The National Joint Committee of Working Women's Organisations was an organisation representing women active in the labour movement in the United Kingdom. The organisation was founded in 1916 by the

National Federation of Women Workers The National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland active in the first part of the 20th century. Instrumental in winning women workers the right to a minimum wage for the first ti ...

Women's Labour League The Women's Labour League (WLL) was a pressure organisation, founded in London in 1906, to promote the political representation of women in parliament and local bodies. The idea was first suggested by Mary Macpherson, a linguist and journalist wh ...

, Women's Trade Union League and Railway Women's Guild, as the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations (SJCIWO). It aimed to represent women workers, by helping them gain representation on relevant bodies at the local, national and international level. It became closely aligned with the Labour Party, and the Chief Women's Officer of the party acted as the group's secretary. By 1932, the group's constitution stated that the following organisations could become affiliates: "the Labour Party, the Trades Union Congress, the Women's Co-operative Guild, and the Railway Women's Guild; and organisations affiliated to the Labour Party or the Trades Union Congress, of which a substantial number of the members are women, which are national in character, and are accepted by the committee". In 1941, the group was renamed as the ''Standing Joint Committee of Working Women's Organisations, and then in 1952 it adopted its final name. By 1993, the group's members believed that its purposes were better served by other organisations in the labour movement, and it dissolved.Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', pp.462–463

Secretaries

:1916: Mary Longman :1917:

Marion Phillips Marion Phillips (29 October 1881 – 23 January 1932) was a Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament in England. Early life and education Marion Philllips was born on 29 October 1881 in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were Philli ...

:1932: Mary Sutherland :1960:

Sara Barker Dame Sara Elizabeth Barker (15 February 1904 – 19 September 1973) was a British political administrator, prominent in the Labour Party. Early life Born in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Barker's father was an Independent Labour Party activist ...

:1962: Constance Kay :1967:

Betty Lockwood Betty Lockwood, Baroness Lockwood (22 January 1924 – 29 April 2019) was a Labour Party activist. She was heavily involved in promoting equal opportunities for women on a national and international level. Biography Born in Dewsbury, West Yo ...

:1975:

Joyce Gould Joyce Brenda Gould, Baroness Gould of Potternewton (born 29 October 1932) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Early life The daughter of Sydney Manson and his wife Fanny (née Taylor), she was educated at the Roundhay Hi ...

:1985: Anne Wilkinson

Chairs

:1916:

Mary 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 ...

:1921:

Margaret Bondfield Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in th ...

:1923:

Florence Harrison Bell Florence Nightingale Harrison Bell (8 October 1865 – September 1948) was a British socialist and suffragist activist. Life Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 8 October 1865 as Florence Tait. She was the illegitimate daughter of Isabella Tait. ...

:1925:

Ellen Wilkinson Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Education from July 1945 until her death. Earlier in her career, as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow, s ...

:1928: Jennie Lee :1930: Clara Rackham :1931: Dorothy Elliott :1931:

Barbara Ayrton-Gould Barbara Bodichon Ayrton-Gould (née Ayrton; 3 April 1886 – 14 October 1950) was a British Labour politician and suffragist who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hendon North from 1945 to 1950. Background and family life Ayrton-Goul ...

:1932:

Susan Lawrence Arabella Susan Lawrence (12 August 1871 – 24 October 1947) was a British Labour Party politician, one of the earliest female Labour MPs. Early life Lawrence was the youngest daughter of Nathaniel Tertius Lawrence, a wealthy solicitor, and ...

:1934: Eleanor Barton :1935:

Anne Loughlin Dame Anne Loughlin, Order of the British Empire, DBE (28 June 1894 – 14 July 1979) was a British labour activist and organiser. Early life Loughlin was born in Leeds, England. Her father, Thomas, was a boot and shoe operative of Irish descent ...

:1937: Anne Godwin :1938:

Grace Colman Grace Mary Colman (30 April 1892 – 7 July 1971) was a British politician. She was Labour Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many cou ...

:1940: E. Martin :1943: K. M. Shade :1944:

Florence Hancock Dame Florence May Hancock DBE (25 February 1893 – 14 April 1974) was a British trade unionist. Hancock was born in Chippenham to Jacob Hancock (1845–1913), a cloth weaver, and his second wife Mary (nee Harding, subsequently Pepler, c18 ...

:1946: Margaret Allen :1949:

Mabel Crout Dame Mabel Crout DBE (6 January 1890 – 8 February 1984) was a British politician, who served on the London County Council. Born in Plumstead, Crout joined the Labour Party in 1906. She was appointed as assistant secretary to the Woolwich ...

:1952: Jessie Smith :1967: Millie Miller :1969: T. Hinchey :1971: J. Lipson : :1983: Rita Stephen

References

Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Labour movement in the United Kingdom Women's organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1916 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations disestablished in 1993 1993 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) History of women in the United Kingdom