1885 Yonkers carpet weavers strike

Uncommon card · No. 87779

On February 20, 1885, carpet weavers at Alexander Smith & Sons mills in Yonkers, New York, United States, went on strike after the company fired several women who had joined the newly-formed union. The union had been organizing for the better part of a year, forming their own chapter of the Knights of Labor and preparing to demand better wages and working conditions at the mills. Workers at the mills were predominantly young immigrants, with women making up approximately 75 percent of the workforce. When the weavers went on strike and walked out, Smith responded by locking them out of the mills. What started with a group of weavers from the tapestry department at 10 AM grew to over 3,000 strikers by the end of the day. The following week, the strikers released a statement with their four core demands: First, the restoration of wages paid before December 1, 1884; Second, a readjustment of the arbitrary and unjust system of docking adopted by the firm; Third, a reinstatement of all employees...

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