The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), March 29, 2005, Tuesday

Copyright 2005 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved.
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)

March 29, 2005 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Comment; Pg. A11

HEADLINE: WORKING WOMEN IN HISTORY;
IF MEN SHOULDN'T BEAR OPPRESSION IN SILENCE, WHY SHOULD WOMEN?

BYLINE: By Greg Hart Onondaga Community College

BODY:
Since March is Women's History Month, we should take the opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women in American labor history. The remarkable determination of these brave women is an important chapter in labor's story. They frequently came up against fighting the injustices and dangers of the workplace, as well as gender discrimination.
The first wave of industrialization presented a new opportunity for women in the workplace. Prior to this, domestic work was the largest occupation for women wage-workers.
In the early 1800s, the need for workers brought thousands of women to the world of wage work. Many thousands were underpaid and exploited piece-workers (or "outworkers") who worked from home. The jobs were in all forms of textile and manufacturing work.
Unsafe conditions and low pay led women to stick together and form their own trade associations. Women activists, including tailoresses, shoe binders and textilers eventually grew these organizations into unions.
In the 1830s, Sarah Monroe led the New York City tailoresses. She chided the male unionists for making light of a wage strike by her union: "If it is unfashionable for the men to bear oppression in silence, why should it not also be unfashionable for the women? Or do they deem us more able to endure hardships?"
In June 1835, in a general strike in Philadelphia, 500 working women formed a city-wide federation, the Female Improvement Society, that won an increase for the seamstresses that sewed uniforms for the U.S. Army.
In 1865, Syracuse women banded together to form a mutual aid society to deal with the "merchant tailors." The organization was the Sewing Women of Syracuse Protective Union.
In 1840s and 1850s in Lowell, Mass., thousands of women, called the "Lowell girls," toiled in textiles. Women activists led the way to organize the workers. The Lowell Female Labor Reform Association became the biggest of several women's unions in New England. They raised money for causes and printed a newspaper called the Voice of Industry.
As advocates of women's rights and the 10-hour day, the LFLRA was ably led by a dynamic president, Sarah Bagley. She urged women in 1846 to "Resolve that you will think, reason, judge, love, hate, approve and disapprove for yourselves and at your own volition and not at the dictation of another." She wanted to change the notion that social activism was an "un-womanly" pursuit. Bagley was a respected labor leader and was a key speaker at the first National Industrial Congress in 1845.
Despite the disagreement over the role of women in the workplace, there were many examples of solidarity. A wave of work stoppages shut down the shoe industry in 1860. Twenty thousand men and women halted shoe production in factory towns in New England. This included many women "outworkers."
In Syracuse, a union called the Knights of St. Crispin was formed for shoemakers (also called cordwainers) and the women belonged to the Daughters of St. Crispin. On April 9, 1871, a shoe manufacturer arbitrarily fired three women for their union activity. Word spread, and women and men walked off the job and shut down all the shoe manufacturers until the women were reinstated on April, 21.
The story of women's contributions in American labor history is a rich and inspiring one. This tireless dedication by working women was and is evident in tens of thousands of locations across the country, including Syracuse.
Greg Hart is an instructor for the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations/Labor Studies Program at Onondaga Community College.