After finishing school she got a job as a factory worker. In 1944 she passed the Taipei Post Office's entrance examination. After the February 28 Incident of 1947, Hsu Chin-yu became politically aware under the guidance of Chi Mei-chen, a Chinese-language teacher from Jiangsu. Although she was a shy and introverted woman, she mustered the courage to join the Postal and Cable Services labor union to struggle for workers 'rights.
許金玉女士，台北萬華人，一九二一年出生，從小就送給人當養女，公學校畢業即進入工廠當女工，一九四四年考上台北郵政局，二二八事變後，在江蘇籍的國語老師計梅真啟蒙下，個性害羞內向的她，為爭取解決台籍員工「歸班」問題，毅然投入郵電工會的工人運動。