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Working Class Calendar

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!workingclasscalendar@lemmy.world is a working class calendar inspired by the now (2023-06-25) closed reddit r/aPeoplesCalendar aPeoplesCalendar.org, where we can post daily events.

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New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909) On this day in 1909, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began when 15,000 factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job to demand higher wages and better... (stahmaxffcqankienulh.supabase.co)
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New York Shirtwaist Strike (1909)

Wed Nov 24, 1909

Image

Image: Two women strikers on picket line during the "Uprising of the 20,000", garment workers strike, New York City [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1909, the New York Shirtwaist Strike began when 15,000 shirtwaist factory workers (mostly Jewish women) walked off the job in New York City to demand higher wages and better working conditions.

The strike was the largest by female American workers up to that date, and was led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, also supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL).

The industry working conditions preceding the strike were atrocious - work weeks of 65 hours were normal, and in season they might expand to as many as 75 hours. Despite low wages, workers were often required to buy their own materials, including needles, thread, and sewing machines.

In February of 1910, the NWTUL settled with the factory owners, gaining improved wages, working conditions, and hours. The end of the strike was followed just a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which exposed the plight of immigrant women working in dangerous and difficult conditions and boosted participation in the garment unions.

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[–] solarvector@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I imagine they were met with clubs and bullets?

In February of 1910, the NWTUL settled with the factory owners, gaining improved wages, working conditions, and hours.

Wow, what a pleasant surprise!

The end of the strike was followed just a year later by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

FFS

Because the doors to the stairwells and exits were locked—a common practice at the time to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft—many of the workers could not escape from the burning building and jumped from the high windows.

Edit, it gets better:

Although smoking was banned in the factory, cutters were known to sneak cigarettes, exhaling the smoke through their lapels to avoid detection.[11]: 119  A New York Times article suggested that the fire had been started by the engines running the sewing machines. A series of articles in Collier's noted a pattern of arson among certain sectors of the garment industry whenever their particular product fell out of fashion or had excess inventory in order to collect insurance. The Insurance Monitor, a leading industry journal, observed that shirtwaists had recently fallen out of fashion, and that insurance for such stock was "fairly saturated with moral hazard". Although Blanck and Harris were known for having had four previous suspicious fire claims, arson was not suspected in this case.