Evening star., 1942-03-09
Women Workers Help
Solve Aircraft Problem
Correspondent Soys Wives
And Sisters of PIone Builders
Hove Joined Production Line


And Sisters of PIone Builders
Hove Joined Production Line
By Harold Keen.
SAN DIEGO, Calf, March S.-Hiring
OF women In numbers undreamed Of six
months ago may provide the solution
harassed aircraft plant executives are
seeking to the problem Of stabilized
labor supply. This is dramtically being
illustrated here In the Nations hottest"
defense spot, where 500 newcomers are
flocking every week for an industrial
pot of gold.
Because mere employment In an air.
craft plant is not considered grounds for
deferment by selective service oficials,
employment managers here already are
hestitating to hire men under %. Re-
cent draft registration of men in the
20-44 age group has made vulnerable
to plucking by the armed forces al
most the entire male payroll Of such
giant plants as Consolidated Aircraft
Corp, where . majority of the tens Of
tilOuooASAo OA WI ACAc olC youASotSlo WAIh
little more than = years experience.
Unless the employer can prove. every
six months, that the worker Is indispen-
sable. he has to hunt q replacement. And
this fear of . constant turnover, harm
full to production, Is causing . reorien-
tation of attitude toward women workers.
A few months ago, the hiring OF women
by Consolidated was looked upon here
as an experiment of dubious value. To-
day it Is considered an ever growing
necessity, and 80 per cent of the pre-
employment training for positions in the
aircraft industry here Is being given to
women.
Large-scale use Of women in assembly
line operations has its advocate in Tom
Girdler. the hard-bitten Republic Steel
Co. head, who has taken the reins at
Consolidated for the duration.
"A woman Is less inclined to become
bored with the monotonous routine of
the assembly line" he comments. And
she's usually more proficient in certain
painstaking jobs. such as electrical as
semblies, where defines OF hands Is re-
quired"
Defense training educators believe that
any retooling Of the aircraft industry
with mass production rs its goal should
take into consideration the inevitable
employment Of large numbers of women.
Tool designers must begin thinking
OF machinery in terms OF the ability Of
women to operate them" declared
Thomas A. Watson, supervisor of the
University Of CALIFORNIA; tool engineer
ing defense training program recently
established in San Diego for the air
craft industry.
"Payrolls In such defense centers rs
San Diego, where the reservoir Of man
power has been virtually exhausted, can
be enlarged today without importing
labor from outside. Production can be
increased by hiring women already re-
siding in the community"
This Is OF particular significance to
cities like San Diego, where the aircraft
industry estimates 1t will need ut least
$4,000 more workers by October to add to
its present total Of 1000.
Municipalities already overburdened
with terrific problems Of housing, water
supply. sanitation and trafnc caused by
an influx Of thousands Of defense work.
ers depend on the employment of women
residents for . partial solution.
That was the motive behind Consoli.
dateds unique policy OF restricting wom-
en- applicants to wives or relatives of
men already employed in the plant.
The rule has been hberalized, but still
operates to block . large hegira of
women jobseekers from outside the city.
The pre-war prejudice against both
husband and wife holding full time Jobs
has broken down completely in todays
stress. Families that q year or two ago
were struggling to keep on the relief
rolls are earning = combined husband
wife income approaching 500 weekly in
San Diego. where Consolidated workers
compile some Of the biggest overtime
records in the industry in work weeks
ranging up to s. hours.
Before going About on EMPLOYMENT
for women. Southern Californias air.
craft manufacturers have insisted that
the State law setting q 48-hour ceiling
on the female work week be suspended
for the war.
Plant efficiency. they argue, il i'm
peded when work shifts Of men and
women are Of different durations.
though they perform the same tasks.
Among the most remarkable aspects
Of the changing employment picture in
the vital aircraft industry is that with
out = struggle California women have
established their right to pay rates equal
to that Of men. The work they are
performing today in aircraft plants was
at one time considered exclusive male
property. Hitherto restricted to such
typicany feminine occupations as sew
ing Of fabric for wings, the fair sex now
has gone into defense work with a
vengeance. Today you'll find women
sheet metal workers, stock clerks, riv-
eters, welders and inspectors.
And soon the Nation will hear of
draftswomen as we'll as craftsmen.
Training OF college women to take posi-
tions in engineering drafting rooms
already has begun in Southern Cali
fornia.
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