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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page paper on this event in labor history as described by Steven Golin in his 1988 book. The writer describes the conditions which led to the unorganized strike by silk workers, who were subsequently supported by the IWW and intellectuals of the time. Full citation is provided for the book.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Silkstk.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
was a reminder of the abysmal working conditions they faced every day. Typical of the factory conditions in the early part of the twentieth century, the silk workers endured
long hours, low wages and unsafe working conditions. Women and children -- many of them under 10 years of age -- provided much of the labor in the
silk factories, working as silk and ribbon weavers and dye workers. It was not uncommon for them to be seriously hurt or maimed by the machinery involved in the
process of silk making. The dyes, too, had chemicals, which polluted the air within the close, cramped working conditions in the factories. Most workers were so desperately poor
and in need of work that these conditions were accepted without question. In 1913, the over 20,000 workers of the Paterson silk factories banded together in a show
of solidarity, refused to continue working under the deplorable conditions, and effectively shut down the Paterson silk factories for five months. This strike was begun by the workers themselves,
without benefit of any labor union. They were subsequently supported by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a group that was popularly known as the "Wobblies," and
which was eager to join with the silk workers in their fight against the oppression of the factories. The Wobblies were a radical group, organized to oppose the
conservative policies of the American Federation of Labor. The AFL used crfat unions, which separated workers by skills and trades. The Wobblies lent their support to the silk
workers because this group was largely unskilled and not part of the AFL. The Wobblies wanted to replace craft unions with an organization of industrial unions which would organize
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