On this day in labor history, the year was 1937.
That was the day whistles blowing and the call to strike could be heard through the aisles of Woolworth in downtown Detroit.
108 saleswomen walked away from their workstations and cash registers.
The eight-day sit-down had begun.
The young women saw from the experience in Flint that sit-down strikes could win.
They evicted management, barricaded the doors and found 200 or so customers still inside the store, wanting to join them.
The strikers issued their demands: a 10 cent an hour raise, an eight-hour day, union recognition and a union hiring hall, free uniforms and laundering and more.
Kresge department stores immediately gave their workers a raise in order to prevent similar stoppages.
The striking women at Woolworth made themselves comfortable and the sit-down soon spread to a second store.
Leaders from Local 705 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees threatened a national strike if demands were not met.
Union cooks provided meals and union musicians provided entertainment. Hotel workers from across the city picketed in front of the store to show solidarity.
After seven days, Woolworth’s management caved and agreed to most of the strikers demands.
High turnover in the workforce would undo contract gains at area Woolworth stores soon after the sit-down.
But the victory electrified retail workers across the country.
The sit-down spread to retailers in St. Louis, New York, San Francisco, Minnesota and Washington.
In Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor’s Last Century, Dana Frank notes that, “over 60 years later, unions today in department stores all over the country owe their existence in part to the Woolworth strike.”
December 20 - THE UNION IS DISSOLVED!!!
December 19 - Solidarity Gets the Goods!
December 18 - No More Beer
December 17 - Unraveling Anti-Japanese Hysteria
December 16 - No Justice, No Bagels!
December 15 - Troops Put Down the Mother’s March
December 14 - Another Hard Fought Victory
December 13 - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid
December 12 - We Disaffiliate!
December 11 - Right to Work is a Lie!
December 10 - August Spies is Born
December 9 - The Cordiner Doctrine
December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast