ABSTRACT
The study of women's labor organization is connected to the general history of labor resistance, protest, and organization in Kenya. Women's labor actions reached a peak at the same time as African trade unionism was at its height. The trade unionism movement was particularly strong from 1947 to 1952, and it was mostly urban-based. Under the direction of labor leaders like Chege Kibachia of the African Workers Federation (1947) and Fred Kubai, of the East African Trade Union Congress (1949), labor protest became widespread and achieved success in improving wage rates for several categories of workers. Kikuyu women's labor protest occurred in two phases and their protest evoked similar official reactions. The first phase covers the years 1895 to 1919. The second period of Kiambu women's protest began with the official policy of converting women into seasonal wage laborers for the coffee agribusiness.
