9 October 1912: Little Falls textile strike

0:00On this damn working class history, the 9th of October. On the 9th of October 1912, the mostly female workforce at the Phoenix Mail in Little Falls, New York, walked out on a wildcat strike to force their employer to follow a new state law, which limited working hours to 54 per week, down from 60. 2,000 other workers from the Phoenix and Gilbert's Mills joined them on strike, and the workers joined the revolutionary industrial workers of the World Union. The IWW said in organisers including Matilda Rabinowitz, Big Bill Haywood and others, and fellow IWW member Helen Keller also supported the strike. The police chief declared, we have strike on our hands and a foreign element to deal with. We have in the past kept them in subjugation and mean to hold them where they belong.

1:01Then he sent the police to attack the workers and raid the strike headquarters. But the workers held firm and by January they won shorter hours with no loss of pay. Learn more about women in the IWW in episode 16 of the Worm Class History podcast. Listen wherever you're listening to this podcast. The sources, maps and all about anniversaries each day, check out the on-this-day section of our stories at at stories.workinclosshistory.com and if you value our work support us at patreon.com slash workinclosshistory. Links in the show notes. The music by the card d'Area. See you tomorrow.