Today in Labor History—January 25

Shays' Rebellion

January 25, 1787 – Daniel Shays and 800 followers marched to Springfield, Massachusetts to seize the Federal arsenal during Shays’ rebellion. They were ultimately defeated by the Massachusetts State militia. The rebellion, which began in August, was an attempt to end the imprisonment of farmers for debts, confiscation of their lands and other attempts by the wealthy to make the poor pay for the Revolutionary War. Many of Shays’ followers were tried, convicted & hung for treason, though Shays fled to Vermont and was eventually pardoned. The U.S. Constitution was written in the wake of Shays’ rebellion and designed in part to prevent other similar uprisings by the common people against slave owners, bankers, landlords and businessmen. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

Hazleton, PA Coal Miners, 1905 (Library of Congress)

January 25, 1890 - The United Mine Workers Union was founded in Columbus, Ohio on this date. Their constitution prohibited racial, religious and ethnic discrimination. (From Workday Minnesota)

January 25, 1915—The Supreme Court upheld "yellow dog" contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. Yellow dog contracts remained valid until the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932. (Lutins.org and the Daily Bleed)

January 25, 1926 — 16,000 textile workers went on strike in Passaic, N.J. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 25, 1930 – New York City police assaulted a Communist rally. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 7

Antonio Maceo (Wikipedia, public domain)

December 7, 1896 – Antonio Maceo (1848-1896), the "Titan of Bronze" Cuban revolutionary leader, died from wounds after 27 fights in 92 days. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1896 - The International Union of Operating Engineers was founded. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 7, 1905 – A general uprising began on this date, collapsing 23 days later, with over 1,000 dead. More than 150,000 workers participated in aGeneral Strike as part of the uprising. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1918 – 100,000 textile workers went on strike in Lancashire, England. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1928 – Noam Chomsky was born on this date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (from the Daily Bleed).

December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor was attacked, leading to the U.S. entry into World War II and the second mass slaughter of millions of working people to protect the interests of capital.

(From Workday Minnesota)

December 7, 1949 – The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions was founded, London. (from the Daily Bleed).

December 7, 1995 – Up to 1.75 million striking French workers demonstrated in marches that shut down the country as part of a series of General Strikesagainst government cutbacks & global exploitation of workers. (from the Daily Bleed).

December 7, 2010--Julian Assange was arrested in London and the U.S. declared war on Wikileaks.(from the Daily Bleed).

Today in Labor History-October 27

October 27, 1904 - The New York City subway opened on this date in 1904. The first rapid-transit system in America ran its first route from City Hall to Grand Central Station, then west to Times Square and north to 145th Street. Over 100 workers died building the first 13 miles of the system. (FromWorkday Minnesota)

October 27, 1912 -- Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) was born on this date in Texarkana, Arkansas. Nancarrow was an avant guard composer, who also fought in the Lincoln Brigades against the Franco dictatorship, and an anarchist activist. He eventually fled the U.S.  to México City to avoid being arrested for his former Communist affiliations. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 27, 1920 – 40,000 Philadelphia textile workers were fired in an attempt to purge the factories of “radicals.” (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 27

Lowell MA Textile Girls, c1870 (public domain)

September 27, 1875 - Textile workers struck in Fall River, Massachusetts, demanding bread for their starving children. Approximately one in six children between the ages of 10 and 15 was working during the second half of the 19^thcentury, primarily in textile mills, print shops, coal mines and factories. (FromWorkday Minnesota)

September 27, 1940 – FDR met with A. Philip Randolph, president of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Walter White, executive secretary NAACP, and T. Arnold Hill, acting secretary of the National Urban League, to demand the desegregation of the armed forces. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 27, 1950 – President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation's railroads to prevent a General Strike. The railroads were held by the military for two years. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 27, 1954 - A U.S. Senate Committee censured Joe McCarthy, bringing to an end the witch hunts (not). (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—September 22

(From the New York World)

September 22, 1919 - Almost 400,000 steelworkers in 50 cities struck to protest intolerable working conditions. Union leaders believed that if they could organizer the steel workers, it would lead to a massive wave of unionization across the country. Thus began the Great Steel Strike of 1919. The bosses called upon the federal troops and crushed the strike after 3½ months, killing twenty-two people in the process. (From Workday Minnesota)

Miners arriving to join in the Battle of Blair Mountain

 September 22, 1922 – Martial law was ended in Mingo County, West Virginia, after overwhelming force by mine owners’ goons, police and U.S. troops suppressed the mining strike there. (Also see the Battle of Blair Mountain)  (From the Daily Bleed)

September 22, 1934 – The United Textile Workers (UTW) strike committee ordered strikers back to work, bring to an end "the greatest single industrial conflict in the history of American organized labor." However, the Southern employers continued to try to bust the textile unions and their ongoing agitation occurring along the Eastern seaboard. 10,000 National Guardsmen were mobilized in Georgia and the Carolinas, Alabama, & Mississippi, with an additional army of 15,000 armed deputies. Despite the overwhelming show of force, it is estimated that 421,000 textile workers had joined the strike, an increase of 20,000 new strikers in just one week. In response, martial law was declared in Georgia and the National Guardsmen started to arrest and jail large numbers of strikers without charge, holding them in World War I concentration camps. 13 strikers were killed and 34 strike leaders were held incommunicado. (From the Daily Bleed and Jeremy Brecher, Strike! p176)

September 22, 1935 – 400,000 coal workers went on strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 22, 1946 – 4,000 workers marched in Valleyfield, Quebec to protest the arrest of Medeliene Parent, a leader of the dominion textile strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 18

September 18, 1934 -- Textile workers went on a General Strike on the east coast, with 325,000 striking in the south and 421,000 striking nationwide. 1.5 million struck in various industries in 1934. There was also a growing anti-war movement, with 25,000 students striking against the war in 1934, while 500,000 students participated in anti-war demonstrations in 1936. (From theDaily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 17

Battle of Antietam, Library of Congress

September 17, 1862 – The Battle of Antietam in western Maryland was bloodiest single day in the American Civil War, resulting in over 23,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 17, 1862 – The Allegheny Arsenal exploded, killing seventy-five workers, including 43 girls—the worst industrial accident associated with the Civil War.

September 17, 1871 – The International Workingman’s Association (IWA) held their conference in London, from September 17-23. It was the first Communist International. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 17, 1900 – 100,000 Pennsylvania anthracite coal miners went on strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 17, 1901 – Twenty-five anarchists and their families were terrorized and driven out of town by patriotic citizens in Guffey Hollow, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

September 17, 1934 – Southern employers met in Greenville, North Carolina, to plan a counter-offensive to bust the textile labor strikes along the Eastern seaboard. An army of 10,000 National Guardsmen and 15,000 armed deputies was subsequently mobilized in Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama and Mississippi. The show of force failed, however, as 421,000 struck the following day. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 17, 1989 – The year-long Pittston Coal strike began on this date, as 98 miners and a minister occupied the Pittston Coal Company's Moss 3 preparation plant in Carbo, Virginia. The strike began after Pittston terminated health benefits for retirees, widows and disabled miners. State troopers were called in to arrest strikers after violent conflicts occurred, yet the struggle barely made the news the U.S. The United Mineworkers (UMWA) ultimately won, and the Pittston strike became one of the few labor victories of the 1980s. (FromWorkday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—September 13

September 13, 1934 – 3 workers died during a strike in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, fighting for a minimum wage for textile workers. Over the course of September, more than 420,000 workers joined the strike. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 13, 1971 -- One thousand National Guardsmen, State Troopers, and local police stormed Attica Prison in New York, after a breakdown in negotiations between officials and prisoners. Governor Rockefeller ordered the attack, which resulted in the deaths of 34 inmates and nine hostages. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—July 25

July 25, 1867 – Karl Marx's Das Kapital first appeared in Germany. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 25, 1890 - After striking for seven months, New York garment workers won the right to unionize and secured a closed shop and the firing of all scabs. (From Workday Minnesota)

July 25, 1902 – Danbury Hatters (U.S.) struck at D.E. Loewe & Co. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 25, 1904 – 25,000 textile workers went on strike in Massachusetts. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—January 25

Shays' Rebellion

January 25, 1787 – Daniel Shays and 800 followers marched to Springfield, Massachusetts to seize the Federal arsenal during Shays’ rebellion. They were ultimately defeated by the Massachusetts State militia. The rebellion, which began in August, was an attempt to end the imprisonment of farmers for debts, confiscation of their lands and other attempts by the wealthy to make the poor pay for the Revolutionary War. Many of Shays’ followers were tried, convicted & hung for treason, though Shays fled to Vermont and was eventually pardoned. The U.S. Constitution was written in the wake of Shays’ rebellion and designed in part to prevent other similar uprisings by the common people against slave owners, bankers, landlords and businessmen. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

Hazleton, PA Coal Miners, 1905 (Library of Congress)

January 25, 1890 - The United Mine Workers Union was founded in Columbus, Ohio on this date. Their constitution prohibited racial, religious and ethnic discrimination. (From Workday Minnesota)

January 25, 1915—The Supreme Court upheld "yellow dog" contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. Yellow dog contracts remained valid until the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932. (Lutins.org and the Daily Bleed)

January 25, 1926 — 16,000 textile workers went on strike in Passaic, N.J. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 25, 1930 – New York City police assaulted a Communist rally. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 7

Antonio Maceo (Wikipedia, public domain)

December 7, 1896 – Antonio Maceo (1848-1896), the "Titan of Bronze" Cuban revolutionary leader, died from wounds after 27 fights in 92 days. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1896 - The International Union of Operating Engineers was founded. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 7, 1905 – A general uprising began on this date, collapsing 23 days later, with over 1,000 dead. More than 150,000 workers participated in a General Strike as part of the uprising. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1918 – 100,000 textile workers went on strike in Lancashire, England. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 7, 1928 – Noam Chomsky was born on this date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (from the Daily Bleed).

December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor was attacked, leading to the U.S. entry into World War II and the second mass slaughter of millions of working people to protect the interests of capital.

(From Workday Minnesota)

December 7, 1949 – The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions was founded, London. (from the Daily Bleed).

December 7, 1995 – Up to 1.75 million striking French workers demonstrated in marches that shut down the country as part of a series of General Strikes against government cutbacks & global exploitation of workers. (from the Daily Bleed).

Today in Labor History-October 27

October 27, 1904 - The New York City subway opened on this date in 1904. The first rapid-transit system in America ran its first route from City Hall to Grand Central Station, then west to Times Square and north to 145th Street. Over 100 workers died building the first 13 miles of the system. (From Workday Minnesota)

October 27, 1912 -- Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) was born on this date in Texarkana, Arkansas. Nancarrow was an avant guard composer, who also fought in the Lincoln Brigades against the Franco dictatorship, and an anarchist activist. He eventually fled the U.S.  to México City to avoid being arrested for his former Communist affiliations. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 27, 1920 – 40,000 Philadelphia textile workers were fired in an attempt to purge the factories of “radicals.” (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 27

Lowell MA Textile Girls, c1870 (public domain)

September 27, 1875 - Textile workers struck in Fall River, Massachusetts, demanding bread for their starving children. Approximately one in six children between the ages of 10 and 15 was working during the second half of the 19^th century, primarily in textile mills, print shops, coal mines and factories. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 27, 1940 – FDR met with A. Philip Randolph, president of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Walter White, executive secretary NAACP, and T. Arnold Hill, acting secretary of the National Urban League, to demand the desegregation of the armed forces. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 27, 1950 – President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation's railroads to prevent a General Strike. The railroads were held by the military for two years. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 27, 1954 - A U.S. Senate Committee censured Joe McCarthy, bringing to an end the witch hunts (not). (From Workday Minnesota)