Many of the workers were still penniless from the dull summer season, and had never bought warm clothes. They wore short little jackets or sweaters, their best shirtwaists, and their largest hats, those with the most elaborate decorations. They thought of themselves as representing their union to the rest of the world, therefore a good appearance was important. So they marched in twos and threes, shivering, and holding their signs aloft. Everywhere in the garment district, by the front gates of little shops and big ones, picketers marched and sang. “O Dubinushka,” they sang, and “Tortured and Enslaved,” and other Russian folk and revolutionary airs. Icy rains poured down on them, some were in danger of frostbite — a winter of record-breaking cold had already begun — but there they were and there they stayed.

—We Shall Not Be Moved,
Joan Dash

Based on the passage, how do the workers respond to the cold weather?



What might be the author's main purpose for describing the workers?