Women's Industrial Council facts for kids
The Women's Industrial Council (WIC) was a British group that worked from 1894 to about 1917. Its main goal was to help women who were working. They wanted to make sure women had fair conditions and good pay.
How the WIC Started
The Women's Industrial Council actually began as a different group in 1889. It was called the Women's Trade Union Association. Clementina Black started this group in the East End of London.
The idea was to create a federation of women's trade unions. A trade union is a group of workers who join together to protect their rights. A federation means many smaller groups joining one bigger group. Early unions that joined included the East London Ropemakers' Union, led by Amie Hicks. Another was a union for people who made sweets, led by Clara James. Clara James even became an assistant secretary for the association.
Important people from other groups, like John Burns and Tom Mann, also supported this new federation. However, the number of members started to drop. So, in 1894, the group was restarted with a new name: the Women's Industrial Council. Their new main goal was to study and report on how women worked.
Investigating Working Conditions
Under new leadership from Catherine Webb, the WIC's new mission worked much better. They investigated more than one hundred different types of jobs. Most of their research happened in London, but some was done in other British cities too.
Amie Hicks and Clara James did not like this new focus on research. They left the group in 1908. But many other women who later became famous joined the WIC. These included Margaret Bondfield, Ishbel Gordon, Elizabeth Leigh Hutchins, Mary Macarthur, Margaret MacDonald, Lucy Wyatt Papworth, Dorothea Margaret Zimmern, and Louise Eates. Louise Eates was also a suffragette, which means she fought for women's right to vote.
The work of the Women's Industrial Council slowed down during World War I. The group seems to have stopped working around 1917.
Where to Find Records
Old papers and records from the Women's Industrial Council are kept in different places. Some materials from 1895 to 1910 are at the British Library of Political and Economic Science. Other records from 1907 to 1909 are part of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Library Collection. This collection is at London Metropolitan University. These archives help us learn about the WIC's important work.
