20th CenturyTHE NEW YORK GARMENT STRIKE OF 1909THEFIGHTBEFORETHEFIRE2214 INSIDE | HISTORY
20th CenturyIn 1909, Clara Lemlich raised her voice about safety concerns at the TriangleFactory in New York City. She was not alone as many textile workers wouldstrike with the same concerns. Whilst some factories would change theirpractices, others held strong against the workers demands. Tragically, theworkers would be proven right as Alycia Asai explains more about The NewYork Garment Strike of 1909.She sat in the back of the union hall,listening to one speaker after anothervoice support for their cause, but remainsilent on a solution. She hoped the nextorder of business would be to vote on acall to strike. But the speeches keptcoming; frustrated, she quickly raised herhand and requested to speak to the largecrowd. Making her way up the aisle, theUkrainian immigrant, who had areputation for being a troublemakerand who was still nursing some brokenribs thanks to strikebreakers stepped tothe microphone. In her native Yiddish,she told the crowd, “I have no furtherpatience for talk as I am one of thosewho feels and suffers from the thingspictured. I move that we go on a generalstrike...now!” Her name was Clara Lemlichand she is known as the voice to theuprising of the twenty thousand, the firstgeneral strike of the New York garmentdistrict, and one of the largest strikes bywomen in history. The strike of 1909 wassuccessful in many of its efforts, howeverit failed to garner one key concessionfrom shop owners, ultimately leading toone of the most devastating workplacedisasters in history.At the turn of the century, New York wasa hot spot for the newly popularshirtwaists. Memorialised by the GibsonGirl, the shirtwaist - or blouse - was a hotcommodity rapidly spreading inpopularity across the country’s women.Over six hundred shops employing nearlythirty-two thousand workers were sewingand piecing together upwards of fiftymillion dollars-worth of merchandiseannually. To meet this high demand,shop owners mandated workers show upsix days a week and toil long hours -often requiring overtime during the busymonths, without increased pay incentive.The workforce, made up largely ofimmigrant women, labored up to sixtyhours a week and were paid $6 perweek, about $174 when adjusted forinflation.The women of the Triangle ShirtwaistFactory had been advocating forincreased pay, safer conditions, andwanted the ability to form a union.Frustrated with the deafening silence byowners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris,the women walked off the job onOctober 4, 1909. Tired of the deplorableworking conditions, fourteen-hourworkdays, and meager pay, the womenrefused to return to work until Blanckand Harris were ready to hear theirdemands. The owners, however, wouldhear nothing. Instead, they worked tobreak the women; they hired prostitutesto start fights and paid off thugs tointimidate and physically assault thestriking workers. The women held firm,picketing daily for six weeks.Inspired by those fighting the TriangleFactory, the International LadiesGarment Workers called a meeting onNovember 22 to determine the bestcourse of action. Would they continueto labor in decrepit and unsafe workingconditions, or would they band togetherand collectively demand bettertreatment? Held at Cooper Union,thousands of workers showed up todebate their fate and vote for action.Inspired by Lemlich’s speech, themembers present at the hall voted infavor of a general strike, and thefollowing day, fifteen thousand workerswalked off the job in New York’sGarment District. Their demands weresimple: better pay, lower hours, theability to organize, and safe workingconditions. The union organized picketlines for the factories, culminating innearly twenty thousand workers fromfive hundred shops refusing to work inthe largest industry-wide strike to date.The Garment District was suddenly at astandstill.While nearly one hundred smallerfactories caved to many of the strikers'demands within forty-eight hours, thelarger firms - led by the owners ofTriangle - were determined to break thestrike by any means necessary.Employing tactics that would makeheadlines today, the factory magnateshired replacement workers, violentstrikebreakers, and paid off police tomake arrests for anyone who picketedtheir shops. The physical mistreatmentof the picketers gained the attention ofthe affluent women pushing for suffragewho saw an opportunity to galvanizethe push for the rights to vote with theplight of the immigrants demandingbetter working conditions.As women were arrested and givenexorbitant bails, Alva Belmont, wife ofWillliam Vanderbilt, started showing upto court to pay their fines. Having thebacking of the wealthy and connected,the press started to write pieces insupport of the strike and the factoryowners began losing the war of publicopinion. By December, word of thestrike reached Philadelphia, promptingthe city’s garment workers to also walkoff the job to demand better conditions.A month into the strike, many of thelarger factories were tired of seeingtheir profits diminish and preparedthemselves for negotiations, offeringtentative agreements to theiremployees. The strikers were alsogrowing weary; fighting the battle alonewithout government support andlacking secure financial backing, theyhad a choice to make; they could goback with the guaranteed concessions,INSIDE HISTORY 23
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