The Lawrence Textile Strike, known as the Bread and Roses strike - Essay Example

? The Lawrence Textile Strike, known as the ‘Bread and Roses’ strike Introduction In order to understand the reactions of workers in regard to theprotection of their rights it would be necessary to review the events of important labour conflicts, mostly those that took place during the industrialization of the west. In 1900s, the development of industrialization in USA was followed by severe conflicts between the workers and the management. These conflicts, which had, mostly, the form of the strike, reveal the power of the workers to fight for their rights. At the same time, through these conflicts workers have understood their power in shaping the employment relationship and in asking for the recognition of their rights, as members of the society. One of these conflicts is reviewed in this paper. Reference is made to the Lawrence Textile strike, also known as the ‘Bread and Roses’ strike. The strike was organized against the owners of the mils in Lawrence and aimed to lead to the improvement of the working conditions and the increase of wages. The strike was successful, but just for a short period of time. The American Woollen Company, the owners of the mils, managed to destroy the solidarity of workers and returned to their common practices, i.e. extremely low wages and unacceptable working conditions. However, the strike has been a significant indication of the power of workers to fight for their rights. The strike has also revealed the importance of careful organizing and mass support in initiatives promoting the rights of workers. However, the strike has also revealed that the lack of solidarity can lead these initiatives to fail. 2. The Lawrence Textile Strike, known as the ‘Bread and Roses’ strike 2.1 Background For many decades, Lawrence has been one of the most important centres of textile manufacturing in USA. In 1900s, the textile industry in the area was well developed. The American Woollen Company ‘owned the mils in Lawrence and employed approximately 40,000 people’ (Lib organization 2006). In the context of the industrial revolution, the company decided to proceed to the mass replacement of skilled workers with un-skilled workers, the compensation of whose could be quite low, compared to the skilled workers (Lib organization 2006). At the same time, the rents in the buildings where the workers were staying, were continuously increased leading the workers to severe concerns in regard to their capability of covering their basic needs (Brenner et al. 2009). Workers in other regions were also suffered similar problems. The owner of the mills, the American Woollen Company, had no intention to step back in regard to the demands of the workers, as it was made clear through its reaction to the workers’ efforts. The reluctance of the company to provide fair wages, to keep the working hours stable and to ensure health and safety in the workplace has led to the development of the Lawrence Textile strike, known as the ‘Bread and Roses’ strike, the success of which was just temporary, as explained below. The union that joined the workers, the Industrial Workers of the World, has failed in securing the duration of the strike’s benefits, a fact that led to the decrease of the union’s power globally (Greenberg and Watts 2009). 2.2 Key events of the strike - Parties The strike in Lawrence has begun in the 11th January of 1912 by workers in Everett cotton mills (Brenner et al. 2009) as ‘a reaction to the reduction in wages’ (Brenner et al. 2009, p.146). More specifically, the Polish women working in Everett cotton mills noted that their wages in January was further decreased, with no previous notice of the company. The women responded immediately: they left the workplace (Brenner et al. 2009, p.146). Shortly, workers in other regions joined the strike; the union, the Industrial Workers of the World, decided to take initiatives: a letter was sent to the company with the demands of the workers; the company did not respond (Lib organization 2006). The union decided to organize a mass strike; workers from other areas, such as Washington and Woods, joined the strike (Lib organization 2006). The picketing of the mills was decided after the involvement of militia patrol, ordered by the Mayor to stop the strike (Lib organization 2006). It was then that the slogan ‘Bread and Roses’ appeared, in accordance with the statement of the female workers that ‘We want bread and roses too’ (Lib organization 2006). The company refused to accept the demands of the workers; the strike continued for a few months, during which strong conflicts between the workers and the patrol militia – ordered by the Mayor – were developed (Lib organization 2006). Finally, and due to the publicity of the issue, the company accepted the demands of the workers, but as proved later, just temporary. Soon after the end of the strike, the company reduced the workers’ wages, showing that workers were not finally the winners of the conflict. 2.3 Demands of the workers The workers in the textile industry of Lawrence have suffered from the continuous decrease of their wages, the increase of rents in the area and the limitation of weekly working hours. Thus, they have used the strike in order to press the company, the American Woollen Company, in order to proceed to the increase of wages and the improvement of working conditions. 2.4 How the management responded to the strike The American Woollen Company, the company that owned most of the mills in Lawrence has been quite reluctant towards the demands of the workers. In fact, the company has used all possible means to stop workers from fighting for their rights. Having the support of the Mayor, the company developed a strong pressure against the workers in order for the latter to stop the strike: arrests, jailing, attacks with water were used for convincing the workers to back down. Moreover, the courts investigated the potential involvement of the company in an effort to discredit the workers, by arranging the placement of explosives around the town; however, the existing evidence was finally considered as non-adequate in order to establish the responsibility of the company for the particular activity. Due to the publicity and the extension of the strike, the company determined to accept the demands of the workers. However, this decision was made just for gaining time; shortly, after the end of the strike, the company reduced the wages of the workers. The conditions of work were also deteriorated. The company made clear that the achievements of the workers through the strike were temporary. 2.5 Role of the union The union, the Industrial Workers of the World, had a critical role in the success of the strike. In fact, without the involvement of the union, the workers would have no chance to achieve the increase of their wages and the improvement of working conditions. The key points at which the union supported the development of strike were the following ones: a) management of the measures taken for pressing the company in order to accept the worker’s demands, b) use of the press for making the events of the conflict known to people not just within USA but also internationally, c) management of the negotiations with the company for the acceptance of the union’s demands. It should be noted though that the union failed in ensuring the duration of the workers’ achievements. Despite the fact that the company accepted the demands of the workers, after almost a year of conflicts between the company and the workers, the win of the workers has been temporary, in the context described above. Thus the union failed in taking the necessary measures for guaranteeing the continuation of the workers’ achievements; the above failure though cannot be highly criticized taking into consideration the extremely strong resistance that the union faced in Lawrence. It was in the context of the above strike that two of the union’s representatives, Joseph Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti, who were sent to Lawrence in order to organize the strike, were held in jail for a few months, being accused for the murder of a worker. The above two organisers of the union were finally released due to the support of workers not just in USA but also worldwide and the publicity of the case. In this context, it would be noted that the union made all potential efforts for supporting workers in Lawrence; the outcome of the strike, referring to the long term, should not been considered as a responsibility of the union but rather as a result of the social, economic and political environment, as related to the specific case. 2.6 Does the strike enable a transformation of the roles of workers and management? Effects of the strike on the employment relationship. In order to evaluate the effects of the Lawrence textile strike on the employment relationship, it would be necessary to refer to the literature related to such initiatives. In accordance with Addelson (1994) the benefits of each strike should be evaluated using not just economic but also social criteria. Specifically regarding the Lawrence Textile strike, the above researcher notes that the specific strike has helped workers ‘to understand the value of solidarity and acquire a class-spirit’ (Addelson 1994, p.82). In fact, these were mainly the benefits of the specific strike; the increase of wages, which was temporary, should not be considered as the key benefit of the strike, even if it was the cause for which the strike was initially developed (Addelson 1994, p.82). On the other hand, Brecher (1997) notes that through the strike workers can understand their power in altering their social position, by improving the terms of work and participating actively in the decision making process, as related to the workplace. At this point, the following issues should be highlighted: a) strikes are not always easy to be interpreted (Franzosi 1995), b) the response of the employers to the strike cannot be guaranteed or predicted in advance, being influenced by a variety of factors (Pride et al. 2009, Leopold et al. 2005), c) The rights of workers in the workplace have to be respected; the relevant obligation is considered as a moral obligation which is not negotiable (Ezorsky and Nickel 1987), d) the criteria on which the evaluation of strikes, as social and economic events, is based are not standard, meaning that a strike which is considered, at a first level as a failure, can be successful (Pattnaik 1993), e) employees have a key role in the promotion of their rights, both in the short and the long term; over-relying on the union cannot guarantee the effectiveness of labour initiatives (Holley et al. 2008). In the particular case, workers understood their power to initiate the strike and press for their rights in work; however, they did not realize that they could secure the benefits of the strike, i.e. they did not realize their power to reshape the employment relationship. Therefore, they did not continue their efforts to protect their rights; the lack of consciousness of their power led workers in Lawrence to give up their fight for securing their interests. 2.7 Social institutions and the strike The strike is related to two different social institutions. The textile industry, from one side, is constituted from the companies that manage the relevant activities. Workers are key part of the specific institution, having to support its daily operations across the country. The specific social institution has been adversely affected by the strike. Having established a series of rights, based on the interests of management, the textile industry in USA, as in other countries worldwide, has been strongly based on the following fact: workers have been considered as just parts of the production process. Their involvement in conflicts for the recognition of their right was not believed to be powerful enough so that their position in the production process to be influenced. From this point of view, the participation of workers in the strike revealed the inability of the above social institution to secure the interests of the management, as the controllers of the institution’s activities. It should be noted though that locally, i.e. in Lawrence, the transformation of the role of the social institution involved, meaning the American Woollen Company, did not last for a long period of time. Even if the demands of the workers were initially accepted, later on, i.e. during the months that followed the end of the strike, the wages of the workers were reduced. Also, the conditions of work were deteriorated. The other social institution affected by the strike is the union involved. In the early period of the industrialization process, the power of the unions to affect the terms of the employment relationship has been limited. The strike helped towards the increase of the power of union and its role as an institution supporting the rights of workers. In accordance with the issues discussed above, the effects of strike on social institutions are not standardized, being depended on the role of each social institution within the society and the current social and economic trends. At this point it should be noted that during the particular period, 1910s, strikes were a quite common tool for pressing the management for accepting the claims of workers; moreover, during that period the conflicts between workers and management had been quite strong. The effects of the particular strike on the social institutions involved, as analysed above, are, thus, related also to the period during which the specific strike was developed but also to the conditions of the environment, meaning the development of extensive conflicts across USA for the protection of the workers rights. 3. Conclusion The success of labour initiatives is often difficult to be evaluated. Commonly, a series of factors can affect the level and the quality of the benefits achieved. At the same time, the duration of these benefits is not guaranteed, as proved in the case of the Lawrence textile strike. At the same time the power of the union to support workers has certain limits. In the particular case, the union was proved unable to secure the benefits of the strike, even if the specific failure may not considered as related only to the union. In fact, if workers in Lawrence had chosen to repeat their initiatives for protecting their rights, for example if they should proceed to strike again, the final outcome of the strike would be different. Each union has a critical role in the promotion of employees’ benefits; however, it is important that employees realize the power of the union but also their own power. In other words, the failure of the Lawrence textile strike, referring to the strike’s long term outcome, can be explained as follows: workers in Lawrence were extremely willing to fight for their rights. However, they probably thought that they had only to make the beginning or, at least, to keep supporting these efforts for a specific period of time. They had not realized that they should take measures for keeping the benefits achieved through the strike. It is clear that employees in Lawrence had not realized their power to reshape the employment relationship and to press for the recognition of their social and economic rights. References Addelson, K. (1994). Moral passages: toward a collectivist moral theory. London: Routledge. Brecher, J. (1997). Strike! Cambridge: South End Press. Brenner, A., Day, B., and Ness, I. (2009). The encyclopedia of strikes in American history. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Ezorsky, G., and Nickel, J. (1987). Moral rights in the workplace. New York: SUNY Press. Franzosi, R. (1995). The puzzle of strikes: class and state strategies in postwar Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Greenberg, B., and Watts, L. (2009). Social history of the United States. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Holley, W., Jennings, K., and Wolters, R. (2008). The Labor Relations Process. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Leopold, J., Harris, L., and Watson, T. (2005). The strategic managing of human resources. Essex: Pearson Education. Lib organization (2006) The Lawrence textile strike. Online, Available from < http://libcom.org/history/articles/lawrence-textile-strike-1912> Accessed 15 January 2012 Pattnaik, S. (1993). Strike, a study of conflict. New Delhi: Gyan Books. Pride, W., Hughes, R., and Kapoor, J. (2009). Business. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Read More