A man by the name of Samuel Gompers was president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) at this time. He gave a speech to a room full of shirtwaist makers. By the end of his speech, he had convinced everyone to strike. The women from the sorority were all very diverse. They were rich, poor, immigrants, natives, black, white, etc. The women saw each other on the same level as everyone else, which is why the alliance they formed is called a sorority. It was a sort of a sisterhood. The strikers all rallied under some basic rights that they thought that they were entitled to: better hours, higher pay, and improvement of unsanitary working conditions. The women agreed with Gompers when he said the present condition, “breaks the

spirit of men and women, and makes children prematurely old” (McClymer 1998, 41).

The sheer importance of these rights that women had been struggling to have granted upon them never meant as much as they did after the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s fire in 1911. Small, insignificant details that no one would have thought of, for example locks on factory doors, could have prevented the disaster (113). It would not only be the workers who would be dismayed at the 147 deaths (126) of mostly women and children in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s fire, but a great deal of society as well (105). The horrific stories made the women in the sorority come out to fight for the cause. The sisterhood was stronger now than ever and it was becoming quite apparent that they were capable of working together as one fine oiled machine rather than separate individual parts.

It was tough for the women during the strike because since they were out of work, they were also out of money. To the rescue of the strikers were the lady’s that formed a true women’s sorority. Clara Lemlich, a striker making fifteen dollars a week spoke at a rally. She told the women that she didn’t strike because she needed the money, she “struck because the others should get enough. It was not for me; it was for them (44). Dr. Shaw also spoke at a demonstration in support of trade unions (42). The attraction of these upper class allies translated into the cash flow. The financial support of the wealthy female individuals single handedly withheld the strain of all the people relying on it for food, clothes, etc. so they could stand up for their cause and be heard loudly.

The women on strike were on strike against the company, not the police department. They didn’t try to cause any trouble for the most part, so they obeyed the laws of a peaceful protest. The police, on the other hand, disliked and didn’t agree with the rights that had been given to the strikers. Because of their hostility, incidents of police brutality started to appear in the daily newspapers. In the City Hall march on December 4th 1909, the strikers directly approached the mayor about the police. The women declared, “we protest to you against the flagrant discrimination of the Police Department in favor of the employers, who are using every method to incite to violence” (39). The Ladies’ Waistmakers’ Union, thirty thousand strong, asked the mayor to put an immediate end to all of the police harassment, assault, and battery (39).

The support provided by the wealthy women gave the girls a hope for the future that things will get better, and a sense of stability that they have some control over how they live their lives. The weeks and months of no income was hurting every woman, but they all kept going because they knew that if they kept at it long enough, they would prevail.

The women would have collectively convict

Some topics in this essay:
Triangle Co, Shirtwaist Company’s, Dr Shaw, Waistmakers’ Union, Labor AFL, Anna Shaw, Perry Belmont, John McClymer, District Attorney, Shirtwaist Co, women women, city hall, trade unions, triangle shirtwaist, triangle shirtwaist company’s, dr shaw, sorority sorority, strike money, battle lost, shaw spoke, women strike, shirtwaist company’s fire, december 4th 1909,