“Pay’s not the only thing,” continued Mr. Gordon.  “Working condition’s another.  Go to the mills and see the wet spinners.  The air of the room they work in is heavy with humidity.  There are the women, waists open at the throat, sleeves rolled up, hair pulled back to prevent the irritation of loose ends on damp skins, bare feet on the cement floor.  At noon they snatch up their shawls and rush home for a hurried lunch.  It’s not surprising that Dr. Bailie reported that poor working conditions were responsible for many premature births and many delicate children.  Nor that the low pay of the workers made them easy prey to tuberculosis.  He wrote that, as in previous years, consumption was most prevalent among the poor.[3]

“Why such pay and such working conditions?” asked Mr. Gordon.  “Because before the war there were only 400 of us organized.  Labor organizer after labor organizer fought for the unity of the working people.  But no sooner would such a speaker rise oft a platform than there would be calls from all parts of the house:  ‘Are ye a Sinn Feiner?’, ‘What’s yer religion?’ or ’Do ye vote unionist?’ There was no way out.  He had to declare himself.  Then one or the other half of his audience would rise and leave.  With low wages, of course, the workers could not get a perspective on their battle.  They were prisoners in Belfast.  They never had money enough even for the two-hour trip to Dublin.  Rail rates are high.  Excursions almost unknown.  Then came the war.  At that time wages were: 

“Spinners and preparers, $3.00 a week.

“Weavers and winders, $3.08 a week.

“General laborers, $4.00 a week.

“But how much did it cost to feed a family of five?  Seven dollars a week.  The workers had to get the difference.  They couldn’t without organization.  With hunger at their heels, they forgot prejudices.  Catholics began to go to meetings in Orange halls.  Protestants attended similar meetings in Hibernian assembly rooms; at a small town near Belfast there was a recent labor procession in which one-half of the band was Orange and the other half Hibernian, and yet there was perfect harmony.  Other unions than ours were at work.  For instance, the Irish Transport and General Workers’ union began to gather men under the motto chosen from one of Thomas Davis’ songs: 

  “Then let the orange lily be a badge, my patriot brother,
  The orange for you, the green for me, and each for one another.’

“What happened?  Take our union for example.  From 400 in 1914, the membership mounted to 40,000 in 1919—­that is the number represented today in the Irish Textile Federation.  With the growth in strength the federation made out its cost-of-living budget, and presented its case to the Linen Trade Employers.  At last the federation succeeded in obtaining this rate: 

“Spinners and preparers, $7.50 a week.

“Weavers and winders, $7.50 a week.

“General laborers, $10.00 a week.”