The women of fifteen organized trades in the city of Chicago determined to take that chance.
The women first appealed to the Industrial Commission, appointed early in 1908 by Governor Dineen, to investigate the need of protective legislation for workers, men and women alike.
The women were given a courteous hearing, but were told frankly that limited hours of work for women was not one of protective measures to be recommended by the Commission.
The Waitresses' Union, Local No.

484, of Chicago, entered the lists, led by a remarkable young woman, Elizabeth Maloney, financial secretary of the union.

Miss Maloney and her associates drafted and introduced into the Illinois Legislature a bill providing an eight-hour working day for every woman in the State, working in shop, factory, retail store, laundry, hotel, or restaurant, and providing also ample machinery for enforcing the measure.
The "Girls' Bill," as it immediately became known, was the most hotly contested measure passed by the Illinois Legislature during the session.

Over five hundred manufacturers appeared at the public hearing on the bill to protest against it.

One man brought a number of meek and tired women employees, who, he declared, were opposed to having their working day made shorter.