Fight the Man!: 8 Defining Strikes in New York City History
Uprising of 20,000 in 1909
This strike was, at the time, the largest women’s strike in U.S. history and targeted the rapidly growing garment industry. At the beginning of the 20th century, New York City had a population that was approximately 50% new immigrants. Many of these immigrant women sought jobs in relatively unskilled and labor-intensive fields—like factory work—but brought with them the rather sophisticated sensibility of European trade unions.
In November of 1909, 20,000 women decided to strike against several of the major garment factories operating in NYC. They were protesting the 65-hour workweeks, unwanted sexual advances from their employers, and inhumane working conditions. Thus began an eleven week strike that demonstrated both the determination of the workers and the intransigence of the system. The factories hired thugs to intimidate and assault the protesters, and the police arrested hundreds of women over the course of the strike. Even the courts were against the women, one judge declaring to a protester “You are striking against God and nature.” Which is odd because I don’t remember reading about how God operated a sweatshop. But then I never read the Bible so closely. All those “begats” got boring fast.
Although this strike ran its course after almost three months, with the resulting changes instituted including a new 52-hour work week, the fight was not over. It took several years for the garment industry workers to transform into one of the strongest unions in the country, but they did, all thanks to what started in 1909. Also, they probably had a little extra incentive due to the horribly tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, when over 140 people lost their lives due to hazardous working conditions. Yeah. That was a real call to action.