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Footnotes 1303
53 per cent and 93 per cent. ... In the first quarter of 1941 16 per cent of all white
placements compared to 1.9 per cent of all nonwhite placements were made in either
skilled or professional occupations. In the first quarter of 1942 the corresponding pro-
portions were 14.6 per cent of all white placements, and only 1.2 per cent of all non-
white placements.” {The Labor Market [June, 1942], p. ii.)
These figures, however, are not quite representative. It appears that the Employment
Service handles a larger part of the turnover in unskilled than in skilled occupations.
A comparison with Edwards’ classification indicates that there is a much higher propor-
tion of skilled, clerical, and professional workers in the total labur force than in the
Employment Service placements. (U. S. Bureau of the Census, Alba M. Edwards,
Social-Economic Grouping of the Gainful Workers in the United States^ 1930 [1938],
p. 7.) The Employment Service data, furthermore, cannot cover promotions of workers
within an establishment.
® War Production Board, Statistics Division, “State Distribution of War Supply and
Facility Contracts, June 1940 through May 1942” (mimeographed, June 30, 1942).
® Robert C. Weaver, “Racial Employment Trends in National Defense,” Part II,
Phylon (F’irst Quarter, 1942), p. 28; Federal Security Agency, Social Security Board,
Bureau of Employment Security, Negro Workers and the National Defense Program
(September 16, 1941)9 p. 5> Robert C. Weaver, “With the Negro’s Help,” Atlantic
Monthly (June, 1942), pp. 699-700; interviews with Lester B. Granger, Executive
Secretary, National Urban League (August 10, 1942), and Paul H. Norgren, War
Production Board, Labor Division (August 3, 1942).
“Throughout the country there was a heavy demand for unskilled labor needed
for the construction of airports, military cantonments, barracks. . . . Negro unskilled
labor shared substantially in these employment opportunities and benefited by the wage
rates paid on these projects, which were generally higher than wages usually earned in
unskilled work.
“The extraordinary demand for skilled construction workers, particularly carpenters
. . . resulted in many job opportunities particularly for union members. There is evi-
dence, however, that in some localities, in spite of the acute shortage of carpenters,
Negroes were not employed. In skilled building trades occupations other than carpenters
and cement finishers, and to some extent, bricklayers and masons, there is no evidence
that discriminatory practices were being noticeably relaxed.” {Negro Workers and the
National Defense Program^ p. 5.)
Weaver (“Racial Employment Trends in National Defense,” Part I, pp. 352-356)
cites a number of instances where Negro carpenters have been employed on defense
projects—and others where they have not been able to get in. As a result of increased
employment there was a growth in the number and strength of Negro carpenters’ locals.
Some other building crafts, however, have maintained a more consistent exclusionistic
policy. The President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practice found in 1942 that
the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers’ Union excluded Negroes from membership; that
the Union for several years had had a written agreement with the Plumbing Contractors’
Association of Chicago, according to which the contractors were to accept as workers
on certain defense projects (Great Lakes Naval Training Station and the Cabrini Hous-
ing Project) only plumbers who were members of the union; and that Negroes, for
this reason, had been unable to work as plumbers on those projects. The Committee
directed that these practices be abolished. (“Summary of Hearings on Complaints of
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