New England Shoemakers' Strike (1860)
Wed Feb 22, 1860
Image: Contemporay illustration of Lynn strike, 1860 [libcom.org]
The New England Shoemakers Strike began on this day in 1860 when 3,000 shoemakers walked off their jobs in Lynn, Massachusetts, leading to more than 20,000 workers going on strike all across New England.
In a few days, shoeworkers throughout New England joined the strike - in Natick, Newburyport, Haverhill, Marblehead, and other Massachusetts towns, as well as towns in New Hampshire and Maine. Within a week, strikes had begun in all the shoe towns of New England. Newspapers called it "The Revolution at the North" and the "Beginning of the Conflict Between Capital and labor."
Approximately 20,000 workers went on strike across New England which made it the largest mass walkout in American history prior to the Civil War. It ended in April with modest gains for shoemakers, including pay increases and owner recognition of some labor unions.
- Date: 1860-02-22
- Learn More: libcom.org, en.wikipedia.org.
- Tags: #Labor.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org