Pink-collar Worker - Women's Unions and Organizations

Women's Unions and Organizations

New women’s organizations sprouted up working to reform and protect women in the work place. The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) was the largest and most prestigious organization; the members were conservative middle-class housewives. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) was formed after women shirtwaist makers went on strike in New York City in 1909. It started as a small walkout, with a handful of members from one shop and grew to a force of ten of thousands, changing the course of the labor movement forever. In 1910 women allied themselves with the Progressive Party who sought to reform social issues.

Another organization that grew out of women in the workforce was the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor. The Women’s Bureau regulated conditions for women employees. As female labor became a crucial part of the economy, efforts by the Women’s Bureau increased. The Bureau pushed for employers to take advantage of “women-power” and persuaded women to enter the employment market.

In 1913 the ILGWU signed the well-known “protocol in the Dress and Waist Industry” which was the first contract between labor and management settled by outside negotiators. The contract formalized the trade’s division of labor by gender.

Another win for women came in 1921 when congress passed the Sheppard-Towner Act. The act was a welfare measure intended to reduce infant and maternal mortality; it was the first federally funded healthcare act. The Sheppard-Towner Act provided federal funds to establish health centers for prenatal and child care. Expectant mothers and children could receive health checkups and obtain advice about certain health issues.

In 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed making it the first federal law against sex discrimination, equal pay for equal work, and made employers hire women workers if they qualified from the start.

Unions also became a major outlet for women to fight against the unfair treatment they experienced. Women who joined these types of unions stayed before and after work to talk about the benefits of the union, collect dues, obtain charters, and form bargaining committees.

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was approved in May 1933. The NRA negotiated codes designed to rekindle production. It raised wages, shortened workers’ hours and increased employment for the first time maximizing hour and minimizing wage provisions benefiting female workers. The NRA had its flaws however, it only covered half of the women in the workforce particularly manufacturing and trade. The NRA regulated working conditions only for women with a job and did not offer any relief for the two million unemployed women who desperately needed it.

The 1930s proved successful for women in the workplace thanks to federal relief programs and the growth of unions. For the first time women were not completely dependent on themselves, in 1933 the federal government expanded in its responsibility to female workers. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act grew out of several successful strikes. Two million women joined the workforce during the depression in spite of public opinion.