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 – making workers work on four looms rather than two. It soon became a general strike under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union in which 25,000 workers participated, many of whom were immigrant women and children, from almost all of Paterson’s 300 mills and dye houses.
On the very first day IWW organiser Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was arrested after giving a talk on uniting strikers across racial boundaries. During the course of the five-month strike, approximately 1,850 strikers were arrested. The workers also withstood police violence and an attempt by the American Federation of Labor to undermine the strike. In the end, while the strike was successful in preventing the introduction of the four-loom system at that time, it was unsuccessful in its other demands, and after the defeat IWW organisation in the area was largely broken.
Listen to our podcast episode 6 to learn more 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 strike organisers, including Flynn, centre https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1659926104192533/?type=3