The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-01-24
By VERA BUCH,

The position of the American work
ing woman today is a particularly
bad one. The bosses are using her
labor power to lower wages for the
whole working class. The speed-up,
the long hours, the general wear and
tear of modern industry are hitting
her harder than the man worker.
The woman worker is struggling,
too, with the problem of keeping house
and bringing up children without
enough money and in wretched en-
vironment. In a hundred ways in
which she is oppressed, the working
woman can find in a Labor Party
some help for her difficulties.
Woman's Minimum Wage Law.
Perhaps the first need of the work
ing woman is for a minimum wage
law. The low wages paid to women
workers in some lines are almost I'M
believable. The studies of the U. S.
Women's Bureau bring to light such
remarkable facts as these:
In Ohio, of 30,735 women studied,
half earned less than $3.50 a week.
In Mississippi, out of 1883 working
women, half the white women earned
less than $3.50 a week and half the
Negro women less than S5.75.
In Oklahoma, of Abs women
workers, half the white women earned
less than $1,000 and half the colored
women less than $500.
Low Wages for Women, Lower
Standard for Men.
Low wages are not merely the con-
Germ of the women who receive them.
In certain industries women are being
hired in recent years for half the
wages of men, for the same work.
Thus we see in New York City that
women in the stone, clay and glass
products industry are receiving an
average of 1924 week, and men
$44.02, In wood manufacturing, wo-
men are getting STOP and men
$35.76. In chemicals, oils and paints,
women's wages are 1864 and men s
5000. And so on down the line. 1t
is plain that there is tendency, at
least in certain trades, for women to
replace men at lower wage. Thus
the standard of pay for the whole
industry is threatened.
Courts Kill Minimum Wage Laws.
In the face Of these facts, do we
see anything being done to protect
women's wages? Do we see minimum
wage laws being enacted, under the
guidance of the republican and demo-
cratic parties? On the contrary, with
in recent years, court decisions are
more and more wiping out such mini
mum wage laws as did exist for the
protection of women and child work
ers. Such laws exist now in only
eleven states, and even there they are
not the best kind of laws.
Women's Working Hours Long.
In the matters of hours of labor,
there is again the same lack of pro-
lection for women workers. The
states of New Jersey, Maryland and
South Carolina have legal working
day of ten hours for women, while
in Alabama and Iowa there is no
limit to the hours which a woman
may legally be made to work.
Women Workers Do Two Jobs.
When we consider the hours that
women work at their job, it must be
kept in mind always that many thou
sands of working women-in fact, a
quarter of all of them-are married
women and are keeping up a home.
The factory job is not the only job
for these married women workers.
Several hours of homework await
them when the day in the mill is
over
Health of Woman Worker.
We must keep in mind, too, that
women are mothers or potential moth
ers, and that anything which Injuries
their health is threatening the health
Of their children also. Long hours,
Snpqd-un-theSa conditions oppraSc