Today in Labor History—May 20

May 20, 1639 – The first American public school was established in Dorchester, Mass. (From the Daily Bleed)

1776 portrait of Brant

May 20, 1776 – The Mohawks, under Joseph Brandt, defeated Americans at the Battle of the Cedars. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1911 – The anarchist Magonistas of the Partido Liberal Mexicano published a proclamation calling for the peasants to take collective possession of the land in the territories of Baja California. They had already defeated government forces there. Members of the IWW traveled south to help them. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1926 –The Railway Labor Act was enacted in the wake of strikes and federal seizures of the railroads. The law guaranteed collective bargaining rights to railroad workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1938 – 500 unemployed workers began a sit-down strike in Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, BC. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1946 – The U.S. government took over control of the coal mines (again). (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1950 – A general strike and rebellion began in Bolivia. It was put down two days later. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1963 – White mobs attacked the "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama. President Kennedy sent 400 US marshals to Alabama to protect Freedom Riders. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1980 – Koreans rose up in Kwangju against the repressive U.S.-supported government. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1989 – Martial law was declared in Beijing to quell the pro-democracy movement and massive student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--May 14

Robert Owen portrait by John Cranch

May 14, 1771 – Utopianist-socialist Robert Owen was born on this day in Wales. (From the Daily Bleed)

William Walker photo. by Mathew Brady

May 14, 1856 – U.S. President Franklin Pierce unofficially "recognized" the proslavery dictatorship of Nicaragua, by the American pirate William Walker. Walker was later deposed after interfering with Cornelius Vanderbilt's transportation network. (Vanderbilt ran the transcontinental transport between the Atlantic and the Pacific, the predecessor to the Panamanian Canal. Walker would ultimately be executed and buried in Trujillo, Honduras, after a failed takeover of Central America. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1932 – “We Want Beer" marches were held throughout the U.S. 15,000 unionized workers demonstrated in Detroit. Prohibition was repealed within a year. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1940 – Emma Goldman (1869-1940) died in Toronto  at the age of 70. She had been raising money for anti-Franco forces in Spain. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14 , 1953 — Milwaukee brewery workers began a 10-week strike, demanding contracts comparable to East and West coast workers. They won when Blatz Brewery accepted their demands. Blatz was later ousted from the Brewers Association for “unethical” business methods. (From the Unionist)

May 14, 1960 –Police beat 200 anti-HUAC protesters in San Francisco, California. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1961 –The first group of Freedom Riders had their bus bombed & burned in Alabama. Segregationist mobs shot out the tires and threw smoke bombs into the bus. Trapped occupants were attacked with sticks. Doctors at the local hospital refused to treat the wounded. (From the Daily Bleed and Workday Minnesota)

May 14, 1968 – Sorbonne students occupied the university. Workplace occupations are started through France. Factories were occupied in Nantes. By the end of May, over 10 million workers had been involved in occupations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1970 – Two African-American students were gunned down and 10 others were wounded when state police fired into a woman's dorm at Jackson State during anti-war demonstrations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1980 – 600 Salvadoran refugees were killed attempting to cross the Sumpul River from El Salvador to Honduras by government soldiers from both countries. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—May 20

May 20, 1639 – The first American public school was established in Dorchester, Mass. (From the Daily Bleed)

1776 portrait of Brant

May 20, 1776 – The Mohawks, under Joseph Brandt, defeated Americans at the Battle of the Cedars. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1911 – The anarchist Magonistas of the Partido Liberal Mexicano published a proclamation calling for the peasants to take collective possession of the land in the territories of Baja California. They had already defeated government forces there. Members of the IWW traveled south to help them. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1926 –The Railway Labor Act was enacted in the wake of strikes and federal seizures of the railroads. The law guaranteed collective bargaining rights to railroad workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1938 – 500 unemployed workers began a sit-down strike in Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, BC. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1946 – The U.S. government took over control of the coal mines (again). (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1950 – A general strike and rebellion began in Bolivia. It was put down two days later. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1963 – White mobs attacked the "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama. President Kennedy sent 400 US marshals to Alabama to protect Freedom Riders. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1980 – Koreans rose up in Kwangju against the repressive U.S.-supported government. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1989 – Martial law was declared in Beijing to quell the pro-democracy movement and massive student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--May 14

Robert Owen portrait by John Cranch

May 14, 1771 – Utopianist-socialist Robert Owen was born on this day in Wales. (From the Daily Bleed)

William Walker photo. by Mathew Brady

May 14, 1856 – U.S. President Franklin Pierce unofficially "recognized" the proslavery dictatorship of Nicaragua, by the American pirate William Walker. Walker was later deposed after interfering with Cornelius Vanderbilt's transportation network. (Vanderbilt ran the transcontinental transport between the Atlantic and the Pacific, the predecessor to the Panamanian Canal. Walker would ultimately be executed and buried in Trujillo, Honduras, after a failed takeover of Central America. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1932 – “We Want Beer" marches were held throughout the U.S. 15,000 unionized workers demonstrated in Detroit. Prohibition was repealed within a year. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1940 – Emma Goldman (1869-1940) died in Toronto  at the age of 70. She had been raising money for anti-Franco forces in Spain. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14 , 1953 — Milwaukee brewery workers began a 10-week strike, demanding contracts comparable to East and West coast workers. They won when Blatz Brewery accepted their demands. Blatz was later ousted from the Brewers Association for “unethical” business methods. (From the Unionist)

May 14, 1960 –Police beat 200 anti-HUAC protesters in San Francisco, California. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1961 –The first group of Freedom Riders had their bus bombed & burned in Alabama. Segregationist mobs shot out the tires and threw smoke bombs into the bus. Trapped occupants were attacked with sticks. Doctors at the local hospital refused to treat the wounded. (From the Daily Bleed and Workday Minnesota)

May 14, 1968 – Sorbonne students occupied the university. Workplace occupations are started through France. Factories were occupied in Nantes. By the end of May, over 10 million workers had been involved in occupations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1970 – Two African-American students were gunned down and 10 others were wounded when state police fired into a woman's dorm at Jackson State during anti-war demonstrations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1980 – 600 Salvadoran refugees were killed attempting to cross the Sumpul River from El Salvador to Honduras by government soldiers from both countries. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—May 20

May 20, 1639 – The first American public school was established in Dorchester, Mass. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1776 – The Mohawks, under Joseph Brandt, defeated Americans at the Battle of the Cedars. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1911 – The anarchist Magonistas of the Partido Liberal Mexicano published a proclamation calling for the peasants to take collective possession of the land in the territories of Baja California. They had already defeated government forces there. Members of the IWW traveled south to help them. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1926 –The Railway Labor Act was enacted in the wake of strikes and federal seizures of the railroads. The law guaranteed collective bargaining rights to railroad workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1938 – 500 unemployed workers began a sit-down strike in Hotel Georgia, Vancouver, BC. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1946 – The U.S. government took over control of the coal mines (again). (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1950 – A general strike and rebellion began in Bolivia. It was put down two days later. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1963 – White mobs attacked the "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama. President Kennedy sent 400 US marshals to Alabama to protect Freedom Riders. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1980 – Koreans rose up in Kwangju against the repressive U.S.-supported government. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 20, 1989 – Martial law was declared in Beijing to quell the pro-democracy movement and massive student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--May 14

Robert Owen portrait by John Cranch

May 14, 1771 – Utopianist-socialist Robert Owen was born on this day in Wales. (From the Daily Bleed)

William Walker photo. by Mathew Brady

May 14, 1856 – U.S. President Franklin Pierce unofficially "recognized" the proslavery dictatorship of Nicaragua, by the American pirate William Walker. Walker was later deposed after interfering with Cornelius Vanderbilt's transportation network. (Vanderbilt ran the transcontinental transport between the Atlantic and the Pacific, the predecessor to the Panamanian Canal. Walker would ultimately be executed and buried in Trujillo, Honduras, after a failed takeover of Central America. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1932 – “We Want Beer" marches were held throughout the U.S. 15,000 unionized workers demonstrated in Detroit. Prohibition was repealed within a year. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1940 – Emma Goldman (1869-1940) died in Toronto  at the age of 70. She had been raising money for anti-Franco forces in Spain. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14 , 1953 — Milwaukee brewery workers began a 10-week strike, demanding contracts comparable to East and West coast workers. They won when Blatz Brewery accepted their demands. Blatz was later ousted from the Brewers Association for “unethical” business methods. (From the Unionist)

May 14, 1960 –Police beat 200 anti-HUAC protesters in San Francisco, California. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1961 –The first group of Freedom Riders had their bus bombed & burned in Alabama. Segregationist mobs shot out the tires and threw smoke bombs into the bus. Trapped occupants were attacked with sticks. Doctors at the local hospital refused to treat the wounded. (From the Daily Bleed and Workday Minnesota)

May 14, 1968 – Sorbonne students occupied the university. Workplace occupations are started through France. Factories were occupied in Nantes. By the end of May, over 10 million workers had been involved in occupations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1970 – Two African-American students were gunned down and 10 others were wounded when state police fired into a woman's dorm at Jackson State during anti-war demonstrations. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 14, 1980 – 600 Salvadoran refugees were killed attempting to cross the Sumpul River from El Salvador to Honduras by government soldiers from both countries. (From the Daily Bleed)

Alabama’s Tough New Anti-Union Laws—A Boon for Organizing?

Several tough new anti-teacher’s union laws were recently passed in Alabama, in the wake of an ethics investigation of education lobbyist Paul Hubbert. One law bans teachers from serving in the Statehouse. Another bans public employee unions that engage in lobbying from collecting dues through paycheck deductions.

While I oppose the use of members’ dues for lobbying, in fact I oppose lobbying and political action by unions, the laws are clearly unfair as they only target specific members of society. My understanding is that unions which do not lobby can still collect dues through payroll deductions. For those that choose to continue lobbying, the process of dues collection will become much more expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, potentially leading to devastating revenue shortfalls that could even bankrupt the unions.

There is a silver lining on this: Perhaps Alabama’s public employee unions will get out of the politics game, which they cannot win anyway (especially against the bottomless pockets of big business), and go back to the more effective and powerful tactics of organizing, educating and agitating their members and the communities that support them. It is important to remember that buying politicians does not necessarily get workers the laws and budgets that they want. But a well-organized union is a militant one and one that can mobilize quickly to take actions that force the bosses (and politicians) to bend.