The textile blockade presented in last week's feature article led to most factories in our region agreeing to recognize the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and local workers signed on with the organization.

To end the strike at the Green Lane Hosiery mill, workers were offered a 40-hour work week and a weekly salary of $15.

            Less than a year after that, with the hardships of the Great Depression growing, the local textile workers were faced with something that wasn't familiar to them.  A national strike within the industry brought fear and violence to those workers, and the communities were unprepared for it.

            It was 1933 and unemployment was high and many with jobs worked long hours for starvation wages throughout the country.  The use of child labor was not illegal and was widespread.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a blanket code calling for restrictions on child labor, a 40-hour workweek, and a fair minimum wage.  That earnings point was to be based on population. 

The strike at the Tremblau plant in East Greenville resulted in picketing, broken windows, vandalized cars, and minor injuries.  At one point, East Green- ville Constable Allen Schantz fired several shots in the air in an effort to maintain order.

          In our area, it called for office workers to receive $15 per week and factory workers 40 cents (or more) an hour.  Some employers were slower than others to jump on the FDR bandwagon.  In those cases, labor problems and work stoppages occurred.

            While most of the local factories were involved in the assorted work stoppages, three were prominently affected during this time: The Green Lane Hosiery Mill, Red Hill's Rosenau Brothers, and East Greenville's Tremblau Mill.

            In early July 1933, the administrators of the Green Lane Hosiery Mill closed the plant after employees met with a union official who was attempting to organize them.  Factory management considered that they were in line with FDR's plan and opposed the union.  The plant was shut down and workers offered an updated employment package that included a 40-hour workweek, wage increases from 19 to 33 percent, and a 15 percent increase in the number of workers.  Employees rejected the offer, and the plant stayed idle for six weeks until September, when the workers voted to unionize. 

            Shortly after that, management agreed to a minimum wage of $15 per week and workers were back on the job.  Picketing and window breaking were the only tense moments of the work stoppage here.

            Tremblau Corp. opened a broad silk manufacturing operation in a three-story plant on Fourth St. in East Greenville in 1926.  The building formerly housed one of several cigar-manufacturing operations of the Otto Eisenlohr Company.

            The Tremblau workers organized in August of 1933.  A month later they were involved in a nationwide strike affecting the silk industry.  While the local workers were content to return to work when an agreement seemed imminent, their Lehigh

A conflict between workers favoring the Amalga- mated Clothing Workers and United Garment Workers (UGW) of America caused tensions to rise at the Rosenau plant in Red Hill.  By the time the conflict was resolved 17 persons were arrested.

Valley and North Penn counterparts chose to picket the East Greenville plant and hurl stones at the locals. 

            Cars were vandalized as the 50 or so out-of-towners wreaked havoc on Fourth Street.  At one point, Constable Allen Schantz fired several shots in the air in an effort to maintain order.  Several people were hit by broken glass when protestors hurled stones through the windows.  Workers walked off the job at the end of their shift, either to support their fellow workers or out of fear for their lives. 

            Everyone was back to work the next week, but this time striking workers from Quakertown and Pennsburg showed up to picket.  State Police were on hand to protect the workers, but when the first stone smashed through to the plant floor, the locals walked off the job again. This time H. D. Tremblau threatened to close the plant for good.

            A week later, newspaper headlines proclaimed "Silk Strike Ends in This Section."  Picketing, broken windows, vandalized cars, and minor injuries resulted from the East Greenville strike.

            In Red Hill, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW) and United Garment Workers (UGW) of America fought for the right to represent 379 employees at Rosenau Brothers mill.  United won out in an unusual election that had Amalgamated losing before they had a chance to present their full proposal to the workers.

            Reportedly, Rosenau management favored United – which was already signing up members while the ACW was trying to organize a final meeting.  The workers at Rosenau's Lansford plant favored ACW and were not happy that their Red Hill co-workers didn't agree with them.  This led to a tense confrontation the following week when many of the local workers showed up for their normal shift. 

            About 60 Lansford workers made the trip by truck to picket and block the entrances to the factory.  It didn't take long for the name-calling to turn into pushing and shoving.  Twelve Pa. State Police Troopers and 40 Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputies responded to the Main Street location to preserve order and move picketers from the entrances.

            The Lansford workers returned to Red Hill the next day with nearly 180 demonstrators.  The activities attracted a crowd of 1,500 onlookers.  Loud music was broadcast throughout the area to distract the workers.  By noon of that day, 28 local workers broke ranks and joined the Lansford protestors.  Main St. was closed, and Red Hill Borough Council was faced with the task of establishing a law to curb the activities. 

            With the muscle of a petition signed by a large group of Red Hill residents, the ordinance was quickly passed.  It was designed to address certain emergencies created as a result of the strike activities.  The same week that the law was enacted, 17 arrests were made for parading without a permit and blocking the sidewalk.

            By Sept. 15, the U.S. Government ordered all workers of the Rosenau Company back to work.  This time, in addition to picketing, window breaking, auto vandalism, and minor injuries, a few folks spent some time as guests of the county in the Norristown lock-up.

            By the end of November, everyone was back on the job, and the strike-related violence that tainted our region in 1933 disappeared.