Today in Labor History—December 10

Portrait of Spies, prior to his execution on trumped up murder charges

December 10, 1865 – August Spies, anarchist labor organizer and Haymarket martyr was born on this date. Spies once said, "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today." (From the Daily Bleed)

December 10, 1906 – The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) launched the first sit-down strike in the U.S. at a General Electric plant in Schenectady, New York. Their method was later adopted by the labor movement in the 1930s, with the Flint Sit-Down Strike being the most well-known.