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Henry, Alice, 1857-1943

"The Trade Union Woman"

One committee was authorized to send to
the Secretary of War a protest against the disgracefully low prices
paid for army clothing. Matthew Carey was also held responsible,
rightly or wrongly, for an uprising in the book-binding establishments
of New York.
All this agitation among workers and the general public was having
some effect upon the ethical standards of employers, for a meeting of
master book-binders of New York disowned those of their number
who paid "less than $3 a week." An occasional word of support and
sympathy, too, filters through the daily press. The _Commercial
Bulletin_ severely criticized the rates the Secretary of War was
paying for his army clothing orders, while the _Public Ledger_ of
Philadelphia, speaking of a strike among the women umbrella sewers
of New York, commented thus: "In this case we decidedly approve the
turn-out. Turning out, if peaceably conducted, is perfectly legal, and
often necessary, especially among female laborers."
The next year we again find Matthew Carey helping the oppressed
women.


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