[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21279-21280]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN TO THE LABOR MOVEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 2009

  Mr. KILDEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements 
of women in the labor and social movements. The UAW held a ceremony 
this past Labor Day in Flint Michigan to honor the contributions of 
women in labor, civil rights, the military, women's rights, and the 
political arena.
  From the 300 women that came together in Seneca Falls, New York, in 
1848, to promote women's rights and suffrage, women have banded 
together to improve our country. Jane Addams, ``the mother of social 
work,'' worked with the labor movement in Chicago to eliminate poverty, 
and advance the living conditions of workers. From her work at Hull-
House in Chicago, Jane Addams became a moving force in the passage in 
the first Federal child labor law passed in 1916.
  Women have played a pivotal role in the organization and development 
of every social movement of the past century, including the labor 
movement. In my hometown of Flint, the Women's Auxiliary provided 
support for the families of the sit-down strikers. The Women's 
Emergency Brigade was on the front lines as the police attempted to 
stop the union. Since the formation of the UAW, women have toiled side 
by side with men in the factories and have taken their place at the 
bargaining table.
  The labor movement had one of its greatest advocates in Frances 
Perkins. She was the first female Secretary of Labor and was the first 
female member of a President's Cabinet. During her younger days she 
lived at Hull-House and embraced the concept of unionism but it was 
witnessing firsthand the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911 that 
cemented her commitment to the workers of our country. As the architect 
of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, her vision of a better life 
for all cannot be underestimated. She was

[[Page 21280]]

at the center of the 15 major pieces of legislation passed during the 
first 100 days of Roosevelt's Administration. She conceived the Social 
Security Act of 1935, the most important piece of social legislation in 
U.S. history, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and shepherded 
them through Congress until they were enacted into law. Social 
Security, unemployment compensation, minimum wage, maximum work hours 
and the right to collective bargaining are just part of her legacy to 
the American people.
  Madam Speaker, today the number of women registered to vote exceeds 
the number of registered men by 8.3 million. Women make up 14 percent 
of active duty military personnel, and two-thirds of all new union 
members in the United States are women. Women have organized, financed, 
marched, volunteered, worked and are still working to fulfill the 
dreams of those 300 women that came together in 1848 and because of 
their efforts we all live in a better world.

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