Bread and Roses
After organized labor won a new state law to reduce of the number of hours worked each week, employers in the mills of Lawrence, Mass., fought back by slashing wages. In 1912, more than 25,000 immigrant textile workers fought against these “poverty” wages. They managed to improve working conditions for mill workers throughout the east. The movement was dubbed the “bread and roses strike,” since protesting women carried signs that said, “We want bread, but roses too.”
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Photo: Library of Congress