cal engineering. The women simply did not speak the same language. It was obviously quite futile to try to explain to a young woman, however intelligent, the intricacies of a milling machine or beer column, when she did not even, understand what a valve was. This was overcome by the introduction of the training period described above. Its success is proved by a list of positions which women are hold­ing in the Seagram plant: mill, pumps, porteus mixer, cookers, fermenters, yeast r©om, wine room, recovery still, and the large four-column stills.

Seagram experience has proved that a planned hiring and educational program will reap women operators who are not afraid to "get their hands dirty", and who, with opportunity and encourage­ment, are as capable in many positions as men. If chemical processing industries meet women half way by adjusting equip­ment wherever possible to fit women's physical limitations, women with active and resourceful minds can ably discharge most of the duties of male employees with an equal amount of success.

Women in Butadiene-Styrene Plants The second plan is that of the Koppers

United Co. of Kobuta, Penna. I am indebted to Wm. F . O'Connor, director of fire and safety, for permission to release details of the comprehensive pro­gram for the training of their women operators. The Kobuta plant is one of ;the large butadiene-styrene plants affi-

"1"HE Chemicals Division of the War * Production Board is charged with the

responsibility of determining the chemical needs for the war program and the essen­tial civilian economy and taking such steps as may be necessary to provide for these requirements. During the first year following Pearl Harbor, most of the effort of the Chemicais Division was directed to a determination of the requirements and arranging with the chemical manufacturers for the necessary production indicated by our requirements determinations. Many companies ceased production of chemicals produced in peacetime and transferred their equipment and personnel to the pro­duction of new items required by the war economy. However, it was necessary to undertake a very substantial new con­struction program to provide large ton­nages of many chemicals for many new and pressing military demands. This plant expansion has touched on virtually every segment of chemical industry and covers a very wide variety of products.

liated with the Rubber JEteserve Agency. In this instance preliminary training of the operators was begun while the plant was under construction. The procedure adopted was as follows:

1. Determination of the number of women operators needed in the plant as well as a statement of their plant duties.

2. Recruitment of women with high-school educational background by the Personnel Division.

3. The assignment of the first group of 60 women to the Chemical Engineer­ing Department of the University of Pittsburgh for a seven-week training pro­gram in the elements of pilot plant equip­ment operation. The details of this train­ing program have already been published in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, June 1943.

4. Completion of a one-week safety practice course under the direction of the safety engineer of the plant.

δ. Assignment to plant units at Kobuta to check on equipment being installed under the supervision of the plant engineers. To attend lectures on all phases of the operation of the unit to which they had been assigned.

6. Initial operation of plant units under conditions of frequent starting up and shutting down.

Other phases of the Koppers plan which cannot be considered at this time involve such questions as the aptitude and in-

The responsibility of the Chemicals Division does not cease with having deter­mined the supply and requirements and

telligence testing, health examinations, rate of remuneration during training, transportation, and feeding, organization of the ESMWT contract, evaluation of ability for leadership, anetbtods of pre­senting the school plara, supervision of women in plant trainimg, safety engi­neering, and a whole series of problems which must be worked! out under the careful attention of mamagement.

The nature and the extent of any train­ing program will be determined by the numbers involved. A small plant will usually prefer to break an women opera­tors on the job as each r-aan i s called into service.

Larger plants can avail tbemselves of the services of chemical engineering de­partments with adequate facilities in pilot plant equipment to» give the women operators an opportunity t o familiarize themselves with the practical details of production.

Summary The training of women, to serve as plant

operators in the cnemi«cal industries is presented as a means of replacing men eligible for military service. Two pro­grams used in the training of women in industrial alcohol and butadiene-styrene industries are outlined.

arrangements for new plant production. I t is, on the other Ixand,. a continuing re­sponsibility to follow tfoe production of each of the chemicals required in the war program and to make sure that the produc­tion required is available when needed and channeled to the proper pointt. In order to accomplish the proper distribution of chemicals» it has been necessary in many cases to allocate the materials to end use •where existing supply has not been suffi­cient for the current demand. As new plants come into operation, the need for allocation will diminish, providing the pro­duction is in an amount sufficient to meet the requirements determinations which have been made. It is on this phase of the production program thast the Chemicals Division becomes involved in the question of manpower. Obviously, without ade­quate manpower in specific places at specific times, it will not be possible for chemical industry to xneefc production schedules.

It was with these thoughts 1 η mind that the Chemicals Division ibegan to interest

PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS OF THE

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY J . W . R A Y N O L D S

CHEIS/IICAL-S D I V I S I O N . W A R P R O D U C T I O N B O A R D . W A S H I N G T O N , D. O.

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itself in manpower problems as far back a s November 1942. The first move was t o have a survey made t o determine the status of technical manpower in the chemical industry. This survey was con­ducted by Harvey JSâL. Barker, chief of the Intermediates Unit, Chemicals Division, War Production Board, and Captain Harry Wiliard, Chemical Section, Head­quarters S. O. S. , now known as the Army Service Forces. These men made a com­prehensive report wiiich was published in the January 25 , 1943, issue of the CHEMI­CAL, AND ENGINEERING N E W S . This in ­

formation was used b y the Chemicals Division in preparing a report which went to the War Manpower Commission and has become the framework on which a better understanding has been created for the benefit of all parties concerned. Of major significance was the deteïTuinatâon that the chemical industry was then approaching **th<» bottom of the barrel" on necesca;y inanyKwer t o operate i ts plants at the accelerated rates required b y the war program.

Two Bill ion Dollars o f Construction

The total of new construction sponsored by the Chemicals Division, or bearing directly upon chemdcal-type production, has involved an. expenditure of about two billion dollars. In ordinary times, the cLemical industry laas a n investment of about $12,000 per workman. On this basis, it seems reasonable th* t the industry might require as many as 166,000 new employees in order successfully to man thenew plants being constructed.

I n cooperation wi th trie Manufacturing Chemists' Association, w e made a survey of all companies which were constructing new plants to determine what their addi­tional needs would be for technical and nontechnical manpo"wer. Only one third of those replying to the questionnaire gave sufficient data so t h a t the results could be tabulated. However, from the survey i t was evident that t h e total new manpower requirements for t h e industry were con­siderably less than 20,000 in contrast with the 166,000 est imate made on the basis of dollar investment.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, IL S. Department of Labor, issued a report in May 1943 indicatiag that 727,000 wage earners were employed in chemicals and allied products industries. This does not include employees i a the petroleum indus­tries or in the manufacture of rubber products. The year 1939 was taken as a base year with an hadex: of 100. On this basis, the chemical industry's employment had increased t o 191 per cent of the base by March i&£2 and stood a t 252 per cent of the base in Marcb. 1943. These figures are indicative o f a very rapid expansion of manpower wi&fain Uae eliemical industry, and no doubt a considerable proportion of these new employees were obtained t o man new facilities a s they came into pro­

duction or for training for use in manning other new facilities which are stall under construction.

One recommendation which the Chemi­cals Division made was that steps be taken to provide a special procedure for the deferment of chemists and chemical engi­neers. Such a procedure was set u p by the War Manpower Commission operating through the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel. The original procedure was described in the July 25 edition of CHEMICAI. AND ENGINEERING

N s w s on page 1206. This procedure has now been revised in accordance with Selec­t ive Service Local Board Memorandum N o . 115, a s Amended August 16, 1943, with special instructions as set forth in Local Board Memorandum No. 115-6, issued September 1, 1943. FH1 partSsu-lars regarding Memorandum N o . 115-B have been set forth in CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING N E W S , October 10 issue, on page 1604. In operating under the provisions of N o . 115-B as set up EM­PLOYERS SHOULD INSIST THAT

A. Local Boards, before ordering a qualified chemist or chemical engineer for induction, refer the case to the local United States Employment Service office under the provisions of Local Board Memorandum N o . 115-B;

B . The local United States Employ­ment Service office in doubtful cases seek the advice of the National Roster; and

C. A stay of induction of 30 days and a careful study of the case by the War Manpower Commission through the Na­tional Roster be allowed.

The National Roster has been asked to consult the Chemicals Division of War Production Board with respect to any cases wherein it is doubtful about recom­mending deferments. The Chemicals Division will be in a position to indicate to the National Roster the degree of essenti­ality of any particular chemical production in any particular chemical plant. Thus, the essentiality of the employment of any particular individual may be readily determined.

Skilled chemical plant operators are of equal importance to the trained chemist and chemical engineer. We have had many meetings with War Manpower Com­mission, Manufacturing Chemists' Associ­ation, and individual representatives of industry in an effort to arrive at a pro­cedure for handling, urgent deferment re­quests for this class of trained men. As a result, we have worked out a mechanism for the handling of cases involving these skilled piant operators in chemical plants where these men are definitely indispensa­ble to the operation of critical production. The procedure is as follows:

(1) All firms engaged in the manufac­ture of chemicals should be instructed to file replacement schedules with the State Selective Service Director. In those cases where the replacement schedule has not been filed previously, the company should call upon the regional office of War Man­power Commission and request i t to send

an occupational analyst who will assist the company i n making out the schedule and whose certification will carry considerable weight with the State Selective Service Director leading t o the acceptance of the schedule. It should be pointed out to the chemical company that the replacement schedule should reflect and provide for those situations where the men are key men and are truly indispensable. I t is essential that the company and the War Manpower Commission occupational ad­viser reach an agreement regarding such cases.

(2) Where the chemical company has a replacement schedule in existence and al­ready accepted, this schedule will come up for review and revision according to some periodic plan. At the time said schedules come up for revision, the company should call i n the occupational adviser from the War Manpower Commission [Regional Office and proceed along the same lines indicated in (1) above. The War Man­power Commission Regional Offices are located in the following cities:

Boston, Mass. Atlanta» Ga. New York, N. Y. Minneapolis, Minn. ' Philadelphia, Penna. Kansas City, Mo. Washington, D. C. Dallas, Tex. Cleveland, Ohio Denver, Colo. Chicago, 111. San Francisco, Calif.

(3) Pending the completion and accept­ance of the replacement schedule, or pend­ing the revision of existing schedule, in those cases involving skilled plant oper­ators in chemical plants where these men are definitely indispensable t o the opera­tion of critical production, the following procedure is to be adopted:

When the employee receives notice of classification into 1-A, the company should immediately be notified and should there­upon nle Form 42-A with the man's local beard. A t the same time, the company should obtain from the local United States Employment Service a statement certify­ing that i t does not have available a man qualified a s a replacement. This state­ment should be filed with the local board, together with the 42-A. If t h e local board does not grant deferment, the company is immediately to file an appeal with the State Director and at the same time the company should immediately forward the following particulars t o the Chemicals Division, War Production Board, Wash­ington 25, D . C , attention of J. W . Raynolds:

(a) Name of man (6) His local draft board and order number (c) Date of appeal (d) Description of the man's job (e) His background of education and train·

ing for job (/) The product (products) on which h ·

works (<g) Date company filed replacement sched­

ule; date accepted by Selective Service

(&) Certification from United States Em­ployment Service that there is no re­placement available.

The Chemicals Division will have each of th^se appeals for assistance reviewed by the proper commodity specialist in the Chemicals Division to determine (a) the essentiality of the product o n which the man i s employed; (6) the essentiality of the plant in which the man is employed. I t should be emphasised that the Chemi­cals Division will most carefully evaluate each situation. On those cases where we are satisfied that the production must be

1709 V O L U M E 2 1 , N O . 2 0 » » O C T O B E R 2 5, 1 9 4 3

maintained at maximum levels, w e will so certify to the War Manpower Commission who, in turn, will take the ma t t e r up with the appropriate state authorities who will make a final determination regarding the essentiality of the man.

Tu should be stressed t o all chemical companies that this mechanism is being provided to take care of critical and im­portant cases a n d t h a t only cases wnich meet this criterion should be referred t o the Chemicals Division for handling. This method cannot b e applied t o t h a t class of labor which can be replaced and for whom a replacement may b e readily trained, whether or not included in t h e List of Essential Occupations. m

I n cases where our determination indi­cates that the product essentiality o r the plant essentiality does not merit deferment and the man appears t o be a highly skilled or a trained chemical man, the Chemicals Division will recommend t o the company that the man be transferred to some essen­tial job within the plant or, through, the medium of United Sta tes Employment Service, have t h e man referred to some essential plant for employment.

I t should be pointed out to the industry that in oases where deferment has been granted for skilled plant operators, such deferment presupposes the training of a replacement within the time for which de­ferment was allowed. The company can and should call upon the War Manpower Commission for assistance in providing re­placements for training. The company may, if i t desires, call upon W a r Man­power Commission for assistance in t rain­ing replacements through the med ium of training-within-the-industry service. This service is provided wi thout cost a n d is supervised by skilled and competent people. In any unusual case where a trained replacement i s not available for a man currently deferred and where such man is a key m a n engaged in essential and critical production, t h e procedure outlined in (3) above may be followed.

B y the two procedures to which refer­ence has just been made, it is expected tha t the critical problem of maintaining the existing staff of t ra ined chemists and chemical engineers and skilled plant oper­ators can be m e t in t h e majority of cases. There remains t h e very serious problem in­volving the loss of common labor which occurs from the following causes: (<z) in­ability of the company t o request defer­ment as an essential man ; (6) fail?ire to include co ' r .^on labor as essential in estab­lishing replacement schedules; (c) in­ability of United Sta tes Employment Service to provide replacements in areas of critical labor shortage.

The War Manpower Commission h a s the increasingly difficult job of budgeting a dwindling reserve of manpower among many competing claimants, mi l i t a ry and civilian. T h a t comrnission can discharge its responsibilities only after a most careful weighing of t h e relative urgency with

which t h e competitors need additional workers or need to retain their present crews. I t has stressed t h a t we must be sure our minimum essential needs for the most urgently required production are all tha t we represent them to be. Essential as our chemical industry is, there are others of equal essentiality whose mini­mum claims mus t be served equally with ours. War Manpower Commission has established wha t is known as t h e Con­trolled Referral Plan as one means of meeting this situation. At present, the plan is in operation in the Buffalo area where a critical labor shortage exists. Under this plan, a local committee has been created. This committee includes in its personnel representatives of the Sen .ces, War Manpower Commission, and War Production Board. The various Industry Divisions of War Production Board were asked t o designate through a code system those plants under their jurisdiction measured in the following terms:

I . Where total national production is not adequate to meet existing military requirements.

I I . Where total national production and military and essential civilian require­ments are substantially in balance and production should no t be lost if i t can be avoided.

I I I . Where total national production is in excess of requirements and loss of re­gional production will no t be serious.

IV. Where no national interest is in­volved in the loss of production.

These determinations by the various War Production Board Divisions, such as steel, a luminum, chemicals, aircraft, etc. , were then reviewed by a labor requirements committee, functioning in t h e office of the Vice Chairman of the W a r Production Board having to do with labor require­ments. This committee then worked out a consolidated list indicating the order of preference which is to be followed by the Controlled Referral Committee in referring employees in the Buffalo area. This in­formation is t ransmitted t o the regional c ommittee who, in turn, will work with the local United States Employment Service and endeavor to provide the required labor in the order of the preference indicated by War Production Board.

It has just been announced t h a t the Controlled Referral Plan will be estab­lished on the West Coast. The plan is now being extended to other critical areas; Akron, Ohio, Detroit , Mich., and Har t ­ford, Conn., were brought under the plan the week ending Oct. 8. T h e method of handling on the West Coast will be simi­lar to t h e original plan as adopted for the Buffalo area. I t is expected tha t this pro­cedure will alleviate the critical labor short­age now experienced by plants in tha t area tha t a re producing for the war program.

In some respects, the Controlled Re ­ferral Plan has worked to good advantage in placing labor where it is most needed. On the other hand, the plan does not create

an available labor pool in an area where there is no floating supply of labor. Moreover, there is no doubt t h a t there are many persons still employed in non­essential industry in these areas wh«re a critical labor shortage exists. I n t h e ab­sence of any compulsory Na t iona l Service Legislation, War Manpower Commission must resort to other means in a n effort to persuade employees t o transfer from non­essential t c essential activities. T h e re­cent publication of an expanded list of nonessential activities, together wi th the publication of a list of critical and essen­tial occupations, is one means t h a t has been taken to create an available labor supply for the essential activities.

The procedure jus t described wil1. un­doubtedly help t o alleviate the manpower shortage for the most essential industries. However, we do not believe t h a t i t is the final answer to the principal problem— namely, to have enough men i n a specific place for a specific t ime t o get out t he re­quired production. Hence, the Chemicals Division and the Office of Labor Produc­tion, of the War Production Board, are now exploring t h e possibilities of schedul­ing labor requirements in conjunction with production requirements.

The Chemicals Division is also exploring with the War Manpower Commission the possibility of using the code sys tem de­vised for the Controlled Referral P lan on a broader scale for release t o Selective Serv­ice Boards to point out t o t hem those in­dustries in which a critical shortage of pro­duction exists, in the expectation t h a t the critical industries will be given wider lati­tude in the preparation of their replace­ment schedules so that preferred con­sideration will be given to requests for de­ferments for men employed in these indus­tries.

Once these mechanisms have been worked out, it is believed t h a t it will be possible for t h e War Manpower Com­mission to assume a more definite obliga­tion to see to i t t ha t the labor program is met in order to ensure t h a t the production program can be met.

On the basis of the above deferment pro­cedures some may think t h a t chemical industry's manpower problem has been solved. I contend tha t many serious problems remain and must be fought to the end of the war.

Problems and Solutions Let us examine a few of these problems

and explore possible solutions. F i r s t of all, we have wage problems. T h e chemi­cal industry as a whole has long had a high annual take-home wage. War production has altered this status. In m a n y areas, the base pay in t h e chemical industry is from 10 per cent to a s much a s 30 per cent below some of the other war industries. For example, the base ra te in a certain plastics plant is 6 5 cents pe r hour for women. Unskilled women are pa id 85 cents per hour to learn welding a t t h e near-

1710 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

by shipyards, with a guarantee of 9»2 cents per hour after 2 weeks. Currently, the plastics plant is unable to get -enough women, men, or boys to operate above 4 0 per cent capacity. Result—-a Lend-Lease plastic requirement is several months be­hind schedule. The local War Labor Board has turned down the coropany's appeal for relief. The Office of Labor Production and the Chemicals Division are investigating this matter for the purpose of having the company appeal to the National War Labor Board for review and redetermination.

The case will be appealed to the NTational War Labor Board and a favorable decision may be handed down. Meanwhile, the demand for war production remains un­satisfied.

In another case, a chemical company has built a new plant to produce a special catalyst for the aviation gasoline plants. The new plant is ready t o run. They are restricted to 80 cents per hour. Tiae near­by aircraft plants are hiring ail available labor a t a starting wage of 88 cemts per hour. So far, they have been unable to obtain labor other than a few 'teen-age boys. The local War Labor Board has denied the company's appeal foi relief as a "rare and unusual' ' circumstance;. This case will be appealed to the National War Labor Board. Meanwhile, the production of vitally needed catalyst is below xequire-ments, and the aviation gasoline produc­tion will doubtless suffer.

In still another case, the chemical com­pany has a base wage of $1.07 for cliemical operators. T h e tank and aircraft^ plants nearby have a base rate of $1.25. This case is now before the War Labor Board. Meanwhile, the chemical plant is 1 2 oper­ators short and will soon need a«n addi­tional 50 operators to man some n&w plant installation. United States Employment Service has some labor available for re­ferral, but the chemical company has no opportunity to hire or hold referrals in the face of the wage differential. -As a result, we may become short of total materials requirements for bomber brake fluid, rubber chemicals, an explosive, and Atabrine.

These three examples could be repeated many times. The fundamental factors are always the same. A chemical com­pany is producing basic raw materials which go indirectly into the construction or operation of a ship, a tank, aguua, or an airplane. They must compete in the same labor market for the inadequate lafcor sup­ply on an unequal wage basis. The referee is the local War Labor Board which has a keen understanding of the impor­tance of guns, tanks, ships, and airplanes in the war production, but they also lsnow we always produced chemicals and iihey do not have any reason to believe fchat the John Doe Chemical Co. i s of any more im­portance today than it was before iihe war.

This lack of appreciation of the impor­tance of chemical industry in the war effort

is not confined to government agencies. The most alarming situation is to find that there are some chemical companies which do not appreciate that they are an essential war industry. I t does not necessarily mean that the products of the company must be under allocation to be essential. The facts are that virtually all of the im­portant basic chemicals are under alloca­t ion a t the present time and, therefore, the many thousand chemicals produced as derivatives of these basic materials cannot be made at this time unless there is some war or essential civilian use which de­mands their production. As a result, sub­stantially all of the chemical production now i n operation is in some wise essential to the war program.

Many companies reported that their em­ployees do not appreciate the war signifi­cance of the chemicals which they produce. That is understandable. Most chemical companies run their plants on a system of code numbers for raw materials and fin­ished products. The chemical is seldom referred to by its proper name. I n most instances, the employees are never told anything about the end use of the ma­terials which they manufacture. As a re­sult, the chemical industry has had a rather sizable turnover or migration to more glamorous industries, such as air­craft, shipyards, etc. T o some extent, the chemical plant worker may be influenced by his neighbors or friends who do not have any appreciation of the importance of the chemical industry in the war pro­gram. In any event, chemical industry has an educational job t o do.

An educational or publicity campaign appears to be the most likely solution to the various problems now confronting chemical industry with respect to obtain­ing and maintaining an adequate labor supply. It is altogether too obvious that adequate chemical production has been taken for granted by the civilian popula­tion and a large proportion of the govern­mental offices, together with large seg­ments of the Army and Navy . Too few people realize that the chemical industry is basic to a war economy as well as a civilian economy. It will come as a shock to some to learn that over 1,000 different chemicals are required in producing the materials that go into the construction of a battle­ship; over 800 in the case of a tank, and

about 300 in an airplane. Without the chemical industry, there could be no pro­duction of synthetic rubber, aviation gasoline, smokeless powder, T N T , camou­flage paint, plastic parts for equipment, drugs, and antitoxins.

Without chemical fertilizers and insec­ticides, we would not have adequate food production. The increased requirements for chemicals in the war program have been tremendous. With relatively few in­creases in price, the dollar volume of chemical industry production has sub­stantially doubled since 1939. The Chemicals Division, War Production Board, is responsible for production in the following fields: drugs and cosmetics, protective coatings, plastics, alcohol and solvents, coal-tar chemicals, and inorganic chemicals. I t is estimated that the 1943 sales volume of these industries will approach $6,000,000,000.

The chemical industry has a story to tell. It should be told now. N o t as romantic nonsense, but as a simple straightforward story, such as that by-product tar from, the coke oven is refined to make benzene, toluene, etc. The benzene is used to make*, aniline for dyes, phenol for plastics, picric acid for explosives, and styrene for syn­thetic rubber. The toluene is used to make T N T which is the principal ex­plosive used in air bombs. Every chemi­cal has its place in the program, usually the making of another chemical. For ex­ample, 150 different chemicals are required for the production of the ûve different syn­thetic vitamins; over 40 different chemi­cals are required to produce the various sulfa drugs. In the case of atabrine, the synthetic substitute for quinine, 38 different chemicals are required in its production.

I t has been estimated that about 8 0 per cent of our total chemical production is reconsumed by chemical industry in the production of other chemicals or in the processing, industries in the production of some nonchemical finished product. In other words, very few chemicals come on the market as such. Hence, it is not sur­prising that the public at large as well as the workmen in plants are not aware of the true importance of chemical industry.

The Office of Labor Production of the War Production Board lias a group who have been working on labor morale prob­lems and have carried out publicity drives with the aircraft industry, radio and radar industry, and steel industry. This group works closely with the Army, Navy, and Air Corps. The Chemicals Division is currently working closely with this group in an endeavor to evolve a pub­licity campaign which can be recom­mended to chemical companies as a means of educating both their own personnel and the local population in the area in which their plant is located. The solutions to these various remaining problems will be obtained, to a great extent, by such, an educational program.

V O L U M E 2 1, N O . Î 0 »» O C T O B E R 2 5, 1 9 4 3 1711