- Emma Paterson
Infobox Person
name = Emma Paterson
caption =
birth_date = 1848
birth_place =
death_date = 1886
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = English feminist and trade union activist
occupation =Emma Paterson (1848 – 1886) was an English feminist and
trade union ist.Life
Paterson was the daughter of a schoolteacher and married to a cabinet-maker.
In 1875 Paterson founded
Women's Protective and Provident League (which in 1903 became theWomen's Trade Union League )cite web
title = Women's Protective and Provident League
url = http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wtu.htm
work = Women's Trade Union League
accessmonthday=December 13 | accessyear=2007] , aimed at creating trade unions in all trades branded by working women. With this group she helped organize a strike inDewsbury of weavers.Paterson put emphasis on the importance of women in the
labour movement and her League was initially aimed at establishing women-only unions. This was in part due to the resistance of some of the more traditional trade unions some of whom believed that woman should not work.The failure of the trade union movement to embrace women into the movement is a reflection of the time and the role of women in that context.In general the demands of the WTUL were the same as other male unions, however it is notable for asking for maternity provision, co-operative homes for working women, and the vote for all women, not just women who were property owners.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
