The Union Women's Alliance to Gain Equality (Union W.A.G.E.) was founded on International Women's Day, March 8, 1971. It was a politically non-partisan organization of women trade unionists organized to fight discrimination on the job, in unions, and in society. Union W.A.G.E. was dedicated to achieving equal rights, pay, and opportunities for "working women," a broadly defined term that included housewives, unemployed and retired women, and women receiving government assistance. Although the organization considered itself to be national in scope, the majority of its membership as well as its headquarters were located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Union W.A.G.E. published a popular bi-monthly newspaper that focused on working women's issues from a feminist and labor movement perspective and sponsored educational conferences and events. These events focused on issues such as organizing non-union workplaces, fighting sexism on the job and in the unions, preventing job-related health hazards, and promoting women's labor history.

"Labor Heroines: Ten Women Who Led The STRUGGLE," was written by Joyce Maupin (1921-1998). Maupin was a lifelong activist and a founder of Union W.A.G.E. As editor of the organization's newspaper, she authored regular columns on "labor heroines" in order to share with a younger generation the history of women in the labor movement.