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In Jan. 1912 IWW activity focused on a 10-week strike of 25,000 textile workers in Lawrence, MA. It became the most widely publicized IWW conflict, acquainting the nation with the plight of unskilled, foreign-born workers as well as with the Wobbly philosophy of radical unionism. "Lawrence was not an ordinary strike. It was a social revolution in parvo," wrote one observer.
Lawrence was a textile center, #1in woolen and worsted goods. Its principal mills were those of the American Woolen Co., a consolidation of 34 factories whose yearly output was valued at $45,000,000. The mills employed over 40,000, about half Lawrence's population over age 14. Most were unskilled workers who had come from Europe after 1900, attracted by the promises of labor contractors. But U. S. Comm. of Labor Charles Neil reported that for the week ending November 25, 1911, 22,000 textile employees including foremen, supervisors, and office workers, averaged $8.76 for a week's work. In addition, the cost of living was higher in Lawrence than elsewhere. Bread, molasses, and beans were the diet of most workers. Of 22,000 textile workers investigated by Commissioner Neil, over half were women and children. Half the workers in the Lawrence mills of American Woolen were girls aged 14-18. Dr. Elizabeth Shapleigh, a Lawrence physician, wrote: "A considerable number of the boys and girls the within the first 2-3 years after beginning work....36 of every 100 men and women who work in the mill the by age 25," stated Shapleigh.
The IWW claimed 1000members, but only about 300 paid up on its rolls. They sent a letter to the president of American Woolen asking how wages would be affected under a new labor law limiting the workweek to 54 hours. There was no reply. Textile workers realized a 2-hour cut would mean, as IWW publicity pointed out, three fewer loaves of bread each week. Polish women weavers were the first to notice a shortage of 32 cents in their pay envelopes on January 11. They stopped their looms and left, shouting "short pay!" Other outbursts took place throughout Lawrence. The next morning workers at other mills joined the walkout. For the first time, the bells of the Lawrence City Hall rang the general riot alarm. That afternoon a mass...