Today in Labor History—May 9

John Brown, c1856

May 9, 1800 – John Brown, anti-slavery freedom fighter, was born, Torrington, Connecticut. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 9, 1892 – A coal mine exploded at Roslyn, Washington, killing 45 mine workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

1900 – Striking tram workers blew up a tramcar during riots in St. Louis. (From the Daily Bleed)

1918 – Bolshevik troops opened fire on workers protesting food shortages in the town of Kolpino. (From the Daily Bleed)

1934 –Longshoremen began a strike for a union hiring hall and union recognition, ultimately leading to the San Francisco general strike. After World War One, West Coast long shore workers were poorly organized or represented by company unions. The IWW had tried to organize them and had some successes, like in San Pedro, in 1922, but they were ultimately crushed by injunctions, imprisonment, deportation and vigilante violence. While longshoremen lacked a well-organized union, they retained a syndicalist sentiment and militancy. Many Wobblies were still working the docks. On May 9, 1934, longshoremen walked off the job at ports up and down the West Coast, soon to be followed by sailors. Strikers were shot by the bosses’ goons in San Pedro. There was also violence in Oakland and San Francisco. Street battles between the cops and strikers continued in San Francisco, heating up on July 3, and culminating in Bloody Thursday, on July 5, when 3 workers were shot by police (two of them died). The attack led to a four-day general strike that effectively shut down commerce in San Francisco, despite police violence and attempts to weaken it by national unions. (From the Daily Bleed, Workday Minnesota and Wikipedia)

May 9, 1970 – Labor leader Walter Reuther and his wife May died suspiciously in an airplane crash. Repeated attempts had been made on Reuther’s live going back to 1938. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 9, 1972 – A general strike began in Quebec in protest of the jailing of three labor leaders, Louis Laberge, Marcel Pepin, Yvon Charbonneau. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History: April 20

April 20, 1812— Luddites attacked factories in Middleton, Manchester, Bolton, Ashton,  Oldham and Cheshire England in protest of new technologies that were throwing them out of work. (From the Daily Bleed)

Ruins of the Ludlow Mining Camp

April 20, 1914—Ludlow Massacre, Colorado. National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who were temporarily sworn into the State Militia for the occasion. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Armored “Death Car” With Mounted Machine Guns

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but were unpaid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses. (From Labor History, The Daily Bleed, Wikipedia and Workday Minnesota)

National Guard Arrive in Ludlow

 April 20, 1948 - United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. He survived and ultimately died in a plane crash in 1970. Reuther also survived an attempted kidnapping in April, 1938, while his brother Victor was shot and nearly killed by police in 1949. The UAW headquarters was also bombed in 1949. Both Walter and Victor were again nearly killed in a small private plane near Dulles Airport. Despite this history of attempts on his life, virtually no media addressed the possibility that his actual death may have been an assassination. (From The Daily Bleed, and Workday Minnesota)

April 20, 1985 - 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., to protest US policy in Central America. (From The Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 4

December 4, 1906 – The National Federation of Postal Clerks was chartered on this date. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 4, 1951 - Walter Reuther, President of the United Auto Workers, was elected head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Four years later, he led the merger of the CIO and the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL-CIO. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 4, 1969--Chicago Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and 2 others were murdered by police, with assistance from the FBI.

December 4, 1970--Cesar Chavez was jailed for 20 days for refusing to call off the Salinas lettuce boycott. (from the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 1

September 1, 1880 – The utopian communistic Oneida Community ended after 32 years. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 1, 1903 – 30,000 working women from 26 trades marched in Chicago’s Labor Day parade. (From the Daily Bleed)

Walter Reuther (2nd from right) during 1963 March on Washington (from National Archives)

 September 1, 1907 - Walter Reuther was born. Reuther was president of the United Auto Workers from 1946 until his death in 1970 under suspicious circumstances. He was also president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) prior to its merger with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Reuther was a supporter of political action and said that “There’s a direct relationship between the breadbox and the ballot box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.” (From Workday Minnesota)

September 1, 1934 -- A strike began in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, as part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers. The strike lasted until September 23, and involved more than 420,000 workers, with three of them being killed in the actions. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 1, 1987 – During a nonviolent protest at Concord Naval Weapons Station, formerly Port Chicago (see Port Chicago Mutiny), a Navy munitions train ran over anti-war protester Brian Willson. Willson lost both legs in the incident, but continued to be an active leader in the anti-military movement. The following day, activists dismantled the train tracks in protest. Wilson was later sued by civilian members of the train crew for the "humiliation, embarrassment & emotional distress" the incident caused them. (From theDaily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 29

August 29, 1968 – Chicago police brutally assaulted demonstrators, reporters and bystanders at the Democratic national convention. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 29, 1970 – LAPD brutally attacked 10,000 Chicano antiwar demonstrators, killing three, including journalist Ruben Salazar. The attacked led to a week of rioting. (From the Daily Bleed)

(Video shot by Tom Myrdahl, August 29, 1970)

Today in Labor History—August 28

August 28, 1918 – Big Bill Haywood and 14 other members of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) were sentenced to 20 years prison for draft obstruction. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1920 – West Virginia Governor Cornwell requested federal troops to guard the mines and protect scab labor during a strike by miners, resulting in rioting. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1933 – A Filipino Labor Union led a strike of 6,000 California lettuce workers demanding 40-45 cents an hour, union recognition and better working conditions. Striking white farm workers split from the Filipinos and accepted arbitration. The growers accused the Filipinos of being communists, while the highway patrol and armed vigilantes drove striking farmworkers off the farms. In September, vigilantes burned a camp of striking workers down to the ground. Police then raided their union headquarters in Salinas, arresting scores of strikers and their leaders. Despite the violence and police abuse, the strikers held out, eventually winning union recognition and 40 cents an hour wages. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1955 – Teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered on this day in Money, Mississippi, for speaking "inappropriately" to a white woman. The brutality of the murder and the lack of justice for his family helped to mobilize opposition to segregation in America. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1963 - Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I have a dream . . ." speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. March organizers included Bayard Rustin of the AFL-CIO and UAW President Walter Reuther. (From Workday Minnesota) 250,000-500,000 people converge on the Lincoln Memorial

August 28, 1970 -- The UAW Local 1714 had its first wildcat strike lasting one day.
(From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—May 9

John Brown, c1856

May 9, 1800 – John Brown, anti-slavery freedom fighter, was born, Torrington, Connecticut. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 9, 1892 – A coal mine exploded at Roslyn, Washington, killing 45 mine workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

1900 – Striking tram workers blew up a tramcar during riots in St. Louis. (From the Daily Bleed)

1918 – Bolshevik troops opened fire on workers protesting food shortages in the town of Kolpino. (From the Daily Bleed)

1934 –Longshoremen began a strike for a union hiring hall and union recognition, ultimately leading to the San Francisco general strike. After World War One, West Coast long shore workers were poorly organized or represented by company unions. The IWW had tried to organize them and had some successes, like in San Pedro, in 1922, but they were ultimately crushed by injunctions, imprisonment, deportation and vigilante violence. While longshoremen lacked a well-organized union, they retained a syndicalist sentiment and militancy. Many Wobblies were still working the docks. On May 9, 1934, longshoremen walked off the job at ports up and down the West Coast, soon to be followed by sailors. Strikers were shot by the bosses’ goons in San Pedro. There was also violence in Oakland and San Francisco. Street battles between the cops and strikers continued in San Francisco, heating up on July 3, and culminating in Bloody Thursday, on July 5, when 3 workers were shot by police (two of them died). The attack led to a four-day general strike that effectively shut down commerce in San Francisco, despite police violence and attempts to weaken it by national unions. (From the Daily Bleed, Workday Minnesota and Wikipedia)

May 9, 1970 – Labor leader Walter Reuther and his wife May died suspiciously in an airplane crash. Repeated attempts had been made on Reuther’s live going back to 1938. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 9, 1972 – A general strike began in Quebec in protest of the jailing of three labor leaders, Louis Laberge, Marcel Pepin, Yvon Charbonneau. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History: April 20

April 20, 1812— Luddites attacked factories in Middleton, Manchester, Bolton, Ashton,  Oldham and Cheshire England in protest of new technologies that were throwing them out of work. (From the Daily Bleed)

Ruins of the Ludlow Mining Camp

April 20, 1914—Ludlow Massacre, Colorado. National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who were temporarily sworn into the State Militia for the occasion. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Armored “Death Car” With Mounted Machine Guns

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but were unpaid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses. (From Labor History, The Daily Bleed, Wikipedia and Workday Minnesota)

National Guard Arrive in Ludlow

 April 20, 1948 - United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. He survived and ultimately died in a plane crash in 1970. Reuther also survived an attempted kidnapping in April, 1938, while his brother Victor was shot and nearly killed by police in 1949. The UAW headquarters was also bombed in 1949. Both Walter and Victor were again nearly killed in a small private plane near Dulles Airport. Despite this history of attempts on his life, virtually no media addressed the possibility that his actual death may have been an assassination. (From The Daily Bleed, and Workday Minnesota)

April 20, 1985 - 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., to protest US policy in Central America. (From The Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 4

December 4, 1906 – The National Federation of Postal Clerks was chartered on this date. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 4, 1951 - Walter Reuther, President of the United Auto Workers, was elected head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Four years later, he led the merger of the CIO and the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL-CIO. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—September 1

September 1, 1880 – The utopian communistic Oneida Community ended after 32 years. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 1, 1903 – 30,000 working women from 26 trades marched in Chicago’s Labor Day parade. (From the Daily Bleed)

Walter Reuther (2nd from right) during 1963 March on Washington (from National Archives)

 September 1, 1907 - Walter Reuther was born. Reuther was president of the United Auto Workers from 1946 until his death in 1970 under suspicious circumstances. He was also president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) prior to its merger with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Reuther was a supporter of political action and said that “There’s a direct relationship between the breadbox and the ballot box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.” (From Workday Minnesota)

September 1, 1934 -- A strike began in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, as part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers. The strike lasted until September 23, and involved more than 420,000 workers, with three of them being killed in the actions. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 1, 1987 – During a nonviolent protest at Concord Naval Weapons Station, formerly Port Chicago (see Port Chicago Mutiny), a Navy munitions train ran over anti-war protester Brian Willson. Willson lost both legs in the incident, but continued to be an active leader in the anti-military movement. The following day, activists dismantled the train tracks in protest. Wilson was later sued by civilian members of the train crew for the "humiliation, embarrassment & emotional distress" the incident caused them. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 29

August 29, 1968 – Chicago police brutally assaulted demonstrators, reporters and bystanders at the Democratic national convention. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 29, 1970 – LAPD brutally attacked 10,000 Chicano antiwar demonstrators, killing three, including journalist Ruben Salazar. The attacked led to a week of rioting. (From the Daily Bleed)

(Video shot by Tom Myrdahl, August 29, 1970)

Today in Labor History—August 28

August 28, 1918 – Big Bill Haywood and 14 other members of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) were sentenced to 20 years prison for draft obstruction. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1920 – West Virginia Governor Cornwell requested federal troops to guard the mines and protect scab labor during a strike by miners, resulting in rioting. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1933 – A Filipino Labor Union led a strike of 6,000 California lettuce workers demanding 40-45 cents an hour, union recognition and better working conditions. Striking white farm workers split from the Filipinos and accepted arbitration. The growers accused the Filipinos of being communists, while the highway patrol and armed vigilantes drove striking farmworkers off the farms. In September, vigilantes burned a camp of striking workers down to the ground. Police then raided their union headquarters in Salinas, arresting scores of strikers and their leaders. Despite the violence and police abuse, the strikers held out, eventually winning union recognition and 40 cents an hour wages. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1955 – Teenager Emmett Till was brutally murdered on this day in Money, Mississippi, for speaking "inappropriately" to a white woman. The brutality of the murder and the lack of justice for his family helped to mobilize opposition to segregation in America. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 28, 1963 - Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I have a dream . . ." speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. March organizers included Bayard Rustin of the AFL-CIO and UAW President Walter Reuther. (From Workday Minnesota) 250,000-500,000 people converge on the Lincoln Memorial

August 28, 1970 -- The UAW Local 1714 had its first wildcat strike lasting one day.
(From the Daily Bleed)