Blogging from A to Z April Challenge - Letter L

This ends the second week of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. I hope you're enjoying these posts.

The Lawrence Strike began in January 1912 against the textile mills in Lawrence, MA. The owners of a mill lowered workers' pay when a new state law shortened the work week. Within a few days, 10,000 men and women went out on strike.

For weeks the workers held rallies and picketed. The mill owners reached out to the United Textile Workers of America to break the strike, but they were unsuccessful. Local police clashed with striking workers constantly; and when a woman was killed, labor organizers were arrested for her murder (though later acquitted). Another organizer, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, attempted to gain public sympathy for the workers by sending a group of the strikers' children to be cared for in other cities. This turned out to be successful when photos were taken of police beating women and children at the train station.

On March 1, the owners granted a five percent pay raise. The workers continued to hold out, and within weeks, all four of their demands were met.