Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-14


improve. the Industrial condition Of their
sex more effectively by entering the ranks
of organized labor than In any other way.
To belong to a trades union 'unsexes wo-
man no more than to belong to one of the
womens clubs popular among the privi-
legged class. Indeed, 1t strengthens more
directly a high feminine ideal, inasmuch
as the primary aim of the womans club Is
usually Intellectual self-culture, while the
primary aim of the trades union is ethical
and humare. Nothing more enlarges the
sympathies and uplifts the desires of a
working woman than to belong to the right
kind of a trades union, and to learn to look
beyond the personal advantage of the mo-
ment to the permanent welfare of all her
comrades In labor
From the Boot and Shoe Workers.
The Boot and Shoe Workers Union is
found In many parts of the country. 1t
numbers thousands, and is especially strong
in the west. / have letter before me from
Miss Emma Steshagen of the executive
board of this union. 1t Is dated Chicago.
She says that the Woman's Label League
Is great help to the union, its members
are pledged to buy none but union-stamped
SHOES. and all other commodities which
bear the union label. She writes that this
league is national in its scope and that its
mission is to educate trades union mems
wives. women workers and club women up
to the standard of unionism. This league
and Is helping women and children workers
to better conditions.
Miss Steghagen says that the Boot and
Snoe workers Union has woman In the
HELD whose duty 1t Is to organize the wo-
men of the trade, and also to work for the
union label. This organization pays IS per
week sick benefits So a week to every one
OF ats members on striks and from $50 to
800 in case of death She says that her
union has but few strikes, and that most
OF its troubles are settled by arbitration
AS to women's trades unions, Miss Steg-
hagen writes that their objects are a ra-
tfonal number of working hours. fair wages
and the elimination of child labor. She
says that In some parts of the country the
shoe factories work their hands nine hours
per day and in others ten. Piecework il
most common, and SO week is considered
a medium wage for experienced workers.
In her trade the hours are the same for
women as Tor men, and some women earn
quite as much as the men. She thinks wo-
man good striker, but advises strikes only
as last resort She says that organization
has greatly benefited her trade. She believes
that womens unions will steadily grow,
and that in time they will cover every
branch of woman's work, even to the serv-
ant girl. About 80 per cent of the boot and
shoe workers are women.
The Glove Makers
Among the most interesting of the
mems trades unions is that of the glove
workers. They have branches in Glovers-
vile. N. Y; in Chicago and in other glove
making centers. AS to this union, have .
letter from Miss Agnes Nestor a member
OF the executive board of the International
Glove Workers Union of America from
which abstract the following:
Glove making consists of fine work and
heavy work. Most of the fine work Is on
kid gloves. which are made in the east and
chiefly at Gloyersvlle. N. Y. This work
requires considerable skill. and it pays well.
1t is done by the piece, and the wages de-
pend upon the speed of the worker. The
heavy work includes the making of gloves
of horse hide calfskin, buckskin, &c. This
is mainly done In the west. and is divided
up into different crafts. There is ons
branch known as closing" which Is most
difficult to learn. and which pays best, the
girls receiving 20 cents an hour for it.
Men receive the same wages"
Women and Trades Unions.
Miss Nestor writes that her trades union
has done much for the glove workers OF
Chicago. The union there has been organ
lied only two years, and it has already Sc
cured the CLOSED shop" and the Saturday
half holiday during the summer months.
1t has abolished the system of paying so
cents per week per operator for the use of
steam power, and has gained other things.
The same advantages have been secured in
other parts of the country.
Miss Nestor says that it is necessary
for woman to belong to trades union
as it is for a man, and that it does not I'M
sex woman nor make her masculine. She
writes:
I'VE will keep our womanly dignity
through it all. We now have our own To-
Gals. We transact our own business ana
we have shown that can be business
like as well as the men. We are sure that
the time will come when women will have
the same hours of work men, and
when they will receive the same pay for
the same work performed"
FRANK g. CARPENTER