A Row of Dilapidated Old Dwellings in the Downtown Section Used as Rooming Houses for Migrants.
An official of a very powerful Union which has a membership of nearly five thousand said that it had about five colored members. He admitted that there are several hundred Negroes working in the same trade in this city, but his organization does not encourage them to organize and will admit one of them only when he can prove his ability in his work—a technical excuse for exclusion. This official was a man who was born in the South; he believed in the inferiority of the Negro, deplored the absence of a Jim Crow system, and was greatly prejudiced.
Another official of an even more powerful trade union was greatly astonished when he learned that there are white people who take an interest in the Negro question. He absolutely refused to give any information and did not think it was worth while to answer such questions, although he admitted that his union had no colored people and would never accept them. There are, however, several hundred Negroes working at this trade in the city. White members related numerous incidents of white unionists leaving a job when a colored man appeared. Several other unions visited had no Negroes in the union although there were some local colored people in their respective trades.
The typical attitude of the complacent trade unionist is illustrated by a letter which was written by a very prominent local labor leader, a member of the “Alliance for Labor and Democracy” in answer to certain questions asked him. This official refused to state anything orally, and asked that the questions be put to him in writing. His answers, we may presume, have been carefully worded after considerable contemplation of the problem.
The letter begins: “While I do not wish to appear evasive, I do not think some of the questions should have been asked me at this time.” Questions and answers follow:
Q. Number of white members in the Union?
A. Our Union has had a growth of one hundred percent in the past six months in the Pittsburgh district.
Q. Number of colored people in the Union?
A. None.
Q. Has there been an increase in the colored labor in your trade within the last year? If so, state approximately the proportion.