宅男导航

A central focus of attempts dedicated to improve the lives of working people was the need for recognition of the similarities of workers鈥� struggles across the nation, as well as the importance of transnational solidarity. These were central themes of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or 鈥淲obblies鈥�, whose international labour union had been founded in Chicago in 1905. Franklin described such focus as the 鈥渨orld-old struggle between human slavery and human freedom鈥� with global class struggle a broad-based war of multiple parties allied in solidarity against injustice. When the strike was over, 鈥渢he great gift鈥� was 鈥渢he solidarity . . . that exists today between this huge unorganized group of immigrant workers and the Americanized group of organized labor鈥�.

聽聽聽聽 However, it is her play 鈥淭he Waiter Speaks鈥� that specifically draws similarities between the poor working conditions of both garment workers and waiters, and demonstrates the similarity of their grievances in making the case for their solidarity. In this regard Franklin establishes dialogue about the poor working conditions of the waiters that puts them on par with the plight of the garment workers and also sets them up as skilled labourers deserving of respect and collective bargaining. The awkward vernacular of the waiters鈥� dialogue is also an attempt at establishing their status as working-class men. For example, Waiter no. 1 uses the inclusive 鈥渦s鈥� to describe the plight of the working-class people across multiple venues. 鈥淚 tell you鈥�, he exclaims when referring to the restaurant鈥檚 clientele, 鈥渢hey come here and they speak of us as cattle 鈥� it鈥檚 a waiter that knows鈥�. This repeated motif serves to establish the wisdom of the waiters as witness to the plight of the garment workers and as advocates in solidarity of their struggle.

聽聽聽聽 This issue of similarities across the conditions of working people鈥檚 lives is raised by Mrs Dobson when she asks Waiter no. 2 how many hours he works daily and is indignant upon hearing his answer of twelve hours. Scholars have suggested that waiters during this period suffered 鈥渂ondage鈥�, being 鈥渃ompelled to work 15 hours and even longer鈥�.61 Their wages were also very low because their labour in many eating establishments was unskilled, and because non-white labour could be exploited if whites were unwilling. Waiter no. 3 alludes to these facts in a remark about fund-raising for the strikers: 鈥淲e wish it was more but our own conditions are none too rosy鈥�. As Mrs Dobson leaves a generous tip, we are reminded that waiters鈥� wages are supported by the generosity of patrons.

聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he Waiter Speaks鈥� not only presents a dignified portrayal of hard working waiters but also emphasises the skilled aspect of this labour: an important issue because it provided justification for their union involvement and their strength as a collective bargaining unit alongside other workers. The waiters in Franklin鈥檚 play are courteous in serving the women and attending to their wants; they hover unobtrusively and arrange cutlery or water plants as they converse with their clientele. Waiter no. 1, for example, remembers that the secretary likes 鈥渧ery weak coffee鈥�: a fact which impresses the secretary. He also explains that waiters must 鈥減ut [their] personalities aside鈥� in emphasising the neutrality of manner needed in this line of work. When discussing the clientele whom he finds abhorrent, the waiter explains the difficulty of 鈥渒eep[ing] silences鈥� about such bigotry and how 鈥渙nce in a while [he must tell] the truth鈥�. In this dialogue Franklin points out that waiters deal with class relationships on a daily basis, using their 鈥渢ruth鈥� as a basis for collective action. The latter is exemplified by Waiter no. 3, who not only supports the strikers but is actively working with the Waiters鈥� Union despite its challenges, explaining that they have to meet secretly 鈥渋n this land of the free where the bosses can organize, but the workers can鈥檛 or every one of us would be fired right now鈥�.

聽聽 聽 Although this play dramatises the necessity of unionisation for improving worker autonomy and conditions, it also spells out the challenges associated with class consciousness and the ways workers identify with business and impose status hierarchies among themselves. Franklin uses Waiter no. 2, the headwaiter, to achieve this end, demonstrating how he unwittingly adopts the views of the oppressor class and directs resentment about his situation onto those of equal or lesser status by setting himself above the general class of waiters. Franklin shows how he has internalised ideologies that keep him ignorant of the ways power works in his profession and in society generally. From his point of view 鈥渁nyone鈥� can belong to a union, and 鈥渢he best ones of the profession don鈥檛 have to pay no more money than the 鈥渂ums鈥� who 鈥渟pill 鈥� over ladies鈥�. In response, the secretary makes a humorous suggestion: 鈥淲ell, couldn鈥檛 you have a division in your union?鈥� she asks. 鈥淭he hoboes of the profession who carry things on their arms and spill some of it over ladies could pay fifty cents 鈥� and the experts who know how to wait on a lady could pay double鈥�. Such a suggestion would have garnered a laugh from a potential audience at the same time that it illustrates the problems of solidarity among workers.

聽聽聽聽 In this way Franklin鈥檚 politics and their relationship to writing represent one of the defining characteristics of New Woman fiction: the challenge to and disruption of dichotomies between literature and political writing across multiple locations. While this experience of the garment workers鈥� strike reinforced her politics and understandings of labour issues, it also provided a confidence and narrative authority for literary endeavours presented in both the Life and Labor articles about the strike and 鈥淭he Waiter Speaks鈥�. Articulating the plight of garment workers, the role of the allies, and need for worker solidarity in this writing, Franklin modelled the ways the protest tradition responded to the complex social and economic conditions of modernity during this period.

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