Albert describes a desire to avoid labor reform and chose Lowell because of its alleged reputation for having few strikes. Early immigrants of an ethnic group first arriving in Lowell did not want to participate in strikes and unions; they just wanted to work and be paid. This won them the enmity of organized labor.
In The Coming of French Canadians to New England in the Nineteenth Century, Iris Saunders Podea notes that their unwillingness to participate in strikes and unions and “the fact that they were frequently introduced into New England as strikebreakers did not endear them to their coworkers.”[23]
Mill owners knew as early as the 1890s that their mills were aging and becoming increasingly unable to effectively compete.[27]
Comment: Sometimes, the inner convictions of potential strikers worked against the methods used by unions to reach union goals. Being a pawn in these labor negotiations must have been a doubly worrisome position to be in.