Today’s No More 24 movement has origins in the struggle of garment factory workers for control of their time. They launched the national Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign in 1998.  

Factory workers sewing clothing in Brooklyn for the garment manufacturer StreetBeat came forward in 1997. The workers had been fired after asking for time off from their 137-hour workweeks. The struggle focused attention on holding manufacturers responsible for conditions in their contracted factories, and our efforts led to the passage of a 1998 manufacturer accountability law in New York State. Chinese and Latina workers sewing goods for Kathie Lee Gifford and DKNY also organized with NMASS, making sweatshops here in the United States a major national issue. Many of these workers were mothers, whose families and health were hurt by long hours on the job. Together we launched the national Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign to fight long hours and workplace exploitation and to demand recognition and compensation for work traditionally relegated to women: taking care of families and raising children.