My Sisters Telegraphic: Women in the Telegraph Office ... - Monoskop

c h a p t e r s i x
Women Telegraphers and the
Labor Movement
ALTHOUGH most telegraphers in the United States came from a
working-class background and were familiar with the role of trade
unions in improving wages and working conditions, they tended to
“hang back from public demonstrations” of working-class solidarity, particularly
in times of economic prosperity. Instead, they gravitated toward the
behavioral patterns of the traditional middle class of clerks and officials by
displaying diligence at the workplace in an effort to gain the attention of
management and secure raises and promotions. It was a reasonable approach,
given that telegraphers were normally salaried employees and
salaries were determined on an individual basis; the validity of this strategy
had been demonstrated by the example of Andrew Carnegie, who had risen
from messenger boy to president of United States Steel in this very manner,
as he was fond of pointing out in writings and public lectures.
In hard times, however, operators lost confidence in their ability to
better their station in life through individual effort, particularly when they
saw the telegraph companies grow into monopolistic giants whose profits
swelled, while operators were unable to maintain a living wage or steady
employment. Thus the Gilded Age, a time of panics, recessions, and economic
upheavals, was also a time of labor unrest among telegraphers.
The first organization founded by telegraphers was the National Telegraphic
Union, established by Northern telegraphers during the Civil War.
The NTU, however, did not see itself as primarily a labor organization; it
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