Today in labor history Sept 27 “Uprising of the 20,000” & demanding bread for starving children

[Omaha Steve]

September 27

September 27, 1875 - In Fall River, Massachusetts, textile workers went on strike, demanding bread for starving children. In the latter half of the 19th century, about one out of every six children between the ages of 10 and 15 were working -- in textile mills, print shops, coal mines and factories. Their labor was often critical to their families’ survival.


International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union begins strike against Triangle Shirtwaist Co. This would become the “Uprising of the 20,000,” resulting in 339 of 352 struck firms—but not Triangle—signing agreements with the union. The Triangle fire that killed 246 would occur less than two years later - 1909

Twenty-nine west coast ports lock out 10,500 workers in response to what management says is a worker slowdown in the midst of negotiations on a new contract. The ports are closed for 10 days, reopen when Pres. George W. Bush invokes the Taft-Hartley Act - 2002

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Was'nt that where "Bread and Roses" term came from???

[Omaha Steve]

2. Yes it is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_Roses


Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a parade of peaceful strikers. The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World.


The slogan "Bread and Roses" originated in a poem of that name by James Oppenheim, published in American Magazine in December 1911, which attributed it to "the women in the West". It is commonly associated with a textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts during January-March 1912, now often known as the "Bread and Roses strike".

The slogan appeals for both fair wages and dignified conditions.

FULL story at link.