The Cotton Workers’ Strike

Abstract

Peano was never active politically, but his socialist sympathies were well known. This is illustrated by an incident that occurred in the late spring of 1906. On Wednesday, 2 May, of that year about 900 cotton mill workers (almost all women) at the Cotonificio Bass in Turin requested a reduction of the work day from 11 to 10 hours. The company refused this request and the workers went on strike. When the workers at the Cotonificio Hoffmann (about 600) heard about this the next day, they immediately left their work in an act of solidarity that became the signal for an almost general movement. In fact, part in the morning and part in the afternoon, workers in the other important factories left their work: Poma (about 1500), Mazzenis (about 900), Wild and Abegg (about 700), so that by the end of the week about 12,000 women were on strike.