By: Victor Gross

On April 2nd, the Working People’s Association of Charlotte (WPA) held a workers’ night school on the history of the Loray Mill Strike, in celebration of the 96th anniversary of the strike. WPA members gave a presentation detailing the history of the strike, which highlighted the contradictions the strikers faced along with their militancy. Throughout the presentation, workers and local activists who attended the event discussed similarities and lessons that can be applied in today’s conditions, in particular the need to struggle against white and male chauvinism, along with taking inspiration from the militancy of the strike. Those present also discussed what would be needed to have a successful strike in their workplace.

The Loray Mill was a textile worker strike that occurred in Gastonia, North Carolina, in 1929. It was organized by the National Textile Workers Union, which was a Communist-led union, part of the Trade Union Unity League. The strike continues to serve as an example of the potential for class consciousness in militant labor organizations independent of the establishment labor movement.

The WPA typically holds “worker night schools” every month, which are educational events aimed at presenting and discussing with workers the often untold history of class-conscious and militant labor organizations, using those discussions to highlight tactics that workers can take back and use to organize their own workplaces.