Massachusetts Militia and armed forces were called to break up the striking workers.
Later that night you and Anna attend a union meeting held at one of the homes in Lawrence. You are suprised to see that the organizer of this meeting is a lady that you guess is in her late 60s. She is dressed in black and looks more like someone's kind grandmother than a union organizer. She introduces herself as Mary Jones although many call her "Mother Jones".
Mother Jones tells you that she is here on behalf of the IWW, International Workers of the World, who are here to stand up for the rights of the women and immigrants, whom she says is being exploited by industrialists like the owners of the American Woolen Company.
She is a powerful speaker and you can see how she has gained such a following. She talks about the many injuries that mill workers have suffered due to unsafe equipment. She talks about how the average life of a mill worker is 22 years shorter than that of the factory owner due to diseases from poor working conditions. While the 34 mills owned by the American Woolen Company have made 34 million dollars, wages for the workers are being cut. New machines, such as the two loom system, are throwing people out of work. The solution to this is to strike.
A hushed whisper buzzes around the room at the word. "Strike?", comes a voice from somewhere behind you. "Isn't that illegal?"
Mother Jones tells you that so is the practices of locking girls in factories and covering the clocks to get more work out of their employees without having to pay them. All these things are illegal yet no one punishes the factory owners for doing them.
The next day a group of Polish women walk out of the factory after hearing that their wages are going to be cut. "Short Pay, Short Pay!" they cry. Soon workers are streaming out of the factory and into the streets. The riot bell tolls from somewhere in the city alerting the police of the strike.
However, this is no simple strike. At least 25,000 men, women, and children take to the streets to protest the poor working conditions of all textile workers. The organizers of the IWW give speeches and women carry signs with slogans demanding better pay and working conditions.
The strike is exciting. You are standing up for your rights that you had been taught all Americans had. You are very proud to be in America at this moment. However, fear makes your legs weak at the sight of the police and National Guard armed with clubs and bayonettes. They are here to "keep the peace", but you know that they almost always side against the striking worker.
The strike turns into days and weeks; ten weeks total. Strikers filled the streets of Lawrence to demand a .25 cent pay raise and a 54 hour work week. Each day they were met with police armed with fire hoses to turn them back. Some of the protesters threw chunks of ice in retaliation. You watch as hundreds are beaten and arrested. You even hear that some are urging the mayor to allow the militia to shoot at the protesters. Fortunately, he gives no such order.
You have made history. This is the largest strike by unskilled workers in America. In the end the company agrees to the demands of the IWW. A small victory for labor.