included; too few time workers reported.

7.8
(TiT

25.2
1.0
5.6

7.7
21.6

4.0

Number of women on a piece-rate and on a time-rate basis and percent distribution of time workers according to hourly rate, by
occupation

Numb er on—

Occupation
Total
number

All occupations ______

W omen time workers with hourly rate reported

Percent with hourly rate of—
Total
number
PieceTime- with rate Under 45 45, under 50, under 55, under 60, under 65, under 70. under 75 cents
rate basis rate basis reported
cents
50 cents 55 cents 60 cents 65 cents 70 cents 75 cents and over

i 31,495

9,926

21, 569

16,183

1.5

5.9

5.7

19.8

10.3

41.2

7.3

8.3

11,192
552
824
17
1,195
73
21

2, 675
238
483

8, 517
314
341
17
713
72

6,183
114
249
3 11
528
332

0.8
3.5
2.0

2.2
1.8
2.8

3.0
12.3
8.0

11.2
21.9
47.0

3.8
37.7
2.0

76.8
7.0
.8

U)
7.0

2.1
8.8
37.3

2.3

3.4

20.8

13.3

31.1

12.5

11.2

5.5

49
389
2, 431
5, 236
148
428
1,291
1,568
210
1,317
322
1, 347
348
853
71
58
105
1,450

41
257
855
931

8
132
1,576
4,305
148
182
936
856
105
701
236
741
348
422
23
39
90
747

38
117
1, 3 46
3,190
148
70
901
457
98
572
159
635
309
254
320
3.36
3 39
707

7.7
.7
1.9

14.9
11.4

1.4
4.2

43.6
36.5
25.1

14.5
11.1
13.3

2.6
12.2
28.0

7.6
5.5

2.9
3.4
14.4
2.0
3.1
17.6
.1
2.6
.8

21.4
3.9
17.9
21.4
16.1
29.6
2.4
27.5

22.9
.3
28.7
13.3
32.2
30.8
37.8
19.1
79.1

18.6
4.0
5.5
22.4
11.9
30.1
42.4
3.5

20.0
2.3
5.7
28.6
13.6
6.9
1.1
4.9
3.9

4.0

1.0

7.9

79.5

Assembler _____
Bench worker, hand - ____
Bench worker, machine ___
Draftsman and tracer
Drill-press operator. _ _ .
Forelady. _ _ __
Gear-cutting-machine operator
Grinding-and-polishing-machine operator, optical
glass. ------------------------Grinding-machine operator
Hand worker n. e. c___
Inspector....... ... ................
Job setter ____________
Lathe and screw-machine operator
Machine operator n. e. c., in electrical products
Machine operator n. e. c_ _
Milling-machine operator
Packer and wrapper _ .
Painter _________
Punch- and forming-press operator
Service and maintenance worker
Solderer _________
Storeroom clerk_________
Tool-crib attendant______
Welder____ ...
Winder, coil and armature _

482
1
21

246
355
712
105
616
86
606
431
48
19
15
703

7.1
3.9
1.5
1.0
.3
.3

5.1

12 Appwel
and textile-mill products excluded, as occupations not comparable with those in other selected industries
Less than 0.05 percent.
3 Percent distribution not computed; base too small.

79.0
10.3
2.1
3.1
9.1
1.0

31.6
15.7
10. 7
100.0
7.1
3.1
16.0
33.7
10.5
9.1
2.3
12.6

2.5

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

All women

Table 12.

W OMEN WORKERS IIs EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

above the regular hourly rate. Where the former prevailed, it
nlwnt?L U'!!fV t?-11° Percent; where the latter, to 5 cents. In a few
plants tlie differential was paid m decreased working hours. For
example, m two of the firms visited women on the third shift worked
W wi fT o °Ue h°Ur and1 on® a5d a garter hours less than the period
for which they were paid. In five plants the second shift worked 15
or 30 minutes less than paid for. Seven plants had reduced hours and
gave m addition a percentage or flat increase in rate.
a1^e® m increased since the defense and war periods began. In
the plants reporting, the increase amounted to approximately 16 peri™6 appeared to be even greater in firms then making ordance. Assemblers had had an increase of about 21 percent, but the
rates ot coif and armature winders, maintenance and service workers
less than 5 percentat<>rS “ the elecfcrical-Products industry had risen
Of the 696 women visited in their homes, 203 reported their present
\!l!w e aifi alS0 the !p,tc the.v were Paid on their present or a different
job before the war. The great majority of them, about 9 in 10, had
8 7TT iSaid their rate was the same; as many
i 12 stated that their rate had decreased. Several of them commented
rgh tliein hourly rate was less, their weekly earnings were
g eater because of longer hours and overtime pay. The increases in
rates amounted to from 10 to 43 percent, with the higher proportional
increases occurring among those commanding generally the higher
rates ot pay.
6
Dissatisfaction with earnings was widespread among the women
interviewed. Ihe feeling doubtless had been augmented by reports
ot the high wages paid in some of the newer war plants, and there
H n.°1?U? ,lon but that average earnings were lower in establishments
that had long relied on female labor than in those where women’s
employment was more recent.
,. Tlie experiences of some of the women indicate the reasons for their
discontent. In one factory where there was much resentment among
the older employees, some who had been with the firm as long as 5 to 8
years were earning 53 cents an hour on final inspection and blueprint
reading, which was no more than new girls were earning with onlv a
5-month service record “Old girls are quitting because new girls
make the same as they do. In another industry older employees were
cntical because they had worked for 5 years or more without a raise
and now were making little if any more than employees hired recently
for the same kind of work. An instance was quoted of an inspector
who had a higher rate after 7 months than others who had been sim
ilarly employed 15 years. “Older ones get no raises. Knowledge and
experience of the old girls don’t count.”
A woman who had operated a drill press for a vear was resentful
because she was earning only 40 cents an hour. In spite of this she
was staying on the job because it was “so near home.” Another
explamed that girls will not pay carfare to come from a distance to
work here because the place has a bad reputation for low wages In
t™ same plant a spray painter was earning 50 cents an hour, and, she
added, I am one of the highest paid there.” Still another said, “New
girls do not stay very long. They can do better in other places. Only
the older women stay.”

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

EXPOSURE OF WOMEN TO HEALTH HAZARDS
Effect of war conditions on industrial health.
The increasing diversity of women’s work in the war program has
implications not only for greater opportunity to use talents and to
secure better wages than in more customary women’s employment ;
it also brings about the exposure of women to toxic materials to which
they rarely have been exposed in modern American industry.
In the plants surveyed in New Jersey women were at work on a
great variety of occupations exposing them to diverse hazards, hot
only had the number of hazards and the number of exposed women
increased, but exposures themselves were found to be intensified by
many factors: (1) Longer hours, (2) shortened lunch periods, (31
pressure for increased production, (4) overcrowding of workers, (5)
use of makeshift washing facilities, (6) allowing too little time tor
washing and cleaning up before leaving work, and (7) increased
fatigue because of constant standing, reaching, standing on concrete
floors, sitting on backless stools or chairs of the kitchen-chair variety.
Fatigue always lowers resistance to occupational poisons as it does
to other diseases. The longer the hours the longer the exposure to the
poisons. If washing is not adequate the worker may be exposed for
24 hours a day through her contaminated skin or clothing. Ihe
poison may even be ingested, with food if hands and nails have not
been adequately washed. Doubling and trebling the number of peo
ple in the same working space may mean that ventilation adequate
for the smaller number needs retesting for the larger number. A final
factor is equally important—the difficulty of providing adequate
medical care, including physical examinations^ coupled with the
increasing percentage of applicants who are physically below par.
A oreat many more or less unfamiliar industrial poisons have come
into use with the necessity for accelerated production of explosives,
synthetic rubber, and all the numerous articles of Army and Navy
ordnance as well as substitutes for civilian consumption.
Potential exposures of women.
The industries surveyed in New Jersey expose women to a number of
harmful materials or conditions. These may be classified as follows:
Skin irritants:
Benzol (see also under sys
temic) .
Tetryl
Mercury fulminate
Mica dust
Pyranol
Systemic poisoning:
Lead oxides
Benzol
Radium
Respiratory diseases: Silica dust; e
Acid burns—Nitric acid
X-ray burns—X-ray
Heat prostration—Excessive heat

Glass silk
Materials used in manufacture of
plastics
Dyes of various kinds
Cutting oils and compounds
Tetryl
Mercury
Carbon monoxide
dust; mica dust.

Systemic poisoning.
There is evidence that most firms recognized the serious possi
bilities of these exposures and were using approved engineering and

women workers in expanding waroteme inoostries

medical methods of control. This was particularly true of the sys
temic poisons listed. The following brief descriptions indicate this:
Lead exposures.—Girls employed on weighing and blending dyes,
which consist of lead compounds, are provided with two sets of lockers.
Work clothing is placed in one locker, a shower is taken, and street
clothing from another locker is put on. Every 3 months a medical
examination determines whether the girl is being affected by her
work. The company has through its precautions had no case of
lead poisoning in 9 years of operation.
A company employing girl inspectors of white tin plate believed
that cuts and scratches could result in lead poisoning, so its emphasis
was on immediate first aid for the slightest abrasion. Such exposure
would be very slight compared to work with lead dust. It has been
established that respiration of lead is most to be feared.
Radium exposures.—The use of radium in instrument manufacture
was under such carefully controlled conditions as have been recom
mended by the United States Public Health Service. Painting was
done on work tables of enameled metal under glass-enclosed hoods
equipped with exhausts by girls under constant medical surveillance.
Conditions for maintaining their health were prescribed. No personal
property was brought into the workroom; the washing routine was
rigid and was done on working time. After washing with soap and
hot water the radium painter entered a dark room containing mercury
lamps which showed up minute particles of luminous material.
Further cleansing removed these particles. Check was made on the
radon concentration in the workroom.
Benzol poisoning exposures.—Women working with rubber cement
having a benzol base were inadequately protected, special medical
tests indicated. The women themselves reported the fumes so strong
they got “drunk” from them. Engineers were working on a means
for better ventilation and control under the working conditions neces
sitated by the job.
Mercury exposures.—Girls exposed to mercury in the manufacture
of mercury lamps were under medical supervision. Medical examina
tion was made twice a month. Particular attention was given to
dental health. A special solution was provided for teeth cleaning.
Showers not only were available but their use before leaving the
plant was required. Every effort has been made by these plants to
have working conditions as safe as possible.

Dermatitis producers.
Tetryl.—Tetryl is a common industrial exposure to women in ex
plosives manufacture. Whether it can be the cause of systemic
poisoning as well as dermatitis is a question now before industrial
hygienists, who differ in their conclusions. In a report in 1942 on
1,258 cases of illness due to tetryl, its toxicity was said to have both
local and systemic effects. General manifestations were described as
secondary anemia, headache, irritability, and irregular menstruation.4
During World War I it was reported by one British industrial physi
cian, Dr. Enid Smith, that constitutional symptoms were slight. An4J^eon, J. Witkowski, Carl N. Fischer, and Howard D. Murdock. Industrial Illness Due
to Tetryl, Journal of American Medical Association, Aug. 22, 1942, pp. 1406-1409.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

other physician with women tetryl workers under his care reported
disagreeable effects in a watery discharge from the nose, sneezing, and
nosebleed. This same physician mentioned as a symptom of tetryl
poisoning a cessation of menstruation of 1 to 3 months’ duration.5
Constitutional symptoms are infrequent but operators should be under
careful medical supervision. _
...
Tetryl powder frequently gives rise to irritation of the skin partly
because of its crystalline structure and partly because of its chemical
nature. The dermatitis may be severe, with swelling and intense
itching. Workers who perspire freely are more likely to suffer from
it.
.
.
Important in prevention are a well-ventilated workroom with a dry
atmosphere, sufficient clean work clothing, and adequate washing
facilities. Workers should be instructed to wash their hands before
washing their faces. In addition to a good quality of soap, the use of
a 5-percent solution of sodium sulphite will convert tetryl into a solu
ble compound more easily washed off. A water-soluble skin varnish ap
plied to face and forearms before work has been found useful.6 _
Fulminate of mercrary.—Another common exposure to women in
ammunition manufacture is mercury fulminate. It is rapidly being
replaced by tetryl and lead azide. Because of the highly explosive
nature of the fulminate, strict observance is given to avoidance of
dust, scrupulous cleanliness, and a separation of processes, all of
which decrease the risk of exposure. Fulminate of mercury is a very
decided skin irritant and may cause a severe case of dermatitis. Parti
cles may get into small cuts or abrasions and cause small, very sore,
ulcers. Applicants for such work should be free from skin disease,
and workers should observe strict rules of cleanliness.
Cutting oils.—A number of metal-manufacturing companies report
ed cutting oils and compounds as the principal dermatitis exposures to
their women employees on machine work. Control of these infections
as described to the agents consisted in adding an antiseptic to the oil
in one plant; in another to medical check and transfer of affected
workers, as well as choice of applicants for such work who have no
skin lesions.
_ _
Cutting oils are the most frequent cause of dermatitis among metal
workers, according to reports of United States Public Health Service.
Prevention among women workers merits much attention because of
the great increase in woman employment in metal industries. New
employees not selected on the basis of susceptibility naturally show
a high rate of cases.
The dermatitis may begin with comedones of the hands and arms.
Folliculitis of arms and thighs is the common type. Infected follicles
may develop into boils and even carbuncles, and infection of wounds
of the skin caused by metallic slivers may cause the development of
boils. The defatting action of cutting oils on the skin may cause
drying, cracking, and Assuring. The open fissures are subject to
secondary infection. Dry skins are most likely to be affected in this
way. Some of the oils may contain chlorine compounds, the dermatitis
taking the form of a typical chloracne. Allergic eczemas occasionally
”U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bui. 219. Industrial Poisons Used or Produced In
the Manufacture of Explosives. By Alice Hamilton, M. D. 1917. p. 48.
« Journal of Royal Army Medical Corps, Vol. 71 1038. Treatment and Prevention of
Industrial Diseases In Billing Factories. By A. Leigh Sliver, M. D.

WOMEN" WORKERS IK EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

occur from contact with machine oils. The addition of strong anti
septics to the oil may itself be the cause of such skin infection.7
Briefly summarized, prevention should include (1) provision of
facilities and time for personal cleanliness, (2) clean work clothes and
impervious sleeves and aprons to protect arms and thighs, (3) pro
vision of clean towels for wiping hands, (4) removal of metal slivers
from oil, (5) change of oil at least once a week. Re-used oil should
be screened to remove metal, sterilized, and neutralized. Of these,
personal cleanliness is the most important item.7
Plastics.—A variety of materials used in the manufacture and
handling of plastics and dyes may cause dermatitis among susceptible
persons. In plants where such reactions were reported, the control
method considered best was transfer of the susceptible worker to an
other job* When transfer was impossible the affected worker was
given time off from work until the skin condition cleared up and
on return to the job protective creams or protective gloves were
furnished.
Mica.—Exposure to mica dust noted in another plant wTas stated to
have caused skin irritation. They tried transferring these girls to
other work for 2 weeks, after which it might be 2 months before the
rash appeared again. Gloves were furnished by the company.
Mica dust exercises an irritant mechanical action on the skin, the
eyes, and the respiratory passages. Authorities refer to cases of
eczema and ulcerative lesions among workers making micanite.
It is also said to enter the respiratory and digestive passages,
which it impregnates, giving rise to a disease rare in this country,
designated as “silicosis universalis.” Mica dust should not enter the
breathing area of workers but should be controlled by systems of
ventilation.

Respiratory diseases.
In a number of instances women -were found needlessly exposed
to harmful dusts. In one the women were fettling small porcelain
parts without adequate exhaust ventilation. That this operation may
cause dangerous concentrations of silica dust is shown by the 1939
study of the pottery industry made by the United States Public
Health Service.8 The study also shows how harmful concentrations
can be controlled by down-draft ventilation.
Other exposures.
Among other exposures noted was X-ray inspection under carefully
controlled conditions.
Excessive heat was a problem to be met in certain operations in radio
manufacture. Young women were employed on the basis of their
greater ability to withstand the effects of high temperatures, though
there is evidence that older women withstand fatigue somewhat better
than young girls. Protective clothing was provided for the work, in
cluding goggles and asbestos gloves. Prevention of heat exhaustion
should also include provision of salt tablets and cool water, to replace
salt and moisture lost by the body in perspiration. Frequent relief,
7 Schwartz, Louis, Medical Director, U. S. Public Health Service. Dermatitis from Cut
ting Oils. In Industrial Medicine, May 1942, pp. 228-233.
8 Women’s Bureau Bui. 184. The Occurrence and Prevention of Occupational Disease*
Among Women. 1935 to 1938, pp. 87-39. 1941.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIE'S

perhaps a brief rest hourly, from work in this room is advisable to
prevent overfatigue.
The women employees themselves often complained of the hours
of continuous standing, sometimes on concrete floors, or the backstrain
from sitting all day on backless stools or chairs not adjustable to the
individual. Other matters of complaint were the nerve strain re
sulting from the urging for greater and greater production; the mo
notony of certain machine operations; fatigue from lifting too much
or lifting or holding material at awkward heights; local fatigue from
continual use of a certain muscle group or from a peculiar position
required by the work.
Some companies had taken steps to counteract the fatigue from
strains of this sort. In one where jump presses required constant
standing and jumping, the girl operators were given 10 minutes’ rest
in each hour of work. This company chose tall girls for jobs requiring
reaching, to lessen the fatigue resulting from such work.
In many more instances rest periods should be introduced. They
are especially necessary in monotonous jobs and jobs causing local
muscle strain. Wherever introduced the result has been to increase
production. Consideration should also be given to the well-known fact
that the properly seated woman worker is a much more productive
worker.
_ Women have been so successful in work with very small parts and
in the fine close inspection work necessary throughout war industry,
that eyestrain assumes an important health hazard to women war
workers. One company devised a method of having the work done
under magnifying glass. Necessary precautions include excellent
lighting for the work, and provision of good-posture seating. It is
especially important that every applicant for close work have a
thorough eye examination. Necessary corrections should be made
before taking employment.

PLANT CONDITIONS AND FACILITIES
To achieve good conditions of work, in all respects, in all depart
ments, is a matter of no slight difficulty, but numerous plants in
New Jersey rated high in its accomplishment. Of the physical con
ditions on which recommendations seemed called for, t he "ones most
frequently open to criticism (see list on page 4) were those requir
ing equipment not easy to procure—washrooms, rest rooms, lunch
facilities. Those discussed in the paragraphs immediately following
were found seriously below standard in a comparatively small propor
tion of the plants.

Ventilation.
Ventilation was a problem in every type of industry, but it was
more serious in some than in others. Heat and moisture were re
ported as excessive and overpowering in many departments of cotton
and woolen mills and several employees attributed their repeated ill
nesses to this condition. Wraps hanging on wall pegs near humidi
fiers were very damp at the end of the day. Undue dust was reported
in some grinding operations, and in ceramic plants also there was
unusual exposure to powder and dust. In the use of rubber, in weld

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

ing, in soldering there was exposure to fumes, and in a number of
instances no really effective measures had been taken to reduce what
amounted to hazards in various workrooms.
Lack of good ventilation in other industries was of a different char
acter, as for example in clothing shops or where women were em
ployed in simple bench assembly and inspecting jobs, as indicated by
some of the reports:
Windows closed by new building on one side and work piled high in front
of those on other side.
Windows do not open. No fans.
Basement workroom, terrifically hot, close, and damp. Few small windows
above ground level. No way of heating in the winter.
Crowded loft room under tarred roof. Sun pours down on huge skylight
which cannot be opened. No fans. A young floor girl busy here 10 hours
a day, 7 days a week, lifting, folding, and carrying heavy bundles of army
coats (10 to the bundle), becomes very tired but does not mind this so
much as “the terrible heat, and then the odor of camphor is overpowering.”

Conditions in some of the ceramic departments elicited many com
ments :
'
The dust is everywhere.
Powder makes the throat dry.
Many quit after working 1 or 2 days in the powder-filled air.
Girls from other departments refuse to be transferred here.
We suffocate if we wear those masks.
The heat from the ovens is terrific.
We asked for fans but never got them.
The girls near the ovens say they’ll quit unless something is done about the
heat.
Skylights, only one of which opened, were the only ventilation for fettlers
working in the dust near the ovens.

Aisles and stairs.
Orderly arrangement of work and work tables is fundamental, to
the safety of workers. If crowded and cluttered, the value of wide
aisles is reduced if not entirely lost, and danger lurks where floors
are worn and slippery; yet neglect of such obvious hazards was indi
cated in several reports.
Aisles were narrow and crowded, floors were covered with litter.
Aisles Jammed with goods.
Stairs between cutting and operating floors were steep, narrow, dark, no
lights.
Floors rough, uneven, broken, and patched in spots.
Open unguarded window alongside stairs.

General safety.
As a whole the employers were safety conscious, but here and there
careless disregard of some of the essentials was all too evident.
For instance, in an occasional workroom there were unguarded
setscrews and belts and in some textile departments there was a maze
of overhead shafting and belts. Added to this, many of the floors
were oil-soaked and slippery and, as already described, aisles very
narrow and congested.
One factory with a bad reputation for accidents was known in the
neighborhood as the “slaughterhouse.” Comments in the Women’s
Bureau agent’s report read “aisles narrow,” “stairs steep, narrow,”
“machines so close that operators crawl around and under them to

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

remove containers from back of machines,” “some unguarded parts,”
“no cot, no nurse, first aid in charge of girl worker, sink dirty,
bandages exposed on open shelves.” Other bad conditions described
were “no rest room,” “toilets lacked privacy, as compartments had no
doors.”
Comments from other reports on first-aid provisions indicate con- ditions more or less typical in 8 firms.
No first-aid facilities.
Employees trained in first aid only persons responsible.
First aid in charge of 3 men only, though vast majority of plant are women.
Nurse on first shift, first-aid worker on second. No one on third shift.
No first-aid room or any place to put an ill or injured person except on a
cut of cloth on the floor or on the table.
First aid in charge of girl worker who seems very careless about washing
hands, sterilizing, and so forth. The cot is dirty.

In contrast were many descriptions of hospital rooms with modern
therapeutic equipment, of clinics conducted for employees, of trained
nurses in attendance 24 hours a day, and of preemployment physical
examinations followed by regular check-ups.
“Suitable” clothing was the standard in most plants and uniforms
of specified style and color were required in very few establishments.
The occupations of well over two-thirds of the women employed as
inspectors, bench hands, and so forth did not call for any special
safety precautions in the matter of dress. However, the attention
of 15 firms was directed to the very obvious need of safety caps in
machine shops, goggles in some grinding occupations, and the danger
of toeless and high-heel shoes.

Seats.
A seat should be available whether the job calls for sitting or for
standing, in order that from time to time the worker may momentar
ily lessen the fatigue from remaining in the same position. It is a
recognized fact that as fatigue increases, efficiency decreases, yet where
the most strenuous work was being done by women, inspection re
ports read as follows:
» No seats in weave room.

Only an occasional box in card room.
No seats whatever for mule and ring spinners, spoolers and winders.
Braiders stood as they watched their machines. No seats.
No seats in inlay department or sample room, tube department or pack
ing department.
No seat available for examiners. Manager complained that girls don’t
last long on this job.

In other cases reports described inadequate seating, and while the
work was less strenuous it was most exacting:
Twenty-five assemblers, crowded elbow to elbow, sat on a long bench at a
table. When one moved It disturbed all the others.
Girls on assembly were seated on stools too high for work level and knees
would not go under table.
There are boxes around and we can sit a moment if work is slack.
If the machines are running smoothly, we combtenders sometimes sit on
one of the cans to eat for about 10 minutes while we keep an eye on
the machine. Winders also sit on the cans.

Nurses in the textile plants referred to the unusual prevalence of
varicose veins among the women, which they attributed in great part

WOMEN

WORKERS

IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

to the constant standing or walking required by their jobs with very
rarely a chance to sit down. The women themselves, who were largely
middle-aged or older, often discussed it. “Young girls quit; they
can't stand it, the heat, the dampness, the aches.”
,

Job strains.
For the most part work was light and did not require much physical
strength, but there were exceptions where a little- consideration of
easing the job would have decreased fatigue immeasurably. For
example, in one factory the agent pointed out that short workers
obviously were having difficulty straining to reach parts of the ma
chine. The foreman replied that he always asked for tall girls for
those machines but that was all the good it did,
A few women were operating heavy “kick presses” and “jump
presses.” In one department where the operators were on a produc
tion bonus it was the firm’s policy to hire only young women for
this job, as they considered it too hard for older ones. An operator
only about 20 years old already had varicose veins. She said that
jumping two to three times on the treadle at each operation was a
great strain on feet and back.
Another whose work required continuous standing and lifting a
tray weighing about 25 pounds every 2V2 minutes commented, “This
is a woman’s job all right, all work and no pay.” (Her average
piece-work earnings were about 55 cents an hour.)
In one plant huge pieces of fabric were spread on the floor for the
cementing of the seams. The workers had to stoop over on their knees
or squat on the floor and slide along as they worked. Every inter
viewed woman employed here, whether hers was a cementing job or
not, commented on the wqrk.
*
It Is very hard on hands and knees.
I can use the money hut I’m tired, I’m always tired.
The company hires cheap’engineers. We work with a cement that gags us.
Fumes from cement make you drunk.
It takes strength ; you have to be extra husky to stand It.
The benzol makes us faint sometimes.
Only those who need the work stay.
Many come and leave. They get sick from the fumes.
I used to be polite and ask off, now I stay off.

Very different from the physical exertion required in the heavier
jobs was the boring monotony described by a girl in a mending depart
ment : “I sit all day and look and look. Most of us wear glasses”; or
by the woman who worked as an inspector 9 to 10 hours a day and
who commented, “It takes it out of you. You wear your nerves down
and it makes you irritable.”
A rest period to ease the eyes, a seat for occasional relief from the
fatigue of continuous standing, or a simple change in the job operation
to lessen the weight and reach would have reduced fatigue and strain
in practically all cases.

Service facilities.8
In most cases management realized that with the rapidly expanding
force of women there was increasing need of adequate service facilities,
0 For lunch facilities see pp. 20-24.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

often difficult to obtain under priority regulations. In anticipating
this expansion many had foreseen the difficulties of coping with the
situation of limited supplies and so were ready when expansion came.
In other places toilets and washrooms were inadequate to the point
of congestion, making it doubly difficult to maintain a satisfactory
standard of cleanliness of lavatories and an adequate towel supply.
Since most women are more affected than men are by dirty, dark, badly
ventilated, and disorderly surroundings, it is important that work
rooms and all service facilities be kept at least decently clean.
In 38 plants washrooms were crowded, cluttered, and indescribably
dirty, and in 10 plants the employment of matrons was recommended
to have the sole responsibility of maintaining high standards of clean
liness and to see that the women employees made the best use of the
facilities. Other suggestions made were for providing lights in dark
toilet compartments and doors for toilet units in a few mills and fac
tories so as to secure privacy. Where roughly improvised toilet rooms
had been constructed in workrooms, with partitions reaching only part
way to the ceiling, measures were suggested for completely inclosing
such rooms and providing for ventilation other than through the
workrooms.
Drinking-water facilities were noted as inadequate in some plants;
in one the only bubbler was located at the entrance to the men’s room.
It was of the insanitary type, with a vertical jet falling back on the
orifice, and the flow of water was so low as to be almost nil at times.
In another instance there was but one fountain for the entire plant,
employing a few hundred, and there was no water supply whatever
on the balcony where many worked.
Rest-room conveniences were entirely lacking in a number of fac
tories and in others they were wholly inadequate. Some of the in
spection reports on rest rooms read “only benches,” “no easy chair,”
“not a cot in the plant,” “guide explained that if a girl isn’t well she
can lie on a pile of goods (fabric material) on the floor,” “in case of
illness stretch out on bench.” Dressing rooms too needed attention in
some places; for example, the one in a textile mill supposed to accom
modate 200 women of which the agent reported, “Only 4 lockers and
a few wall hooks in very cramped quarters.” In contrast the dressing
room in another plant is described as “ample, clean, and well kept.”

ABSENCE AND TURN OVER
Among the topics covered in the plant interviews were absence and
turn-over, and it was apparent that the “uneasiness” of the times,
coupled with increased difficulties of adjustment to longer work hours
and other plant conditions, was reflected in some increase in absences
and quits. Expanding employment in many industries gave ample
opportunity for job hunting, and when one considers the unfavorable
conditions under which many employees were working it is not sur
prising that they were trying to better themselves.
Amazingly few firms had made any analysis of causes of absentee
ism or turn-over or had definite records showing the rates in either
case. Most were inclined to dismiss the subject with generalizations.
Of turn-over they said, “practically none,” “too small to reckon,” “very
low,” “fairly stable,” “about average”; or on the other hand turn-

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

over was reported as “increasing,” “higher recently,” “very great,”
“fairly heavy,” “losing our best workers, “terrific, for the young don’t
take their work seriously.”
Of the 121 firms that made some statement about turn-over, 95 re
ported it as “low” or showing “no increase.” In other words, it was
“no problem,” but for the other 26 firms it was increasing and in a
few cases badly out of control.
,
Firms seemed less aware of the problems of absenteeism than of
turn-over, and only 90 made any generalizations about it. Of these,
64 said it was “normal,” “not noticeable,” “nothing to complain of,”
“no alarming increase,” “generally excellent.” Twenty-six reported
the opposite picture, saying it was “increasing”, “becoming a problem,”
“bad on Monday,” “fair but too many off on Saturday,” “higher since
hiring women.” The 26 firms reporting turn-over as a problem were
not in all cases those that reported absenteeism as high.
Almost without exception, in those plants where the general im
pression of management was that turn-over and absenteeism were high,
explanation for much of this could be found in work conditions as
disclosed either in reports of the factory visit or in interviews with
the employees such as have been listed in the preceding pages.
For instance, in a factory where the manager reported turn-over
as “terrific,” 60 cents an hour was reported as the usual maximum
earnings for experienced workers in power sewing and electric fabric
cutting.
Another owner said, “Whenever Company X advertises for girls, we
can count on losing a lot of ours the next day.” Every girl interviewed
from this firm was critical of the wages. After working here 2 years,
carrying bundles, turning collars, and so on, a floor girl still was earn
ing 40 cents an hour. Others on more skilled operations, as pocket and
collar setting, were averaging around $25 to $30 a week.
Turn-over was reported as “fairly heavy” by a long-established
firm that had expanded considerably for war work. That it was “fairly
heavy” was very easy to believe, for of the employees visited, all of
whom were selected by the firm, few had been with the company as
long as a year. The employment of the others had been limited to
a few weeks or months.
The firm’s beginning rate was 40 cents an hour and the women’s
usual rate was 50 cents; a supervisor was earning 55 cents an hour,
but this included the special bonus for work on the second shift. The
following are some comments made by the employees. They give fur
ther indication of why the turn-over was high:
Girls complain more about wages than anything else. They leave after
getting experience because then they can make more in other places.
After a few months the new girls make the same as older employees.
We’re not complaining of the hours; we have to work all 7 days to make any
money. (Work schedule called for 7 days a week.)

Another small clothing manufacturer said he had 50 replacements
a month. The report of the Women’s Bureau agent who visited his
plant, as well as comments of his workers, none of whom had been
employed there over 6 months and all of whom had been recommended
by the owner for interviews, pointed to conditions which might well
have been the cause of his turn-over troubles. They reported a steady
grind of 53 hours a week under driving pressure to finish heavy

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

army coats. Pressers were working under the handicap of antiquated
equipment in bad repair and there was no means of escape from the
excessive steam and heat which sewing-machine operators working
alongside the pressers found unbearable. Sanitary arrangements
were limited and roller towels were changed only twice a week.
In summing up the situation in one factory a woman remarked:
“This factory is not a sweatshop, but one or two foremen who are
trying to make a record for themselves bring undue pressure for
production. Mr. -------- is one of the finest employers you would
want to have, but the people he hires for bosses are not so good and
the girls won’t put up with them.”
Management had made a few efforts to improve high turn-over with
more or less success. One said it was “lower since the second shift
was abandoned,” employees here being chiefly young women on sewing
operations. But the most outstanding example in reducing turn
over was made by a firm reporting that it had been “terrible” for the
past year but had decreased noticeably with a recent increase of 50 per
cent in the wage scale.
One company that in converting to war products had lengthened its
hours to 10 a day and 54 a week reported the increase in absences as
“noticeable and serious.” Management attributed it to the longer
hours.
This year has opened up a picture that is new with the longer hours. Many
employees simply cannot work the 10-hour day for any period of time.
At present a large number of people are employed who are not physically
able to cope with the long hours and the increased rate of production.
Saturday absences may be due to an accumulation of weariness from the
long days.

This company also attributed some of its turn-over to a general
spirit of restlessness that was evident everywhere.
No understanding of absenteeism is possible without some informa
tion relative to women’s home jobs of housekeeping and homemaking.
For this reason, among the questions asked the women interviewed
was whether or not they carried the major part of the housekeeping
load. Of the married and widowed group slightly less than threefifths had young children. Many said they had help with the wash
ing, or a relative did the shopping, or a daughter did many of the
chores. In fact, others helped to such an extent that many reported
they “shared” the household cares rather than carried the major
responsibility. Occasionally a woman had “paid help once in a while.
I couldn’t do my job unless I had some help.” However, two-fifths
of all the women living at home carried the major load with little
or no assistance from others, and about three-fourths of the mothers,
not a few of whom had as many as 3, 4, or 5 children, had this heavy
responsibility in addition to the factory job. A mother of 3, ages
11, 12, and 14, herself a widow who worked 8 hours a day and 6 days
a week, said she had “everything to do—cooking, cleaning, sewing—
work all the time—never time to rest.” Single girls also had home
responsibilities, as in the case of a young woman who was keeping
house for her father and brother. She was getting the supper when
agent called on her, at 7 o’clock, after she had worked a 10-hour day
in the factory. As she described her cares, tears came to her eyes.
“No kidding, I’m so tired sometimes I don’t know whether I’m
coming or going.” She cleans and bakes nights and Sundays. “I

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

don’t have any time to go out.” Then with more enthusiasm she
spoke of her factory job: “It is a good place to work • it is the easiest
work I ever had.” (She had done housework and laundry work
previously.) “My job never makes me tired. I can get out my quota
easily.”
In one or two firms overworked personnel directors suggested that
the Women’s Bureau agents visit some of their chronic absentees.
Among these and others interviewed were women of all ages, with
long and short work histories in various industries. Most of them
had heavy duties at home, a condition perhaps contributing as much
as the physical requirements of the factory job to the lowered energy
and fatigue of which so many complained. The story of one of them
is typical of many of the others. In this case a mother of two children
aged 5 and 7 had managed to work 2 years in the factory that for
tunately for her was within walking distance of her home. Her main
problem was securing adequate care for the children 6 days a week
and 7 days when she worked Sundays. She explained further that
she could make better arrangements if she could “work steady on the
day shift, ’ for she wTas rotating 'weekly on a work schedule from 7
a. m. to 3:30 p. m. to one from 3:30 p. m. to 12 midnight. Her
husband wavs away from home most of the time and a niece, a liighschool girl, and also a brother of 16 years had been “coming to help
out.” Even when she was on the nrst shift it was impossible to
depend on the day nursery, as it did not open until 8 in the morn
ing. One of her final comments was, “I may have to give up my job.”
Another worry of the mothers was the lack of permanency in the
arrangements they could make for child care. Even when home
affairs were running smoothly, past experience had taught them
how temporary the present program might be and how suddenly
and without warning it might collapse.
In an effort to overcome the irregular attendance of the work force
a number of firms had resorted to punitive measures, some so extreme
that they might easily increase rather than decrease the instability.
Such was the policy of discharging employees if absent except for ill
ness, reported by a few companies. The policy of others was to remove
names from the pay roll after very short absences, necessitating the
routine of reinstatement upon return to work and occasionally entail
ing a physical check-up by plant medical departments.
More effective measures were in use elsewhere. In several firms that
realized that illness is the cause of much absence, plant nurses called
at the homes of those reported ill, and it was also customary on the
worker’s return to report to the medical department. Following this
policy of investigating each absence, many had effected a marked
improvement. The most outstanding change was reported by a large
firm employing hundreds that reduced absences by as much as 80
percent by this method.
The interviews do not indicate to what ex'cut transportation was a
problem, as addresses for home visits were selected when possible with
a view of economizing the time and effort of the visitor. In conse
quence, over two-fifths of the workers visited lived within walking
distance of the factory, but records of others showed the workdays
lengthened at each end by interminable car rides and several transfers.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

MORALE
Naturally, the employees were more happily adjusted to the work In
some establishments than in others. Judging from the attitude of the
workers visited, the morale was very low in some 20 plants. The
women from these plants seemed to be unaware of the importance of
their jobs to the war effort; they had no enthusiasm for their work and
were lacking in respect and loyalty to their firms. Though this ex
treme indifference was not true of any great number of companies,
employees in at least one-third of all the plants had no conception of
their job responsibilities; theirs wTas merely work to be done and they
would do it. On the other hand there could be no doubt about the im
portance of the war effort in the minds of many girls like the one "who,
after discussing the fatigue resulting from the 9i/j>-hour day on 6
days a week, added eagerly, “But they don’t push us and they’re so
good to us that we’re glad to work like that. I would like my Satur
days free but during these times we’re all pulling.”
As always, there were clashes between personalities. If the difficult
person was not the foreman, it was some other of the “bosses.”
Some of the bosses holler and talk to the girls like dogs.
Too many bosses put us on edge.
Mechanics do not keep the drills sharp, especially at night.
Not enough supervisors. (By Inspectors not sure what “to pass” and what
“to throw out.” Apparently the tendency was to approve when in doubt.)

An analysis of the standards and policies in the 20 plants with the
lowest morale among the workers explained in many cases the unhappy
adjustments and this all too evident lack of interest and loyalty. Not
all the gains from good ventilation, cleanliness, and adequate service
arrangements can be measured directly in terms of production. To
illustrate the relation between bad plant conditions and low plant
morale, case histories of four plants follow. All represent admittedly
extreme situations and are not typical of the group, but they do indicate
how great an effort some concerns must make before their employee
attitudes can be changed. Use has been made of both plant-inspection
reports and employee interviews.

Plant 1.
Hundreds of women were employed here; in fact, women consti
tuted about two-thirds of the working force. Their occupations were
chiefly assembling and inspecting small parts, many infinitesimally
small yet vital to the war effort. Nothing could be more “awfully tire
some,” more “monotonous and deadening.” Those of the workers wTho
were interviewed represent a cross-section of the group and various
occupations in all parts of the building. The interviews described the
girls who supplied the information as conservative, cautious, fair,
reluctant, refined, and only one as aggressive.
The many repetitions in their statements showed agreement not only
among the women workers themselves but with the report of the
Women’s Bureau agent who went through the factory. The low state
of morale in the plant undoubtedly was due in large part to the physical
conditions throughout the factory. Though complaints were made
about wages, which ran around $17, $18, and $20, adjectives sometimes
failed the women in attempting to describe their shop environment.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

The briefed comments that follow suggest only mildly the actual
conditions:
1. From agent’s report.
Definite need of paint and repair. Floors unnecessarily filthy from dirt and
grease. Toilets inadequate in number and filthy. Cafeteria dirty, dingy.
No rest room. Very inadequate cloakroom; nails and hangers in com
partment adjoining only 1 of the 5 toilet rooms. Plant unusually hot.
Nurse’s report shows that many faint from extreme heat.

2. From interviews with women employed.
General repair and housekeeping
The roof leaks In many places and the floors are a mess.
You should see us fly to pull the work around when it rains.
Rats as big as cats run around the workroom and roaches crawl up the walls.
The company rents the building and it has not had much repair for 30 years.
There just doesn’t seem to be anybody there to keep things nice.
The whole place is run down.
Ventilation
Nothing to blow out the air. Small windows on one side and only a few
will open.
The heat was terrible. I work next to the ovens. (Had fainted.)
It is hot to work there. A fan is brought back and forth j sometimes we have
it and sometimes we don’t. It doesn’t belong to us.
The taste of paint is in your throat all the time. (One of the few spray
painters. Solderers also complained of fumes.)
Toilets and tmshrooms
They are too dirty to talk about.
The floor is cleaned once a week and most of the time it is terrible.
Half of them don’t flush.
Wash bowls don’t drain well.
The doors are broken and don't fasten.
Clean sometimes and sometimes it isn’t.
Present carelessness of girls due to spirit of revenge for lack of nicer facilities.
Cloak rooms
You put your coat where you find a place to hook it up.
Hang coat on the pile; not room for all. Can only get a hanger when you
duck one so the others can’t find it.
No place to put anything.
Rest room
There is not a chair in the place. If a girl feels sick there is no place to
put her.
I hear that some places have nice rooms with lockers, chairs, and magazines.
There is not a chair in the washroom except a three-legged one that throws
you.
Cafeteria
It is too dirty for people to eat in. The roaches and birds keep it dirty.
Too many cockroaches, rats, and birds.
Drinking .water
There are bubbler fountains but the flow of water is irregular and sometimes
barely comes over the mouth of the fountain.

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

Plant 2.
In another plant, relations between management and labor had
been strained almost to the breaking point, but on talking with some
of the women employed it was not difficult to discover the causes.
In this case also the company cooperated in furnishing names and
addresses of employees, and the Women’s Bureau, at the request of
the company, summarized for it the outstanding comments covered in
the home interviews, of course without identification of employees.
Most of the women interviewed, aware of the delicate relations,
were reserved in their comments. None were emotional, yet it was
apparent that failure in the past to recognize the importance of human
relations had left resentment. Few women realized the importance of
their jobs to the war effort and ‘ except in a very general way, they
did not know the ultimate use of the small parts on which they were
working. Their attitude was, “It is cheap stuff. It doesn’t matter
how many we break.” Ignorance of elements used in the composition
of the material made it a mysterious evil, a something to be feared and
a something much discussed by the employees. It was variously re
ported by several to have been the cause of bad coughs, of sinus, throat,
and eye infections as well as skin rashes, yet, little had been done to
dispel their fears or to control the hazard, which management claimed
was imaginary.
Management agreed that criticism of the inadequacy of job train
ing was well founded, as was that of idle equipment and the very low
staffing of the second and third shifts. Under these.circumstances, the
employees argued, it was no worse for a worker to be absent than for
machines to stand motionless. Their references to absences and quit
ting the job were most frank. The 7-day week coupled with home re
sponsibilities accounted for much of the absenteeism. The 7-day week
had been exhausting, and though the work schedule had recently been
reduced to a 6-day week they found that it still was necessary to take
a day off now and then to keep up with even a limited amount of house
hold duties. The women volunteered the information that, as an ab
sence report was required on return to work, they customarily said
their absence was due to illness, regardless of the actual cause/
The workers’ repeated references to “wooden benches,” “crowded
toilet rooms,” “no lunchroom,” “no rest room” indicated the need of im
proved plant facilities. Almost all those interviewed referred to the
ventilation, complaining not only of the “cold in winter and heat in
summer” and “the floors over the ovens too hot to stand on,” but “the
gas fumes that make us faint; they had to stretch out a dozen of us at
once on the grass.” Management was said to be working on the prob
lem of fumes but it was a condition of long standing.
Here too, as elsewhere, wages were a cause of much ill feeling. The
lant had earned a reputation of paying low wages in the past and
ad much to live down. Management was aware of the fact that fre
quently green girls came here to gain machine experience and left for •
better pay elsewhere as experienced operators.
Plant 3.
Excerpts from the agent’s report on another plant in the low-morale
group indicate especially bad working conditions. “Inadequate means
of ventilation. Women have left because they could not stand the

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

strong fumes from the synthetic rubber with which they worked. Not
a seat in some departments. Stools in others, but not adequate. No
lunchroom and no provision for food. No dressing room but nails
in wall of toilet room 12 inches too high to reach conveniently. No
lace for shoes. Room disorderly. No space set aside for first aid.”
ut the women workers who were interviewed from this factory stressed
chiefly the fatigue, strains, and hazards of their jobs. It is noteworthy
that though in practically all plants employees were glad to work over
time for the extra money, in this instance where there was no overtime
they expressed relief that the workweek was not longer than 40 hours
as their jobs were so very tiring. They had no desire to work over
time in spite of its extra compensation. “I would rather have Sat
urday free even though I lose the extra overtime money. I get very
tired.”
They referred to the strain of holding the arms at head level to
work. Others had a strenuous and disagreeable job winding canvas
from heavy rolls very tightly around large frames and then apply
ing a liquid rubber coating. It was necessary to work in a team of two
in order to pass the canvas roll back and forth securely. Everything
they moved or handled became smeared with rubber, that ruined cover
alls and shoes. To get hot water for washing, the girls carried it in
buckets from the boiler room. To cap the climax, the production
rate had been doubled but at the same time the piece rate had been cut.

Plant 4.
In a plant that had recently converted to war work making very
small metal parts, management was much disturbed because their
younger women employees were constantly “job shopping” and other
firms were pirating their labor by offering better jobs at better pay.
They said that girls were absent more now than when they had been
on civilian production and that they did not work so hard as they had
done in peacetime. They complained that their labor troubles were
almost beyond control, and that the grievances usually involved the
women and seldom the men. Incidentally, the men as a whole were
an older, skilled, and experienced group of workers, holding the key
jobs, while the women constituted over two-thirds of the force and
were decidedly young, with little or no work experience.
The director of personnel attributed the increasing absences to the
fact that the women were making more money now and could afford
to take a day off.
But most revealing were the comments of the women whose names
and addresses were furnished by the company. The matter of wages
was a sore point with them, in spite of the fact that within the year
the starting rate had been raised from 35 to 45 cents and most women
were now on the 45-cent rate. Further, through recent union negotia
tions, when girls had been with the firm a year they received an in
crease from their former 40-cent rate to 50 cents; but girls longer with
the firm had not fared correspondingly well. One woman, after 7
years of service, was earning 54y2 cents an hour. All realized that
many plants had higher wage scales and felt that there was little
chance of advancement in the job or wages here.
Another reason why many did not stay was the nature of the work.
Those with experience described the starting job as monotonous and

WOMEN WORKERS IN EXPANDING WARTIME INDUSTRIES

tedious. “The girls don’t like the job. It is constant hand rubbing
and often irritates the skin.” An older woman commented, “If they
would stay long enough they’d get used to it.”
The plant was operating a 10-hour day and 54-hour week, exclusive
of a break at noon of half an hour. A rivet-machine operator com
plained that it became very fatiguing and she had noted a definite lag
m her production toward the end of the day. Another young woman
who found the overtime too much felt that the overtime pay could
never compensate for the increased fatigue. Other vexing little an
noyances were complained of. The women felt that they were “being
watched constantly,” and as an example of policing they cited the
locking of toilet rooms and the need of signing for the key. The girls
objected to being “bawled out” if away from the work bench more than
5 minutes. They insisted that management discouraged their wash
ing up even when they did it after the quitting hour on their own time.
Though seemingly trivial matters, such things as these point to begin
nings of maladjustments that may lead to real issues. Nothing could
be worse for morale and efficient production.

Full text of Women Workers in Some Expanding Wartime Industries: New Jersey, 1942 : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 197

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