Waltham museum exhibit connects past industrial strikes to modern labor organizing
Waltham museum exhibit connects past industrial strikes to modern labor organizing
An exhibit that links past strikes to the current labor movement is on display at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.
“When Waltham Strikes,” a new exhibit at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham, relates stories from past industrial strikes in “Watch City” to current labor organizing, including displays about the history of the MTA and about the 2024 Newton Teachers Association strike. The exhibit will be up until next spring.
A scene from the Newton teachers' strike in 2024.
At a Sept. 24 forum connecting past organizing efforts to today’s, Christy Nickerson, president of the Woburn Teachers Association and a member of the MTA Board, said that organizing is important because “the exploitation of labor in education is so common.” Likewise, the exploitation of women workers was notable in the two 19th century strikes featured in the exhibit.
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The first occurred in 1821 when “mill girls” working in a large brick building that now houses the museum walked off the job for two days after their wages were unilaterally cut. It was the first known industrial strike in the country and was followed by better-known mill worker strikes in Lawrence and Lowell.
The second was a contentious five-month strike at the Waltham Watch Factory in 1924, again in response to unilateral pay cuts. Exhibit curator Maya Coleman explained that, at first, the community and local media strongly supported the striking workers, but that support waned over time. The employees eventually affiliated with the American Federation of Labor for protection and solidarity. Despite that affiliation, the watch factory strike failed to stop the pay cuts, and the striking workers were replaced.
Ryan Normandin, an officer with the NTA, said that the strike in Newton did lead to a better contract, especially for low-paid Education Support Professionals. For teachers, he said, a key issue was preserving preparation time, since time is a precious commodity in education. “We’re always asked to do more with less,” he said.
“People power is the power that we have.”
Ryan Normandin, Newton Teachers Association
Both Nickerson and Normandin said that the reason employees strike today is similar to reasons in the past. Strikes often revolve around pay, working conditions and workplace autonomy.
The WTA went on strike in 2023, a year before the NTA. Both Nickerson and Normandin said that a big difference between now and the 19th century is that there are better communication tools, enabling union leaders to reach members, the community and the public at large.
The museum has developed historical information and curricular materials about the 19th century strikes. If members of the MTA or any locals would like a tour of the exhibit, contact Stephen Guerriero at the museum.
The museum is seeking additional materials about the 1821 strike, since the only documentary evidence it has is a contemporaneous letter written by Isaac Markham to his brother. Please contact the museum if you have an old diary or other materials from Waltham from that era that might reference the strike.
Nickerson discussed the courage of local leaders in the first Woburn strike in 1970, all young teachers new to collective bargaining. In that strike, four members of the WTA leadership became the first teachers in Massachusetts to be jailed for striking.
Asked about differences between the 1970 and 2023 strike, Nickerson said there were more similarities than differences. In both cases, there were no “shadowy forces” behind the scenes encouraging them to strike. The impetus came from members themselves, who felt they had no other choice, she said.
Strikes remain illegal in Massachusetts and generally lead to significant fines for locals, though no teachers have been jailed since 1980. Normandin said he supports a bill backed by the MTA to make educator strikes legal here, as they are in several other states.
“For people who are skeptical about it, I’d say that having the right to strike eliminates the need to do so, because once the right to strike is there, school committees are more incentivized to negotiate,” he said. “It prevents what we had in Newton, which was this long, drawn out process where they didn’t budge.”
Beyond strikes, Normandin added, “Organizing really broadly is so important, especially today, when all our institutions are under attack.” He concluded: “People power is the power that we have.”
Exhibit curator Maya Coleman with Newton Teachers Association offcer Ryan Normandin and Woburn Teachers Association President Christy Nickerson
