Important Labor Strikes

From the picket lines of New Hampshire

TIMBERLANE STRIKE

In the 1970s the teachers at Timberlane wanted respect more than anything. When the school board chose not to recognize their local association the teachers made the difficult decision to go on strike. Their strike vote was 104/150. This strike went on longer than the teachers had imagined. The district hired scabs who were unqualified to teach children but earned a daily rate of pay higher than what the actual educators made. The scabs were there basically just to babysit.

As the strike dragged on one organizer had an idea to march from New Hampshire to Chicago for the NEA Representative Assembly. The organizers sold shirts that spoofed the Live Free or Die state motto. The funds from this, as well as the national attention, helped the union eventually win its strike. This strike was especially important because it's what led to the creation of a New Hampshire labor law for state employees.

DOVER MILL GIRLS STRIKE

Photo from the Dover Public Library

In 1828 400 girls walked out of a mill in Dover, NH to protest unsafe working conditions and brutal work hours. Many of these strikers were even under the age of 16. They were still children. This strike is important because it was the first of many to come in similar mill towns across New England. As the Industrial Revolution took off, women began to organize for a 10-hour work day, safer working conditions, and better pay.