On July 3, 1835, in Paterson, New Jersey, nearly 2,000 textile workers walked off the job. The strike was notable for several reasons.
For one thing the strikers weren't demanding more money, despite the fact that they only made $2 a week (adjusted for inflation, that would be $44 a week today). Their central demand was an 11-hour day (as opposed to the 13.5-hour days they were currently working), and only 9 hours on Saturday instead of a full day.
That in itself was significant enough. The first strike in American history to limit hours had happened only 7 years earlier, and was also in Paterson, New Jersey. That strike had been crushed after a week when the militia was called in.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/05/20/518026/-Baby-Strikers
From Rich Gibson's blog:
Labor History: 3 July 1835, Children employed in the silk mills in Paterson, NJ went on strike for the 11 hour day/6 day week.
Even Lord Acton Got it: “The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.”
http://www.richgibson.com/blog/
"Capitalism comes to us drenched in blood." Karl Marx
