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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 - 9. Railroad Workers - 10. Tobacco Workers
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Appendix 6. Conditions of Negro Wage Earner 1107
One group of Negro railroad workers stands somewhat apart: the Pullman porters,
dining car waiters, redcaps, and other railroad service workers. In spite of the fact that
total railroad employment was no larger in 1930 than in 1910, the number of Negro
railroad service workers doubled during this period, and the absolute number of Negro
workers in the group (37,000) was larger than is to be found in most manufacturing
industries. The reason is that Negroes have a near-monopoly on these jobs, even though
there has been some competition from Mexicans and Filipinos during recent years, and
even from whites in certain cities.®
This has been the field of the most successful independent Negro unionism. After
trying in vain for more than a decade to institute an efficient organization, the Pullman
porters, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, finally succeeded in 1925 in
organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which now has about 10,000
members. In 1936 it got an international A.F. of L. charter, and after great difficulties,
because of the unwillingness of the Pullman Company to recognize it as bargaining
agent for the porters, it succeeded in 1937 in making the company sign a contract in
which certain improvements in the conditions of work were granted. The wage rates
for Pullman porters now vary between $89.50 and $114 per month, depending on
years of service and type of work. Extra pay is received when the working time
exceeds 240 hours a month. In addition, porters receive tips.*^ Another powerful Negro
union is the United Transport Workers of America which includes redcaps, dining car
waiters and others.®
10. Tobacco Workers
There have been two opposing trends afifecting the Negroes position In the tobacco
industry. From a national viewpoint, he has often gained, but only for the reason that
Southern manufacturing, both absolutely and relatively, has become more important.
On the other hand, in those Southern states where the majority of the Negro tobacco
workers are occupied, white workers have, at times, made substantial gains at the
expense of the Negro.
Let us consider, first, the national trend during the last decades. The tobacco industry
underwent a rapid expansion during the First World War, but during the ’twenties
there was a tremendous decline in employment due, largely, to mechanization. The net
effect was that the total number of workers dropped 23 per cent between 1910 and
1930.^ The depression in the ’thirties, of course, brought about further declines.
According to the Census of Manufacturers, the tobacco industry had 25 per cent fewer
workers in 1939 than in 1929.
In 1930 there were 34,000 Negroes in the industry, only one-tenth of whom resided
outside the South. The Negro had had a larger share in the employment gains during
the First World War and a smaller share in the subsequent losses than the white worker.
By 1930 there were 35 per cent more Negro workers In the industry than in 1910, and
• Charles S. Johnson, “Negroes in the Railway Industry, Part 2,” p. 202. Interview by
Gunnar Myrdal with white “redcap” Kansas City, Kansas, March 20, 1940.
Brief History of the Organizing of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, an
International Union,” undated typescript issued by the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
Sec also, Charles S. Johnson, “Negroes in the Railway Industry^ Part 2,” pp. 203-204.
* Florence Murray (editor), TAe Negro Handbook (i<942), p. 136.
® Thirteenth Census of the United States: igso, Pofulation, Vol. 4, p. 396.
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