A Summary Of Nester's Work

Nester's excerpt begins with a description of where she worked and what her coworkers did to pass the time. She also mentioned an attempt at maximizing their wages under the piecework system. Next, she recounts the company's additional fees for their machines such as oil, needles, and the electricity necessary to operate them. Along with this, the foreman instituted absurd rules to keep the girls in line. When the company introduced a trial procedure that would subdivide the work. The banders group walked out after this announcement and were supported by Nester's group of workers. One of the banders went to the press and news spread to the Chicago Federation of Labor and they began recruiting the women of the factory to the union. However,

the company dropped the new system by Monday and the bands returned to work. The glove-cutters' union rented a hall near the factory and invited the girls to a meeting. Nester and others went, and many joined the union that day, and the following three days of meetings. At the factory, an incident with a cutter pushed the women to organize a strike. At the end of their lunch break, Nester's group left making a scene and calling for others to join them. After this incident, the women went to a meeting with union leaders to state their demands. Agnes Nester became the voice of her coworkers as they rejoined the picket line and continued to hold meetings in the glove-cutters' rented hall. During this time, Nester recalled the streetcar conductors who were being discharged because they were attempting to form a union. Workers in different fields showed support for others in their attempts to unionize. As week two of the strike began, the company sent letters to the girls, urging them to return to the factory. In the letter, they offered to meet all demands, except for that of a union shop. Most women refused, but the kid glove department girls continued to work. An incident with one kid glove girl passing the picket line led to the headline STRIKERS DUCK GIRL IN WATER TROUGH, though what occurred was merely an idle threat. After that publicity, company management agreed to a union shop and the women went back to work the following Monday. Nester’s focus is on the growing reach of unions and the determination of the strikers. Her writing centers on the impact a seemingly small group of people can have on the operation of a factory or business.