Joey La Neve DeFrancesco is a Rhode Island–based musician, organizer, and public historian. He is a cofounder of the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers.
Eighty years ago, thousands of musicians in the US launched a two-year strike against the recording industry. They won landmark gains — reminding musicians today that the best way to wrest back money from the streaming companies is to flex collective power.
The music industry is making money hand over fist, but life for average musicians remains incredibly precarious. But musicians aren’t temporarily embarrassed millionaires — they’re workers. And like any other worker, the solution to their problem is collective organizing.
This week 194 years ago, Rhode Island textile workers waged the first factory strike in US history. It was organized by young women.