In August 1910, the silk workers’ strike in Bursa and its environs marked a pivotal moment in labor resistance within the Ottoman Empire. The strike opposed not only harsh working conditions and low wages but also the income tax [temettü], which disproportionately burdened already marginalized workers. The 1907 Income Tax Regulation aimed to tax enterprises and individuals with significant capital, but it also affected female laborers who had been proletarianized for decades to keep production costs low in the profitable silk industry.
The strike united Armenian, Greek, Jewish, and Muslim women in a collective challenge, highlighting the intersection of gender, class, ethnicity, and labor activism. By focusing their grievances on the income tax, the silk workers exposed the broader implications of taxation on the working class. This paper explores the 1910 strike through previously untapped Turkish and Armenian sources, analyzing how the income tax became a flashpoint for labor mobilization. It examines the socio-economic context of the silk industry in Bursa, the role of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA) in exacerbating financial pressures, and the intersection of gender and ethnicity in this labor struggle. By highlighting the policies of the OPDA, which increased silk production for tithe [aşar] revenue while worsening working conditions, the paper reveals how the discourse of development allowed capitalists to exploit the workforce and legitimize an unequal order at local, imperial, and global levels.