Not Enough Pat Case

History 206: 20th Century America

"Not Enough Pay" Lawrence 1912

" Not Enough Pay"; Lawrence, 1912 is an article depicting what takes place during the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike. The article analyzes the event in Lawrence in 1912 makes a point of saying it represented a microcosm of the United States. The article consists of different key people in the event such as William M. Wood, and Joe Ettor. Then explains their role and tactics in the strike. Throughout this article he gives different views and analyzes the situation to see how these events affect the working class and whether justice was served.

In Lawrence workers began to stop working due the realization that their pay was reduced. They stopped the looms and left repeating, "not enough pay". Then slowly workers at the Everett Mills began to leave until it was forced to close. The author considered this to be just the beginning. At this time the author explains that the event in Lawrence in 1912 represented a microcosm of the US. The author believes this because he write's "the strike held the nations attention because other America had the same fear."(11) This means that the strike beginning in Lawrence was a representation of all the issues that other people are thinking. An example of this that it showed " the existence of social classes and the possibility of class warfare", which was something people knew could happen but didn't believe it.

Then throughout this strike a man named William Madison Wood president of the American Woolen Company, one of the "most important mills in Lawrence ". He values that " capital and labor coincided " and thought that he deserved the confidence of his workers. That justice was not on their side and he said, "He was as much a corporate employee as they were."(18). That why can't they trust him now and in the future when he has looked after them.

Than a man named Joe Ettor who just like William Wood was a "working man". He worked for IWW, Industrial Workers of the World. They sent him to Lawrence to help the strike. The reason behind his successes was his ability to organize and unite the strikers. His method of "device" was to create a " strike committee organized by ethnic group". This was different from the craft AFL would have done, "or by mill or employees, a pattern the owners preferred" (21). It was set up where each group elected three people to represent them. Usually