On this day in labor history, the year was 1912.
That was the day mill workers began to walk off the job at the Phoenix and Gilbert Knitting Mills in Little Falls, New York.
The strike was sandwiched between the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts and the 1913 Paterson textile strike.
American, Hungarian, Polish and Italian workers, over 70% of them women, struck against wage reductions.
Their hours had just been cut from 60 hours a week to 54, and their wages adjusted accordingly.
A recent factory inspection commission investigation revealed deplorable working and living conditions, among the worst in the state.
As a result, state legislators passed protective legislation restricting women’s work hours.
Many social reformers pushed for laws like these in the hopes of improving women’s quality of life by minimizing their exploitation on the job.
But the reduction in hours spelled disaster for these mill women, who then faced a loss of income that ranged from 75 cents to $2 a week.
Socialists in nearby Schenectady, including the socialist mayor George Lunn, arrived in town and were promptly arrested for giving open-air speeches in support of the strikers.
IWW organizers soon followed to help organize picketing, daily strike parades and strike committees at each of the factories.
They quickly established IWW Local 801, National Industrial Union of Textile Workers.
By the end of the month, mounted police closed in on the women strikers and began clubbing them, many into unconsciousness.
The police raided strike headquarters and arrested IWW strike committee leaders.
But the women strikers stood strong and were celebrating victory by the beginning of the year.
They won full reinstatement and 60 hours pay for 54 hours work.
May 11 - Organizing in the Fields
May 10 - Bankruptcy Bonanza for Big Bankers
May 9 - The Historic ‘34 West Coast Maritime Strike Begins
May 8 - Mary Marcy is Born
May 7 - Popeye The Union Man
May 6 - FDR Rolls Out the WPA
May 5 - The Bay View Massacre
May 4 - UE Beats Back HUAC in Dayton
May 3 - First Workers Compensation Law is Passed
May 2 - Our Thing is DRUM!
May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland
April 30 - Refinery Workers Walk Off the Job
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
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast