Remembering the Fight and Spirit of 'Bread and Roses'

From Common Dreams: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/09-7

100 Years Since Lawrence Textile Worker Strikes

by John de Graaf and David Batker
Published on Monday, January 9, 2012 by CommonDreams.org

An important centennial is a terrible thing to waste. Some historic anniversaries can change the way we look at life and help us reevaluate our values and behavior. One such anniversary arrives on January 11. On that day a century ago, a group of women walked out of a textile mill to march in the streets of Lawrence, Massachusetts. During the following days and weeks, thousands of workers, most of them immigrant women, joined them.

The strikers were led by a radical young union, the Industrial Workers of the World, but their demands were humble: a reduction working hours from 56 to 54 hours a week and a pay raise of two cents an hour—from 16 to 18 cents.

The strike lasted for two months. The workers marched daily, singing union anthems, and later listening to organizers. They faced clubs, bayonets, and frequent arrests. Many were hauled off to jail, children in tow. One, Annie LoPizzo, was shot and killed by the police.

Mill owners remained unmoved. But national sympathy for the impoverished strikers grew. Workers as far away as New York and Vermont took in the strikers’ children to harbor them from violence, hunger and hardship. American newspapers were moved to support the workers’ cause. Finally, in March, the mill owners cried uncle, conceding to the strike demands.

The strike is commonly referred to as the “Bread and Roses” strike, because some women were said to have held up a banner declaring, “We want bread, and roses, too!”

Continue reading at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/09-7