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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Appendices - 6. Pre-War Conditions of the Negro Wage Earner in Selected Industries and Occupations - 6. The Fertilizer Industry - 7. Longshore Work
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Appendix 6. Conditions of Negro Wage Earner 1097
Hours Law. This figure, however, does not necessarily indicate widespread ncncompli-
ance; since the fertilizer factories work for local markets to a great extent, it is probable
that many of them seldom enter interstate trade. In spite of this condition, it seems
most likely that the subsequent rise in the legal minimum, as well as the enforcement
work of the Wages and Hours Division in the Department of Labor, has brought about
a certain increase in the average Southern wage since 1938.*
7. Longshore Work
The Negro longshoreman has a somewhat different position from that of the workers
in most other Negro jobs.** His wages are comparatively high, although much less so
on an annual than on an hourly basis. There is an old union tradition in this trade
which includes racial collaboration. While such collaboration is by no means perfect,
it is far superior to anything that can be found in most other typical Negro jobs. The
Negro has even managed to get an increased proportion of these jobs. In those South
Atlantic ports of Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida where he has traditionally had
at least nine out of every ten jobs, he has maintained that proportion. He has even
improved his position as indicated by the following figures:
TABLE 7
Percentage of Negroes Among Longshoremen and Stevedores in Selected States:
1910 AND 1930
State 1910 1930 State 1910 1930
New York 6.0 15.2 Alabama 80.5 95.8
New Jersey 32.2 Louisiana 59.8 74.3
Pennsylvania 40.5 51.8 Texas 35-3 69.8
Maryland 65.0 68.6
Sources: Thirteenth Census of the United States: jpjo. Population, Vol. 4, State Table 7.
Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Population, Vol. 4. State Table ii.
The total number of Negro longshoremen and stevedores increased from 16,000 in
1910 to over 25,000 in 1930, or from one-fourth to one-third of the total national
labor force in the occupation. All of this increase occurred between 1910 and 1920
when there was a general boom in port activities. During the ’twenties, on the other
hand, there was a decline in employment which hurt the white workers more than the
Negroes. There was a decline during the ’thirties, of course, and both racial groups
must have suffered heavily from it, but Northrup, during his fieldwork, gained the
definite impression that the relative position of the Negro workers had not been
impaired, at least not in the South. The only possible exception would be New Orleans.®
There are definite reasons why the Negro does not have his usual inferior .position
in water-front work. No great differences exist between various skilled groups. All that
• All data in this paragraph have been drawn from Norgren and Associates, of. cit,y
Part 1.
**
This section is based on Herbert R. Northrup, “Negro Labor and Union Policies in the
South,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University (1942). Some preliminary work for
this thesis was done for our study.
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