New York Shirtwaist Strike of 1909 - Strike

Strike

On November 22, 1909, Clara Lemlich had been listening to men speak about the disadvantages and cautions about the shirtwaist workers going on a general strike. After listening to these men speak for or more hours at a local 25 union meeting, she rose and declared in Yiddish the she wanted to say a few words of her own. After rising to the podium she declared that the shirtwaist workers go on a general strike. Her declaration received a standing ovation and the audience went wild. Clara then took an oath swearing that if she became a traitor to the cause she now voted for, then that the hand she now held high wither from her arm. Less than one day after the strike had been declared, 15,000 shirtwaist workers walked out of the fatories. The next even more. The first day of striking began on the 24th of November.The strike lasted until February 1910 and ended in a "Protocal of peace" which allowed the strikers to go back to work and met the demands of the workers, which included better pay, shorter hours, and equal treatment of workers who were in the union and workers who were not.