workingclasshistory:

On this day, 18 July 1917, a furniture worker in Rio de Janeiro learned of a strike in São Paulo and walked off the job. Two of his colleagues joined him. By the afternoon, 150 workers walked out, and by the next day workers at five factories were on strike and the stoppage began to mushroom. On July 22, a general strike was called, demanding a maximum 8-hour day and 20% pay increase. Tens of thousands of metal and factory workers joined the strike and industry was shut down. The government declared martial law but failed to break the workers, and the employers settled the following month.
Read this and hundreds of other stories in our book, Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion. Get it here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/working-class-history-everyday-acts-resistance-rebellion-book https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2037769819741491/?type=3