Inclusivity & Division in the Workplace - Audio Program

Auxiliary Boildermakers A-36 Union at a segregated union hall in Richmond, California.

RORI 686

Quick Facts

Location:

Richmond, California

Significance:

National Historical Park

Inclusivity & Division in the Workplace - Learn At Home 

This audio program is part of the "Learn at Home" series and offers an introduction to the history of WWII and the Richmond, California Home Front. You may access the series on the official NPS App and search for Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park or on our park website.

Park Website Audio Programs: Stream or download directly.

• Inclusivity & Division in the Workplace

  
  

  This program is part of an introduction to the history of the park and the WWII Home Front. You can listen to it at home, while driving, before your visit to the park visitor center or as part of the official NPS App driving tour. These files are also available as a free download on our website and can be a great educational tool for your classroom.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS/Luther Bailey/Maci Roberts

  Date created:

  07/19/2023

  Audio Transcript

  As women began to be employed at higher rates than ever before, the number of African American workers in industry tripled. Over 1.2 million southern African American workers migrated north and west seeking industrial defense jobs, with around 340,000 relocating to California.

  However, they still often faced significant discrimination and racism. The average weekly wage for factory worker men was $55 while women made $31. Industries instated skill classifications that channeled women and people of color into the lowest paying jobs.

  While unions fought for better working conditions and wages for those employed in shipyards, they excluded people of color. Black workers were forced to start their own auxiliary unions which were controlled by the white local unions. Members of the African American unions were offered little to no representation and did not receive the same benefits.

  Betty Reid Soskin, previously a famous park ranger at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, grew up in Oakland and worked in the Kaiser shipyards during WWII as a file clerk for Boilermakers local A-36, an all-Black auxiliary lodge. Soskin became the oldest ranger in the National Park Service at the age of 85 and continues to tell her story about the realities of living and working as a Black woman, in the Richmond home front.