WOMEN'S TRADE UNION LEAGUE (WTUL)

Founded in 1903, the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) sought to represent the cause of working-class women to middle- and upper-class reformers. Women were openly excluded from other labor organizations, which maintained that women simply did not have a place in the workforce. Male laborers were wary that including women in the labor cause would lower their own wages, and most felt that the woman's place was in the home. Whatever the prevailing sentiment among working-class men, the fact was that women were in the workplace in numbers. In 1903, the year the WTUL organized, there were 6.3 million women in the American workforce. The organization sought to secure state and federal legislation to protect female laborers, sponsor educational programs, and campaign for woman suffrage (the right to vote). By 1906 Jewish cap-maker Rose Schneiderman (1882–1972) rose to a position of leadership within the WUTL. In 1909, the Schneiderman-led WTUL joined forces with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) and staged a strike against sweatshops (exploitative garment factories) in New York City. After a three-month strike, called the "Uprising of the 20,000," tens of thousands of garment workers won wage increases, shorter hours, and somewhat safer work conditions. In 1911 Schneiderman was among those who turned out to join an April 5 procession to mourn the victims of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. One hundred and forty-six workers, most of them Jewish immigrant women, had perished in the March 25, blaze in a building that failed to meet required safety standards. In the wake of the tragedy, Schneiderman resolved that workers would never again be forced to risk their lives to earn a living. Public outrage was now on the side of the movement to increase worker safety. The WUTL eventually became dominated by middle-class leaders who steered the organization away from union activities (including strikes), alienating its working-class membership. In the early 1920s the organization rallied against passage of an equal rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution, asserting that women workers needed protection from exploitation, not equal opportunities. By 1930 the WTUL had dissolved.

See also: American Federation of Labor (AFL), Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire