Uruguayan General Strike Declared

Date: May 22, 1911 • Location: Palermo, Uruguay

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1911.

The Uruguayan Regional Workers' Federation was a national trade union federation that operated in Uruguay during the early 20th century. Established in 1905 by several trade unions, largely made up of Italian and Spanish anarchists, the anarcho-syndicalist group quickly became the leading force in the Uruguayan labor movement. It spread throughout the country and led a number of successful strikes, but repression by the conservative government of Claudio Williman caused difficulties for industrial action, and the FORU's activities stagnated. The FORU was reorganized in 1910, following the re-election of the left-wing president José Batlle y Ordóñez, whom many in the FORU supported. In 1911, the FORU led the country's first general strike, which resulted in the promulgation of the eight-hour working day in Uruguay. With one of its main goals achieved, its activities stagnated in subsequent years, while many workers moved over to the Colorado Party and Socialist Party.