She’s Sticking to the Union! – Women Who Changed America
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By Kati Loy UCW-CWA
Yesterday was International Women’s Day, so we thought we’d mark the occasion by sharing a few of the great historical victories that union women have achieved. Here’s a list of empowered American women who have made a difference by fighting for their rights on the job.
#1 The Lowell Mill Girls (“Turn-out” of 1836)
Did you know that one of the first labor strikes in U.S. history was in an almost all female workplace? In Lowell, MA in 1836, the women workers of the Lowell Textile mills called for a “turnout” at their factory in response to rent hikes (essentially a pay deduction), and successfully forced their employer to rescind the hikes. Historians note that the women who worked in the plant were among the first women to ever speak in public in Lowell, and caused quite a scandal.
#2 Mother Jones (1837-1930)
Mary Harris, aka “Mother Jones”, was once called “the most dangerous woman in America” for her great success organizing mine workers. She was a co-founder of Industrial Workers of the World, and was a zealous advocate for child laborers, educating and mobilizing the