Picture Source: https://iww.org.uk/news/631/
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.
Date Unknown
1942: A sit-in is staged at the Jack Spratt Coffee House in Chicago in defiance of racial segregation laws
1959: A riot breaks out at Cooper Do-Nuts in Los Angeles over police harassment of LGBT patrons
May 1
1844: Riots break out in Bavaria over taxes on beer
1914: Waitresses strike at Knab’s in Chicago
1963: Activists stage lunch counter sit-ins and pickets at Bailey’s Cafeteria in Huntington in defiance of racial segregation laws
2001: Activists from a First of May demonstration enter Raffle’s Grand Cafe in Amsterdam as part of an ongoing dispute between workers and management
2022: Deliveroo drivers strike in Dubai
May 2
2022: Dollar General workers in Marion walk off the job over low wages
2022: Workers strike at McDonald’s in Los Angeles over health and safety issues
May 3
2021: Wendy’s workers in Wadesboro walk off the job
2024: Striking hotel workers demonstrate outside of the Radisson Blu hotel in Vancouver
May 4
2013: IWW members and supporters picket outside of Chicago Lake Liquors in Minneapolis
May 5
1926: Workers clash with police and scabs at the Leeds Corn Exchange during a general strike
1926: Canteen workers join in a general strike in East London, preventing scabs from having access to food rations
May 6
2013: IWW members in Greensboro deliver a demand letter to the boss of New York Pizza
2022: Protests erupt in Khuzestan over rising food prices
May 7
1912: Waiters in New York City organized by the IWW initiate a general strike over poor working conditions
May 8
1910: Riots erupt in Detroit over rising costs of kosher meats
1943: Activists stage a lunch counter sit-in at Jack Spratt in Chicago in defiance of racial segregation laws
2024: Workers picket Cascadia Liquors in Victoria
May 9
1911: Tijuana is liberated from the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship and workers are urged to retake possession of the land
May 10
1902: Cooks and waiters strike at the Hotel Butler in Seattle
May 11
2023: Baristas and students occupy the Day Hall at Cornell University to urge the school to cut its ties with Starbucks
2024: Workers picket at Cascadia Liquors in Victoria, Colwood and View Royal
May 12
2022: Local food riots spread nationwide across Iran
May 13
1975: Workers strike at Tolteca Foods in Richmond
May 14
1932: Demonstrations are held for the re-legalization of beer in New York and Detroit
1953: Workers strike across six breweries in Milwaukee
2021: Workers walk off the job at the Juiceland central production kitchen in Austin, sparking a strike that spreads across nine locations
May 15
1912: Housewives rally in the streets of New York City, declare a boycott against kosher meats, and begin sabotaging butcher shops and clashing with consumers and police over rising food costs
1943: A sit-in is staged at the Jack Spratt Coffee House in Chicago in defiance of racial segregation laws
2024: Workers strike at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas
May 16
1902: Beef strikers raid butcher shops, pile kosher meat in the streets, douse it in kerosene and set in on fire in protest of rising food costs
1920: Workers seize control of production at the Knocklong creamery in County Limerick
2014: Workers walk off the job at a Sonic in Chicago over a pay dispute
May 17
1902: Jewish housewives disrupt synagogue services to bolster support for the ongoing kosher beef boycott
May 18
2022: Workers strike at Burger King in Arden Arcade over unsafe working conditions
May 19
1713: Food riots break out in Boston over rising costs of bread
1935: Banana loaders strike in Kingston
2021: Workers strike at more than a dozen McDonald’s locations across the US
May 20
2021: McDonald’s workers in Chicago strike for improved wages
May 21
2024: Airport workers strike in Charlotte for improved wages
May 22
1816: Riots break out in Littleport over rising costs of bread and wheat
1902: Butchers in New York refuse to sell kosher meats in support of ongoing boycott efforts against rising prices
2020: Unemployed food service and hospitality workers stage a die-in in Miami Beach to demand fixes in the unemployment system
May 23
2019: McDonald’s workers strike in Durham
May 24
1912: An IWW-led hotel general strike breaks out in New York
2013: IWW members and supporters picket Chicago Lake Liquors in Minneapolis
May 25
1779: Armed workers in Philadelphia force shopkeepers to lower their prices
May 26
2020: Workers strike at a McDonald’s in Oakland
May 27
2024: Workers strike at a Cargill beef plant in Guelph
May 28
1963: Activists stage a lunch counter sit-in at Woolworth in Jackson
2019: Workers strike a Nutella factory in Normandy
May 29
2012: Workers strike the Palermo’s Pizza’s factory in Milwaukee
May 30
1381: Peasants revolt across England over suppressed wages and excessive taxation
May 31
2006: Picket lines are brought to the Aurora Travelodge and Seafair motels in Seattle over ongoing disputes at the owners’ other properties