Another illustration of the difficulty confronting the colored person when he desires to join a Union, is the following: Two colored migrants, J. D. and C. S., painters from Georgia, had applied to the Union for membership in November and December 1916, respectively. Both of these persons have their families here, and claim fourteen and sixteen years’ experience in the trade, stating also that they can do as good a job as any other union man. Each one of these claims to have made from $25 to $30 a week in the South by contracting. The official in the office of the Union whom they approached to ask for membership unceremoniously told them that it would take no colored men into membership. The result was that one of these men was fortunate enough to find work in his own line in a non-union shop, receiving twenty dollars per week for eight and one-half hours, as compared with $5.50 for an eight hour day, the union scale. The second man, however, was not so fortunate, and unable to find work in his own line, he is now working as a common laborer in a steel plant making $2.70 for ten hours per day. That many of the colored skilled people do not attempt to join the union because they know the existing situation is obvious. The brother-in-law of one of the above men, also a skilled worker, when asked why he did not try to join the Union, characteristically shrugged his shoulders and uttered the fatalistic “What’s the use?” The following case which throws light on the general situation, and illustrates the resultant effects of this injustice was related by the head clerk of the State Employment Bureau of this city. “In the month of June, 1917, a man giving the name of P. Bobonis, a Porto Rican, came to our office and asked for work as a carpenter. Mr. Bobonis was a union carpenter, a member of the Colorado State Union. The first place he was sent they told him they were filled up, and when a call was made to determine if the company had sufficient carpenters, the foreman said that it was impossible for them to employ a colored carpenter as all of the white men would walk out, but that they were still badly in need of carpenters. It was then decided to call upon the different companies recognizing the union, to see if they all felt the same way. Much to our amazement we found it to be the general rule--the colored man could pay his initiation fee and dues in the Union, but after that was done he was left little hopes for employment. Four large companies were called for this man and he could not be placed. As a last attempt, a call on the Dravo Contracting Company was made and as they have some union and others non-union men, they employed the man. Mr. Bobonis was not a floater, but a good man. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and is now working to raise enough money to enable him to study medicine.”