5. CLASSIFICATION OF NEGRO WORKERS
An accurate classification of Negro laborers into skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled would help to an understanding of the position of the Negro in industry. In manufacturing, such a classification was attempted, but the results were unsatisfactory. These classes cannot be strictly defined, and different employers give them different meanings. In a number of important cases employers reported the total number of skilled and unskilled, and that figures for each class could not be compiled without great labor. In all such cases the total is listed as "unskilled." This class is thus unduly enlarged at the expense of the semi-skilled and the skilled. So the number of semi-skilled workers appears to be less than the skilled. These facts show that accuracy cannot be claimed for the classification in Table XXV.
| Industry | Number of Establishments | Total Negroes | Skilled | Semi-skilled | Unskilled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box manufacturing | 3 | 143 | ... | ... | 143 |
| Clothing | 9 | 203 | 57 | 29 | 117 |
| Cooperage | 2 | 106 | 8 | 45 | 53 |
| Food products[64] | 8 | 7,597 | 229 | 12 | 7,356 |
| Iron and steel | 27 | 3,879 | 434 | 180 | 3,265 |
| Tanneries | 7 | 462 | 175 | ... | 287 |
| Miscellaneous | 10 | 139 | 24 | 1 | 114 |
| Total[65] | 66 | 12,529 | 927 | 267 | 11,335 |
The attempt to classify Negro workers according to occupation failed because the necessary information was not obtainable, especially from large employers. Nevertheless the number of workers in certain occupations reported by a few establishments is suggestive of the fields recently opened to Negroes in Chicago. In 1910[66] there were only thirty-one Negro molders in Chicago, while in 1920 there were 304 reported by ten establishments. In 1910 there were but twenty-eight factory sewers or machine operators, while in 1920 there were 382 in twelve factories. In 1910 there were 934 Negroes employed in clerical occupations as compared with 1,400 in two concerns in 1920. In 1910 there were but 287 Negro laundry operatives in Chicago, while there were 764 reported by twenty laundries in 1920.
6. WAGES OF NEGRO WORKERS
The period of this industrial investigation—the spring and summer of 1920—was one of exceptional demand for labor and of high wages. Employers were glad to get workers of any sort at high pay.[67] In branches of employment where Negroes were permitted to work, their wages were generally the same as those of the white workers. In interviewing many Negro workers the Commission's investigators found practically no complaints of discrimination in wages on the same tasks. And the Chicago Urban League which, through its industrial department, places more Negroes in employment than any other agency in Chicago reported that it had very few complaints of such discrimination.
Some discrimination was practiced by foremen in placing or keeping Negroes at work on processes that yielded smaller returns than those to which white workers were assigned. In the field of common labor, where the largest number of Negroes are employed, some kinds of piecework yield greater returns than others. The tendency of foremen in some plants was to place Negroes on those processes yielding the smallest returns. The following are instances of such discrimination in favor of the white workers in the same plants.
In two large foundries white molders were given standard patterns, which remain the same throughout the year and permit the working up of speed; while patterns that were changed frequently, and made production slower were given to the Negroes. As speed determined the piecework earnings, the Negroes could not earn as much as the white molders in the same foundry.
In the several plants the white workers were favored in the distribution of overtime work; or Negroes were not permitted to work at all on overtime at "time and a half" rates or on Sundays at "double pay" as long as white workers were available.