Title: Commemorating the life and legacy of labor pioneer Kate Mullany in honor of Women's History Month.
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
This resolution commemorates the life of labor pioneer Kate Mullany, who fought for safe working conditions and reasonable wages.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 282 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 282

  Commemorating the life and legacy of labor pioneer Kate Mullany in 
                    honor of Women's History Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2021

    Mr. Tonko (for himself, Mr. Morelle, and Miss Rice of New York) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                         on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Commemorating the life and legacy of labor pioneer Kate Mullany in 
                    honor of Women's History Month.

Whereas, in 1838, Kate Mullany was born in England to Dominic and Bridgit Byrne 
        Mullany of Roscommon of Ireland;
Whereas, on July 24, 1850, Mullany emigrated to New York City with her siblings 
        Mary, Kate, and Bridgit, and arrived in Troy, New York, around 1853;
Whereas the city of Troy, New York, played a significant role in the development 
        of the detachable collar industry, where women made up 85 percent of the 
        workforce and worked up to 14-hour days for as little as $3 per week;
Whereas women who worked in the detachable collar industry were subjected to 
        significant health and safety hazards, including widespread exposure to 
        caustic chemicals, hot water, and bleach, and demands for rapid work 
        added to the incidence of severe burns and other dangers;
Whereas Dominic Mullany died in 1864 prompting Kate to step up as a family 
        breadwinner at 26 years of age, gaining employment at one of the 14 
        laundries in Troy, New York;
Whereas, in February 1864, Kate Mullany formed and led the Collar Laundry Union 
        of Troy, the first bona fide all-female union in the United States, to 
        press for higher wages and safer work conditions after employers had 
        repeatedly ignored collar laundresses' demands for fair pay;
Whereas, on February 23, 1864, Kate Mullany led 300 women on strike for 5 and a 
        half days as part of the newly established union;
Whereas the Collar Laundry Union of Troy successfully gained a 25-percent wage 
        increase and improved working conditions with support from the Troy Iron 
        Molders Union No. 2 and the community at large, legitimizing and 
        elevating itself as a prominent organization in Troy's growing labor 
        movement;
Whereas Kate Mullany again led the Collar Laundry Union of Troy in a second 
        strike in 1866, successfully raising workers' wages from $8 to $14 a 
        week, and a third strike in 1869, maintaining higher wages for union 
        members than the lower wages that most working women earned, and 
        securing benefits that would be available to members even during illness 
        and family death;
Whereas, in 1868, Kate Mullany traveled to New York City to attend the National 
        Labor Union meeting alongside only 3 other women delegates: Mary Kellogg 
        Putnam, Susan B. Anthony, and Mary A. MacDonald;
Whereas Kate Mullany was appointed Assistant Secretary by the National Labor 
        Union President William Sylvis on the last day of the conference, the 
        first time in United States history that a woman served as a national 
        labor union officer;
Whereas, despite dissolving the Collar Laundry Union of Troy in 1870, a union 
        that had lasted more than twice as long as any other women's union at 
        the time, Kate Mullany continued to be a leading part of a network of 
        labor activists and helped author the resolution of the Working Women's 
        State Labor Union of New York in support of cooperatives;
Whereas a local newspaper claimed there were not enough women in New York to be 
        labor organizers, and Kate Mullany responded confidently: ``You show me 
        the women and I'll turn them into organizers.'';
Whereas Kate Mullany was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 
        Seneca Falls, New York, in 2000 where it is noted: ``As a labor leader 
        and organizer, Mullany is one of early American labor history's most 
        important women'', and into the Labor's International Hall of Fame in 
        Detroit, Michigan, in 2018;
Whereas the enduring legacy of Kate Mullany is as a legendary champion in the 
        struggle for economic and social justice for America's working class, 
        and a role model for subsequent generations of working women; and
Whereas the Kate Mullany House at 350 Eighth Street in Troy, New York, was 
        designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior 
        in 1998 and a National Historic Site by an Act of Congress in 2004, and 
        is owned and being restored by the American Labor Studies Center: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the life of Kate Mullany attests to the experience of 
        working women in 19th century America and their struggle to 
        obtain safe working conditions, reasonable wages, and respect 
        from the entire American labor movement;
            (2) Kate Mullany demonstrated the indomitable will of 
        working women everywhere who continue to fight for equal pay 
        and equal opportunity in workplaces through union organizing 
        and collective bargaining; and
            (3) Kate Mullany reflected the best American tradition of 
        using her intellect and courage to overcome outdated barriers 
        tied to gender, live and work with dignity, and have the 
        confidence to pursue her dreams both in her careers and with 
        her loved ones.
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