The legislature of Massachusetts had reduced the hours of work of
women and children from fifty-six to fifty-four hours a week.
Without making adequate announcement, the employers withheld two
hours' pay from the weekly stipend. A large portion of the
workers were foreigners, representing eighteen different
nationalities, most of them with a wholly inadequate knowledge of
English, and all of an inflammable temperament. When they found
their pay short, a group marched through the mills, inciting
others to join them, and the strike was on. The American
Federation of Labor had paid little attention to these workers.
There were some trade unions in the mills, but most of the
workers were unorganized except for the fact that the I.W.W. had,
about eight months before, gathered several hundred into an
industrial union. Yet it does not appear that this union started
the strike. It was a case of spontaneous combustion. No sooner
had it begun, however, than Joseph J. Ettor, an I.W.W. organizer,
hastened to take charge, and succeeded so well that within a few
weeks he claimed 7000 members in his union. Ettor proved a
crafty, resourceful general, quick in action, magnetic in
personality, a linguist who could command his polyglot mob. He
was also a successful press agent who exploited fully the
unpalatable drinking water provided by the companies, the
inadequate sewerage, the unpaved streets, and the practical
destitution of many of the workers.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179