Today in labor history Feb 24 Women and children were beaten by police during a textile strike

[Omaha Steve]

February 24



February 24, 1912 - Women and children were beaten by police during a textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The landmark "Bread & Roses" strike marked a milestone in unity among immigrant groups and among men and women in demanding better treatment in the workplace. Their campaign also became a national issue as the children of strikers traveled to other communities. Read more about the Bread & Roses strike at thsese websites:

http://www.breadandroses.net/strike.html

http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mmd=Jan%2012%2C%202007

http://www.lucyparsonsproject.org/iww/kornbluh_bread_roses.html

http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/events_lawrencestrike.html

[pleah]

1. K&R Very low point in American history.

If the thuglicans had their way we would already be repeating this history. Very sad.

[midnight]

2. This is fascinating history. The Polish women shut down

their looms first when they were short changed. 97 years later we sign the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay Act.

Sounds like the police work for the safety of the factory owners. "Police surrounded and brutally clubbed women and children alike, then threw them into patrol wagons; 30 women were detained in jail."

I suppose many families trying to survive in this economy might make the same complaint:

"Bread, molasses, and beans were the staple diet of most mill workers. "When we eat meat it seems like a holiday, especially for the children," testified one weaver before the March 1912 congressional investigation of the Lawrence strike."


Corporate America retaliates against the law and takes it out on the workers.

"American Woolen Company, responded to the law by reducing workers' wages by 3 �%, arguing that if workers' hours were to be decreased, then wages would have to fall in order to keep competitive with mills in New Hampshire, Vermont, and in the South, where wages were even lower."

[Help_I_Live_In_Idaho]

3. I will help

Omaha,If there is anything I can do from this backward state to help workers overcome this tyranny, get in touch with me. Any word on the union in Lewiston Idaho.
M