Legendary labor leader and socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs becomes charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Five years later he is leading the national union and in 1893 helps found the nation’s first industrial union, the American Railway Union - 1875
Birth of John Steinbeck in Salinas, Calif. Steinbeck is best known for writing “The Grapes of Wrath,” which exposed the mistreatment of migrant farm workers during the Depression and led to some reforms - 1902
Thirty-eight miners die in a coal mine explosion in Boissevain, Va. - 1932
Four hundred fifty Woolworth’s workers and customers occupy store for eight days in support of Waiters and Waitresses Union, Detroit - 1937
The Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes, a major organizing tool for industrial unions, are illegal - 1939
Mine disaster kills 75 at Red Lodge, Mont. - 1943
Today in #LaborHistory : February 27-- via -- www.unionist.com
450 Woolworth’s workers and customers occupy store for eight days in support of Waiters and Waitresses Union, Detroit – 1937 ~De
450 Woolworth’s workers and customers occupy store for eight days in support of Waiters and Waitresses Union, Detroit – 1937 ~De
In 1937, during one of the worst years of the Great Depression, sitting down for one’s rights was on the agenda for people across the nation.
One of those places was a Detroit Woolworth’s on a typical 1937 Saturday morning shopping day. Woolworth’s went out of business in the USA in 1996. But in 1937, it had an empire of over 2000 stores in the USA and Canada plus more in Cuba, the UK and Germany. At precisely 11 am that February 27th, a union organizer named Fred Loew blew a loud whistle and began yelling “STRIKE! STRIKE!” Shouts and cheers could be heard as department by department the 150 “sales girls” stopped working and stood proudly with their arms folded. The sit-down strike against the USA’s most unpopular chain store had begun.
Woolworth’s was a Five and Dime, a variety store that was the Walmart of its day. It had ruthlessly put small mom and pop stores out of business by buying huge quantities of goods directly from factories and negotiating low prices in return for long term contracts. Founder Frank Woolworth was an expert at finding cheap sweatshop and child labor in Europe.
A poll taken in 1936 showed that 69% of Americans polled were against the growth of big chains.
But it was the strike by the Detroit saleswomen that was the most dramatic challenge to the Woolworth empire. The striking saleswomen and their union organizers asked for a 10 cent an hour raise, the 8 hour day, time and half after 48 hours, seniority rights, a union hiring hall and no retaliation against workers after the strike. Store Manager William Mayer told them that he would consider their demands on Monday if they would please go home. The strikers were unmoved.
The strikers were overwhelming young and white, though light-skinned African Americans sometimes passed as Italian or Spanish to get Woolworth jobs. Woolworth’s saleswomen were expected to be pert and engaging with the general public despite many hours of constant standing. One NYC Woolworth’s worker bought special shoes saying, “I don’t know how the other girls stand it. They get flat feel and fallen arches and little surface varicose veins.” There was little time for rests or breaks as the saleswomen were constantly harassed by managers and spies posing as customers. A woman’s “looks” counted heavily and some of the male managers demanded sexual favors for promotions and special treatment.
The women were very aware that they were part of a larger movement. The new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was organizing workers across the country.
Family, friends and union supporters brought in blankets, mattresses, food and other supplies. The women organized committees and set out to have as much fun as they could, talking among themselves, playing cards, dancing, knitting, doing makeup and phoning boy friends and families. There was a special Cheer-Up Committee in charge of morale. Many of the young women lived with their families and had never spent a night away from home before.
The women were very conscious of the press attention and carefully did their hair and makeup each morning. The press insisted in calling them “girls” and trivialized their struggle in that way. But paradoxically, their media image as fun loving girls was also a kind of protection. It would be a PR disaster for the Woolworth’s management to call the cops and have them dragged out by force. The women carefully documented press coverage through their Scrapbook Committee. They were a lot more media savvy than even the media realized.
At first Woolworth’s management refused to negotiate. The strikers answered with a second Woolworth’s sit-down strike at another Detroit store and a promise of a national Woolworth’s sit-down if progress was not made. The Kresge’s chain, Woolworth’s biggest competitor, raised wages immediately. Hundreds of employers across the nation also raised wages in the hope of avoiding unionization and sit-down strikes. US Steel signed a major agreement with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee-CIO to avoid a costly shutdown.
The handwriting was on the wall for Woolworth’s and on the 7th day of the strike, management capitulated and gave in to the striker’s demands. The victory at Woolworth’s was followed by more sit-down strikes across the nation.
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