Today in Labor History—March 7

Lynn Shoemakers Strike, 1860 (Image from libcom)

March 7, 1860 – 6,000 shoemakers were joined by 20,000 other New England workers in a mass strike in Lynn, Massachusetts. Also known as the great New England shoemakers strike, thousands of women marched through a blizzard carrying signs saying: "American Ladies Will Not Be Slaves." Within a month, shoe manufacturers offered higher wages to bring strikers back to the factories, but continued to refuse to recognize a union. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 7, 1868 - The Knights of St. Crispin and the Daughters of St. Crispin organized to win regulation of the use of machinery in the shoe industry, which threatened handcrafted work. (From Workday Minnesota)

Bolshevik Bombs Confiscated During the 1905 Peasant Uprising

 March 7, 1905 – A Russian peasant rebellion began, during which the peasants burned many castles of the nobility. (From the Daily Bleed)

Red Army Attacking Kronstadt

 March 7, 1921 – Select forces of the Red Army (commanded by Leon Trotsky) opened fire on the rebellious sailors, soldiers and workers of Kronstadt. Trotsky once said that “One can't make an omelet without breaking eggs." (From the Daily Bleed)

March 7, 1932 - More than 3,000 people, led by the United Auto Workers union, marched on the main Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, demanding that laid off workers be rehired, a slowdown of the assembly lines and an end to the evictions of unemployed workers from their homes. During the protests, police opened fire with machine guns, killing 4 and injuring 60. (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

March 7, 1942 – IWW founder and anarchist labor organizer Lucy Parsons died on this date in Chicago, Illinois. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 7, 1996 – A crowd of 3,000 workers destroyed the Freeport copper mine facilities in Tamika, Irian Jaya (West Papua), after a Dani clansman was run over by company security. The mine was shut down as community organizations prepared a list of demands protesting human rights violations, eco-terrorism and cultural genocide. Overnight, the world price of copper jumped from $15 to $2580 per ton. (From the Daily Bleed)