ik i K , | : | | : }iBOR’S VOICE FOR VICTORY EL No. 27 <=> 5 Cents Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, July 10, 1948 eat s 2a) RES something about 'e feel of a strongly ) ‘ed industry. You feel se 2n the lunch whistle @ and the workers sit | 0 coffee and man-sized * ches. You sense it in m ery attitude of the > ;, male and’ female, cn the | d vou hear it when you ue n (as reporters are some- “= jupposed to do) on con- agreed that “if it weren’t '€ unions, it would have » _lot tougher from the be- xy i t) §-SE for the role shipyard » ions are playing in making "20Sition from housewife to P orker as painless as pos- zame from another source li!’ — from Grace McGaw, mel director in charge of 1 employees at North Bur- McGaw. is probably one > bestliked personnel of- in industry, partly because is worked most of her life f, partly because she feels taking a job is one of the eimportant steps in a per- life.” d probably a great deal of uccess comes from the fact as she says, she “likes rk with the unions. Unions @ place in the modern mphuilding abor Crisis i Being Met By CYNTHIA CARTER world, in modern industry, and without them our job would be more difficult.” Miss McGaw sits in a tiny of- fice in the building that houses the women’s cafeteria. On her desk was a list of names of the 2 a pee shortly in every war industry,” she told me. “In the yards we have probably exhausted the sup- ply as far as single girls are con- cerned, and we will depend on married women. We prefer to employ women with no children, or those whose children are Srown and off their mother’s hands.’ “And are these older women able to do’ the work?” “That's an interesting ques- tion,” she said, “because it seems that older women, in their forties, for Instance, are even better workers than the younger girls. Among older wo- men both the accident rate and absenteeism is much lower than for either single girls or men. As a mater of fact, throughout the entire yards we have less absenteeism among women than among men. “@f course,” she continued, “I'm not saying that younger girls make poor workers, because they are doing a wonderful job. But Statistics prove that older women are steadier workers. Many of them feel that because they are no longer school girls our war in- dustries have no place for them, This is entirely incorrect; we Want them, we need them!” “And if you begin to employ younger married women with families,” I asked, “what pro- visions do you think should be made to relieve them of home responsibilities?” “Day nurseries will be need- ed, of course, and | think they are an excellent idea. As well as nurseries — and this is a point most people overlook — hospital care is necessary. Day nurseries alone can’t care for a child who isn’t feeling well, Or who has a contagious dis- ease. If mothefs are to come Into industry, hospitalization for their children must be pro- ere SSRIS One shipyard manage- ment is learning that wo- men workers are as good, sometimes better, than men. If that fact is heeded, and attendant problems tackled, one aspect of the manpower shortage in Wancouver yards is well on the way to solution. in a dangerous job in England. So she works in the shipyard, and spends every penny of her pay on boxes for soldiers overseas or for victory bonds. This is a woman's war, too. And women are determined to win it.” e HERE is no color line at North Burrard. Chinese and Negroes work side by side with other nationalities. Several production records, in fact, have been broken by colored girls. I spoke to Chin- ese girls working as platers help- ers, as bolters-up, as rivet-catch- ers. I saw Negro girls working side by side as helpers to white mechanics and riveters. I spoke to a Chinese electrician’s helper, member of the Electricians’ union. She told me she had worked in a box factory before she came to North Burrard. I spoke to a gray-haired, pleasant- faced Boilermakers’ shop steward, who. before she began to shape plates ‘to fit ships, was a corset- tiere. I spoke to an ex-elevator operator, now a reamer’s helper, who echoed what was becoming a familiar line: “Work in the yards is swell — TI wouldn’t leave it for worlds!” Then I talked to: Leo Lehay, eighteen-year-old boss of the Symbolizing the democratic unity of all races, these women workers of Vancouver's North Burrard Shipyards march arm in arm for another eight-hour shift producing ships to beat Hitler fascism. From left to right: Alice Yeasting, passer girl, Boilermak- ers’ Union; Mrs. Isabel McClatchey, blacksmith’s helper, Blacksmiths Union; Hilda Carothers, asbestos stitecher, Pipe Fitters’ eee ne eas eee ee i sers’ Union; Gwen Guy, electrician’s helper, gamate ec- SS ae ° —Burrard Drydock Staff Photo by Jack Cash. tricians’ Union. more than 400 women who work at North Burard. There were some questions I wanted to ask. How many women would -be needed for shipyard work? Where will they come from? What type of woman is more suited for heayy industrial work? “We're going to need women vided.” “Women are eager to do their part,” she added. “Many of our workers here have sons and daughters on’ active service, and they like to back them up on the home front. We have one woman here who has an income of her own. But she also has.a daughter rivet-passers, who has a mixed gang of about forty boys and girls. “Vd rather work with girls any time,” he shouted above the roar of the rivet guns. “Girls are steadier, stick on the job. And we'll need a lot more of them, too, as soon as school opens, and the boys have to go back.” : ) UR conversation was inter- rupted by the noon whistle. Lunch pails appeared, as if by magic, the noise of the yards died down, and the strains of a Strauss waltz were dispatched to every corner of the yards over the PA system, and Ed Simpson and I sat down with a group of girls who were discussing what will be, I am certain (and they were too) one of the most inter- esting developments brought about by any union, or group of unions, in the entire shipbuilding industry. The preceding Thursday, under the arrangement of the Boiler- makers’ Union, a meeting of all women union members was call- ed. At the meeting, problems of importance to women in the yards were discussed. Problems relating to the work, problems relating to childcare and nurser- ies, and problems of women at work. Viewed by some standards, the meeting was not a success. A number of women new-to the ranks of Jabor, and unaware of the part they can play in the unions, stayed away. But from another point of view the meeting Was a wholehearted success, and the women want more of them. “| think that we should have regular meetings of all wo- ™men working in the shipyards,” a _reamer’s helper told me.” “The union men are ready and willing to help us get acclima- tized, but for best results we have to work~ together to smooth out the rough spots.” “I think we should take as active a part in the union as pos- sible,’ added a serious blonde girl, a member of the Dock and Shipyard Workers’ Union, whose airforce husband is nightly drop- Ping bombs on Germany. “After all, the men are coming back to the kind of democracy we pre- serve for them, and they left the union in our hands along with the job of production.” 7 KEEP the ships sliding down the ways, to bring more women into war work, manage- ments must bring their ideas up to date, and admit that labor should have a partnership in the war. They must recognize the good sense of being on friendly terms with unions. It is obvious to any- one who has ever spoken to war Workers, and particularly to wo- men war workers, that the high- est morale is found in the closed shops. Managements must work with unions not only on wage and hour agreements, but on the Job of providing proper facilities to accommodate women workers. Along with unions and house- wives’ groups they must demand that the government take action in setting up day nurseries, play Schools, ete. And above all, man- agements must Jearn to stop viewing every union suggestion with suspicion. The union men are workers on the job, and when they suggest, for instance, the opening of a new cafeteria where workers can get hot meals at nominal cost, they’re Making con- crete suggestions to improve pro- duction. fs) 4 [SEES unions also have a job to do, and on the whole are doing it well. Union business agents are tackling the problems of women workers along with those of men. They are taking care to see that union procedure, and such things as the duties of : shop stewards, are carefully ex- plained to new workers — either male or female. And in the case of some of the larger unions, notably the Boilermakers and the Dock and Shipyard Workers, Special pains are being taken to deal with women’s problems con- nected with the work. As for the women themselves, Se See WOMEN — Page 11