In The Triangle Strike and Fire, by John F. McClymer, twenty thousand women who wanted their muffled voices to be heard struck. It was a general strike that involved the richest women to the poorest. The strike brought all of the women together into a sort of sorority. The sorority saw many successes and failures, but through it all realized that socioeconomic status, beliefs, and family history wasn't a reason for them to be separate. They were better off together.twenty thousand strong.
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).
As time passed, more and more women saw what was happening to their fellow woman was not right. They were being treated like animals. This harsh treatment attracted women such as Clara Lemlich (33), and Mrs. Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (41). What was heavily detrimental to the case of the employers was that the press was eating up the testimonies of workers and former workers who were beaten by their employers and even by the police (23)! As a side effect of the police and employer mistreatment (23), the women's cause was strengthened. The women knew that if the press had a good reason to print their stories, they would in the long run win this war.
