Changsha Masonry and Carpenters' Union Circular in Support of the Sewing Workers*
(October 1922)

Yesterday we received the strike manifesto of the quilted-clothes sewing workers and their express mail circular. The meaning expressed therein is as follows: the ready-made clothes workers have already had their wages increased by two jiao and eight fen. Therefore, the workers in the quilted-clothes shops who do quality inspection and those who work on a long-term basis also request a raise in their wages. How very just this is, how very reasonable. Look at those sewing workers labouring in the shops: every day they rise in the morning, and after breakfast they must stay by the workbench. Aside from the three meals a day, where, do you suppose, can they find any rest? Moreover, their evening work is more bitter than anything. Regardless of cold weather or hot, they sometimes labour until past the third watch. Consider how, after finishing so late at night, they must again be up in time for the boss's breakfast. How many hours of sleep can they possibly get? For such bitter toil, the wages they receive cannot feed and clothe the parents, wife, and children at home. They can no longer endure hunger and cold. Their strike this time is a matter of absolute necessity. I think that as shop owners, you ought to acknowledge their demands. I believe that in your conscience, you would not wish to see these propertyless workers suffer such torment and oppression. Why then must you resort to threats of lawsuits to intimidate them? O shop owners of every street, you must come to your senses. The present time is not like the past. Their solidarity is very firm. No matter how you oppress them, no matter how you threaten them, I believe that unless they achieve a wage increase, they will never submit. Our final word of earnest advice is to urge you to adopt a spirit of liberation and grant the requests of your workers and assistants. Act according to your conscience, and above all, do not turn upon your own kind, following the example of that stubborn faction. You must understand that even if your workers and assistants get a slight wage increase, you will certainly raise your selling prices accordingly. In the end, what loss is it actually to you? O shop owners of every street, we beseech you to think it over again and again.