The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-08-17
The Woman Worker in China

THE development of national in
dustries and the growing pene-
tration of foreign industrial and
commercial capital in China is ac-
companied by the constant growth
in the employment of women in in
dustry. Particularly large is the
growth in the employment of
women's labor in the textile and to-
bacco industries.
Women 40 Per Cent of Workers
The women constitute 40 per cent
of all the industrial workers in
China. Out of $4,000 workers en-
ployed in the cotton and silk in
dustries of the natives in 1926 there
were so per cent women, whilst in
the foreign mills, which are technic-
ally better equipped, the women
constituted about 70 to 80 per cent.
There is whole number of factories
employing exclusively the labor of
women and children Gin Canton).
The condition of the Chinese
women worker is considerably worse
than in the capitalist countries of
Europe and America. 1t is worse
than the condition of the Chinese
working man, it is worse even I'M
der Chinese conditions which are
characterized by political and cul-
tural backwardness of the masses
of the workers, by the abundance
and cheapness of labor power, and
by the atrocious exploitation of the
workers by foreign and native capS-
tai.
Chinese Women Know No Rest
The Chinese working woman
knows of no rest. She works the
whole year round, day and night.
In some provinces of China, under
pressure from the workers, there
were attempts made to establish
holidays for working men and
women on the days dedicated to the
celebration of the Chinese New Year
which usually lasts 7 to 10 days.
This has not been achieved as yet.
Working Day II to Ia Hours.
THE working day of the working
woman usually lasts in the up
to-date factories from - to IA
hours, and in less modern factories
as long as 16 hours. In those fac
tories where the women are virtually
part of the machinery, not being
allowed even an interval for par
taking of food, the 12-hour day be-
comes more uncomfortable than the
16-hour day in the more primitive
factories and in the home trades; in
the latter the labor is less intensi-
fled and the women can allow them
selves short intervals during work
for food and rest.
In all the factories whether owned
by native or foreign capital the en-
ployment of women and children on
night work is permitted.
Since 1925 the Chinese trade
unions have been carrying or a
vigorous campaign for shorter,
shorter hours, but little notice has
been taken of their demands, and
the women and children are fire.
quently compelled to work even
longer hours than the men, under
the constant and vigilant eye of the
supervisors. Should a working
woman or child doze off for a while
or work less strenuously on account
of fatigue or sickness, the whip of
the supervisor Immediately falls
upon the back of the unfortunate
worker and the imposition of fine
is announced in a rough voice.
Abominable Condition.
From the standpoint of hygiene
the working conditions in the fac
tories are abominable. An American
journalist, Agatha Harrison, thus
describes visit to one of the Brit
ish cotton mills in Shanghai in
1923: Hundreds of working women
and children were tending the spin
ming wheels. 1t was three o'clock
in the morning. Some of them fell
asleep at their work from sheer
fatigue, in standing posture. The
children of the working women were
squatting close by. saw with my
own eyes how one of the children
had its leg torn off by the machine,
the child died on the spot from a
profusefloss Of blood, receiving No