February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close

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.