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Heroes of American Labor
In the beginning years of the last century, working conditions were grave, especially for female workers. This is was, in part, because the world still wasn't behind women wanting to work outside of the home. Male unions and employers kept women out of better-paying jobs, forcing them into industries such as garment-making, where sweatshop conditions prevailed, pay was low, and employees had to pay for their cutting and sewing supplies. It seems horrible, it seems impossible today, but it could have been just yesterday.
New York's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory became a target for its known violations to women. But women, including Pauline Newman, were ready to fight back. That winter women and girls in their teens left their cramped and filthy work rooms, and marched to Union Square to protest their poor working conditions at a meeting called by the ILGWU. Pauline Newman, remembering the day, recalled:
"Thousands upon thousands left the factories from every side, all of them walking down toward Union Square. It was November, the cold winter was just around the corner, we had no fur coats to keep warm, and yet there was the spirit that led us out of the cold at least for the time being." (p. 116)
Of 339 shops involved, over 300 settled with the workers. This is because...
These women won a 52-hour work week, a promise that employers would provide supplies, no punishment for striking, and an equal division of work in slack seasons.
There are just some people in American History that stand out more than others. Pauline Newman will forever be heard through the years for her courage to fight back against the rights that were being violated by so many unions and employers of that time. She believed that, just like anyone else in the world, she had a right to be heard. Her courage and ability to communicate helped the women's movement and the garment industry evolve into something better.
Pauline Newman tells of getting a job at the Triangle Company as a child, soon after arriving in the United States from Lithuania in 1901. Newman describes her life as an immigrant and factory worker. Like many other young immigrant workers, she chafed at the strict regulations imposed by the garment manufacturers. One of the greatest industrial tragedies in U.S. history occurred on March 26, 1911, when 146 workers, mostly young women, died in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Although she was not working in the factory at the time of the fire, many of her friends perished. Newman later became an organizer…
Bibliography
Marcus, Robert D. And David Burner. America Firsthand. Volume 1 & 2, 5th ed., Boston: Bedford Books, 1997.
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