Women's Reform Labor Union 1 | Page 2

The Female Labor Reform Association

The Female Labor Reform Association is a major event currently going on in Lowell, Massachusetts. Many mill girls are joining the association led by Sarah Bagley. This association is for better working conditions, better pay, and better treatment of female workers. Bagley currently works in the mill with hundreds of other girls. She works hard at her job to get the little money she can earn to help her family. She tries to convince as many other girls as she can to sign the petition and join the association. “It is not an easy task to get girls to join the association, they wouldn’t want to risk their job, and I agree,” Bagley says once, “but I keep trying and hope that someone will join at the least.” Just as Bagley says many of the girls do not want to risk their jobs because they need the flow of any sum of money to help their family. Many do not want to join. They do not want to risk their jobs by signing a petition. The thought of better working conditions, more pay, and better treatment of female workers sound too good to good to be true for many, if not all, of the female workers, but losing their only job does not. Most girls just do their regular work and stay happy that they at least have a job and are earning money. They don’t take risks unless they are just saving money. Some workers though, end up joining because of Bagley’s excellent convincing skills. They hear of all the benefits and possibilities and join at once after they hear Bagley’s talk. Bagley has a hard job to face, and she is lucky she has many close friends that are spirited and help her out. They too, help to get more people to sign the petition. It isn’t easy for Bagley or even for her friends and those who signed the petition. It is even harder to get many signatures on the petition. After all, Bagley is working 13 hours a day just like all the other mill girls, too. Bagley puts her best foot forward and keeps trying. She works very hard, and someday, her dream may even come to be reality.