1919 International Congress of Working Women facts for kids

The First International Congress of Working Women (ICWW) was a big meeting of women from different countries who worked in jobs. It was organized by the Women's Trade Union League of America. This meeting happened from October 28 to November 6, 1919.

The women at the ICWW wanted to share their ideas for helping women workers around the world. They planned to present these ideas at the first International Labor Conference (ILC) in 1919. The ICWW delegates agreed on a list of important decisions. Some of these ideas were later used by the ILC's group on women's jobs. This led to a new rule called the Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3), which helped mothers who worked.

Why Women Organized

When factories started to become common in the 1700s and 1800s, especially in Europe, they changed how things were made and how people lived. Making clothes and textiles was one of the first industries to change a lot. Machines were used, and many workers were brought together in big mills and factories. Because of this, many women and children started working in these factories for wages.

Women factory workers often worked long hours in terrible conditions, just like men. But women also faced extra problems. They were paid less, were treated unfairly when applying for jobs, and had to do all the housework after their paid jobs. Other types of jobs had different risks. For example, domestic service, where women worked in people's homes, offered very little time off.

These problems made women workers in Europe and the United States want to organize. They went on strikes to demand fair pay and reasonable work hours. By the late 1800s, strong worker groups and political parties started to form. They wanted better working conditions. But often, women were left out of these groups. These organizations mostly focused on the rights of men, who were seen as the main earners for their families.

By the early 1900s, women who fought for workers' rights joined with women from wealthier families. They formed national groups to fight for fairness in jobs, equal rights, and women's rights. Examples include the British Women's Trade Union League, started in 1874, and the Women's Trade Union League of America, started in 1903.

How the Congress Started

The year 1919 was important because the Paris Peace Conference began. This conference led to the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. The Treaty included a "Labour Charter." This charter called for a new international group to set rules for workers around the world. The Treaty also created a world government called the League of Nations and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO's job was to deal with worker issues, create international labor rules, and help bring peace through fairness for all people.

People interested in workers' rights turned their attention to the ILO and the Paris Peace Conference. Margaret Dreier Robins, who was the president of the U.S. Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), saw this international meeting as a chance. She believed it was a new time for women, especially after World War I. During the war, women's work was very important for making food, weapons, and other goods.

The WTUL encouraged women from all over the world to come together at the conference. They wanted women's voices and concerns about working conditions to be heard. Rose Schneiderman and Mary Anderson, who were important members of the WTUL, quickly went to France. They wanted to talk to the new ILO. They brought a document with them that listed fair labor rules. This document was written by the WTUL's group on rebuilding society and jobs. It included rules like "equal pay for equal work." It also suggested a maximum of an eight-hour workday and a forty-four-hour work week. Other ideas were to stop women from working at night and to provide support for new mothers, older people, and those without jobs.

Schneiderman and Anderson could not present the WTUL's document directly to the main conference. But they met with Margaret Bondfield from Britain and many other women who were leaders in the labor movement from different countries. These women agreed to create an international conference for working women. This meeting would help them prepare for the upcoming ILO convention. The ILO meeting was set for October in Washington D.C. A "Call for Delegates" was quickly sent out. It asked women from recognized labor unions around the world to attend the ICWW. The International Congress of Working Women was created and planned to meet in mid-October. They would discuss and set their own labor rules to protect women workers everywhere.

Goals and Achievements of the 1919 ICWW

Twenty-eight delegates came from countries like Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Women from Cuba, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland also attended and helped make decisions. In total, more than two hundred women came to the congress. Margaret Dreier Robins of the WTUL was the leader of the 1919 International Congress of Working Women. She planned to create a list of decisions to send to the first yearly conference of the International Labor Organization.

After ten days, the delegates of the ICWW finished many decisions about labor rules. The ICWW created a document with ten important rules. These rules would be given to the ILO during their first yearly conference in Washington D.C. The document also asked that the number of ILO delegates from each country be increased from four to six. It also demanded that two of these six delegates must be women.

The ICWW was also responsible for starting a lasting organization called the International Federation of Working Women. However, not all decisions and rules were agreed upon easily. The women workers at the conference had different ideas when discussing the eight hour day, night work, and support for new mothers. These discussions came from trying to define what a "woman worker" was. Should women workers be treated the same as men, or should there be special "protective" laws just for women?

Delegates from Norway and Sweden suggested that women should not be allowed to work at night because it could be dangerous for them. Schneiderman disagreed. She said that if women wanted to work at night and take the risk, they should be allowed to. The congress found a middle ground. They agreed to limit night work for women, but they also suggested this rule should apply to men as well.

Also, Marie Majerová, a delegate from Czechoslovakia, urged her fellow delegates to think of women's housework as part of the eight-hour day. She knew that housework was a big burden for women around the world. Unfortunately, the other delegates did not like this idea, and a wider discussion about housework did not happen. Instead, Robins focused the talk about the eight-hour day on farm work and factory work done at home. Finally, the women of the congress agreed on an eight-hour day and a forty-four-hour week for all workers.

When talking about support for new mothers, American and British delegates agreed that mothers should not have to work for wages right after giving birth. However, many other countries believed that women could balance paid work and family duties if they had certain support. Women from Belgium thought women needed Saturday afternoons off for housework and shopping. Women from France and Italy believed that women needed daycares close to their workplaces. They also needed breaks for breastfeeding, plus two other breaks to eat with their families. American and British delegates did not agree that women should be nursing their babies at work. Jean Bouvier of the French group defended the need for breastfeeding at work. Both ideas were brought to the ILO conference.

After many discussions, the ICWW did create a document. This document was presented at the International Labor Conference. It covered:

• An eight-hour day and a forty-four-hour week for all workers.
• Limits on child labor.
• Benefits for new mothers.
• Stopping work at night for both men and women, and in dangerous jobs.
• New rules for people who were unemployed and for those moving to new countries.
• An "equal sharing of raw materials existing in the world."
• An end to the blockade against Russia.
• The creation of a permanent office for the International Congress of Working Women in the United States.

ILO's Women's Employment Group

A special group of the ILO, called The Commission on the Employment of Women, was in charge of two main agreements. These were The Maternity Protection Convention and an agreement about night work for women. Both of these agreements were greatly influenced by the ICWW's ideas and by important women from the ICWW.

The Maternity Protection Convention included many rules about benefits for new mothers in factories and businesses. Jeanne Bouvier, Margaret Bonfield, Mary Macarthur, and Constance Smith all took part in the ICWW. They were then chosen as delegates to the Commission on the Employment of Women during the ILO conference. The Maternity Protection Convention wrote down their agreements and decisions about protecting women workers. It formed a document with twelve articles. The document stated:

• Women would get six weeks of maternity leave after their child's birth.
• Women would be paid enough money to keep themselves and their child healthy.
• Women's jobs would be protected.
• They would get free care from a doctor or a trained midwife.
• Once they returned to work, they would get two half-hour breaks to breastfeed their newborn child.

Countries that agreed to this convention would put these rules into their own laws. The women of the ICWW were very important in the decisions made during the International Labor Organization's Maternity Protection Convention.

During the second conference, which discussed night work for women, women from the ICWW also shared their ideas. Betsy Kjelsberg from Norway believed that special laws made only for women were unfair to them. She explained that she wanted to work to slowly get rid of night work for both women and men. The final rules for the night work agreement did stop women from working after 10 p.m. or before 5 a.m. However, this rule did not apply to male workers.

The IFWW After 1919

The second International Congress of Working Women happened in 1921 in Geneva. This meeting discussed who could join the lasting organization of the ICWW, which was called the International Federation of Working Women (IFWW). The Federation decided to allow trade unions with female members to join. They also allowed women's labor organizations that shared their goals to join them.

In 1923, the third International Conference of Working Women took place in Vienna. This conference talked about the difficulties of working with an international labor movement that was mostly led by men. The delegates of the third ICWW decided to join with the International Federation of Trade Unions. This decision caused the IFWW to close down.