The Women's Trade Union League, founded in 1874 and known until 1890 as the Women's Protective and Provident League, was a British organisation promoting

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 ...

for women workers. It was established by Emma Paterson, who had seen unions managed by working women in America.

History

The league's principal founder was Emma Paterson. A member of the

Working Men's Club and Institute Union The Working Men's Club and Institute Union (CIU or C&IU) is a voluntary association of private members' clubs in Great Britain & Northern Ireland, with about 1,800 associate clubs. One club in the Republic of Ireland, the City of Dublin Working ...

, she persuaded many of that organisation's patrons to serve in the same role for the new league. In 1872, she became secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Women's Suffrage Association, and although she was soon dismissed, these two roles gave her a keen interest in women's trade unionism. She visited the United States in 1873, and there studied the Women's Typographical Society and Female Umbrella Makers' Union. On her return to England, she wrote and article for '' Labour News'', calling for an association of women trade unionists.Norbert Soldon, ''Women in British Trade Unions: 1874-1976'', pp.11-26 In July 1874, a conference was called to discuss Paterson's proposal. Chaired by Hodgson Pratt, it agreed to establish the "Women's Protective and Provident League", not as a trade union federation, but as an organisation which promoted women's trade unionism. Initially, it had four objects: protecting wages and conditions of workers, providing benefits for sick and unemployed workers, serving as an employment bureau, and promoting arbitration in the case of disputes between workers and employers. An executive committee was also elected. Paterson still wanted to form a trade union for women, and this occurred later in the year, when she set up the

National Association of Working Women 9to5, National Association of Working Women is an organization established in 1973 that is dedicated to improving working conditions and ensuring the rights of women and families in the United States. The group has its origins in ''9to5 News'', ...

. The WPPL facilitated the creation of several women's unions, including the Society of Women Employed in Bookbinding, the Society of London Sewing Machinists, the Society of Upholsteresses, the Dewsbury, Batley and Surrounding District Heavy Woollen Weavers' Association, Leeds Spinners' Womens Association and the Benefit Society for Glasgow Working Women. Many soon collapsed, but the bookbinders thrived, and the upholsteresses survived, bringing Jeannette Wilkinson into the organisation. The league also established the Women's Halfpenny Bank in 1879, providing loans to members, in addition to a reading room, library and employment register, a swimming club and trips to

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

. In 1875, Paterson and Edith Simcox became the first women delegates to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

. At this and subsequent conferences, WPPL representatives promoted women's rights, arguing against barriers to women's employment. Elsewhere, the league opposed

Thomas Burt Thomas Burt PC (12 November 1837 – 12 April 1922) was a British trade unionist and one of the first working-class Members of Parliament. Career Burt became secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863, then, in 1874, was retu ...

and

Henry Broadhurst :''See also Harry Broadhurst'' Henry Broadhurst (13 April 1840 – 11 October 1911) was a leading early British trade unionist and a Lib-Lab politician who sat in the House of Commons for various Midlands constituencies between 1880 and 190 ...

's efforts to stop women from working at coal mines, aligning with the Personal Rights Association and the

Liberty and Property Defence League The Liberty and Property Defence League (LPDL) was a historic organisation, founded in 1882 by Lord Elcho, for the support of ''laissez-faire'' trade. It served as a lobby group for industrialists and land-owners who were alarmed by Georgism ("Sin ...

in order to do so. From 1876, the union published a monthly journal, the ''Women's Union Journal''. However, this consumed nearly half its funds, and it struggled to survive. In 1879, it faced a £90 debt, but most was covered by a collection organised by Stopford Brooke from his congregation. Paterson died in 1886, and the league was thereafter led by Emilia Dilke, who also contributed about £100 a year from her personal funds. The league came to focus on promoting legislation to improve the rights of working women, and on persuading all-male trade unions to begin admitting women.

Mona Wilson Mona Wilson (29 May 1872 – 26 October 1954) was a British public servant and author. After voluntary social work, seeking to improve the conditions of working women in deprived industrial areas, she joined the civil service in 1911, and became ...

became general secretary in 1899, and was succeeded in 1903 by Mary Macarthur. Macarthur's leadership rejuvenated the league, and by 1905 its membership had risen to 70,000, including 16,000 men. Macarthur founded the Union of Jute, Flax and Kindred Textile Operatives in 1906, to improve the position of women workers in the city, and the difficulties of supporting the union led her to found the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW), with a constitution stating that three members of the league would serve on the federation's executive. The federation took on much of the direct organising work previously covered by the league. The league took an interest in working conditions for children. It formed a committee to look at the role of wage earning children and to advise on reform. Members included feminist Jane Brownlow, socialist Margaret Macdonald and Ruth Homan.Jane Martin, ‘Brownlow , Jane Macnaughton Egerton (1854/5–1928)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 16 Nov 2017
/ref> In 1915, the league launched a campaign to get women undertaking war work, particularly in munitions factories, to join trade unions. The following year, it worked with the NFWW,

Women's Co-operative Guild The Co-operative Women's Guild was an auxiliary organisation of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom which promoted women in co-operative structures and provided social and other services to its members. History The guild was founded ...

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 ...

and the Railway Women's Guild to establish the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations, to advocate for the representation of working women on government bodies. Macarthur attended the Women's International Labour Conference in 1919, and also the founding conference of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

, as an adviser to G. H. Stuart-Bunning. These conferences inspired her to merge the women's trade union organisations into their counterparts, and this was achieved in 1921, when the Women's Trade Union League became the Women's Section of the

(TUC), with two women's places on

General Council of the TUC The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

General Secretaries

:1874: Emma Paterson :1886: Clementina Black :1888: :1892: Gertrude Tuckwell :1899:

:1903: Mary Macarthur

Presidents

:1886: Emilia Dilke :1904: Gertrude Tuckwell

History

General Secretaries

Presidents

See also

References

Further reading