Two-Thirds of a Man: Women & Arbitration in New South Wales, 1902–08 by Edna Ryan

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Foredges are starting to sun. Previous owner has signed inside page. Body text and binding are still very good.

Edna Ryan investigates the beginnings of compulsory arbitration in Australia. She concludes that the opposition of the socialists and radicals to arbitration was irrelevant. Far more critical to labour's hopes and aspirations was the failure of labour activists and unionists at the time to recognise women as an integral section of the working class.

Denied the right to work or, if they did, discriminated against in wages and conditions, women became cheap labour: a boon to capitalism and a handicap to the working class. (back cover)