On This Day in Working Class History

On this day, 28 July 1869, the first national women's labour union in US history, the Daughters of St Crispin, was founded in Lynn, Massachusetts. It was set up predominantly by shoemakers, a few years after a major strike of shoemakers in Lynn, in which women played a key part. The name was chosen to mimic the name of a men's shoemakers' union, the Knights of St Crispin. By the end of 1869 it had grown across eight states in New England, California and Illinois, and at its convention the following year it adopted the demand of equal pay for equal work with men. They organised various strikes: one in Lynn in 1872 won higher wages, while another in Stoneham the same year was defeated. The union was relatively short-lived, but some individual chapters remained strong and later joined the Knights of Labor.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10012/daughters-of-st-crispin-founded

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On this day, 27 July 2017, bus drivers in Brisbane, Australia launched a fare strike where they refused to charge passengers for journeys in a protest demanding better pay and safety. Further fare strikes, as well as all-out strikes, continued intermittently over the coming weeks as workers pursued a 3.5% pay increase, rather than the 2.5% which had been offered over the following 3 years. The workers eventually agreed to a 2.5% increase plus a $500 bonus in September.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9915/brisbane-fare-strike

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On this day, 26 July 1956, over 21,000 workers on strike at 13 BMC factories in the UK against job cuts were joined by 12,000 Briggs Motors workers in Dagenham who walked out. Some of Oswald Mosley's fascists showed up to "support" the workers and urge an end to the strike at the Longbridge plant. They were given short shrift by the strikers who trashed their van. Video footage of the event is included in our compilation video of anti-Mosley actions around this time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REbkAxFbo38

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On this day, 25 July 2011, 34 women workers, who promoted Angkor beer for Cambrew (a corporation partly owned by Carlsberg), went on strike demanding the payment of unpaid overtime and demonstrated in front of the company headquarters. 
Other Cambodian unions threatened to boycott Angkor beer, and some bars in the city stopped serving it during the dispute. One bar owner explained they wished to show support as "beer girls are among the most exploited workers in Cambodia". 
The workers agreed to suspend their strike on 4 August after the Phnom Penh deputy governor agreed to mediate between them and the company. A few days later Cambrew agreed to start obeying labour laws on overtime pay, and back pay three years of overtime payments it owed.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9752/cambrew-promoters-strike

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On 24 July 2019 ferry workers in Ketchikan, Alaska, walked out on strike as part of a contract dispute during the busiest time of year.
Around 400 members of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific rejected a new one-year contract which included a wage freeze. After nine days of strike action, employers agreed to a three-year contract including 3% pay increases and health coverage during the winter off-season.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7893/alaska-ferry-workers-strike

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On this day, 23 July 1918, the Japanese rice riots began against high prices, a revolt up to then unparalleled in the country’s history in terms of scope, size and violence, which eventually led to the fall of Prime Minister Terauchi’s government. As well as multiple riots across the country, the revolt also involved strikes by miners, shipyard and factory workers.
This movement is commemorated by our July T-shirt of the Month, made by a workers' cooperative supporting grassroots unions in Asia: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/search?q=Rice+riots

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On this day, 22 July 2005, civil servants in the Kingdom of Tonga went on strike for 60-90% pay rise. The strike shut down the government and grew to include many other public sector employees and ending up being the most significant challenge to the island's monarchy in its history. The striking workers won their pay rise and forced the government to begin reforming itself. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9488/civil-servants-in-tonga-strike

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On this day, 21 July 1945, members of the Irish Women Worker’s Union staged a laundry strike demanding a second week of paid holiday, affecting many of Dublin’s hotels. Hospital laundry workers were exempt from the strike action. The strike lasted 14 weeks and ended in victory for the women, and the following year the government conceded to giving two weeks paid holiday to all workers. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9387/laundry-women-strike

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On this day, 20 July 1979, Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier escaped from Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution, in California, with two other detainees, one of whom, Bobby Gene Garcia, was shot to death by a guard. Peltier, a leading member of the American Indian Movement, had been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the deaths of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. He had been warned by fellow Native American prisoner Standing Deer (a.k.a. Robert Wilson) that there was contract on his life in the prison.
Peltier’s original trial was riddled with inconsistencies and distortions. For example, an FBI ballistics expert claimed during the trial that a shell case found near the bodies matched Peltier’s rifle, but his report stating that the cartridge did not match was withheld from the jury. And three witnesses who placed Peltier near the scene of the crime later recanted, stating that the FBI had tied them to chairs and coerced their testimony. The legal misconduct was so severe that Peltier has received support from individuals and groups as diverse as Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the European Parliament, and the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. Peltier was recaptured three days later. 
Peltier eventually had his sentence commuted by President Joe Biden in 2025, and was released from prison to house arrest.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9281/leonard-peltier-escapes-custody

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On this day, 19 July 1984, the Dunnes Stores anti-apartheid strike began in Dublin, Ireland. Shop worker Mary Manning refused to check out a customer's South African fruit, as members of her union, Idatu, had voted to not handle South African goods. Manning was then suspended, and she and 11 of her colleagues went on strike in protest. The stoppage went on for three years, ending when the Irish government introduced a ban on South African products.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9108/dunnes-stores-strike

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