Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)
The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) was established in 1903 to advocate for the rights of female workers in the United States, inspired by labor reformers William English Walling and Mary Kenney O'Sullivan. Initially comprised of predominantly white, upper- and middle-class women, the organization aimed to address the poor working conditions faced by women, who were largely overlooked by traditional labor unions. Notable members included Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams, and Mary Anderson, who played pivotal roles in advancing labor rights.
Throughout its early years, WTUL successfully championed significant reforms, including the establishment of the eight-hour workday, minimum wage laws, and the abolition of child labor. The league was particularly active during labor strikes and public safety investigations, such as the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, which galvanized public support for improved worker safety standards.
Despite its early successes, the organization faced challenges after World War II, as societal shifts and a decline in women's workplace participation led to its eventual dissolution by 1950. Nevertheless, WTUL left a lasting impact on labor rights, advocating for educational opportunities, better wages, and workplace safety for women, and helping to integrate the workforce across racial and gender lines.
Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)
The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was organized in 1903 by William English Walling (1877–1936) and Mary Kenney O’Sullivan (1864–1903) as the Women’s National Trade Union League. Members tended to be white, upper- and middle-class Protestant reformers who were outraged at the condition under which women worked and the fact that traditional labor unions continued to ignore the rights of female workers. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), who became First Lady a decade later, joined WTUL in 1922. Between 1907 and 1922, WTUL was successful in helping to bring about the eight-hour workday, establishing a minimum wage for workers, and abolishing child labor in the United States.
Brief History
The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was initially inspired by William English Walling, a Kentucky labor reformer who learned of women in New York boycotting the high price of kosher beef. Walling traveled to England to observe the workings of the British Women’s Trade Union firsthand. Upon his return, he and labor organizer Mary Kenney O’Sullivan established the Women’s National Trade Union League in 1903 at a meeting of the American Federation of Labor. Subsequent meetings were held at Hull House in Boston. The name was changed to the Women’s Trade Union League in 1907.
Labor reformer Mary Morton Kehew (1859–1918) served as the first president, and settlement house pioneer Jane Addams (1860–1935) served as vice president. Other prominent members included labor reformers Mary Anderson (1872–1964), Agnes Nestor (1880–1949, and Leonore O’Reilly (1870–1927), civic reformer Mary McDowell (1854–1936), and community nursing founder Lillian Wald (1867–1940).
Early efforts at organizing female workers focused on those who were employed in the domestic sphere, in offices and department stores, as telephone operators, and in packing houses and factories. Working mostly out of New York and Chicago, WTUL focused on promoting vocational education, improving working conditions for women, and boycotting companies that persisted in selling products at inflated prices. WTUL continued to work closely with the American Federation of Labor. WTUL’s official seal was designed by Julia Bracken Wendt and depicted an armored female carrying a shield labeled "victory" greeting a mother with an infant, signifying the fight for the rights of all female workers.
Throughout its history, WTUL was almost totally financed by its members. The monthly journal, Life and Labor (1911–1921), was financed by philanthropist and labor reformer Margaret Dreier Robins (1865–1945), supported in her efforts by her husband Raymond Robins (1873–1953), who had become a settlement worker after amassing a fortune as a gold prospector. Under the editorship of Australian immigrants Alice Henry and Stella Franklin, the journal took on an internationalist position, regularly highlighting the activities of women and labor groups abroad. The editors regularly locked horns with Robins over what the journal should cover, leading her to withdraw her financial support in 1921. The journal was then replaced with the four-page Life and Labor Bulletin.
WTUL members were likely to support the improvement of women’s lives in a number of ways, and many worked in settlement houses and were involved in the suffrage movement. In addition to improving enrollment of women in labor unions and supporting strikers, their activism extended to other areas. Lavinia Dork (1858–1956), for example, had been born into an affluent Pennsylvania family but chose to dedicate her life to nursing. Dork spent most of her career working at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City. After joining WTUL, she began working to convince other nurses that they shared a responsibility to support the rights of all working women.
Impact
Assisting striking workers was a major activity for WTUL. One of the first strikes in which it was involved occurred in 1909–1910 when the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union led a strike at shirtwaist factories in New York and Philadelphia. The shirtwaist industry was well known for its exploitation of female immigrant workers. The strike became known as the "uprising of 20,000." Workers, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrants, left their jobs to protest unsafe and overcrowded working conditions. Employers used thugs and prostitutes to intimidate workers and try to force them back to work. WTUL joined the strikers and also provided them with money and lawyers when necessary. On March 25, 1911, a massive fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York. Employers usually kept doors locked during working hours, opening only one door for workers to enter and exit the building at the beginning and end of the workday, and there were no fire escapes. Unable to exit the building, 146 workers perished in the fire or by attempting to jump from the burning building. After the fire, WTUL participated in a four-year investigation into the causes of the fire and made recommendations for improving worker safety.
A second strike in which WTUL participated was dubbed the "Bread and Roses" strike by member Rose Schneiderman. Led by the Industrial Workers of the World, better known as the Wobblies, the strike took place in 1912 at textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The 23,000 strikers were protesting a pay cut that had been instituted in response to a union victory that had reduced workdays from 56 to 54 hours per week.
Following World War I, WTUL concentrated efforts on winning an eight-hour workday, achieving a minimum wage, and abolishing child labor. Once women won the right to vote in 1920 with ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, labor radicals lost much of their impetus for radicalism. Although most members were supportive of woman suffrage and women’s rights, the group did not support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was first proposed in 1921, because they feared that it would put an end to protective legislation for women that had been won in such cases as Muller v. Oregon (208 US 412, 1908), which limited working hours for women for health reasons.
In 1929, headquarters were shifted from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to be near the focus of national power. The election of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 placed his wife Eleanor in a prime position for influencing the administration’s policies on women’s issues. Members of WTUL were provided access to key figures in the Roosevelt administration and some members also served in it. Mary Anderson was the head of the Women’s Bureau, and Rose Schneiderman was a member of FDR’s "brain trust."
By 1950, WTUL leaders determined that the group was no longer needed. Traditional labor unions had become more inclusive, and McCarthyism was proving a major force in the United States. Fears of being labeled communistic fueled a rise in antiunionism. Fewer women were in the workplace after World War II amid a government campaign to convince women to give up their jobs in favor of returning veterans and taking up their proper role in the home. This new environment led to the dissolution of WTUL, but the group left behind a legacy of advancing women’s education, achieving higher wages for workers, promoting job safety regulations, and improving sexual and racial integration in the workplace.
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