Loray Mill Strike (1929)

Sat Mar 30, 1929

Image

Image: Two women struggling with a state militia trooper during the textile workers’ strike in Gastonia, North Carolina. From the article “Battle Songs of the Southern Class Struggle: Songs of the Gastonia Textile Strike of 1929”, by Patrick Huber.

On this day in 1929, mill workers in Gastonia, North Carolina, led by communist labor organizer Fred Beal, voted in favor of striking to demand a 40 hour work week, higher wages, and union recognition, beginning the Loray Mill Strike.

On April 1st, 1,800 mill workers walked out on the job and formally made their demands. Workers lived in company homes and the mill owners promptly had them evicted. Workers created a tent city on the outskirts of town, guarded by armed strikers.

On June 7th, an altercation between strikers and police led to the police chief being shot to death, and several strikers and police were wounded. In the aftermath, 71 strikers were arrested, and mobs of anti-strike community members harassed and shot at striking workers, killing a young woman. Fred Beal and Clarence Miller, another leader of the strike, were indicted and convicted for the murder of the police chief. Both skipped bail and fled to the Soviet Union.

Though largely unsuccessful in attaining its goals of better working conditions and wages, the strike was considered very successful in a lasting way - it caused an immense controversy which gave the labor movement momentum, propelling the movement in its national development.