Irene Osgood Andrews

“ Overcrowding, long hours spent in the factory and in traveling back and forth, an increase in the work of mothers with young families, the absence of husbands and fathers on military service, and the more frequent departure from home of young boys and girls for work at a distance, all contributed to the undermining of the home.
Yet even the additional responsibility placed on many women by the absence of their men folk seems to have been one of the stimulating influences which are said in three years of war to have “transformed” the personality of the average factory woman. ”

“ Labor’s Attitude toward the War—
Unemployment among Women Workers
August 4, 1914, was a momentous day for the working women and children of England. On that date the nation entered the great conflict which was not only to throw their men folk into military service, but to affect their own lives directly. It was to alter their work and wages and to come near to overthrowing the protective standards built up by years of effort. What was the attitude of the women and of organized labor in general toward the war and the industrial revolution which it brought in its train? ”

“ The disadvantages of war work, in long hours, overstrain, the disruption of home life, may pass as industrial conditions return to normal. The gains in the way of better working conditions, higher wages and a wider range of occupations seem likely to be more permanent. Most important of all is the fact that because of her broader and more confident outlook on life, the woman worker is able consciously to hold to the improved economic position to which the fortunes of war have brought her. ”

“ Even at this time of writing it is difficult to measure the final effects of the war upon the economic conditions of the women and children. Too many unfinished plans and unfulfilled pledges still remain for action by the government. Far reaching changes are, however, in prospect and some of them actually under way. Foremost among these is the aroused spirit among the workers, who are demanding and peacefully securing a real share in the management of industry. In this awakening the woman worker has fully participated. ”

“ There is discontent because of the high prices of milk and meat, because of the scarcity of potatoes, sugar, butter or margarine, because of the indigestible quality of the war bread, because of the increased railway fares and the big profits of many employers and contractors. There is discontent with the discipline of the army, with the humiliating position of brothers and husbands and sweethearts who are privates, with the inadequacy of army pensions and the delay in giving them. There is rage against the munitions act, against munitions tribunals and military tribunals. ”

“ No one, since the war experience, doubts the skill and adaptability of women in performing a great number of tasks formerly considered “men’s work.” With the extensive standardization which British industry has adopted many more places can be successfully filled by women. Equal opportunity to secure positions, as well as equality of payment, appeals therefore to many thousands of women as merely a matter of justice. But such a new status for women, it is recognized, calls for more scientific methods in fixing wages. ”

“ Noting that there were already complaints of a labor shortage and of idle plants, the appeal continued:
There is one source, and one only, from which the shortage can be made good—that is the great body of women who are at present unoccupied or engaged only in work not of an essential character. Many of these women have worked in factories and have already had an industrial training—they form an asset of immense importance to the country and every effort must be made to induce those who are able to come to the assistance of the country in this crisis. ”

“ Early in the war it was generally considered that women were not as efficient as men except on routine and repetition work. But as the women gained experience it was observed that more and more of them were undertaking the whole of a skilled man’s job, and the testimony as to relative efficiency, on work within a woman’s strength, became far more favorable. During the last year of the struggle, while a few new fields were invaded, the process of substitution had progressed nearly as far as possible, and the year witnessed mainly a settling down into the new lines of work previously entered. ”

“ The world conflict brought to women, in those countries where the industrial system was kept intact, an extraordinary invitation to active employment outside the home and in new occupations. In England and France millions of women were dislodged from their accustomed tasks and thrown into novel positions in industry, in trade and commerce and even in the professions. Many thousands have remained in the new occupations, and the vast majority will never be content to go back to their former places on the old terms. ”

“ In dealing with the various obstacles to an extension of women’s employment, the wisdom of securing the cordial cooperation of organized labor in making industrial changes was clearly demonstrated. In the manufacturing industries a system of local representative committees under central official control brought much better returns than were obtained in agriculture without such committees—which points to satisfactory wages and working conditions as an essential addition to propaganda for securing more women workers. ”

“ Summing up the none too comprehensive evidence on the effects of four years’ war work on the health of women workers, the War Cabinet Committee on women in industry did not feel that any extensive breakdown in health had occurred. Higher real wages often led to better nutrition and greater comfort, health supervision within the factory diminished preventable sickness and the nature of the work frequently stimulated the women’s interest and improved their health and physical capacity. ”

“ It was common for a girl on the day shift to go back to a bed from which a worker on the night shift had just arisen. Girls on a twelve hour shift would have to lodge an hour and a half from the factory, so that their working day amounted to fifteen hours. To get a roof over their heads they would have to put up with dirt, bad cooking, rowdy companions and above all extortionate charges; the poor also can cheat the poor. I have known the wives of foremen earning over five pounds a week to charge a girl fifteen shillings a week for bed and breakfast. ”

“ And in the factory the very men who used to tell them that trade unionism was no concern of theirs are urging them to organize for the protection of men workers as well as of themselves.... The woman worker who was formerly forbidden by her menfolk to interest herself in public questions is now assured by politicians, journalists, and the men who work at her side that her labor is one of the most vital elements in the national scheme of defence, and that after the war it is going to be one of the most formidable problems of reconstruction. ”

“ The most pressing problem was prevention of unemployment during the readjustment from war to peace time production. The larger issue lay in greater public control over the first years of working life, to the end that the young workers might grow into better citizens. Both problems were undoubtedly made more difficult by the harm done to boys and girls in body and character by the war. But at the same time the war had roused a greater appreciation of the value of these future citizens and a greater determination to improve their chances. ”

“ Under each trade were enumerated the processes on which women had been substituted for men, opportunities for training, and any relaxation of the factory acts, or of trade union rules which favored their employment. The results of this propaganda by the Home Office and the Board of Trade have nowhere been exactly estimated, but whether due to it, or to the necessities of the labor situation, or to both, it was soon followed by a marked increase in the number of women doing men’s work. ”

“ Health, timekeeping, temper and output all suffer, when to the day’s work is added the discomfort and fatigue of a long walk to and fro in bad weather or in darkness, or a scramble to squeeze into a crowded railway carriage, tram or omnibus, with a long journey in a bad atmosphere. In the darkness of early morning and at night, when no lights are allowed to be shown on the railway, separate compartments for women are desirable, and no traveling without a light inside the carriage should be allowed ”

“ The shortage in the supply of workers strengthened labor’s general position, and government acknowledgment of the importance of trade unionism also weakened opposition by employers.
But in spite of the growth in unionism some complaints were made that it was even harder than usual to interest certain of the new workers in organization because they were so consciously working only for the duration of the war. Women have been found who believed in the value of the unions sufficiently to keep up the dues of the men whose places they were taking, but who refused to join themselves. ”

“ Moreover, in many new occupations, notably clerical and commercial work, which women entered without conditions, and where their efficiency has been demonstrated, it seems almost certain that they will remain. The awakened spirit among women workers and the growth of labor organizations among them, which will give voice to their demands, must also not be forgotten in judging whether women will not continue to occupy at least a part of their new field of work. ”

“ The relaxation of the Factory Acts allowed during the war should cease at its termination and excessive overtime, long spells, night work and Sunday work should be forbidden. There is a prima facie case for a reduction in legal maximum hours, in overtime, and in the length of the spell, and for the abolition of work before breakfast, and the government should immediately institute inquiries with a view to amending the Factory Acts. We recommend the possibility of a 44 hours working week and an annual fortnight’s holiday on full pay for the consideration of the government. ”

“ Women should be retained in all “suitable” employments, with due protection through labor laws and minimum wage fixing. Where men and women were employed in the same occupation, the equal pay standard should prevail. The more radical view was that all occupations should be open to both sexes at the same wage standard. As a corollary to this policy there was proposed the endowment of motherhood.
Even by the end of 1919 it was hardly possible to state definitely what the after war occupations and wages of the woman worker would be. ”

“ The help in need of the welfare officer can not, perhaps, be too far extended ... in order to meet the predicament of scores of thousands of inexperienced women and young people drawn into mushroom munition factories from every kind of home and employment, working day and night (until the limit of human endurance perhaps) , stranger to the town and countryside. To the efforts of the welfare officer the workers owe, indeed, not a little of the improved conditions and comfort enjoyed in many national and other model munition factories. ”

“ Accordingly, it is not surprising that Great Britain during four years of warfare saw what was little short of an industrial revolution in order to keep up the supply of labor, to heighten the workers’ efficiency, and to secure their cooperation. No changes were more interesting and important than those which concerned working women and children. ”

“ Acute unemployment was predicted in occupations that had engaged more than three-tenths of all working girls—the metal, woodworking and chemical trades, government establishments, transport and perhaps commerce.
It was likewise anticipated that it would be particularly difficult for boys and girls dismissed at the end of the war to find new places. Not only would openings be few and the numbers of adults seeking work be large, but the high wages children had received for repetition work on munitions would make them unwilling to learn trades or to accept lower pay. ”

“ From another viewpoint, however, if the lower rates decrease the total labor cost of the job, as is almost always the case, the danger remains that lower rates for women will pull down the men’s wage standards. More obvious is the menace to the men’s rates if women are not generally inferior as workers, and if they are employed at a lower wage scale under the other forms of substitution. ”

“ It is for the nation to safeguard the devotion of its workers by its foresight and watchfulness lest irreparable harm be done body and mind both in this generation and the next.
The committee desire to state that, in their opinion, if the present long hours, the lack of helpful and sympathetic oversight, the inability to obtain good, wholesome food, and the great difficulties of traveling are allowed to continue it will be impracticable to secure or maintain for an extended period the high maximum output of which women are undoubtedly capable. ”

“ Women are said to have been successful in “arduous” processes, such as forging, previously performed by men, and in managing machine tools not even semi-automatic. “It can be stated with absolute truth that with the possible exception of the heaviest tools—and their inability to work even these has yet to be established—women have shown themselves perfectly capable of performing operations which hitherto have been exclusively carried out by men.” ”

“ But it appeared probable that she would continue in some, if not all, of her new occupations, and that her improved wage standards would be protected. After war industrial conditions in themselves naturally stimulated some return to prewar employment by reviving the luxury trades and curtailing munitions work. In certain cases, as in the woolen trade, agreements between employers and employes shut out the women. But in other important cases, as in engineering, it is probable that a compromise will be reached, permitting women to stay in at least the semi-skilled lines of work. ”

“ The official rejoinder to these criticisms, as illustrated by the attitude of the welfare department of the Ministry of Munitions, was that hostels were regarded “as a temporary war expedient and as a means of keeping up efficiency and output because they provide proper housing and feeding of the workers. Hostels are in no sense regarded as a permanent solution of the housing problem.” But it was believed that because they provided better accommodations than many of the workers had previously enjoyed, they might serve permanently to improve their standard of living. ”

“ Upon women and children fell much of the great burden of keeping trade and industry active and of supplying war demands when several millions of men were taken away for military service. “Without the work of the women the war could not have gone on,” said representatives of the British Ministry of Munitions while in New York in November, 1917. Before the increased demand was felt, however, the dislocation of industry during the first few months of war brought far more suffering to women workers than to men. In September, 1914, over 40 per cent of the women were out of work or on short time. ”