Page 2 -- (Labor Pains - The Birth of a Contract)

The newly-formed International Hotel Workers Union, which conducted the 1912 strike, was unable to withstand the attacks by the police and the firm anti-union stance of the hotels and restaurants.

Leaflet headed, "To the Public:
The Hotel Workers Strike."
January, 1913 picture of workers meeting
in front of Bryant Hall.

Hotel and restaurant workers struck again in 1918, 1929 and 1934 - with the same disastrous results as in 1912.

The 1934 strike took place during the early part of the Roosevelt New Deal, when the climate became more favorable to unions. As a result, the hotel and restaurant owners could no longer rely on the help of the courts and the police.

Demonstration during the 1934 strike.

Organizing leaflets headed "Hotel Maids" and "To
All Bartenders and Bar Boys."

Despite the blacklisting of many of the most active union members, there was still a solid core of determined workers who were ready for organization. With a program aimed at uniting all crafts and all national and ethnic groups, Jay Rubin emerged as the leader of the combined forces, and in June, 1937, these unions, part of the American Federation of Labor, set up an organizing committee to conduct a massive organizing drive.

The organizing committee won its first victory with the successful signing up of the 3,200 workers in the 52 restaurants of the Childs Restaurant chain.

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