In the Great
Depression conditions in the southern textile mill towns became
desperate
- pay was cut and workers were expected to tend
more machines--called
a stretch-out or speed-up
- in the New Deal the federal government stepped
in to help
people, and the textile workers thought that would mean that President
Roosevelt would help them, but instead he allowed programs that helped
the factory owners more than the workers
The New Deal,
by Conrad A. Albrizio, 1934
- many local mills went on strike in the General
Textile
Strike of 1934, and in Honea
Path shooting broke out and seven strkers were killed and 30 wounded
- union organizers went from mill to mill trying
to persuade
the workers to strike--they were called flying squadrons
Spartanburg
flying squadron leaving Apalache mill
- the unions were unsuccessful--the situation
for workers
remained very difficult until WWII broke out and there began to be a
shortage
of workers
After the war the mills became less of the center of
the
community
- the mill town houses were sold to workers
- cars meant people had more freedom
- automation meant fewer workers were needed
- textile mills had trouble competing with mills
in other
countries where workers were paid less, many
closed
- textile employment in South Carolina has
dropped from
106,400
in 1987 to 60,200
in 2001
