Show two million more women needed for war plants twice that number ready says census survey must replace men i at lathes baille g and forges to supply P ply armies 0 by ELLIOTT PINE Ite lessed by western newspaper union nearly two million more women must be recruited for war jobs before the end of the year says the war manpower commission this Is as many as entered industry in all of the twelve months between march 1942 and march 1943 in that period women took over factory work of all sorts as well as transportation and communications tasks that used to be considered exclusively mens fields these two million women will 0 have to be found along with older men handicapped workers and others not now employed it if vital production is not to lag in the victory phase of the great conflict officials orarn warn the nation has every confidence that women will tome come forward to man the machines according to census bureau surveys th there re are about four million women available and willing to work although these potential workers rs have only been registered in a 0 tew few large cities there are no doubt many thousands ready to help if they knew they were needed W women men seem to be able to do almost most any work that men can skeptics have had to admit time after time that they were wrong for many yeara years women have been employed emy in light factor factory y work like sorting parts packing dipping chocolates canning vegetables and so on but whoever expected to see them in roundhouses round houses wiping locomotives sh sand or operating huge cranes and lathes in ship bards or doing welding well women are doing all these things and doing them welt well they have had to learn to use unfamiliar tools and new ways of thinking and acting and they have done it in a hurry burry I 1 iti ts I 1 in the heavy industries that the entrance of women is most startling figures show that during a one year period employment of women in munitions increased 69 per cent 36 30 per cent in steel m making a k 50 60 per cent in electrical ma manufacturing nu fac turing 62 per cent in chemicals per cent in shipbuilding per sant in aircraft factor factories lesl these huge increases were not in jobs generally called light while there has been plenty of need tor for help in all the clerical and light factory lines the real openings have been in the heavy mechanical trades it stands to reason that with heavy metal construction multiplied many times by war demands arld and millions of men going to war there must be a great lack of technically trained employees women have been the answer in europe and they have been the answer here they have cheerfully gone to training schools obeyed rigid shop discipline worked I 1 ong long hours at hard and unaccustomed tasks and earned high praise from hard bitten executives despite worry about absenteeism in some quarters women have not been away from their jobs unnecessarily in most cases more than 15 million at the end of march there were women gainfully employed according to chairman me nutt of the war manpower commission of these were to in nonagricultural agricultural non con work so about a million i were on farms of 01 course I 1 when urs mr winifred Tenn illis hns truid fru drafted the she took his bis place at this machine in a wr war plant la in ohio she Is shown pressing presslye press lne a lintton button which started construction of the ait airplane parts made in hi the plant mothers akslen ers 94 nieces sweethearts hearts and even en are petg ta in to see ee that their at the fighting fronts ont are re not net tind angered through lack of am nn tion because ot of a labor short hort age ce st home here are re four grand sno theis working at t the port part newark yard of a shipbuilding company la in new jersey war manpower r oom coo officials reported that from rom IMS IM to 1943 women workers worker to fin creased A like number to needed by the end of the year rear a all these 14 million women were not strictly war workers but most ol of them were doing that were necessary tuch such as clerking to in bakeries or running elevators or operating laundry machinery it must be remembered that the civilian economy must be kept running and that making cartridges and nd plane pik parts arts are not the only vital services to in wartime but it Is the women in heavy industry who have come forward to im fill the breech somewhat to the joyous surprise of everyone A sample list ot of the work women are doing Is given by laura nelson baker in wanted women in industry she says women are sewing uniforms and barrage balloons assembling ling radio tubes drafting wiring assemblies for bombers inspecting making gas masks riveting welding operating gear cutters lathes grinders drill presses and saws these are but a few of the well paid jobs that women are taking over from men often they show men up by their efficiency I 1 many times women have found better ways to do the operations men have been doing tor for years there have been many improvements to in working conditions put to in tor for the benefit of women that will no doubt remain when men return to the factories some of the changes introduced are according to mrs baker safety devices opportunities to change posture and position machines at the right working height and other provisions against fatigue are now in general practice steel jigs too heavy tor for women to lift were replaced with jigs weighing less than one tenth as much engineers put a new lever ever on a spinning ning lathe so it could be operated with 70 per cent less exertion than before so women are able to do things that used to require strength and endurance by having a few changes change J women with technical educations are needed to in research catherine ferguson a graduate of northwestern university where slie site majored majore d in metallurgy is assisting to in the hunt for new alloys to replace strategic metals such as nickel and aluminum she is shown beside a furnace to in the laboratories of the general electric company at schenectady N T Y reading an electrio electric pyrometer or high temperature thermometer made in fact strength is becoming less and less important as machines stake take over the duties of muscles overhead cranes carry castings and other parts around from lathe to lathe and shop trucks haul materials and tools about the huge plants in really big factories particularly ticul arly to in the aircraft industry the workers ride about in busses even with all these aids war work Is no featherbed in the shipbuilding yards for dinst instance ance women do strenuous dirty work wearing cum berous costumes for long hours forty eight hour weeks are common and overtime is the rule some places that have been launching ships at unbelievable rates get same pay As men women shipyard workers are paid the same scale as men tor for the same kind of work the scale Is quite attractive too but the work as said before is hard bard and somewhat dangerous every shipyard maintains a plant hospital with doctors and nurses to inconstant constant attendance workers are urged to report every accident no matter how trivial in the aircraft industry too many thousands of women are helping to turn out the planes a month that ari are needed to smash the axis airplane manufacturing requires people able to work to fine tolerances to be amazingly accurate and yet speedy in the modern plane there are hundreds of operations necessary and women are working at most of them except for a few highly technical jobs where women have not yet been able to get to in the years of experience necessary they are doing everything from drafting to test piloting at the present pace women will be able to make complete airplanes without any help from meal men I 1 this Is a highly paid field with much overtime work most mosi women engaged to in it have taken consider able training before entering and many have had some gome technical education in high school or college there are comparatively few airplane factories and most of these are located near big cities as los angeles 11 detroit and i chicago B because it Is such an attractive field women have gone into it eagerly and there Is not so much demand for new workers here perhaps as an in I 1 9 0 X in the huge ammunition plants that hat have made the united states the arsenal of democracy women can be found in many capacities this lady war worker Is tapering shell cases for antitank anti tank guns at the frankford arsenal in philadelphia some of the less glamorous industries one of the latter Is the chemical industry here the work is not so arduous as la in the manufacture of ships or planes or tanks but it is just as vital to the success of the war the wage rate Is not so high as in the metal working crafts and similar lines but it is still very in te testing chemical workers generally need some training before starting in the plant but high school chemistry is often sufficient background for one of the advanced positions there Is opportunity for after war careers in this field probably more than in most other lines safety plus pins necessary too while manufacturing of planes guns tanks and other weapons and equipment used directly in combat is holding the spotlight there are thousands of other articles most important to the army and navy that are made by companies turning out their regular peacetime products army quartermaster corps officers say that they buy at least articles in the open market that is the same goods that are made for civilian use women are needed to make all these things both for servicemen and for civilians who must live during wartime too those women who are employed on farms are doing a most necessary job of course they should not be tempted to leave their food production to go to a factory food is a and is so recognized in military circles with au all this change in the traditional role of women however social minded thinkers are pointing out alarming possible aftereffects after effects when the war ends they ask whether women who have been earning high wages and have achieved a large measure of independence pen dence are going to be content to return to their homes and live on the comparatively lower standard that their husbands income will provide or whether there will not be more friction than ever between married people as wives who formerly worked at high rates become dissatisfied with the frequently drab task of maintaining a home and caring tor for children sociologists clergymen jurists and others interested in social welfare are perturbed about what may happen there is also grave concern voiced about the effects of the times on children of war workers mothers who are away from their children tor for long hours are not able to give them that care and affection that no agency can supply many children do not get even the inadequate supervision of playground directors kindergartens or nurseries the results of haphazard parental direction in formative years may be a serious matter a few years hence but this is war and war is always profoundly disturbing to the social fabric more optimistic commentators believe that america can recover from these shocks and come out of the war with conspicuous a gains having mill millions lons of women who can do skilled work Is hardly a thing for any nation to deplore new products will mean a higher standard of living and thereby better health and educational opportunities tor for all r y 7 Z A y sa ar 1 1 7 W Z s1 I 1 ZE |