Women Tobacco Workers in the Interwar period in Greece

This article discusses the contribution of women tobacco workers to the Greek labour movement during the interwar years, a period characterised by significant socio-economic changes. Challenges such as the influx of refugees from Asia Minor who constituted cheap labour in 1922, the introduction of modernised methods of processing tobacco, and the gradual decline in demand for high-quality tobacco affected industrial relations at the time. Consequently, the period was characterised by a strong response from the tobacco labour unions, with a dynamic presence of women who fought for better work conditions, equal pay, and rights at work. The article concludes that more researchon individual biographies is needed to better understand how women’s activism evolved during this period and its role in the development of the women’s movement.