On this day in Labor History, we are going all the way back to the year 1786.
That was the day when what labor historians widely consider “America’s First Strike” occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A group of the city’s journeymen printers gathered to discuss proposed decreases to their wages.
They issued a statement explaining their collective response.
“Resolved, that we, the subscribers, will not engage to work for any printing establishment in this city or county under the sum of $6 per week.”
Their demand was for a dollar a day for a six day work week.
The printers went on to declare,
“Resolved, that we will support such of our brethren as shall be thrown out of employment on account of their refusing to work for less than $6 per week.”
Twenty-six printers signed that declaration.
This strike occurred just three years after the end of the Revolutionary War.
Several of the strikers had taken up arms against the British, including William Price Young, John Bushell and Samuel Lecount.
By joining together the printers were able to stop the proposed wage cuts.
It is important to note their pledge to support their brethren who might lose work because of the action.
It was an early declaration of worker solidarity.
Such solidarity has been an essential component in every successful strike in the United States for more than two centuries.
Printers would go on to form the National Typographical Union in 1852.
These printers played an important role in the early formation of unions and the struggle for worker’s rights.
The journeymen printers’ action was truly revolutionary and brought an important tactic—the strike—to the US labor struggle.
Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show