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.
November 1
2011: Students protest outside of CVS stores during a dispute with Hershey’s
November 2
1933: A cheese factory is set on fire during a farmers strike
1963: Activists picket Mel’s Drive-In locations and a co-owner’s house over racist hiring practices
November 3
1913: Women strikers at the Jacob’s Biscuit factory in Dublin fight scabs
1921: Striking dairy drivers dump thousands of gallons of milk into the streets
1963: Activists stage a sit-in at Mel’s Diner to protest racist hiring practices
2017: Workers strike at the Delap Marshall Islands Fishing Venture
2019: Instacart shoppers strike over changes in tipping policies
2021: Bakery workers at Jon Donaire Desserts strike in Santa Fe Springs
November 4
1910: Grape growing communities in Champagne strike over taxes
2003: Workers strike at La Caravelle in New York
2012: Grocery workers strike in Northern California
November 5
1811: Slaves revolt in Saint-Leu
1843: Slaves revolt at the Triunvirato sugar plantation Matanzas
2009: Workers at Andiamo in Dearborn deliver a demand letter to management
November 6
1963: Protests resume at Mel’s Diner in the Bay Area over racial discrimination
1995: JJ Fast Foods workers from Tottenham rally at the factory during a strike
November 7
1969: Food service workers strike at University of North Carolina
2013: A petition is launched in support of striking Starbucks workers in Chile
November 8
1948: Brewery workers strike in New York
November 9
1972: Workers strike across eleven restaurants in Manhattan
2021: Fast food workers walk out across California to protest unsafe working conditions
November 10
1933: Workers strike at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin
2023: Workers picket the Admiral Theater in Seattle
November 11
1928: Workers in Magdalena strike the United Fruit Company
1933: Striking workers at Hormel in Austin take up weapons and storm the plant
November 12
2019: Workers and supporters protest low wages outside of McDonald’s in Detroit
November 13
1945: Food riots in Tokyo
2023: Hotel workers strike at the BEI Hotel San Francisco
November 14
2018: Striking hotel workers rally outside of Marriott headquarters in Waikiki
November 15
2012: Striking farmworkers in South Africa defy union orders by continuing a work stoppage
November 16
2023: Starbucks workers stage a “Red Cup Rebellion” across the United States
2023: Flight attendants rally at Chicago O’Hare Airport
November 17
2005: A group of workers confronts the owner of Phuket Thai in Amsterdam
2022: Starbucks workers stage a “Red Cup Rebellion” across the United States
November 18
1972: Cooks and chefs walk out across several New York restaurants
1993: Flight attendants strike at American Airlines
1998: Workers strike at Lufthansa Skychef Catering Company in London
2005: Striking Gate Gourmet workers in Germany block a scab vehicle and smear cheese across the windshield
2020: Workers strike at Cash-Wa food distribution company in Fargo
November 19
2017: Instacart shoppers go on strike
November 20
1880: The term “boycott” is used for the first time to describe tactics used in a land use dispute
2023: LGBTQ activists protest the closure of Henry’s in Atlanta
November 21
2023: LAX concession workers go on strike
November 22
2021: Striking HMSHost workers protest outside of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
2023: Food and concessions strike at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
November 23
1733: Slaves in St. John plantations stage an insurrection and take over most of the island
November 24
2005: Distribution centers in southern California go on strike in solidarity with strikes at Kroger
2023: Workers strike at Sunergos Coffee in Louisville
November 25
2020: Farmers mach to Delhi as 250 million workers engage in a general strike
November 26
2021: Workers strike at Acme in Carrboro
November 27
2023: Food and nutrition service workers at Guilford County schools walk out
November 28
1979: Workers strike at the Chix confectionery factory in Slough
November 29
1830: “Captain Swing” farm workers in Stour Provost clash with law enforcement, spreading the dispute into a riots across five additional cities
November 30
2020: Agrarian workers in Peru go on strike