A century on and we are no nearer, indeed we may be farther, in solving the central problem of child care for working mothers and families.

‘Nurseries Should Be Run by Trade Unions’ by Rose F. Carey from The Daily Worker. Vol. 3 No. 50. March 11, 1926.

(Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA. Pa. March 9. A few large corporations in Philadelphia in order to keep their female employes satisfied with low wages and long hours installed day nurseries entirely supervised by the company.

Those situated in the large cities have on their board of directors, owners of industries, their wives and women of the dividend getting class, who select the matrons and other functionaries, the mothers of course having nothing to say about the matter.

Poor Food for Workers’ Kids

In most of these institutions the matrons not only act as an efficient propaganda agent, but also must keep expenses down by paying disgracefully low wages to the nurses and other help, and buying Inadequate supplies of low-grade food for the children.

In the day-nursery where I was employed as assistant nurse the physician had absolute control. She conducted lectures for the mothers, popped Into their homes at all hours on the least pretext in order to further brow beat and humiliate them by prying into their private affairs.

Besides this, she was actually conducting un experimental station, filling the kiddies with nil kinds of drugs and serums and also humiliating the older ones by periodically taking specimens to ascertain venereal disease.

Infect Them With Disease.

Many little children contracted filthy skin diseases but were permitted to mingle with the others, yet this particular nursery was widely advertised as a model health center.

The matron in charge of another nursery was a domineering person, who strongly served the interests of the rich parasites who controlled this institution. The mothers were compelled to attend a monthly meeting, rain or shine, no excuses for non-attendance were accepted and as a punishment for absence she hit upon the brutal scheme of not permitting them to bring their children into the nursery, some times as long as a week.

Persecute Mothers.

One winter morning, following such a “mother’s” meeting I met one of the unfortunate women weeping, with her three children clinging to her skirts. It had been bitter cold, snowy weather on the meeting night and after returning tired out from work had to drag her little ones thru the storm to her hovel, which was located many streets distant from the nursery and she was too exhausted to attend the meeting. The next morning the matron would listen to no explanations and had excluded her children for 3days, which meant the loss of her job.

The meetings were always opened by prayer and hymn singing. After which, the work-weary and worried mothers were compelled to listen to a sermon of abuse against the working class, the main theme of which was that the workers are poor because they are lazy, sinful and extravagant, whereas the rich are honest, god-fearing people. Women coming into industry in increasing numbers, brings a large proportion of married women with children. The task of organizing these women contains the problem of the care of their children while the mothers are at work.

Job Belongs to Unions.

The unions concerned in this business of organizing women, instead of wasting millions of dollars in various class collaboration schemes, us labor banks, insurance etc., should take up this matter and set themselves seriously to the vital work. We know that the reactionary officialdom will never of Its own accord initiate this move, the responsibility rests with the militants.

The work of organizing nurseries or “creches” has been recognized as important work amongst women by the labor unions of Soviet Russia and it is high time we face the problem, in a constructive way, here in America.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

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