National Federation of Women Workers

rdf:langString National Federation of Women Workers

rdf:langString NFWW

rdf:langString National Federation of Women Workers

rdf:langString NFWW

rdf:langString Mary Macarthur addresses a mass meeting in London during the 1908 Corruganza strike

rdf:langString National Federation of Women Workers

rdf:langString Gertrude Tuckwell, President

rdf:langString Mary Macarthur, General Secretary

rdf:langString The National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland active in the first part of the 20th century. Instrumental in winning women workers the right to a minimum wage for the first time, the NFWW broke down barriers for women's membership in trade unions in general. In contrast to the numerous small craft unions which organised women workers in the late 19th century, the NFWW was established in 1906 as a general trade union open to all women across a range of industries where women's work predominated, where wages were low and where trade unionism had to that time been unsuccessful. The Scottish suffragist Mary Macarthur played a key role throughout the NFWW's existence, leading campaigns against sweated industries, mobilising public support for striking members, lobbying for legislative reform and engaging with the broader labour movement. In 1921 the NFWW amalgamated into the National Union of General Workers as that organisation's women worker's section.