ABSTRACT
In Mrs. Drake’s book, “Women in Trade Unions,” a paragraph occurs describing the agitation in the nail-making industry, in 1882. In 1874 the Women’s Trade Union League was founded by Mrs. Emma Paterson, with the object of stimulating the organization of women in trade unions. Between this year and 1887 the League was successful in encouraging the formation of a large number of small women’s unions in different trades. During the war the question of the status of women’s labor took on a different aspect. The fight for the raising of the minimum standard went on, but, owing to the increased economic power of the workers, and the great demand for women in all branches of industry. The demand for equal pay for equal work which had always been the women’s remedy for the evils of unfair competition and underpaid labor, became more specific and developed into the cry of “the same rate for the job.”.
