Lawrence Textile Strikes

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The Lawrence Textile Strikes were part of a series industrial strikes in the garment and textile industries of the American East from 1909 to 1913. The participants of these strikes were largely immigrant factory workers from southern and eastern Europe. Class division, race, gender, and manufacturing expertise all caused internal dissension among the striking parties and this led many reformist intellectuals in the Northeast to question their effectiveness.[1] A major turning point for these labor movements occurred in 1912 during the Lawrence Textile Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where laborers were able to successfully pressure mill owners to raise wages, later galvanizing support from left-leaning intellectual groups.[2] In 1913 the Paterson Silk Strike also referred to as the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1913[3] took place in Paterson, New Jersey. This strike was a work stoppage involving silk mill worker.

Strikes[edit]

Strike Year Goal(s)
Lawrence Textile Strike (Bread and Roses Strike) 1912 54-hour week, 15% increase in wages, double pay for overtime work, and no bias towards striking workers
Paterson Silk Strike 1913 8-Hour Working Day

References[edit]

  1. ^ Golin, Steve (1988). The Fragile Bridge: Paterson Silk City Strike, 1913. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 6.
  2. ^ Golin, Steve (1988). The Fragile Bridge: Paterson Silk Strike, 1913. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 3.
  3. ^ Esther, Corey (Spring 1963). "Lewis Corey (Louis C. Fraina), 1892-1953: A Bibliography with Autobiographical Notes". Labor History. 4: 105 – via Internet Archive and/or JSTOR.