The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-03-08


TT is but comparatively short time
L since the general opin o. prevailed
that "women's place is in the home"
and if she did enter the field of in
dustry it was but a temporary state
until she secured man to provide
for her. Therefore the problem of
organizing women workers was con-
sidered hopeless task and was to-
tally neglected by the labor move
ment.
The extension of industry, the I'M
provement Of machinery and the
simplification of the methods OF pro-
duction, however, forced an even
greater number of women into in
dustrial occupations and sooner OF
later the attention of the labor move
ment had to be turned to the ques-
ton of organizing women.
The 1903 Strike.
Tho strike ne waist and dress
makers Of 81 was the first open
mass revolt, the first successful or
ganized attempt on the part Of wo-
men in New York to assert their
rights as workers, and sounded the
signal for the organization Of women
not only in the needle trades but in
the general labor movement. The
strike Of the waist and dressmakers
completely shattered the false idea
Of the impossiblity of organizing
women. it was a brilliant manifes-
tation Of class-consciousness and
marked the beginning Of women as
q factor in the trade union move
ment.
Without an organization or organi-
rational experience, without any
funds at their disposal, thousands Of
girls (but strangers in this country
came out in open revolt against the
unbearable sweat shop conditions in
the waist and dress industry. Fol
over three months the waistmakers
gave battle to their employers, the
police and hired thugs. Innumerable
were the sacrifices, unsurmountable
were the difficulties under which the
waistmakers conducted their strike.
With shoes and clothing in shreds
these pioneers in the cause of labor
spent night and day on the picket
line in the bitter cold fighting fol
their rights to organize union that
would raise them from the status Of
slaves to that of human beings
These sacrifices were not in vain
After weeks of the most bitter anC
determined struggle, which aroused
the admiration of the entire labor
movement and will remain testi
monial to the fighting spirit Of wo
men workers, the waist and dress
makers emerged victorious.
Union Born in Struggle.
The union was born in struggl,
and during the eighteen years of it;
existence retained it's militancy anC
remained true to its traditions. The
strike of the waistmakers was al
event of great Importance to the la
Dor movement not only because il
marked the beginning of the organi
cation of the needle trade worker.
and broke down the prejudice against
women, but mainly because it re
vealed what a constructive force wo
men could be in the labor movement
and the great contribution the!
would make to the growth and devel
opment of the movement.
Contrary to the generally accepted
theory about the conservatism of wo
men, the waist and dressmakers
union, of which the majority are wo
men, was always in the front ranks
Of the progressive labor movement
the first to lend ear to new ideas ant
organizational reforms. The waist
makers union was the first to extenC
its activities beyond the marrow
limits of the struggle for immediate
economic improvements. 1t intro
duced the ideal of labor education
under the supervision of trade unions
and was the first to begin the propa
ganda for the shop delegate system
Of rank and file control, and for tina
reason it has been the target for at
tack on the part of the reactionar!
forces in the American labor move
ment.
Women Revolt Against Corruption.
True to it's militant traditions thu
waist and dressmakers' union was thu
first to raise the banner Of revol
against the corrupt leadership in thu
needle trade unions when the lattel