8 Historical Working Women Moments for 8 March
For what was once International Working Women’s Day, before it became International Women’s Day upon being co-opted by the UN and its corporate sponsors, we have written on 8 struggles throughout history in which working women played a vital and influential role.
1. The 1915 Rent Strike in Glasgow, Scotland
During the First World War, in May 1915, landlords in overcrowded Glasgow made the decision to increase rents. Tenants rightly saw this as profiteering (there was a law against that!) and refused to pay the increase but continued to give the “factor” (the landlords’ rent collector) the old rent. This was the start of the rent strike. The landlords responded by individual evictions via the Sheriff’s Court but were surprised by the collective response. Working class women formed tenants’ associations like the famous South Govan Women’s Housing Association, led by Helen Crawfurd, Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan and Jessie S