".. one can trace the origins of the Lockout back to two other events that preceded this strike, both of which highlighted the important role played by women in general, but two brave women in particular, in the events of 1913. Jim Larkin opined that the conditions for the biscuit makers were “sending them from this earth 20 years before their time”. The person who galvanised these “3,000 girls” was Rosie Hackett, an 18-year-old messenger at Jacobs, and her successful negotiations led to an increase in wages and better working conditions at the factory. The plight of women at that time is captured in the words of Annie Ryan, a cigarette factory worker: “Nothing was granted: not your vote, not your education, not your daily wage – all were hard fought for”. Two weeks after the successful Jacobs’ strike, Rosie Hackett was a founding member of the Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU), established to represent women like Annie Ryan and protect them from the Dickensian working conditions then prevailing in Dublin. As Countess Markievicz said at the founding meeting, “Without organisation you can do nothing and the purpose of this meeting is to form you into an army of fighters.." irishtimes/culture/heritage/in-the-lead-up-to-the-lockout-1.1496474
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:19:03 +0000
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