Maria Elena Moreno

Ecuador's first female labor leader who organized South America's earliest workers' unions

Maria Elena Moreno (1868-1932) was a pioneering labor organizer in 19th century Ecuador who broke gender barriers to lead textile workers' strikes in Quito. Starting as a 14-year-old weaver in the San Antonio Textile Factory, she witnessed horrific working conditions - 16-hour days, child labor, and hazardous machinery. In 1887 she founded the Ecuatoriana Obrera Textil, Ecuador's first workers' union with 300 members, demanding minimum wage laws and workplace safety regulations.

Moreno's most significant achievement came during the 1890 Quito General Strike, where she united 5000 workers across industries in a 45-day protest that shut down the city's economy. Though the strike was violently suppressed, it pressured the government to pass the 1892 Labor Code - South America's first legal protections for workers including 10-hour workdays and bans on child labor under 12. Her memoir Vidas Tejidas (Woven Lives) became a foundational text for Latin American labor movements.

She later established the Casa de la Obrera in 1905 - a cooperative housing project providing affordable living for working families. Though largely forgotten in her time, Moreno's efforts inspired later leaders like Eloy Alfaro and modern feminist organizations. Historians now recognize her as a precursor to the 20th century labor movements that transformed South America's working conditions. Her statue in Quito's Labor Park (2018) marks her belated recognition as Ecuador's labor movement founder.