On this day, 25 February 1913, silk mill workers in Paterson, New Jersey went on strike demanding an eight-hour day and improved working conditions.
The strike began as a walkout at the Doherty Mill over the introduction of the four-loom system. It soon became a general strike under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World union in which 25,000 workers participated, many of whom were women and children, from almost all of Paterson’s 300 mills and dye houses.
On the very first day Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was arrested after giving a talk on uniting strikers across racial boundaries. During the course of the strike, approximately 1,850 strikers were arrested.
This is our podcast episode about the IWW at this time: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/
Pictured: IWW organisers during the strike, including Flynn https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1359280124257134/?type=3