Today in Labor History—May 17

May 17, 1838 - The first women’s anti-slavery conference was held in Philadelphia. (From Workday Minnesota)

May 17, 1858 –1,200 Coeur d'Alene, Palouse, Spokane & Skitswich Indians defeated Colonel Steptoe’s forces near Colfax, WA. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1900 – Following the relief of Mafeking, 26,000 Boer women and children died in the world's first concentration camps. (From the Daily Bleed)

Thomas Mooney, 1910

May 17, 1917 – Tom Mooney's scheduled date of execution was stayed while case was appealed. Mooney ultimately spent 22 years in prison for the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade bombing in 1916, a crime he did not commit. Mooney, along with codefendant Warren Billings, were members of the IWW and were railroaded because of their union affiliation. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1947 –President Truman ended a nation-wide railroad strike by threatening to take over the railroads and send in the army. (From Shmoop Labor History website)

May 17, 1954 – In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas), the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" public education was unconstitutional, and a violation of the 14th Amendment. The ruling reversed the 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy vs Ferguson decision. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1968 – Thousands of students marched for the second day in a row from the Sorbonne to the Renault works in spite of the opposition of the trade unions which were afraid of revolutionary contamination. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1968 – BOAC pilots in England began a work-to-rule, 48 hours earlier than originally planned. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—January 3

Propaganda Film on the Preparedness Day Bombing, Hearst-Pathe Film

Tom Mooney, 1910

January 3, 1917 – The trial of labor organizer Tom Mooney began in San Francisco on this date. Mooney was framed by Martin Swanson, a detective with a long history of interfering in San Francisco strikes, for the Preparedness Day bombing. Swanson maintained constant surveillance and harassment of Mooney and Warren Billings, as well as Alexander Berkman & Emma Goldman. Billings and Mooney were still convicted and imprisoned for the bombing, with Mooney serving over 22 years for a crime he did not commit. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 3, 1931 - Roughly 500 farmers marched into the business section of England, Arkansas, to demand food for their starving families after their crops were ruined by a long drought. The farmers threatened to take the food by force if it was not freely provided to them, one of scores of such incidents that occurred during the Great Depression (and surprisingly have not happened more frequently during the current one). (From Workday Minnesota)

January 3, 1964 – 450,000 public school kids went on strike in New York City to protest de facto racial segregation and poor learning conditions. (From theDaily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—October 17

October 17, 1796 – Canada passed its Antislavery Act. (From the Daily Bleed)

Rockefeller as an Industrial Emperor, Puck magazine, 1901

 October 17, 1877 – John D. Rockefeller cut a contract with Pennsylvania Railroad, giving his Standard Oil Company a rebate on all freight carried by the line. The arrangement allowed him to monopolize virtually all oil production & transportation in the US. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1905 – Czar Nicholas II, faced with rising peasant uprisings and a General Strike in the cities, signed the Manifesto of October 17, promising civil liberties. The peasants and workers continued to riot. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1922 – Unemployed workers marched from Glasgow to London. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1939 – Warren Billings, labor activist, and falsely imprisoned for the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing, was finally released from Folsom Prison. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1950 – The "Salt of the Earth" zinc mine strike began in Silver City, New Mexico. The strike lasted for 14-months and inspired the film “Salt of the Earth,” which was blacklisted. (From the Daily Bleed)

(See the remaining snippets from the film “Salt of the Earth” here)

October 17, 1961 – Police massacred between 200 and 300 Algerians protesting against police oppression and the curfew imposed against their community in Paris. Police searched the Algerian ghettos for FLN members, indiscriminately killing dozens of innocent Algerians before turning their guns on a large group of protesters gathered near the Seine River. The next day, the police released an official death toll of three dead and 67 wounded, a figure disputed by witnesses who observe bodies littering the area and floating in the Seine. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1977 – Nationwide wildcat hospital strikes occurred throughout Italy in protest of a sell-out settlement signed by the unions. Workers set out their own demands and battled police until the army was called in. (From theDaily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 11

September 11, 1916 – The trial of labor activist Warren Billings began in San Francisco on trumped up charges stemming from the Preparedness Day parade bombing. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 1925 – Thee IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) marine strike began. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 1973 – The CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende, ending nearly 150 years of democratic rule. Also killed in the coup were folk singer Victor Jara, and American IWW journalist Frank Teruggi. Jara courageously continued singing Venceremos (We Shall Win) while he lay on the ground, hands broken by his torturers, as they slaughtered hundreds in the national stadium. 16 years of military terror followed underPinochet. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 2001 - The World Trade Center was attacked in New York City, killing hundreds of workers and setting into motion a decade of U.S. initiated terror on civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and domestic repression within the U.S.

Today in Labor History—May 17

May 17, 1838 - The first women’s anti-slavery conference was held in Philadelphia. (From Workday Minnesota)

May 17, 1858 –1,200 Coeur d'Alene, Palouse, Spokane & Skitswich Indians defeated Colonel Steptoe’s forces near Colfax, WA. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1900 – Following the relief of Mafeking, 26,000 Boer women and children died in the world's first concentration camps. (From the Daily Bleed)

Thomas Mooney, 1910

May 17, 1917 – Tom Mooney's scheduled date of execution was stayed while case was appealed. Mooney ultimately spent 22 years in prison for the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade bombing in 1916, a crime he did not commit. Mooney, along with codefendant Warren Billings, were members of the IWW and were railroaded because of their union affiliation. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1947 –President Truman ended a nation-wide railroad strike by threatening to take over the railroads and send in the army. (From Shmoop Labor History website)

May 17, 1954 – In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas), the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" public education was unconstitutional, and a violation of the 14th Amendment. The ruling reversed the 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy vs Ferguson decision. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1968 – Thousands of students marched for the second day in a row from the Sorbonne to the Renault works in spite of the opposition of the trade unions which were afraid of revolutionary contamination. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 17, 1968 – BOAC pilots in England began a work-to-rule, 48 hours earlier than originally planned. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—January 3

Propaganda Film on the Preparedness Day Bombing, Hearst-Pathe Film

Tom Mooney, 1910

January 3, 1917 – The trial of labor organizer Tom Mooney began in San Francisco on this date. Mooney was framed by Martin Swanson, a detective with a long history of interfering in San Francisco strikes, for the Preparedness Day bombing. Swanson maintained constant surveillance and harassment of Mooney and Warren Billings, as well as Alexander Berkman & Emma Goldman. Billings and Mooney were still convicted and imprisoned for the bombing, with Mooney serving over 22 years for a crime he did not commit. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 3, 1931 - Roughly 500 farmers marched into the business section of England, Arkansas, to demand food for their starving families after their crops were ruined by a long drought. The farmers threatened to take the food by force if it was not freely provided to them, one of scores of such incidents that occurred during the Great Depression (and surprisingly have not happened more frequently during the current one). (From Workday Minnesota)

January 3, 1964 – 450,000 public school kids went on strike in New York City to protest de facto racial segregation and poor learning conditions. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—October 17

October 17, 1796 – Canada passed its Antislavery Act. (From the Daily Bleed)

Rockefeller as an Industrial Emperor, Puck magazine, 1901

 October 17, 1877 – John D. Rockefeller cut a contract with Pennsylvania Railroad, giving his Standard Oil Company a rebate on all freight carried by the line. The arrangement allowed him to monopolize virtually all oil production & transportation in the US. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1905 – Czar Nicholas II, faced with rising peasant uprisings and a General Strike in the cities, signed the Manifesto of October 17, promising civil liberties. The peasants and workers continued to riot. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1922 – Unemployed workers marched from Glasgow to London. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1939 – Warren Billings, labor activist, and falsely imprisoned for the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing, was finally released from Folsom Prison. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1950 – The "Salt of the Earth" zinc mine strike began in Silver City, New Mexico. The strike lasted for 14-months and inspired the film “Salt of the Earth,” which was blacklisted. (From the Daily Bleed)

(See the remaining snippets from the film “Salt of the Earth” here)

October 17, 1961 – Police massacred between 200 and 300 Algerians protesting against police oppression and the curfew imposed against their community in Paris. Police searched the Algerian ghettos for FLN members, indiscriminately killing dozens of innocent Algerians before turning their guns on a large group of protesters gathered near the Seine River. The next day, the police released an official death toll of three dead and 67 wounded, a figure disputed by witnesses who observe bodies littering the area and floating in the Seine. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 17, 1977 – Nationwide wildcat hospital strikes occurred throughout Italy in protest of a sell-out settlement signed by the unions. Workers set out their own demands and battled police until the army was called in. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 11

1916 Preparedness Day bombing, San Francisco

September 11, 1916 – The trial of labor activist Warren Billings began in San Francisco on trumped up charges stemming from the Preparedness Day parade bombing. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 1925 – Thee IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) marine strike began. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 1973 – The CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende, ending nearly 150 years of democratic rule. Also killed in the coup were folk singer Victor Jara, and American IWW journalist Frank Teruggi. Jara courageously continued singing Venceremos (We Shall Win) while he lay on the ground, hands broken by his torturers, as they slaughtered hundreds in the national stadium. 16 years of military terror followed under Pinochet. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 11, 2001 - The World Trade Center was attacked in New York City, killing hundreds of workers and setting into motion a decade of U.S. initiated terror on civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and domestic repression within the U.S.