Big Apple History . New York Living . Workers Unite


	Girls supporting a railway strike in 1916

Pauline Newman and Clara Lemlich had much in common: both were young immigrant Jewish women who grew up quickly on the Lower East Side. Barely out of girlhood, they went to work in New York's garment factories sewing shirtwaists, a popular style of clothing at the turn of the century. Both girls were also survivors and soldiers for causes in which they believed strongly.

In 1909, there was plenty to fight against in the shirtwaist industry. "It was a world of greed," wrote Pauline. "Working hours went from 7:30 in the morning ... When the season was on we worked until 9 o'clock. No overtime pay, not even supper money."

On a fall evening that year, Pauline attended an International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) meeting. With hundreds of others, she listened to speaker after speaker. Mostly male union leaders, they urged caution and patience.


The Shirtwaist Strike

Suddenly, from the audience, Clara Lemlich stood up and walked to the stage. "I'm tired of listening to these speeches," she shouted in Yiddish, the language of the Jewish immigrants, "I want to know if we're going to go out on strike." Then, she demanded a vote.

Local newspapers called the great shirtwaist strike of 1909-1910, the "rising of the ten thousand." Actually, as many as 30,000 workers walked away from their sewing machines.

All winter long, women like Pauline and Clara walked the picket lines and crisscrossed the city raising funds to support the strikers. In the end, it was a mixed success. The workers didn't get everything they wanted -- shorter hours, more pay, better working conditions -- but they demonstrated the union's strength.

Top illustration: Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Illustration at bottom: Courtesy of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Archives, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University.