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.
July 1
1855: Working class people riot in London over government restrictions on eating, drinking, shopping and other public activities
1919: Workers across New York and New Jersey wear pins reading “No Beer, No Work” as a threat to strike against prohibition laws
1944: A general strike breaks out in Guatemala against a the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, which was closely aligned with wealthy landowners and the United Fruit Company
1980: A strike wave breaks out across Poland over rising meat prices
July 2
1848: Slaves rebel and burn plantations in Frederiksted
2015: Workers at Pure Food and Wine in Gramercy walk off the job over wage theft
2023: Workers strike and picket across 21 hotels in Southland
July 3
1918: Workers launch a general strike across the Isle of Man over bread prices
1981: Riots break out at the Hambrough Tavern in London in response to racist violence
2020: Bartenders walk out across three locations of the Working Class Outlaws restaurant group in Ferndale over abuse from management
July 4
1977: A boycott against Nestle is launched across the United States over their aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes in underdeveloped countries
July 5
2008: IWW members in Grand Rapids and CNT members in Seville organize pickets across 200 Starbucks locations in 80 cities across 20 countries in response to firings of union members
2024: Workers strike at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario walk off the job
July 6
1934: Plantation workers demonstrate and then riot in Couva over work shortages
2024: Protesters march through Barcelona to demonstrate against the effects of excessive tourism
July 7
2011: Starbucks workers strike in Chile
2011: Demonstrators block traffic and force shop closures over rising food prices in Kenya
2024: Activists pull grocery products tied to genocide in Palestine from the shelves of Shamesbury’s in Belfast
July 8
1549: Peasants revolt against land enclosures in Norfolk
2023: Waffle House workers strike in Columbia
2024: IWW members march on the boss at Peet’s Coffee in Berkeley
July 9
1919: Bartenders strike in Allentown in an attempt to warn against the consequences of prohibition
2008: Workers protest across Peru over rising food prices
2023: Workers strike at Leinenkugel in Chippewa Falls
July 10
2020: Burger King workers strike in Santa Monica after a co-worker dies from COVID
2023: Hospitality workers picket hotels across Los Angeles
2023: Workers strike at New Dairy Select Milk in De Pere
July 11
1959: Activists hold a lunch counter sit-in at at Varsity Village restaurant in Lexington in defiance of racial segregation policies
2008: IWW members walk off the job at the Mall of America Starbucks in Bloomington in response to the firing of a union organizer
2011: Longshoreman tear down a fence at a grain export terminal in Longview during an ongoing dispute over the use of scab labor
2022: Starbucks workers begin their longest strike ever in Brookline over a scheduling dispute
July 12
2019: Deliveroo workers picket across London, Leeds and Nottingham against reductions in hours
July 13
1963: Activists hold a lunch counter sit-in at the White Pantry in Huntington in defiance of racial segregation policies
1977: Working class people liberate food and other necessities from New York City shops during a blackout
2019: Deliveroo drivers protest in Swiss Cottage
2024: Protests against mass tourism are held in Alicante
July 14
2013: Fast food workers strike at the Oakland Airport
July 15
2024: Hotel workers strike at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal
July 16
2022: Workers walk off the job at Alouette in Portland
July 17
1970: Drivers and packing workers strike at the lettuce fields in the Salinas Valley
1980: Hotel workers strike across the San Francisco Bay Area
2023: Coffee workers strike at Sunergos and Starbucks in Louisville
2023: Workers at Moe’s in Orlando refuse service to customers in response to wage theft
July 18
1963: Activists hold a lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth’s in St. Augustine in defiance of racial segregation policies
1989: Activists picket Domino’s World Headquarters in Ann Arbor and launch a boycott over the company’s participation in the anti-choice movement
2007: Workers stage a wildcat strike at a Heinz manufacturing plant in Wigan
July 19
1881: Washerwomen begin a strike in Atlanta which spreads to other groups of workers, including waiters at the National Hotel
1941: Waitresses strike at Medart’s in St. Louis
1958: Activists hold a lunch counter sit-in at Dockum Drug Store in Wichita in defiance of racial segregation policies
1966: Activists picket Compton’s Cafeteria in response to police brutality against LGBTQ patrons
2015: Workers strike at Popeye’s in Philadelphia over extreme heat
2023: Workers strike at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries
July 20
1973: Pickets target a Safeway in Oakland in support of an ongoing boycott
2020: Food workers across the US participate in the Strike for Black Lives
July 21
1961: Activist stage a lunch counter sit-in at the Union Station restaurant in Houston in defiance of segregation laws
July 22
2024: Demonstrations are held in Mallorca to protest the effects of over-tourism on local communities
July 23
1918: Workers strike and riot across Japan over rising rice prices
1967: The Detroit Rebellion begins following a police raid on a blind pig bar
July 24
1777: Working class women in Boston seize coffee from a local seller
2023: Hospitality workers picket hotels across Southland
2024: Winery workers strike in the Barossa Valley
July 25
1916: Waiters strike at the Yale Club in Manhattan
2011: Cambrew beer promoters go on strike in Phnom Penh
2024: Hotel workers strike in Paris
July 26
2007: Coca Cola workers strike a bottling plant in Wakefield
July 27
1935: Housewives picket butcher shops across Hamtramck over rising beef prices
2013: A grocery worker and community supporters deliver a demand letter for stolen wages at a White Center grocery store
July 28
2023: Burgerville workers strike in Portland
2024: Workers initiate a 24-hour surprise strike across three hotels in Montreal
July 29
2011: IWW members flyer at a San Francisco Starbucks to inform the public of the company’s union busting tactics and poor working conditions
2013: Fast food workers protest outside of a McDonald’s in New York
July 30
1981: Hunger demonstrations are held in Łódź in protest of economic crises and food shortages
2012: Palermo’s Pizza workers in Milwaukee kick off a nationwide boycott of the company’s retailers
July 31
2013: McDonald’s workers protest in Flint
2021: DoorDash drivers go on strike across the US