The Price of Five Cents an Hour
A labor organizer’s fiery speech in Everett challenges the exploitation of women workers and demands legislative protection for their health.
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At a local address before the labor delegates, Mrs. Raymond Robbins recounted the plight of young women working in sweatshops. She described encountering a child employee at a box factory who, when asked about her working conditions, claimed to be 'contented' while earning only five cents an hour. Mrs. Robbins used the anecdote to illustrate the dangers of unregulated machinery and the systematic exploitation of women and children. She argued that the only path forward is to bring these workers into the organized labor movement and to pass legislation for the health and motherhood of the people, citing Supreme Court recognition of the physical differences between men and women as a basis for protective laws.
“Five cents an hour. She is your competitor; she is our competitor; she is a danger to our nation.”
This 1909 address reflects the early 20th-century push for labor laws and women's rights in the workplace, a struggle that paved the way for modern wage protections. Today, the debate continues through the lens of gig-economy exploitation and the fight for a living wage in Everett's rapidly changing service sector.
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