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Article Excerpt
This history was published in the Mar., Apr. 1924 issues (nos. 1 and 2) of Kung Sing (Voice of Labor), the news organ of the Unionist Guild. Many of the guild's leaders were influenced by anarcho-syndicalism, and the guild can be considered as one of the first Chinese labor organizations influenced by Western political ideology. The guild existed until the late 1920s.--HML
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San Francisco's Meizhou Gongyi Tongmeng Zonghui (Unionist Guild of America) was founded in May 1919. At that time there were a zealous group of idealists who saw the workers' poor working conditions. (1) In spite of difficulties and dangers, they made an effort to organize the workers to defend their rights. They borrowed the Tawing She (Discussing the world society) clubroom to discuss the matter. A total of 29 people attended. During the meeting it was decided to donate funds to print an announcement, requesting the opinion of workers at the baiyi (Cantonese baak-yee; "white garment") (2) factories and shops. Following is part of the announcement:
To Mr. --: In order to support the "white garments" industry and improve the working people's lives, we are planning the formation of an organization to plan together how to decrease working hours and improve health conditions, and to increase wages and maintain livelihoods. Also in this present age, all occupations are reducing working hours and increasing wages, in order to improve the welfare of the working class. Since you sit are an important personage in the "white garments" industrial circles, we presume that you will express approval of this move. We specially send you this letter, and hope that you will send a letter of endorsement, so that we can establish a date for convening a meeting of all in the "white garment" business. We also request that you discuss this with members of the xijia [Cantonese...
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