New York shirtwaist strike of 1909

The New York shirtwaist strike of 1909, also known as the Uprising of the 20,000, was a labour strike primarily involving Jewish women working in New York shirtwaist factories. It was the largest strike by female American workers up to that date. Led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL), the strike began in November 1909.

In February 1910, the NWTUL settled with the factory owners, gaining improved wages, working conditions, and hours. The end of the strike was followed only a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which exposed the plight of immigrant women working in dangerous and difficult conditions.

Background

During the 20th century, American textile workers of all categories—and female textile workers in particular—were subjected to abysmal working conditions, marked by crowded, unsanitary facilities, long work days, and miserable wages. Production in the garment-making capital of New York City during the first decade of the century was split between 600 shops and factories, employing 30,000 workers and producing an estimated $50 million worth of merchandise annually.

Women were frequently trapped by an internal subcontracting system, which made extensive use of home work and additionally limited entry into skilled "operator" positions by relegating many to the ranks of "learners"—a category of convenience which had little correlation to actual level of skill or experience. These so-called "learners" often earned no more than $3 or $4 a day—a small fraction of the typical wages of $7 to $12 made by semi-skilled "operators," who were generally male. At the top of the garment industry hierarchy were the skilled pattern-makers and cutters, who were almost exclusively male.