Today in Labor History July 3, 1835: 2000 children, mostly Irish and female, went on strike at the silk mills of Paterson, N.J., for an 11-hour day and 6-day week. They were currently being forced to work 13 hours per day Monday through Saturday, and were regularly fined for minor disciplinary infractions. Solidarity by workers in neighboring cities, including financial support from New York and Newark, helped sustain the strike for two weeks. However, the bosses eventually won the strike, but did offer a compromise of a 69-hour work week. And strike leaders, and their families, were permanently barred from future employment in Paterson.