In
1902 William Walling,
a member of the American
Socialist Party and former resident of the Hull
House Settlement in Chicago,
visited England where he met Mary MacArthur,
head of Women's Protective and Provident League
(WPPL).
In November, 1903, Walling attended the American
Federation of Labour (AFL) annual convention in Boston. Samuel
Gompers introduced Walling to Mary Kenny
O'Sullivan, who told her about Britain's Women's
Protective and Provident League. Walling invited her to Hull
House where she met other women interested in trade
unionism. This included Jane Addams,
Mary McDowell, Alice
Hamilton, Florence Kelley and Sophonisba
Breckinridge.
Together the group established the
Women's
Trade Union League.
The main objective of the organization was to educate women about
the advantages of trade union membership.
It also support women's demands for better working conditions and
helped to raise awareness about the exploitation of women workers.
The Women's Trade Union League received
support from the American Federation of Labour
and attracted women concerned with women's
suffrage as well as industrial workers wanting to improve their
pay and conditions. Early members included Jane
Addams, Lillian
Wald, Margaret Robins, Leonora
O'Reilly, Mary
McDowell,
Margaret Haley, Helen
Marot, Mary Ritter Beard, Rose
Schneiderman, Alice
Hamilton, Agnes
Nestor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Florence
Kelley and Sophonisba Breckinridge.
Leaders of the Women's Trade
Union in 1907. Shown from left to right
are Hannah Hennessy, Ida Rauh, Mary Dreir, Mary
Kenny O'Sullivan,
Margaret
Robins,
Margie Jones, Agnes Nestor and Helen
Marot.
(1)
Jane
Addams, Trade Unions and Public Duty (1899)
Let us put ourselves in the position of the striking men who have
fallen upon workmen who have taken their places. The strikers have
for years belonged to an organization devoted to securing better wages
and a higher standard of living, not only for themselves, but for
all men in their trade. They honestly believe, whether they are right
or wrong, that their position is exactly the same which a nation,
in time of war, takes towards a traitor who has deserted his country's
camp for the enemy. We regard the treatment accorded to the deserter
with much less horror than the same treatment when it is accorded
to the 'scab', largely because in one instance we are citizens are
participants, and in the other we allow ourselves to stand aside.
(2)
Women's Trade Union League pamphlet (1909)
How would you like to
iron a shirt a minute? Think of standing at a mangle just above the
washroom with the hot steam pouring up through the floor for 10, 12,
14 and sometimes 17 hours a day! Sometimes the floors are made of
cement and then it seems as though one were standing on hot coals,
and the workers are dripping with perspiration. They are breathing
air laden with particles of soda, ammonia, and other chemicals! The
Laundry Workers Union in one city reduced this long day to 9 hours,
and has increased the wages 50 percent.
(3)
Samuel
Gompers, Seventy Years
of Life and Labour (1925)
William English Walling - a longtime friend - came to the Boston convention
full of enthusiasm for a league of women workers. Mary Kenny O'Sullivan's
quick mind caught the possibilities of the suggestion. When they submitted
to me a proposal, I gave it most hearty approval and participated
in the necessary conferences. Under the leadership of Jane Addams
and Mary McDowell, the movement became of national importance. In
more recent years, Mrs. Raymond Robins, as president of the league,
exercised good influence in promoting the organization of women workers
into trade unions.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
