The National Anti-Sweating League is the name adopted by two groups of social reformers in Australia and Britain at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both campaigned against the poor conditions endured by many workers in so-called

sweatshop A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, o ...

s and called for a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

Australia

The National Anti-Sweating League was inaugurated in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 29 Jul 1895, with Rev. A. Gosman as president,

Samuel Mauger Samuel Mauger (pronounced "major"; 12 November 1857 – 26 June 1936) was an Australian social reformer and politician. He served in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (1900–1901) and the Australian House of Representatives (1901–1910), incl ...

as secretary, and

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

as treasurer.Race Mathews (1993) ''Australia's First Fabians: Middle-class Radicals, Labour Activists and the Early Labour Movement'' Cambridge University Press

Vida Goldstein Vida Jane Mary Goldstein (pron. ) (13 April 186915 August 1949) was an Australian suffragist and social reformer. She was one of four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand. Goldstein wa ...

was another member.Lees, Kirsten (1995) ''Votes for Women: The Australian Story'' St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, p. 145 Their efforts resulted in wage regulation via the Factory Act of 1896.Sheila Blackburn (1991) ''The Historical Journal'' 34 (1) 43-64 "Ideology and Social Policy: The Origins of the Trade Boards Act"

Britain

The National Anti-Sweating League was an all-party pressure group formed in 1906 with a 3-day conference in the

Guildhall, London Guildhall is a municipal building in the Moorgate area of the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is ...

.Daily Mirror 18 October 1906 341 delegates representing (via

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s) some two million workers attended. Notable members included

Alfred George Gardiner Alfred George Gardiner (2 June 1865 – 3 March 1946) was an English journalist, editor and author. His essays, written under the alias "Alpha of the Plough", are highly regarded. He was also Chairman of the National Anti-Sweating League, an ad ...

R. H. Tawney Richard Henry Tawney (30 November 1880 – 16 January 1962) was an English economic historian, social critic, ethical socialist,Noel W. Thompson. ''Political economy and the Labour Party: the economics of democratic socialism, 1884-2005''. 2nd ...

Mary Reid Macarthur Mary Reid Anderson (née Macarthur; 13 August 1880 – 1 January 1921) was a Scottish suffragist (although at odds with the national groups who were willing to let a minority of women gain the franchise) and was a leading trades unionist. She ...

, and

Lady Astor Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor's first husband was America ...

,Daly Mirror 5 November 1919 while its first secretary was

George Shann George Shann (28 October 1876 – 2 January 1919) was a British politician. Born in Knaresborough, Shann grew up in Bradford. He began working half-time in a spinning mill at the age of ten, then five years later moved to a woolcombing mill ...

.David E. Martin, "Shann, George", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.II, pp.339-340 As a result of the campaign, the

Trade Boards Act 1909 The Trade Boards Act 1909 was a piece of social legislation passed in the United Kingdom in 1909. It provided for the creation of boards which could set minimum wage criteria that were legally enforceable. It was expanded and updated in the Trade ...

was passed, with boards modelled on those in the state of Victoria, Australia, following the 1896 Act.

References

{{reflist Reform movements Minimum wage Australian labour law United Kingdom labour law

Australia

Britain

See also

References