This Month in
Labour History

A union poem for March 21 World Poetry Day

March 21 was declared World Poetry Day in 1999 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). The proclamation read in part; “In today’s world there are unfulfilled aesthetic needs. Poetry can meet this its social role of interpersonal communication is recognized and it continues to be the means of arousing and expressing awareness.”

One of labour’s most recognized songs was based on a poem, “Bread and Roes.” American poet James Oppenheim wrote the poem based on a 1912 speech given by feminist and union organizer Rose Schneiderman to women striking the Textile Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. “The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.” Schneiderman told her audience.

“Bread and Roses” has become a union slogan that captured the spirit of the time when women and young girls worked long hours in dangerous sweatshops. It is message that still applies to workers today. It is the expression of the workers’ desire not just for daily sustenance but also joy and beauty in their lives. Expressed in a poem, the political expression was fused with art. The poem has been translated into many languages and has spread around the world as workers struggle for a better quality of life.

“Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.” – UNESCO

Bread & Roses

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,</em
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: “Bread and roses! Bread and roses!”

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women’s children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for—but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler—ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!