In 1919, 1 in 4 New York City Workers Went on Strike

According to The 1938 Almanac for New Yorkers, excerpted below: 110 years ago tomorrow, hazing was outlawed at West Point! And also this week in 1919, 35,000 dressmakers in New York City went on strike for, among other things, a 44-hour workweek. Later that year, the National Association of Ladies’ Hatters went on strike as well. 1919 was a big year for striking! See also: the Seattle General Strike, the Boston Police Strike, the New York Harbour Strike and the Actor’s Equity Strike that shut down Broadway. In 1919, the women of the New England Telephone Company shut down New England’s telephone service for five days. Women were also instrumental in the Winnipeg General Strike in May. Overall, in New York City, one in four workers went on strike. More than 4.1 million people in the country were involved in just nine of the largest strikes — and there were more than 3000 labor strikes in the course of 1919.