Progressive Echoes in Precarious Times

By Elias Roman / Spring 2021

Dear Sandra,

I would like to talk to you about events in the past that are currently being echoed in the United States and other parts of the world. There is a “rhyme” occurring—and it is labor strikes. Since you love history, I will start with a brief description of the events that are being echoed: the Bread and Roses Strike in 1912 and the New York shirtwaist strike in 1909. The former is one of the most historical labor strikes in the history of the United States. Thousands of textile workers came together to fight against overworking and low wages, both of which the workers connected to a state of slavery and starvation. The latter is arguably the most significant labor strike in our history. Thousands of shirtwaist workers gathered under the goal of receiving higher wages, lessening work hours, and improving work conditions. Currently, there are strikes with similar upbringings and goals. In a recent strike, an estimate of a thousand fast-food workers throughout the United States fought against the federal minimum wage. One person said, “I couldn’t pay rent, couldn’t eat a lot of times,” which I believe echoes the brutal reality of the textile and shirtwaist workers in Massachusetts and New York, respectively, during the 1900s. Another example is the strike in which medical workers from Thousand Oaks, Riverside, and West Hills fought against the lack of COVID-19 safety measures, insufficient staffing, and low wages. Once again, the strikes of the past are being echoed with similar intent in response to unfair working conditions. One more example is a strike in Italy. Amazon workers gathered to fight for changes in workloads and better benefits and working conditions. Here, the strikes are echoed once more. Sandra, these events are rhymes of the past; in other words, workers today are going on strikes to fight against similar inadequacies that the textile and shirtwaist workers faced.

You might be wondering: “Why are these important to know?” This is because the present is becoming a rhyme of the past, which means that the past can provide us with relevant lessons and insight regarding these events. The first lesson deals with the fact that workers in the past banded together to fight for better working conditions, whether it be related to income or safety. In the face of unfairness, thousands of workers courageously risked the sole lifeline that provided food and shelter for themselves and their family. Decades have passed—a century even—but there are still instances of workers fighting for similar reasons. This illustrates that unfair working conditions, relative to the resources available, still exist. In other words, while the past tells stories of workers forming groups to fight against inadequacies in the industry, the present echoes similar stories, which is to say that unfairness still plagues our country and the world. The second lesson is cliché but one that, I believe, is important to understand: there is power together, especially in the face of adversity. Between the Bread and Roses and New York shirtwaist strikes, the single commonality is that thousands of workers fought together to bring change. Fast food workers in the United States gathered at an estimate of a thousand to fight against low wages, medical field workers came together to voice their concerns regarding COVID-19 safety and low wages, and Amazon workers in Italy are going on strike in demand for higher wages and better working conditions—all of these events tell us that though holes in the industry remain, there is a profound and inherent power in banding together to bring beneficial change and fill in the holes. In fact, it should not be a surprise that these workers chose to fight side-by-side, because our current indulgences were created by historic moments in which workers fought against a common enemy.

Sandra, I hope that these words provided you a glimpse of our history and how certain events of the past are being echoed or rhymed in the current state of the world. I also hope that I was able to give you insight on the lessons we can learn from the past to understand these current events. As always, I hope you are well.

- Elias