Women’s Labour Activism: The Case of Bank Clerks in Central Europe, 1900–1920

The chapter examines the labour activism of women clerks in the late Habsburg Monarchy (Austria, Hungary, the Czech lands) between 1900 and 1914. By 1900, women clerks had begun to be employed by banks, and they represented around 10 to 15 percent of clerks by 1914. Their numerical growth in the sector coincided with increasing discrimination on multiple levels: in professional education, on the job market, in matters of welfare benefits, and in labour unions. This chapter analyzes the strategy and methods women clerks used to cope with their (often disadvantageous) social and economic status and battle discrimination on multiple fronts. Their strategies varied from joining male-dominated labour unions to establishing women-only structures, as well as relying on peaceful demonstrations and democratic elections and denouncing their mistreatment in the press. Their history showcases the malleable nature of class relations. Women clerks confronted middle-class gender roles and assumptions at the workplace, which were used to justify women clerks’ lower salaries, smaller pension benefits, and lesser job protections. At the same time, men clerks tried to demote women clerks from higher positions to protect their own privileges in the workplace. Women clerks, therefore, had to choose between less welcoming male-dominated labour unions or the establishment of women-only associations in their fight against gender discrimination and their battle to ultimately achieve middle-class status.