may 1, 1824 - First factory labor strike

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In May 1824, 102 women workers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, left their looms after the mill’s owners announced a wage cut. The workers voted to refuse to return until their old wages were restored. After that, they united with other factory workers, such as children and some groups of men, as well as local farmers and artisans who joined the cause. Soon, workers at nearly every one of the village’s eight mills were on strike, physically blocking doors so that no one else could enter. For a week, the village descended into chaos. Workers and farmers marched en masse to the mill owners’ houses, hurling rocks and insults. It was the first factory strike in the United States and the first strike of any kind involving women.

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