Box 3, Folder 17, Document 63

Box 3, Folder 17, Document 63

Special To The Voice

Women Are Productive
by Mrs. Margaret Grant .

(Mrs. Grant is an aide at the East Central EOA Neigh-
borhood Service Center. She .z!so serves as one of
Economic Opportunity Atlan‘a‘s Vop’unteer Information
People.)

Women can do many of the same jobs now done by men.

If employers would convert or redesign their job operat-
tions or methods suitable to female labor they would find
that womencould produce as wel!as men. During World War
Il, with the menaway, womenperformed many jobs normally
thought of as primarily for men.

Most of the heads of house .
hold in ghetto areas are wo- Some .of these may sound
men and because ofthisthey heavyor dirty but we always
make better employees. had to. de some dirty works,
They tend to be on time and--sespetially those of us who
be more dependable due to live in low-income areas.
their responsibility to their Most young women in the
families. ghetto desire jobs such as

There are women who secretaries, cashiers, file
have beenknown to stay on clerks, but because of the
jobs 20 or more years even lack of skills and personal
without a decent salary. qualities, they cannot qualify
Kitchen helpers and other for the job. ©
domestics often times work
10 or 12 hours per day for
six days including Saturday
or Sunday on jobs which off-
er no opportunity for ad-
vancement and for this, they
make only about $1.15 per
hour. Therefore training is
very essential for those in
low-income jobs. Some of
the current training prog-
rams have not proved suc-

I propose the following:

1. Employers should lower
requirements as to the
experience and skills for
some clerical jobs. For
example, if aclerk typist
job requires anapplicant
40 words a minute and a
promising applicant
types 35, she should be

cessful. ' given a strong consider- ~
There are jobs that women ation.
can perform as wellas men; 2. For jobsinindustry such

Watch repairer, power and
sewing machine operators,
shipping clerks and even
automobile mechanics,

as T.V., Radio and watch
repairing, operation of
machines, and furniture
repairing simplified



training methods should
be offered so that a wo-
man with a sixthto eighth
grade education could
develop the necessary
skills. :

3. Women in low-income

areas should be allowed
the opportunity to ad-

vance to supervisory
positions. Employers
should supplement the

cost of additional educ-
ation needed to perform |
the job. I recommend
a job training center to
equip women for decent
jobs, . S
Women are asking for an

equal chance to make acon-
tribution td society.

a