The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-15
FEMALES IN THE
 LABOR UNIONS
How the Factory Girls, School Teachers and Sausage Girls
 Are Organizing.

less than s5.
 Masculine Women.
 You ask whether trades unions un- sex women and make them masculine? l? l don't think so. If they are unsexed It IS from the lack of respect that men nave Tor them since they have entered the neld of labor. They look upon ms as competitions, and do not remember that we are an absolute necessity. and that If we withdrew from the field an enormous amount of foreign labor would have to be brought in to do our work. The woman now takes her own chances in all public places. She has to fight for her seat in the street car and man fights against her for it. Is It any wonder that such battles have tendency to make her appear mascu- line?
 Will women ever receive the same wages as men? That time is far dis tant, but 1t will come. It has come m some crafts. In union printing of- nces lady typewriters are paid the same as men. In union cigar factories wo- men are paid by the union scale. and it is so in some other branches of union labor.
 As to strikes women make excellent strikers. They will do and dare more than the men. They are more deter mined and more persistent. I believe in reservfng the right to strike, and that the strike serves as a school in which both employer and employe learn to know and appreciate each other bet ter. believe in the boycott as one of the best weapons of the trade un- ions, and that without 1t but few bat ties could be won"
 Anna Bowen, the Tobacco Stripper.
 My next letter Is from Boston. It is written by Miss Anna Bowen, the head Of the women cigar shippers of that city. She says:
 Women can do much to help their sex in labor matters. They should de- mand union cards from the saleswo- men of whom they make their pur- chases, and they should insist that all goods bought by them have union Ia- bels. If the women of the country would do this they would elevate their sex more rapidly than by any other method. If they will demand the un- ion label upon all goods they buy they will compel every factory to obtain that label, and this means that the factory will pay fair wages. give fair hours and establish good working con- ditions for its hands. By demanding the union card they will make 1t so that every woman clerk must belong to the union. and the result will be that y5 per cent of our women workers will get higher wages for shorter hours. and that under better sanitary condi- tions."
 Do trades unions make women mas culine? Certainly not; why should they? They tend to make women practical. and show them that their sex does not protect them from the greed of an unfair employer. They teach them that they must organize to pro- tect their own interests"
 What is the aim of women's tradeS 
 The same aim as that of other trades unions,the betterment of our conditions. We want more pay, less hours of labor We want better conditions of work and by our union we secure them. Tn some of our factories we now work fifty five hours per week, in other fifty three and in some the girls have a halfI holiday every Saturday the year round. Our wages. are nowhere less than S6 per week. and upon piecework. the girl cigar strippers make from $7 to SIP per week"
 Women Workers vs. Men Workers.
 will the time come when women will receive the same pay as the men?"
 'Yes, just as soon as they realize that they must adopt the same meth | ods to get it. The advantages men have are only those which they have been able to demand. When women l are organized as the men they will | secure the same advantages. At pres l ent the women cigar makers receive | the same wages as the men. The same | Is true in many other trades where | lnionism prevails.
 Woman as a Striker.
 T think the women stand by their |