The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-04-07
Many Women Workers.

Many Women Workers.
The Steam Laundry Workers Inter
national Union is a comparatively
young one but it has attacked the
problem Of organizing the thousands
Of unskilled and semiskilled workers
in this growing industry. There are
many foreign and Negro workers, and
most of the women are married. All
of them work such long hours and are
so fatigued at the end of the day that
organization work among them is
greatly hampered. The workers leave
evening and hurry home with heavy
bundles of their own wash usually.
The laundries are in the worst sec
lions of the city and generally in old
abandoned loft or garage buildings.
Washing Department Worst.
Conditions are worst in the wash
ing department Here only husky men
are employed because of the severity
Of the work. The floors Of the wash
| ing rooms are almost inevitably flood.
ed with water because the washing
machines are filled too full. Over-fll-
ing also prevents adequate washing
Of the clothes but the laundrymen put
so much work on the employees that
over-filling is almost a necessity to
finish the jobs by night. Lids are
wrongly left off the machines so that
the rooms are always steamy and
damp. The workers suffer greatly
from draft when doors are opened be-
cause Of the over-heAted room. The
wash-room is almost always dark, Of
ten in the basement, so that eyestrain
results and accidents are increased
Ventilation is poor.
Long Hours.
! Men in all but the best steam
laundries "a per cent of the total
number in Manhattan and Bronx
work 10 to IA hours on Monday; 10
or IL on Tuesday; 9 to 10 on Wed.
nesday; few hours on Thursday and
usually not at all the rest of the week.
They must lift heavy loads and the
majority of them come to suffer from
high blood pressure and speeded-up
pulse. Women do most Of the work
in the ironing department and work
from 1880 a. m. to D. m. Monday
thru Thursday and little on Friday;
none Saturday or Sunday. Seats for
them are the exception. Most OF
them wear sweaters all the time
against drafts because of the over
heated rooms. There are no rest
rooms and no lockers as a rule. The
workers street wraps are hung OF
nails and become steamed during the
day.
Unsanitary Conditions.
The ironing floor is seldom swept
and the walls never painted. Some
times the floors are left to rot so that
they cannot be- cleaned. None toe
clean milk bottles full of water are
kept near the girls to supply drinking
water instead Of having satisfactory
bubble fountains. The women suffer
more from colds than ordinarily and
develop fiat feet and varicose veins
easily. There is considerable danger
from carbon monOxide absorption
from the gas-burning irons. Sorter
girls are liable to contract various in
fictitious diseases from handling soiled
clothing.
Low Wages.
Wages for girls range from SO a
week for shakers to $24 for more
skilled work, with much variation
from laundry to laundry. Piecework
on various ironing machines pays up
to $40 a week, tho this is high. Men
in the Mushroom make $20-$32 a week
generally. The turnover of labor in
the industry is great, altho most of
the workers tend to remain in laun.
dries shifting from one To anothar