In individual industries where female labour pays an important

Hear the words of Clara Zetkin, fiery revolutionary and defender of women’s dignity, who proclaimed: “In individual industries where female labour plays an important role, any movement advocating better wages, shorter working hours, etc., would not be doomed from the start because of the attitude of those women workers who are not organized.” These words, like a trumpet in the dawn, remind us that justice is not given—it is taken, forged through unity. And if women, who have long borne the weight of labor and silence, rise together, then no movement for fairness shall fail.

The origin of this truth lies in the dawn of the twentieth century, when women flooded into factories, mills, and workshops. Their hands turned the machines of industry, their bodies endured the long hours, their labor built the wealth of nations. Yet they were paid less than men, their hours longer, their protections fewer. Many believed that such workers—isolated, unorganized, and often silenced—could not stand as a force in the struggle for justice. But Zetkin, visionary that she was, saw otherwise: she knew that when women workers awakened to their strength and joined the chorus of organized labor, no demand for better wages or shorter hours would be in vain.

Consider the story of the 1908 strike of women garment workers in New York City. Thousands, many of them young immigrant women, left their machines and filled the streets, demanding dignity. At first, they were dismissed, even mocked by their male counterparts. Yet their courage spread like fire, and soon tens of thousands joined them in the “Uprising of the 20,000.” They fought not only for pay, but for the right to be treated as human beings. Their strike proved Zetkin’s vision true: women, when organized, transform movements from fragile whispers into unshakable storms.

Zetkin’s words also carry warning. For when workers are not organized, when they remain isolated and divided, movements falter. Employers exploit division, setting one against another, man against woman, skilled against unskilled. A demand for justice collapses when half the voices are silent. But when women join arms with men, when the fragmented voices of labor unite, then the rulers of industry can no longer ignore the cry. The strength of a movement is not in its slogans alone, but in the breadth of its solidarity.

Her teaching echoes through history, even beyond labor. When women joined the anti-colonial struggles of nations, independence could not be denied. When women marched alongside men in civil rights movements, the cries for freedom thundered louder. In each case, the lesson was the same: unity requires the voices of women. To exclude them is to weaken the cause; to embrace them is to ensure victory.

O seeker, take this lesson deep into your heart: power is not held by the few, but by the many when they refuse to be divided. A single worker may be silenced; thousands cannot. A single woman may be ignored; a movement of women cannot. Zetkin reminds us that every movement for justice—whether for wages, for equality, or for dignity—must awaken the organized power of women, or it is doomed from the start.

And what actions must we take? Wherever you see injustice, ask whether women’s voices are heard. If not, amplify them. If they are fragmented, help them unite. Support women in unions, in workplaces, in movements, so that their strength is not diminished but multiplied. Teach that progress is not achieved by half a people, but by all. For the chains that bind women bind society as a whole, and the liberation of women is the liberation of all.

Thus, remember the wisdom of Clara Zetkin: female labour is not weakness, but strength, and when organized, it becomes the cornerstone of every just struggle. Let future generations learn from her voice that no movement is complete without women, and no justice secure without their strength. For when women rise, humanity rises with them.