Neighbors Divided

Neighbors Divided. . Industrialization came to the South later than it had in the North. The first generation of mill workers were transplanted farmers who had no tradition of labor unions. The nature of the mill village also made organized labor difficult. The mill owner – like the patriarch of a great family – controlled nearly every aspect of his workers’ lives. Resistance within such a world was hard to imagine. Still, as times changed, members of southern textile mill communities faced difficult choices about how to make their voices heard. , Before the First World War, workers most commonly protested by quitting and moving. Since mills faced ongoing labor shortages, entire families could relocate and find work easily. During the War, demand for textiles grew and the industry prospered. To entice workers to meet ever growing demands, owners offered good hours, bonuses, and raises. When the War ended and demand for southern textiles dropped, mill owners cut pay, laid off workers, and forced those who remained to do more work for equal or less pay. , Losing their wartime gains, many mill workers became angry and dissatisfied. Some sought solidarity through labor unions. The decision whether or not to unionize was often difficult for workers. In so doing, they could work together to improve conditions in the mill, but joining a union could also cost them their jobs. Most southern states had few laws to protect workers, and government officials usually sided with influential mill owners. , There’s no charge to join up. We’ve got nothing to lose and maybe something to gain. , An Anonymous North Carolina mill worker, Folks can talk all they want to about their right to join a union but right don’t count much when money is against you. , Clara Williams, worker at Cone Mills, Greensboro, North Carolina, Neighbors who had relied on each other for mutual support and friendship, often found themselves at odds over whether or not to join a union. Those who became members had hard feelings toward those who continued working during strikes. Workers who decided not to join blamed those who did for causing upheaval and unrest. , In 1929, mill employees in Gastonia, North Carolina, expressed their worry and anger about layoffs by joining unions and going on strike. Over the spring and summer of that year, mill owners, aided by the state militia, evicted strikers from the mill villages. Confrontations between police and protesters mounted, and ultimately Police Chief Orville Aderholt and union organizer Ella May Wiggins were killed in strike-related violence. When no one was brought to justice for Wiggins’s murder, union members lost hope, and their efforts fizzled. , Worker unrest continued into the 1930’s although many saw great promise in President Roosevelt’s emerging New Deal programs. However, mill owners found ways to subvert measures like the new minimum wage, and the Great Depression showed no signs of relenting. Fueled by these injustices, 500,000 textile employees across the country took part in the General Strike of 1934. The strike lasted more than two months before the union finally relented. Workers who had participated soon found themselves unemployed, and organized labor never again mounted such a large campaign in the South. For the next half-century, mill workers spoke little of the events of 1929 and 1934, preferring to maintain their silence and keep their jobs.