The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-25
Labor Fact Book
II. DiScIOSeS Less
Jobs for Negroes

Of the 5,5OO000 Negroes listed as
v gainfully occupied in the 1880
census, approximately q per cent
we're jobless in 1928, according to
Labor Research Association in its
Labor Fact Book II, Just published
by International Publishers.
Under the N. R. A., the dispro-
portion in the number Of iobless
Negroes to the rest of the popula-
ton rose to even higher figures" the
Labor Fact Book states. "Destitu
ton was twice as great among Ne
gro families as the average for the
country, according to unemployment
relief census taken in October, 1888,
by the federal government.
"The Migrant Welfare Commits
sion reported to the New Jersey
state legislature on January Is, 1884,
that rs per cent of the Negroes in
the state were unemployed.
"An unemployment survey Of Ala
bama reported in January, 1884,
that of the $4,000 unemployed in
that state, 10000 were Negroes.
"In Is cities, it was found that
375 per cent of the Negroes in all
occupations were unemployed: 81
per cent in the manufacturing and
mechanical industries; 30.7 per cent
in the domestic and personal serv-
ice; 301 per cent of those in trans
portation and communication and
28.5 Of those in trade.
Conditions of Negroes have
grown worse under the N R. A.
With the adoption of NJ R. A. codes,
thousands have been fired and re-
placed by white workers on jobs
where Negroes were being paid less
than the established minimum wage
scales. Low N. r. A. wage mini
NUNS were considered too much
money for Negroes The federal
government itself has given legal
sanction to the discrimination po-
Icy, long the practice of southern
employers, by providing lower wage
scales in southern states aimed es-
pecially at Negroes. Black workers
in some instances are exempt even
from the low minimums of the code.
1.-THE cotton textile code, ap-
proved by President Roosevelt with
its $12 weekly wage minimum and
40-hour maximum week for the
South, exempted outside workers,
cleaners and yardsmen from these
provisions. In the South, most OF
those engaged in these occupations
are Negroes-some 10000 out of the
$4,000 Negroes in the industry be-
ing thus affected.
1.-THE lumber industry's code pro-
vide a 23c hourly minimum in the
South where most of the workers
in this industry are Negroes. Negro
saw mill operators, for example, are
getting as much as $3.50 a week less
than western white workers on the
same jobs. The bituminous coal
industry established an hourly rate
of 421ac in Alabama, Georgia and
southern Tennessee. Wage rates
with differentials up to 80 per cent
have been set up in the South under
N. R. A. Codes.
1.-THE code for the laundry in
dustry set wage rates in six zones,
one as low as 14c an hour for a
45-hour week in the seven southern
states. Thousands of Negro women
employed in the industry might
thus earn as little as $3.50 for
full-time week. In supporting this
proposal, southern employers de-
clared that if they were forced to
pay higher rates than these, they
they would fire the black workers
and hire whites.
employers, after signing N. R. A.
codes. have continued to pay low
wages and have even threatened
Negroes who dare resist. The Scripto
Mfg. Co., pencil factory in Atlanta,
Ga. employing about 100 Negroes
at from &c to 49, an hour, addressed
a message TO all colored employees
which said that:
of the false friends Of the
colored people do not stop their
propaganda about paying tne
same wages to colored and white
employees this company will be
forced to move the factory to
section where the minimum wage
will produce the greatest produc-
ton"
Labor Fact Book II by Labor Re
search Association includes 10 chap
tiers and comprises a book OF 22z
pages of facts all workers should
have readily available for reference:
You can get this handbook OF
conveniently arranged data on the
labor movement from your local
workers Bookshop, or from inter-
national Publishers, 381 Fourth Ave,
New York City. At Csc, the popular
cloth-bound edition is real par
gain.