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It's the morning of May 5th, 1893, outside a rope factory in New Jersey.

A middle-aged man joins a stream of his fellow workers as they head through the factory gates.

The man are rope makers for the national cordage company, one of the biggest corporations in the United States.

But as they reach the entrance to the factory, the workers stop. The door is locked.

The men look at each other with puzzled faces. One or two joke that they must have been given an extra day off.

But the middle-aged man doesn't think it's a laughing matter.

His supervisor won't hesitate to find him if he clocks in late, even if the delay isn't his fault.

So he pushes through the crowd to the front and hammers on the door.

Oh come on, we're going to be late, open up!

There's a moment of silence and then a cheer ripples through the crowd as the door swings open.

A pale-faced factory manager emerges from the gloom.

The rope maker steps forward, but the manager stops him.

Nope, nope, not today.

Sir, are we not allowed in? I'll be fine if I'm late.

You're not going to be fine, but you're not coming in either.

The manager then shouts so all the men can hear.

Look, no one's coming in. The factory's closed.

Well, sir, what's going on?

We're one of their biggest factories. They can't shut us down.

It's not just this factory. It's the entire company.

National cordage and bankrupt. We're all out of a job.

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