The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-04-01
Women Who Work


In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary Of
Seneca Falls where women nauguated their pioneer
ganizaton to gain political and legal equality, the Women's
Bureau of the Department of Labor called conference of
representatives of leading Womens organizations In the
first hundred the number of women employed in work
outside their homes has steadily increased and the variety
of occupations which they their living has grown
steadily notably during the periods OF tight labor markets
accompanying two world wars.
Because peak employment transformed into
peak civilian employment, fewer withdrew from the
labor market than expected However, the number Of
employed in making durable and producer goods has
diminished and the number in the retail trades and services
has increased Again the majority of workers
employed jobs not requiring trade sls and paying low
rates.
Such the traditional discrimination against any group
entering the labor marketwhether it due to color
The basic agency which deal with this problem
is the union with jurisdiction the work The union which
does not include in it's active membership all the workers
within its jurisdiction invites the competition OF lower rates
and non-union standards However, responsibility does not
rest altogether with the union.
Women who seek employment must realize that the OPP
porunty of ncome-eanng carries with it responsibility
for standards for all who work No into the
work force without affecting standards for better or for
worse All workers and all citizens should know that high
labor standards in the interests of national welfare and
that unions the standard-making agencies.
The basic problem Of these women workers in low
standard employment is not escape from this employment
but first, development Of sls in union organization and
action and then TO discover in their work the sis
different in nature from manual sis and by perfecng
of them lift their occupations in both social esteem and
compensation. All who work have duty to join the appro
pirate union and to identify themselves with constructive
progress Only through collective action workers plan
Women are Joining unions. The annual report of the
state Of California trade unions shows workers
in that state 8 per cent of the total membership Of
porting unions At the peak of wartime employment 1914
1945 this per centage II and % Women workers
stuted 76 per cent of the textile and apparel unions and
per cent of the organized workers in hotels and food and
drink places The experienced trade unoniss who heads the
California Department of Industrial Relations has pioneered
in publishing statistics trade unions indicating develop
ments in organized labor, including membership by sex.
Trade unions human institutions and fully under
stand that necessity force wokes to accept undepay
and discrimination in hiring but they also know that
unless these workers learn to accept responsibility for self
help their progress will be limited Political and legal frame
work exists which makeks sefhep for possible This
was established by the pioneers Only through their
initiative achieve equality Of opportunity and
compensation Each generation of workers achieves its
freedom and progress.
Labor legislation such as the minimum wage laws of
states and the federal Wage and Hour Law benefits many
workers by fixing minimum standards But for the
raising of goals and their attainment they must depend
primarily trade union Even labor legislation requires
the cooperation of unions For steady progress the
who work need the union and the union needs them
be As union members they should accept responsibility for
union work and activity not refusing the duties of officers
when designated Unions democratic institutions which
make progress in proportion to the efforts Of their