By
1910 women made up almost one third of the working population. The
vast majority worked in jobs with low pay and poor conditions. Work
was often on a part-time or temporary basis. It was argued that if
women had the vote Parliament would be forced to pass legislation
that would protect women workers.
An organisation called the Women's Industrial Society was set up to
help protect women workers. Several members of the NUWSS
in Sussex were active in the organisation. Cicely
Corbett of Danehill and Clementina Black
from Brighton worked for the Women's
Industrial Society. Others like Hilda Martindale
of were factory inspectors.
On 14th May, 1912, the East Grinstead Suffrage
Society invited Cicely Corbett to speak
on the subject on the subject of "sweated labour" (people
who worked long hours for low wages). The East Grinstead Suffrage
Society was so moved by what Corbett told them that they decided to
organise a conference at Queen's Hall on 'sweated labour'. The conference
that took place on 4th December, 1912, included speeches and demonstrations
on 'sweated labour' by women from the East End of London.
(1)
Cicely Corbett Fisher, a representative
of the Women’s Industrial Council, gave a talk on sweated labour
at East Grinstead in May 1912.
Sweated labour
may be defined as (1) working long hours, (2) for low wages, (3) under
insanitary conditions. Although its victims include men as well as
women, women form the great majority of sweated workers. The chief
difficulty is combating this evil abuse is that nearly all sweated
work is done in the homes of the workers. During the recent strike
of Jam makers in Bermondsey the wages of the girls only just sufficed
to provide them with food, and left no margin whatsoever for the purchase
of clothes, for which they were entirely dependent on gifts from friends…
Chief among these evils of sweated labour is the exploitation of child
labour. Children of six years and upwards were employed after school
hours, in helping to add to the family output and even infants of
3, 4 and 5 years of age work anything from 3 to 6 hours a day in such
labour as carding hooks and eyes to add a few pence per week to the
wages of the household.
(2)
The East Grinstead Observer (7th December, 1912)
Arranged by the East Grinstead Women's Suffrage Society, an exhibition
of work made under conditions known as "sweating" was held
at Queen's Hall on Wednesday. Six women workers from the East End
of London gave a demonstration of the conditions under which various
articles were made. A young woman caused some interest by the deft
manner in which she made vesta matchboxes. The average rate of wages
earned was 7s. per week. Susan Lawrence gave a talk and said that
the minimum wage of workers should be 14s. per week.
(3)
Mrs Norris made a speech on women's pay at a meeting of the Anti-Suffrage
League on 21st March, 1914.
Suffragists say that the fact that women are not paid the same as
men has something to do with the vote. Women are paid less because
they are not as strong as men. In many girls' schools they have tried
to introduce boys' games and boys' sports with the result that girls
between the age of 19 and 25 had a being not exactly a woman and one
which could never become a man.
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