Women's Trade Union League (UK) facts for kids
The Women's Trade Union League was a British group that helped women workers join trade unions. It was started in 1874 by Emma Paterson, who had seen similar groups run by working women in America. Before 1890, it was known as the Women's Protective and Provident League.
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How the League Started
The main person who started the league was Emma Paterson. She was part of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union. Emma convinced many people from that group to help with her new league. In 1872, she became the secretary for the Society for the Promotion of Women's Suffrage Association. Even though she didn't stay long, these jobs made her very interested in women's trade unions.
In 1873, Emma visited the United States. There, she learned about groups like the Women's Typographical Society and the Female Umbrella Makers' Union. When she came back to England, she wrote an article for Labour News. She asked for a group to be formed for women trade union members.
Forming the Women's Protective and Provident League
In July 1874, a meeting was held to talk about Emma Paterson's idea. The meeting decided to create the "Women's Protective and Provident League" (WPPL). This group was not a union itself, but it helped to create and support women's trade unions.
The WPPL had four main goals:
- To protect workers' wages and working conditions.
- To offer help to sick or unemployed workers.
- To act as a job placement office.
- To help solve disagreements between workers and employers.
Later that year, Emma Paterson also started the National Association of Working Women. This was a trade union specifically for women.
Helping Women's Unions Grow
The WPPL helped start several unions for women. Some of these included groups for women working in bookbinding, sewing, and upholstery. Many of these early unions didn't last long, but the bookbinders' union did very well, and the upholsteresses' union survived.
The league also created the Women's Halfpenny Bank in 1879. This bank offered loans to members. They also had a reading room, a library, a job register, a swimming club, and even organized trips to Epping Forest.
Fighting for Women's Rights
In 1875, Emma Paterson and Edith Simcox became the first women to attend the Trades Union Congress. At these meetings, representatives from the WPPL spoke up for women's rights. They argued against rules that stopped women from working in certain jobs. For example, the league opposed efforts to stop women from working in coal mines.
From 1876, the league published a monthly magazine called the Women's Union Journal. This magazine was quite expensive to produce. In 1879, the league had financial difficulties, but a collection organized by Stopford Brooke helped them pay off most of their debt.
New Leadership and Growth
Emma Paterson passed away in 1886. After her death, Emilia Dilke took over leadership of the league. She also gave about £100 a year of her own money to support the group. The league then focused on getting new laws passed to improve the rights of working women. They also tried to convince all-male trade unions to allow women to join.
Mona Wilson became the general secretary in 1899. In 1903, Mary Macarthur took over this role. Mary Macarthur's leadership brought new energy to the league. By 1905, the league's membership had grown to 70,000 people, including 16,000 men.
In 1906, Mary Macarthur started the Union of Jute, Flax and Kindred Textile Operatives to help women textile workers. Supporting this union led her to create the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW). The NFWW took on much of the work of organizing new unions that the league used to do.
The league also cared about working conditions for children. They formed a group to study child workers and suggest ways to improve their lives. Members of this group included Jane Brownlow, Margaret Macdonald, and Ruth Homan.
Supporting Women During Wartime
In 1915, the league started a campaign to encourage women working in war jobs, especially in munitions factories, to join trade unions. The next year, they worked with other women's groups like the NFWW and the Women's Co-operative Guild to form the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations. This committee worked to make sure working women were represented on government groups.
Joining the Trades Union Congress
In 1919, Mary Macarthur attended the Women's International Labour Conference. She also went to the meeting that started the International Labour Organization. These conferences inspired her to combine the women's trade union groups with the larger, existing unions.
This happened in 1921 when the Women's Trade Union League became the Women's Section of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). This change meant that two women would have places on the TUC's main council.
Leaders of the League
General Secretaries
- 1874: Emma Paterson
- 1886: Clementina Black
- 1892: Gertrude Tuckwell
- 1899: Mona Wilson
- 1903: Mary Macarthur
Presidents
- 1886: Emilia Dilke
- 1904: Gertrude Tuckwell
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