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It's a beautiful day to honor the women of the labor movement who risked destitution & starvation to improve working conditions in the garment industry
(My mother worked in a shirt factory in the 30s)
Let's review some history
(My mother worked in a shirt factory in the 30s)
Let's review some history
"The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s."
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
"The International Ladiesâ Garment Workersâ Union (ILGWU), originally formed by the amalgamation of seven unions, at first consisted mostly of eastern European Jewish immigrants, although a few of the original two thousand members were of Irish descent.
From 1909 to 1911, large-scale strikes occurred in the garment industry. Most of the people in the picket lines were Jewish women, though a number of Italian immigrants also joined the lines.
As a result of the strikes, clothing manufacturers agreed to deal directly with the ILGWU. Part of the settlement of the strikes involved the Protocol of Peace, which led to improved working conditions, increased wages, and shorter workdays for garment industry workers.
The ethnic makeup of the ILGWU changed over the decades. In 1919, many Italian womenâs unions were chartered as part of the ILGWU, and an even larger number of Italian immigrants joined the union during the 1930âs.
Also during that decade, immigrants fromAsian countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Armenia entered the garment trade and eventually joined the ILGWU.
Later, thousands of Latin American workers, including Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, entered the garment trade and became ILGWU members."
From: http://immigrationtounitedstates.org
From: http://immigrationtounitedstates.org
Even earlier in 1836 The Mill Gils Strike in Lowell, MA ( as described in A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik.Loomis):
"Probably fifteen hundred to two thousand workers went on strike, up to one-third of the workforce.
"Probably fifteen hundred to two thousand workers went on strike, up to one-third of the workforce.
Cutting down the wages was not their only grievance, nor the only cause of this strike. Hitherto the corporations had paid twenty-five cents a week towards the board of each operative, and now it was their purpose to have the girls pay the sum;
and this, in addition to the cut in the wages, would make a difference of at least one dollar a week. It was estimated that as many as twelve or fifteen hundred girls turned out, and walked in procession through the streets.
...they kept up the struggle for several months, making it impossible for the mills to run at full capacity. They would turn off all the machines in a given room before walking out, effectively shutting down an entire mill.
At least two mills gave in and revoked the boarding-house rate increases."
We owe these women, these immigrants, a moment to honor their legacy today.
