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A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
Monday Feb 15, 2021
On this day in labor history, the year was 1910.
That was the day the ‘Uprising of the 20,000’ officially ended in New York City.
As many as 30,000 young, predominantly immigrant Jewish women went back to work after a bitter 11-week strike.
They faced down their bosses, police and the courts. Arrests and fines drained much of the union’s funds.
Young union leaders like Clara Lemlich had been arrested 17 times and suffered 6 broken ribs.
Women garment workers spent most of the winter running to union meetings, handing out leaflets, walking picket lines, raising funds and distributing strike benefits.
Many smaller shops settled in workers’ favor early on in the strike.
By mid-February, closed shop demands kept many workers on the picket lines.
The strike ended with partial, but real victories. Garment workers won the 52-hour workweek, 4 paid holidays, employer-paid tools and materials, collectively bargained wages and more.
The ILGWU started the strike with 100 members and had 20,000 by the end.
All but 14 of the city’s 353 shops signed contracts.
But many garment workers continued to face unsafe working conditions like locked doors and flimsy or non-functioning fire escapes.
Safety-related demands would not be addressed until after the 60,000 strong cloak makers strike the following summer.
One of the largest factories and worst offenders was Triangle ShirtWaist.
Workers there went back with no agreement.
147 would die a year later in a tragic fire.
In the aftermath, basic fire safety principles were finally established and implemented in New York State workplaces.
These formed the foundations for many modern day fire safety practices, like exit signs and doors, better ventilation and sprinkler systems, fire alarms and drills.
April 29 - Allis-Chalmers and the Road to Taft-Hartley
April 28 - OSHA Goes Into Effect
April 27 - Disaster in West Virginia
April 26 - National Guard Ousts Montgomery Ward CEO
April 25 - UAW Mobilizes Against Taft-Hartley
April 24 - The California Spinach Riot
April 23 - Sitting Down for Dignity at Ford
April 22 - The Red Jacket Mine Explosion
April 21 - The Hated Taylor Law Takes Effect
April 20 - Deepwater Horizon Explosion Kills 11
April 19 -The Daughters of Mother Jones
April 18 - We Have Fed You All A thousand Years
April 17 - Fatal Explosion in West, Texas
April 16 - Jacob Coxey is Born
April 15 - Telephone Girls Cripple New England Bell
April 14 - A Job or Be Sterilized
April 13 - The Colfax Massacre
April 12 - The Wagner Act Stands
April 11 - Fed Up Transit Workers Walk Out
April 10 - Explosion at Eddystone
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