September 17 - Striking in the South

Labor History in 2:00 · Sep 17, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1934.

That was the day that leading Southern textile employers met together in Greenville, North Carolina.

They met to plan a coordinated response to the national textile strike.

The Great Depression had ravaged the textile industry.

Workers were subjected to the “stretch out.”

Fewer workers were expected to work at a faster pace and produce the same amounts of products.

Work in textile mills was already grueling.

The stretch out made conditions even more unbearable.

Fed up, 20,000 southern workers walked off the job in July.

From there the numbers…