Helen Robertson and the Tailoresses Union
"When I started employers had all their own way...Working girls were treated like animals and every ounce of their vitality was sapped up in long hours at the employer's profit..."Interview with Mrs Robertson The Clothing Trades Gazette May 15 1922
Most women workers last century were not industrially organised and had not gained the Eight Hour Day.
Helen Robertson founded the Tailoresses' Union in 1880 and led her members in the 1882 Tailoresses' strike.
1,000 women met at Trades Hall and the Union's "catalogue of claims" (the origin of the term log of claims) was successful. The strike prevented clothing manufacturers reducing the wages of already poorly paid workers.
The Union's activities also exposed the shocking working conditions in Victoria's clothing factories and led to a Parliamentary Inquiry into sweated labour.
Following the Inquiry, the Victorian Government established Wages Boards to ensure regulation of wages, hours and conditions for all workers.
Clothing Trades Gazette 15 May 1922
Photo: Melbourne University Archives
