1873 – African-American sawmill workers idled mills in North Florida on this date. The Jacksonville Labor League had been organized to force employers to make concessions, and decided to take action to address “relations now existing between capital and labor in this vicinity” which were “unequally and unjustly balanced.” The workers were seeking a 10-hour day and a minimum payment of $1.50 per day. The Labor League’s demands were considerably moderate at the time, considering most Northern workers were fighting for an eight hour day standard. When the lumber companies failed to meet these demands, the lumber workers walked off the job. By July, the strike had failed for several reasons: picket line was not successful in keeping out scabs; there was no strike fund established to assist strikers; the jobs required little skill, and workers were easily replaced. Some of the workers returned at pre-strike rates, others were replaced and left jobless.