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Contrary to the generally positive accounts of working for at Herrmann, Aukam & Co.'s handkerchief factory in the South River histories of Selover and Barber, the company had numerous instances of strikes, layoffs and other labor problems during the half century the company operated in town, primarily in the South River plant (exceptions in yellow ).
From the annual reports of NEW JERSEY's Bureau of Statistics - Labor and Industries (in maroon) and various local papers come examples like:
May 1886 - TROY DAILY TIMES, May 14, 1886 - "A girl employed at Hermann, Aukam & Co.’s factory was discharged yesterday. She reported to the Knights of Labor that she had been discharged because she was a member of that organization, and a committee waited on the firm this morning. After hearing the statement of Mr. Aukam that the girl had not rightly stated the cause of her discharge, the committee approved of the firm’s action."
November, 1892 - Announces indefinite shutdown of South River factory beginning December 1st, resulting in 600 workers being "thrown out of work" over fear of increased tariffs with the election of Democrat Benjamin Harrison. A wire service report quoted that the company "... would not have begun recent extensive additions to their works had they anticipated the result of the election."
1893 - Herrmann, Aukam & Co. were among the employers being investigated by a US Senate Committee over violations of US contract labor laws.
October 29, 1899 - The Handkerchief stitchers at the handkerchief factory of Herrmann, Aukam & Company, at South River, went out on strike this morning. About 150 men left their machines and refused to work. The strike is against a reduction of wages. They claim that by successive reductions they wages have been cut down from $14 a week to less than $8.
--- The Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ
September, 1901 - Superintendent Henry Herrmann fires employee Marcus Schwartz for making comments of an "Anarchistic nature" about the recent assassination of President McKinley by Leon Czolgosz.
[BELOW] HERRMANN, AUKAM AD IN AFL'S MAGAZINE
UNTITLED (Woman hurling brick) Maurice Becker
THE MASSES 9 magazine (Dec. 1916)
January, 1907 - "One hundred girls employed as operators in the handkerchief factory of Herrmann Aukam & Co. at Passaic, quit work because the firm refused an increase of one cent per dozen handkerchief for the work done by them. The girls are being paid at the rate of five cents per dozen, and the maximum day's work produced by the most expert operators is claimed to be only 18 dozen per day, which if maintained every day would amount to a weekly wage of $5.40.
The company's representative states that the firm has many mills in different countries and states turning out the same class of work, and the highest price paid in any of them for the part on which these girls are employed is four cents per dozen, at which figure operators earn from $1.00 to $1.20 per day. The industry is a new one in Paterson, and it is claimed by the firm that in allowing five cents per dozen for the work it was actuated by a desire to enable the girls whom it employed to earn a fair wage, notwithstanding their lack of experience. Both sides appear determined to maintain their claims, and at this writing no settlement had been reached."
April 5, 1907 - 200 "girls" in the hemstitching department strike (out of 800 employees) requesting an increase in piece work rate of ½-1¢ per dozen. The increase, if granted, would be a raise of 20% to their average wage of $6/week.
February 22 1909—"Fifteen girls employed in the spinning room of the Hermann, Aukam & Co. handkerchief factory at South River, made a demand for an increase in piece work prices amounting to about 20 per cent., and on being refused went out on strike. The movement spread throughout the entire works, and later in the day the entire force of about 900 girls went out also. The strikers and others who quit work in sympathy with them are foreigners of the Polish and Hungarian races. The strike was settled on March 6th, on the basis of a small advance in the wages of the hemstitchers. The strike lasted twelve days, and the wage loss was about $11,000."
This strike resulted in a curious aspect - a battle song, called a "Marseillaise", reprinted in an anonymous Daily Home News column called Stretchings by S. M. C. on March 3rd.
APRIL 2 1912— "One hundred and fifty stitchers employed in the handkerchief factory of the Herrmann, Aukam & Co. at South River, quit work because the superintendent of the factory refused to discharge a foreman, who had, the strikers charged, treated them unfairly. Efforts made to induce the entire working force to join in the demand for the foreman's discharge having failed, the strikers resumed work after having been idle eight days. The wage loss was estimated at $900."
The "foreman" at the center of this strike was John Breitenmoser, according to an April 3rd Daily News article. At a "mass meeting" of the male strikers, superintendent Karl Jensen refused the strikers' request, noting the company's satisfaction of Breitenmoser's "almost 23 years" of service, and commenting that the workers who return after their "little fling".
FEBRUARY 8 1913 - "Two hundred employes of the hemstiching department of the handkerchief factory of Herrmann, Aukam & Company at South River stuck for an increase of 15 per cent in piece prices, which was granted by the next day, and all returned to work. The wage loss was approx. $250."
NOVEMBER 19, 1915 - A New Brunswick Times article "Girl Strikers in Hair Pulling Contest" mentions a strike of 50 "girls" in the spanning department - out of 300 employees. That latter number suggests it may have been the number of workers in that department rather than the whole of the factory.EARLY 1900s A WOMAN STRIKING WOMAN CONFRONTS A WORKER
Unknown location.
JANUARY, 1916 - A New Brunswick Times article dated March 9th notes a 7 week strike of 200 embroidery stitchers was settled, when the company finally agreed to an increase of four cents per hundred stitches. At the same time, [RIGHT] perhaps not uncoincidentally, there was a general strike of 8,000 NY and NJ embroiderers by Local 6 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
FEBRUARY, 1917 - Up to 150 "girls" in the hemstitching department walk out. Last group returns on Monday, 12th. First time the hiring of Sherman Detective Agency is noted. Two days after this strike ends, the final strike of the embroiderers begin on the 14th.
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