Real-life Case Study: The Paterson Silk Strike of 1913

Standard of Living

In the early years of the twentieth century, the city of Paterson, New Jersey, was a major industrial center best known for the production of silk cloth. Thousands of people worked in the Paterson silk mills, many of them recent immigrants from countries such as Italy, Germany, and Poland.

Innovation The workers in the silk mills had a variety of different tasks with different machines. Much of this was work that in the past had been done by hand. However, increasing technological progress made it possible for the mills to produce more cloth with fewer workers. In 1912, the mill owners began using a new loom that needed less attention from operators. They required each loom operator to run four looms instead of two. The workers recognized that this innovation would lead to lower wages and fewer jobs.

Organized Labor In response, 800 employees at the Doherty Silk Mill went on strike in January of 1913. The workers at the other silk mills in Paterson joined them. By the end of the week, over 25,000 employees from 300 different factories were on strike.

A labor strike depends on union solidarity from all workers. A strike succeeds as a negotiating tool when it forces the company to stop producing altogether. Guided by a union representative, the Paterson union leaders held mass rallies daily and provided social and financial support to the strikers and their families in order to keep everyone involved in the strike.

The End of the Strike While the strike effectively shut down silk production in Paterson for several months, workers failed to get mill owners to listen to their demands. The Paterson police were more aggressive about arresting protesters than police in other cities had been, so labor unions spent more than they had expected on bail and legal costs. Some union representatives staged a massive fundraiser in June at Madison Square Garden in New York City. More than 1,000 striking workers participated in a dramatic re-enactment of key events in the strike. The Paterson Strike Pageant, as the fundraiser was called, drew a lot of attention but did not raise the money the unions needed.

In July, just as the unions were running out of money, mill owners broke the strike by offering settlements to workers at some of the plants. Their tactic turned the striking workers against each other at a difficult time. The strike officially ended in late July, and the workers all returned to the silk mills without having received any of their demands.

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Applying Economic Ideas

1. Why was it so difficult for the mill owners to reach an agreement with the mill workers?
2. Did the union leaders make any mistakes that caused their strike to be less successful than other strikes?

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