United States Army in World War II
The War Department

The Army & Industrial Manpower

by
Byron Fairchild
and
Jonathan Grossman

 

 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITLARY HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959

 

This volume is "under development" and will be completed as time allows...


. . . For Those Who Served


Contents

Foreword vii
The Authors viii
Preface ix
Chapter   Page
I. War Department Labor Planning: 1920-40 3
    The First Decade of Planning 4
  Criticisms and Revisions: 1931-37 7
  The Last of the Industrial Mobilization Plans 14
  Organizing for Industrial Mobilization 17
II. Organizational Problems: 1940-45 21
  Revamping the Labor Section 22
  The Labor Section Under the Army Service Forces 25
III. Wartime Limitations on the Size and Utilization of the Civilian Labor Force 34
  Labor Laws and Defense Contracts 35
  The Strength of the Army and the Size of the Labor Force 45
IV. Labor Disputes and the War Department 57
  Strikes and the Defense Effort 57
  Slowdowns and Similar Restraints on Production 68
  Strikes in Wartime: 1942-45 71
  The War Department and Antistrike Measures 75
V. Subversive Activity, Security, and Labor Supply 84
  The Army and Subversive Activity 84
  The Alien Problem 93
VI. Bringing Work to the Worker 101
  The Location of Facilities 101
  The Labor Supply Factor in Contract Placement 109
  Labor Supply and Cutbacks 120
VII. The Army Makes a Frontal Attack 129
  The Boeing Special Project Team 131
  The West Coast Labor Problem 139
  The War Manpower Commission Program 146
  Extension of the Special Project Team Program 149
VIII. Building Up the Labor Force 155
  The Employment of Negroes 156
  Bringing Women Out of the Home 169
  Industrial Deferments as a Recruiting Measure 174
IX. Temporary Reinforcement for Industry 177
  The Employment of Foreign Workers 177
  Workers in Uniform 180
  Putting Prisoners of War to Work 189
X. The Enforcement of Manpower Policies 197
  Selective Service as a Sanction 197
  Plant Seizure as an Enforcement Measure 204
  Labor Problems in Plant Seizures 213
XI. The War Department and National Service 219
XII. Looking Back: A Chronological Summary 246
Bibliographical Note 261
List of Abbreviations  
Index 275
 
Tables
1. Percentage of Job Terminations in Pacific Coast Aircraft Plants by Cause for Men and Women: January-June 1943 140
2. Monthly Labor Turnover Rate Per 100 Employees in Aircraft, Munitions, and Nonmunitions Industries: 1943-44 141
3. Schedules of Production and Actual Production of B-17's (Flying Fortresses) at Boeing Aircraft Company, Seattle and Renton 143
 
Charts
1. Number of Strikes in All Industry and Man-Days Lost Annually: 1927-44 63
2. Munitions Production and Industrial Deferments 175



Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation