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Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 29, 1912
Little Falls, New York – Women Working in Textile Mills Live on Slave Wages
From the Binghamton Press and Leader of December 27, 1912:
ARBITRATORS HEAR HOW WOMEN
SLAVE IN LITTLE FALLS MILLS
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Eating While Working, Wool Winder
Has Made as Much as $7 in a Week
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Little Falls, Dec. 27.-Three members of the State Board of Arbitration, acting as mediators in the Little Falls textile strike, which has lasted for months, began taking testimony today.
The strikers were heard first, all witnesses being members of the union. They declared they had quit work because their wages were hardly sufficient for them to live on.
Mary Sroka, two years in America, testified that by working from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m. and taking very little time for luncheon, she had once made $6 in a week of five days. Sometimes, she said, she made only $2.50 and $3. She was an inspector in the finishing room of the Phoenix Mills.
Mrs. Suie Mizerak, a winder of wool, testified that she worked from 6 a. m. to 8 p. m., eating her meals as she worked, and made from $5 to $7 a week.
Stanislawa Cououn, an 18-year-old girl, testified that she received $1 a day for her work as a folder.
Agnes Kalolaka, a spinner, said she received $7 a week before the 54-hour law went into effect; thereafter, she received $6.37.
[Photograph and emphasis added.]
