On this day, 26 December 1904, a strike began in Baku, now Azerbaijan, when metalworkers walked out with numerous demands including an eight-hour day, pay increases and Sundays off from work each week. Within five days most enterprises in the city were shut down, including the crucial oil industry, with regular protests and clashes with security forces. In contrast to an unsuccessful strike the previous year, this time they held out until January 12, when employers and workers reached the first collective agreement in the history of the Russian Empire. In particular the workers achieved the beginning of the weekend, with four paid days off each month, a nine-hour day, a pay increase and better living and working conditions.
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