The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1909-10-28
For the WOrnen'S Nation
alTradeS UnionLeaSue
By Margert Dreir Rob
inS.
Women Wage Farmers
an Important Factor in
the Industrial Problem
of Today.

What is the Women s Trade Union
League!
This question is asked of me daily, and,
thinl, my friends, that l can answer it
best by asking you some question in
! turn
| Do you know that the average wage
! of the women workers of our country is
! less than $4,000 year, Do you know
! that one-half of the six million working
women in the United States are under
twcnty-on years of age, and that the
conditions of work i'll many of the trades
| into which women have entered put such
strain upon the physical organization
that Il brief service precludes mother
hood?
/ We have tried to tell you very simply
in the following what some of these con
ditions are; and we believe the more you
study these conditions the more convinced
you will become that they are destructive
not only of all physical strength, but also
of all mental and spiritual development
obstructive alike of all expression of
ideals in the life of the individual and in
the nation.
! What is to be done?
Many things; but it will be readily un-
derstood that the most important factor
in the industrial problem is the worker
herself, and that the most significant fact
about the woman worker is her youth.
We are forcing young girls of fourteen
and sixteen years of age into the indus
trial struggle, and are demanding Of them
! no l,I, Of
turity. If in her need for work whereby
to earn her daily bread, and in her ignor-
| ancc of the cost, girl of fourteen under
! bids her fellow worker, how is she to
, know that in SO doing she is competing
against her own home; and that, in the
years to come, as wife and mother she
must bear the heaviest burden of the les
ser wage? How is she to know that the
division and subdivision of labor de
mands of her the joyless task of tending
Il machine: not only for today, but for
tomorrow well, and for all the sue
ccedinS tomorrows! Can you see her
standing alone III the midst of her fellow
workers, alone and afraid, because she
! has discovered that even as she became
the undcrbiddcr, all may become -. un-
she learn that two are better than one
| for if they fall the one will lift up his
fellOw'2 Where can she find this fell
| lowship?
| Where, but in the great school of the
Working People, the Trade Union. which
is open to all and within the reach of all ?
! In this school the members are taught
( that An injury to one is the concern
of MI, and thus they enter into fellow
ship with one another, for they have
found th2 way to work with each other
ana not against each other. knowledge
OF the trade in all its aspects, Judgment
decision, patience and fidelity are here
called into action, for by seeking to cs
/ tabllsh trade agreements with her fellow
workers and with her employer, the du-
ties and rights of each must be discussed
considered, and voted upon; and except
in those states cities where the initi;-
tive and referendum have been enacted
/ into law | know of II o training n demo
cratic self government and citizenship
that equals the training received in the
School of the Trade Union AS the per
sonal needs become increasingly protect
cd by collective action, thoughts are turn
+ ca hlto new channels, energies are direct
ed towards other tasks, and with a wider
horizon educational and social issues com
mand attention. The child has grown
into the Woman: the untutorcd girl has
grown into the intelligent. capable, clear
sighted leader and citizen. and under her
direction social progress is written into
the laws of our country. This opportu-
nifty for learning, for development. for
character building, has been given to her
in the Trade Union School-the open Sc
same to fellowship and service
Do You begin to see the purpose of the
League7 Can you understand our great
desire to brng the young girl workers
into the Trade Union School? And do
You see, my friends. that it has happily
fallen TO our lot to have special charge