Pontiac affected by bitterness and violence
When the Warwick police successfully stopped the strikers from entering
the bleachery yard at Pontiac on January 29, 1922, they succeeded in
sending the strikers home for only a short while. Within a few days,
most of the workers at the bleachery left their jobs. Soon, as mill
after mill witnessed the exodus of the workers, the entire Pawtuxet
Valley was paralyzed.
Workers Unite
While many members of the United Textile Workers Union felt that the
Amalgamated Textile Workers Union, which had promoted the strike, was
too radical, it soon agreed to join forces. Leadership was provided by
their professional unionists, James Dick and William Derrick. These men
soon organized "flying squadrons" which went from mill to mill to call
out the workers.
Still believing in paternalism, where the mill owners controlled like
benevolent despots, the Consolidated Textile Corporation, the new
owners who had purchased the B. B. & R. Knight name and the "Fruit
of the Loom" trademark, felt they could act as the Knights had for
decades. The company prepared a statement confident that the mill
operatives would return if they were told that the wage cuts were
justified and necessary. They said that the mills could only operate if
the workers accepted a wage cut and they promised to provide work for
those who returned to their machines. If the workers didn't comply, the
mills would be closed. This type of statement had worked in the past,
but now it was met with derision and open scorn.
Violence
As was feared, violence was inevitable. Rioting erupted on January 31,
1922 at the Natick mill. Police from Warwick, West Warwick, and
Coventry were called out to quell the disturbance which began when an
alleged rioter was arrested. The mob began smashing windows and
throwing stones at the mill and the situation was rapidly getting out
of control. Finally, the striker was released and the rioting subsided.
For the next few days many in Pontiac and other mill villages in the
Pawtuxet Valley lived under the shadow of violence and retaliation.
Strikers attacked truck drivers transferring cotton cloth from the
Harris to the Arkwright Mill in Coventry and demanded the Interlaken
Mills close. When the company agreed, workers from Natick and Pontiac
organized "Iron Battalions" to stand guard lest the mill re open.
Hardship
Without wages, many workers were faced with severe economic
repercussions. Those who lived in company houses were threatened with
eviction and the unions opened cafeterias to help feed the destitute.
Hopes for an early settlement were dashed when workers asked for the
restoration of wage cuts and a 48-hour week and management refused on
February 1st. On the following day, over three hundred strikers marched
to Apponaug and with the aid of a cornet and a bass drum sent up such a
din that soon nearly all the operatives at the Apponaug Mill walked
out, crippling the plant and forcing it to cease operations.
During the following week, violence again erupted when an attempt was
made to transfer coal and cotton bales from the freight depot at
Centreville to the Knight mills. Fights, rock throwing, and other forms
of violence halted operations and Governor Emory J. San Souci
threatened to call out the National Guard.
The West Warwick Town Council attempted to call the union and
management representatives together for some type of mediation, but it
proved fruitless. Edward Burton Jr., representing B. B. & R. Knight
Company wrote the Council that, "...the responsibility for the strikes
must rest upon those who by threat and lawless act have for over three
weeks prevented the return to work of a great majority of these
employees...." Other representatives of the mill owners agreed that
arbitration would avail nothing and demanded that the governor call out
the troops. On February 20, 1922, Governor San Souci called out the
National Guard.
Governor Emery J. San Souci suffered politically because of the strike.
His reluctance to call out the National Guard lost him support from the
mill owners, and when he did call out the Guard, he lost the support of
the mill operatives.
From Ralph Mohr, Rhode Island Governors 1959.