Mary Macarthur
At Mary Macarthur Park in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England.
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Mary Macarthur (1880-1921) "Angel of the Workers"
Mary Macarthur was born in Glasgow on 13th August 1880, one of six children, but only three survived, all of them girls. Mary attended the local school and after editing the school magazine, decided she wanted to become a full-time writer. She was converted to the cause of trade unions by a speech made by John Turner about how badly some workers were being treated by their employers.
In 1902 Mary became friends with Margaret Bondfield who encouraged her to attend the Shop Assistants' Union's national conference and later recalled: "I had written to welcome her into the Union, but, when she came to meet me at the station, I was overcome with the sense of a great event. Here was genius, allied to boundless enthusiasm and leadership of a high order, coming to build our little Union into a more effective instrument." Mary was eventually elected to the union's national executive.
Mary moved to London in 1903 where she became Secretary of the Women's Trade Union League. She is perhaps best known for founding the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) in 1906. She began as president, but then became general secretary. Mary was especially concerned about the relationship between low wages and women's lack of organization. She sat on the executive of the Anti-Sweating League and gave evidence to the select committee on homework in 1908.
In 1910 the Cradley women chainmakers won a battle to establish the right to a fair wage following a 10 week strike. This landmark victory changed the lives of thousands of workers who were earning little more than starvation wages. Macarthur was the trade unionist who led this fight for better pay, commenting that "women are unorganised because they are badly paid, and poorly paid because they are unorganised.
Mary Macarthur also campaigned for a legal minimum wage and she stood as a Labour candidate in Stourbridge in the 1918 General Election but was defeated.
Mary married Will Anderson on 21st September 1911 and was devastated when he died in the 1919 influenza epidemic. She developed cancer in 1920 and after two unsuccessful operations died at home in Golders Green on 1st January, 1921.
Mary Macarthur
At Mary Macarthur Park in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Macarthur (1880-1921) "Angel of the Workers"
Mary Macarthur was born in Glasgow on 13th August 1880, one of six children, but only three survived, all of them girls. Mary attended the local school and after editing the school magazine, decided she wanted to become a full-time writer. She was converted to the cause of trade unions by a speech made by John Turner about how badly some workers were being treated by their employers.
In 1902 Mary became friends with Margaret Bondfield who encouraged her to attend the Shop Assistants' Union's national conference and later recalled: "I had written to welcome her into the Union, but, when she came to meet me at the station, I was overcome with the sense of a great event. Here was genius, allied to boundless enthusiasm and leadership of a high order, coming to build our little Union into a more effective instrument." Mary was eventually elected to the union's national executive.
Mary moved to London in 1903 where she became Secretary of the Women's Trade Union League. She is perhaps best known for founding the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) in 1906. She began as president, but then became general secretary. Mary was especially concerned about the relationship between low wages and women's lack of organization. She sat on the executive of the Anti-Sweating League and gave evidence to the select committee on homework in 1908.
In 1910 the Cradley women chainmakers won a battle to establish the right to a fair wage following a 10 week strike. This landmark victory changed the lives of thousands of workers who were earning little more than starvation wages. Macarthur was the trade unionist who led this fight for better pay, commenting that "women are unorganised because they are badly paid, and poorly paid because they are unorganised.
Mary Macarthur also campaigned for a legal minimum wage and she stood as a Labour candidate in Stourbridge in the 1918 General Election but was defeated.
Mary married Will Anderson on 21st September 1911 and was devastated when he died in the 1919 influenza epidemic. She developed cancer in 1920 and after two unsuccessful operations died at home in Golders Green on 1st January, 1921.