The primary issue during the early years of the union was the practice of reserving skilled jobs for white employees, known as the industrial colour bar. In 1947 the British government had established the Dalgleish Commission to investigate the colour bar, and the Commission recommended the gradual replacement of European workers with Africans, initially in low-skilled occupations, but gradually filling other positions after training. The Dalgliesh Commission recommended that positions be filled with African workers only when vacant, so that no European workers were displaced. The NRMU strongly resisted any attempt to transfer jobs to the African workers, relying on a clause in their agreement with the companies that prevented jobs being filled by workers not covered by the existing contract. In 1951 the NRMU signed an agreement with the AMU that any African worker replacing a white worker must be paid and housed to the same standard as the European employee. This effectively delayed the transfer of jobs to African workers, as the employers were not prepared to fulfil this condition.
