ABSTRACT
The history of Labour Movement contacts with the Labour and Socialist International and the International Federation of Trades Unions has been largely that of men. Before the First World War it was usual for British women to organise in separate political and trades union bodies. For instance, British women concerned with issues of female employment were members of the International Congress of Working Women, founded in the United States in 1882. The International Congress of Working Women was one of the first bodies to resume meetings after the war. Its 1919 Washington meeting was held a little before the Berne conference of the Second International rump. Tom Shaw was wary of reversing the trend against autonomous women’s organisations, as was Jeanne Chevenard. Adelheid Popp, in proposing the Women’s Advisory Council, had made it clear that women were not suggesting autonomous organisation.
