National Dollar Stores Strike

On February 26, 1938, the explosive situation that had been brewing finally blew up, resulting in the National Dollar Stores Strike in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The three-month strike delivered a win for workers and became the neighborhood’s first major organized labor dispute. The whole thing really started when the 1906 earthquake destroyed the city and plans to rebuild didn’t include a place for Chinese immigrants. Faced with the prospect of resettling to Oakland, Look Tin Eli employed white architects to create an even grander Chinatown.

In 1938, the garment industry represented the primary source of employment within San Francisco’s Chinatown. The majority of garment factories in this area were not unionized, due in part to longstanding tensions between American labor unions and Chinese workers. By the 1930s, however, organizations such as the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) began to recognize the significant benefits of organizing Chinese American workers. Employees in Chinatown’s garment factories typically received low wages and worked extended hours.

Sue Ko Lee, a buttonhole operator at National Dollar Stores earning 25 cents an hour, helped unionize her coworkers as part of ILGWU Local 341. After bilingual negotiations, Local 341 reached a preliminary deal with National Dollar Stores for better wages and shorter hours. Joe Shoong, who was the owner of National Dollar Stores and described by “Time” magazine as the top Chinese businessman in the US, sold his factory to his managers on February 8, 1938. Workers, including Sue Ko Lee, suspected this move was to sidestep previous agreements. This caused Local 341 began their strike on February 26th.

The workers explained that the main concern during this strike was whether Chinatown workers would have jobs or lose their sources of income. A total of 159 women garment workers protested at three National Dollar Store locations in San Francisco, calling for better wages and improved working conditions. After fifteen months, the Chinese Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union reached an agreement with their employer. They achieved important wins, such as a 5% pay increase, a 40-hour work week, and stronger enforcement of health and safety rules. The women simply couldn’t accept anything less. In the end, I think they would have had to choose full job loss over the way their workplace had been running prior. Their very lives depended on it.