Strikes Are Old
Strikes are Old.
Strikes, now so prevalent, says the London Chronicle, are commonly thought to be a nineteenth century production, but it is only the name, said to be of American origin, that is modern. Their power as wage raisers was tried at least as far back as the sixteenth century, for in the "Calendar of State Papers" is a letter from Sir William Fitz William to Mr. Secretary Cromwell containing the statement that "the workmen at Dover refused to work except for sixpence a day. Two of the ringleaders had been some time of the black guard in the king's kitchen."
No moral imputation was conveyed in calling them black guards. All that was implied was that they formerly guarded the pots, pans and other utensils of the king. It was a much later generation that turned the term to purposes of abuse.
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Old News
Ann Arbor Argus-Democrat