Extracts from a report entitled ‘The employment of coloured workers, note by the Ministry of Labour and National Service’. Their statistics were gathered in the week beginning 15 June 1953. Catalogue ref: HO 344/105
Immigration was vital to the British economy; however, the report reflects a climate of hostility towards migrants.
Contains original language used at the time, which is not appropriate today.
- Which parts of the country experienced the highest unemployment figures for migrant workers?
- Which were the main countries they migrated from?
- What evidence does the report provide of race relations in the workplace at that time?
Transcript
…
Part I Unemployment among Coloured Workers
- Returns received from all Regions showed that at 15th June, 1953 there was a total of 3,366 unemployed coloured workers on our registers (including 270 women), and these were concentrated in comparatively few places, namely in the ports and big towns of six Regions. Over two-fifths (1,412) were in London and South Eastern Region, and over a quarter (879) were in North Western Region.
- The main concentration in London and elsewhere were as follows-
London:
Stepney 341
Edgeware Road 202
Camden Town 175
Brook Green 157
Brixton 90
Other towns:
Liverpool 563
Manchester 293
Birmingham 301
Cardiff 181
Leeds)
Sheffield) 111
Bradford)
Hull 50
Of the total number of unemployed coloured workers rather more than half (1,813) were being paid National Assistance.
- Analysis of the unemployed coloured workers by country of origin showed that there were 1, 979 Colonials (presumably for the most part West Indians and West Africans), 771 Indians and Pakistanis, 175 Arabs, and 90 Chinese and other Far Eastern peoples. Since the classification was made by observation only, the origin of the remaining 597 could not be determined. According to the count, 92 of the unemployed coloured workers were aliens, but it is possible that this figure is an underestimate since the Ministry of Labour does not have a precise method of distinguishing between British and alien registrants.
…
- On the other hand, all the Regions (except Scotland, where there are very few coloured people) report special difficulty in placing coloured workers in employment. London and South Eastern, North Western and Midlands Regions say that the position has deteriorated in the last year or two, and that there is a hardening amongst employers against accepting coloured workers.
Some firms who previously accepted colour workers now refuse to do so. Nearly one half of the total live orders at Camden Town Employment Exchange on a particular date were for employers who will not consider coloured workers. Objection to coloured workers which are raised by employers are on four main grounds: their relatively low output; their high rate of turnover, their irresponsibility, quarrelsomeness and lack of discipline; and the objection of white employees, real or imaginary.