Throughout history, working class people have stood up and fought back against oppression and exploitation in the food system. Each month, Food Fight documents a timeline of historical labor struggles to inform and educate today’s workers on historical class struggle in the food industry. We commemorate their struggles each day of the month.
February 1
1960: Four students begin a sit in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro to defy segregationist policies
2018: Activists disrupt an orientation at the LGC Hospitality temp-agency to deliver a demand letter for stolen wages
February 2
1960: Twenty-five students show up to the Greensboro Woolworth’s to escalate the sit in
2024: Culinary workers picket Las Vegas casinos over pay, benefits and job security
February 3
1969: Sixty-three students continue the lunch counter sit in at Woolworth’s in Greensboro
February 4
1913: IWW organizers disrupt a speech led by AFL leaders, while a group of waiters heckle the speakers
February 5
2021: Tea plantation workers at the Uda Rathalla Estate participate in a national strike over wages
February 6
1919: The Seattle General Strike begins. A Provisions Committee comprised of waiter, waitress and culinary unions feeds over 30,000 workers each day
2017: Workers strike at the Hulhule Island airport hotel in Malé
February 7
2015: Workers protest inside of a New Orleans McDonald’s in support of a $15 minimum wage
February 8
1960: Sit-ins begin at the Winston-Salem Woolworth’s lunch counter in defiance of racial segregation laws
February 9
1960: Sit-ins begin at lunch counters across Charlotte in defiance of racial segregation laws
1962: Bagel bakers walk out on strike in New York City and Nassau County demanding extensions for paid vacations and holidays
2024: Workers strike an Asda superstore in Hampshire
February 10
1960: Sit-ins begin at lunch counters in Raleigh in defiance of racial segregation laws
1960: Sit-ins begin at lunch counters in Hampton in defiance of racial segregation laws
February 11
1903: Agricultural workers strike in Oxnard and halt sugar production
1967: Demonstrations are held outside of the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles against police brutality towards LGBT people
2017: IWW members picket Ellen’s Stardust Diner in New York and halt deliveries in response to firings against members of the union
February 12
1960: Sit-ins begin at lunch counters in Rock Hill in defiance of racial segregation laws
1960: Truck drivers picket at Peoples Drug Store in Washington, DC
2005: IWW members present a demand letter to management of Pizza Time in Olympia and proceed to strike
February 13
1939: Sugar workers strike at Plantation Leonora in Guyana
1960: Sit-ins begin at lunch counters in Nashville in defiance of racial segregation laws
2024: Food and beverage workers at Los Angeles International Airport go on strike
February 14
2024: Workers at the LA Grand Hotel go on strike
2024: Delivery drivers for Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Stuart strike across the UK
February 15
1939: Sugar cane workers strike and picket at Plantation Lenora in Guyana
1960: Boycotts are launched against businesses in downtown Nashville in coordination with lunch counter sit ins
February 16
1525: Peasants and farmers rebel in the city of Memmingen
1939: Striking sugar cane workers from the Plantation Leonora persuade plantation factory workers to join the strike
1960: Workers picket Peoples Drug Store in Washington, DC
1986: Striking Hormel workers form pickets at an FDL Foods plant in Dubuque while local workers defy orders from UFCW officials to cross the picket line
2022: Baristas strike at Great Lakes Coffee in Detroit
February 17
1964: Sugar workers strike across Guyana
2024: Brewery workers strike at Molson Coors in Fort Worth
February 18
1960: Students stage lunch counter sit-ins at Woolworths, S. H. Kress, McLellan’s, and Grants in Nashville to escalate efforts towards desegregation
2018: Food delivery workers stop taking orders in Linyi to protest pay cuts
February 19
1917: Women riot across New York City over rising food prices
1951: Agricultural and “unskilled” workers stage a general strike across Grenada
2024: Protests are held in Ibadan in response to rising food prices
February 20
1917: Food riots in New York City spread to the steps of City Hall
2019: Food delivery workers stop taking orders in Dongguan to protest pay cuts
February 21
1917: Housewives initiate food boycotts in solidarity with striking IWW sugar refinery workers
1957: Bagel workers at Pechter Baking Company in New York City walk out on strike in solidarity with ongoing strikes in the industry
February 22
1865: Riots break out in Leeds over the arrest of a cook
2014: Picketers target the Bombay Grill in Seattle over wage theft
2019: Workers walk off the job across three Sonic locations in Ohio
2024: Students protest and deliver petitions across 25 university campuses demanding that the schools cut their ties with Starbucks
February 23
1763: Slaves rebel at plantation Magdalenenberg in Berbice
1960: Students from Wake Forest escalate lunch counter sit ins in Winston-Salem
1969: Food workers strike at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
February 24
1917: Thousands of New Yorkers march on Madison Square during the food riots
2019: Food delivery workers stop taking orders in Jinnan to protest pay cuts
February 25
1960: Students stage a sit-in at a Kress lunch counter in Orangeburg to protest racial segregation laws
2019: Food delivery workers stop taking orders in Pinghu to protest pay cuts
February 26
1906: Orange carriers in Cerbère go on strike
2014: Protesters halt a bus carrying scabs during a strike against United Grain at the Port of Vancouver
February 27
1763: A slave revolt takes place on plantation Hollandia in Berbice
1937: Waitresses stage a sit-in occupation at Woolworth’s in Detroit
2019: Food delivery workers stop taking orders in Qingdao to protest pay cuts
2019: Workers picket at the Hyatt Centric Magnificent Mile in Chicago
February 28
1789: Riots erupt in Barcelona following increases in the price of bread
1948: Maintenance workers strike at three of Sydney’s largest beer brewing facilities
2024: Coffee workers strike at Ultimo in Philadelphia
February 29
1960: Students stage a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Tampa to protest racial segregation laws