Textile resistance: Women and Work
Girls and women of the time faced challenging working conditions, including up to eleven-hour working days, which they had to combine with domestic tasks and raising children or younger siblings.
In addition, they suffered wage discrimination and, at times, abuse in the workplace. In practice, there was no job security, no accident coverage, no contracts, and no union organizations to demand a change in working conditions or compliance with existing laws. Women, known as “weavers” or “telariak” in Basque, simultaneously tended to several looms, a task that required great concentration and coordination. Although there is no concrete data, this workload, combined with domestic responsibilities, resulted in greater physical exhaustion and a higher mortality rate among female workers compared to their male counterparts. It is important to note that these conditions were not exclusive to the textile industry but extended to other sectors where women had a significant presence. The lack of recognition and undervaluation of women’s work were widespread, problems that contributed to perpetuating inequality in the workplace.
