The Labor Movement in Hershey: The 1937 Strike and the Italian American Community

The Labor Movement in Hershey: The 1937 Strike and the Italian American Community

The Labor Movement in Hershey: The 1937 Strike and the Italian American Community. Program presented by Louis Paioletti. Wednesday, September 10 at 6pm. Hershey History Center. Admission is free. Everyone is welcome.

This year marks the 88th anniversary of one of the most significant events in Derry Township history, an event which made national headlines. On April 2, 1937, workers at the Hershey Chocolate Corporation, many who were Italian immigrants and who had recently formed a union, went on strike because of, among other factors, very low wages and poor and hostile working conditions. The sit-down strike, poorly coordinated and hastily executed, came to a halt on April 7, when company loyalists, farmers, and paid strikebreakers, orchestrated by the company, stormed the factory with weapons and brutally beat the workers, ejecting them from the plant while continuing to beat them as they walked through a gauntlet.

Louis Paioletti has presented this topic annually at the Hershey History Center since 2022 and has lectured on it at Penn State. This fascinating and detailed research presentation, with newly added material, is filled with oral histories, photos, and unique personal stories.