So we started to slave away. The result, however, was miserable; the company still deducted the full cost of thread and needles from our half wages. The owner’s brutal approach prompted us to come to our senses. We resolved unanimously that it was better to be laid off than to work for pay so paltry that you couldn’t even live on it. Three women workers, myself among them, were selected to inform the boss. When our delegation presented him with our joint decision, he tried to calm us down by telling us that as soon as news of a victory came, business would immediately pick up again, and wages would increase. He was careful to avoid saying that “they would reach the old level.” Fortunately, we were quick-witted enough to reply that wages never rose as quickly as they were cut, and on top of that, the company had a warehouse filled with goods produced at low wages. When the boss realized that we would not buckle so easily, he became so irate that he screamed at us, his face turning red with anger: “Well, in that case, I’ll pay you the full wages again! Are you going to work now?” We replied curtly, “Yes, now we’ll work again.”
We were surprised by our success. And the owner found it equally novel that female workers would band together and make common demands. He had been caught unawares, but collar seamstresses were also very much in demand at the time. Not long after this, the boss called me into his office and told me that I did not have to fear that my involvement in this matter would have any negative repercussions. As long as he had work, I would have a place. This certainly sounded good, but it wasn’t true. Eventually, he criticized my work left and right, and it wasn’t long before I tired of this and left voluntarily. The unanimity of workers that had brought us our success did not last for very long. Even after news of victory had arrived, business did not recover as quickly as expected. The company owners had learned their lesson, however. They didn’t take such brutal action again; instead, they followed a subtler course. They arranged wage deductions with individual women workers who found themselves in particularly difficult situations. Of course, this fostered mistrust rather than solidarity among the women, and many a year passed before they recognized that this was the underlying intention and confronted entrepreneurs with a unified organization. For many, this was a long period of suffering.
After quitting, I bought my own machine and worked at home. In doing so, I became all too familiar with the lot of female home-workers. It is common to “pedal” continuously from six o’clock in the morning until 12 at night, with only a one-hour lunch break. This meant getting up at 4 a.m. to do the housework and prepare meals. I had a small clock in front of me while I worked and made sure that one dozen collars did not take longer than the previous dozen. Nothing gave me more cause for happiness than being able to save a few minutes.
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