were paid according to a piece rate and made between $2 to $7 (equivalent to between $ and $ in 2021) per 72-hour week. These conditions made labor organizing an attractive choice for the workers, and in 1912, C. L. Pingree, a representative of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), arrived and began to organize the workers with that labor union. The IWW had been established in 1905 and had had success in organizing millworkers in the region. In 1912, Pingree pushed for the Ipswich Mills to enforce a state law stipulating a maximum workweek of 54 hours for the millworkers. Additionally, the mill changed its policy regarding its notice period and paid out about $60,000 in back pay to workers who had previously quit without giving the company two weeks' notice. During this time, many of the mill workers became IWW members. As the workers began to organize, tensions began to rise between them and the millowners, and this reached a peak in mid-1913. Workers began to demand better working conditions and higher wages, with a pay increase of at least 20 percent. A labor strike was organized to push for these demands, with the IWW previously having led another textile strike in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts. That strike, which had involved about 20,000 mostly immigrant workers, had ended in success for the union, with an increase in wages for the workers. Course of the strike Early strike action On April 22, the strike began with a walkout that consisted of a majority of the workers at the mill, up to 1,500 people in total. These strikers consisted primarily of non-English speaking immigrants, while about 500 English-speaking non-immigrants remained working. The strike had the effect of idling the mill for about a month. Over the next several weeks, several hundred strikers, primarily English-speakers, began to defect and return to work, though many Greek and Polish workers remained on the picket line. The millowners and town officials, such as Scofield, were sternly against the strikers' demands and began to bring in strikebreakers from Boston. During the strike, additional police officers were brought in from nearby towns, such as Lawrence, Beverly, and Salem. This increased expenditure for police put a strain on the town's budget, and a meeting of town officials was scheduled for June 10 to discuss allocating more funds for the police. "Bloody Tuesday" On the evening of Tuesday,