Labor History Timeline--Insurrection, Palmer Raids and WWI

1918    Ginger Goodwin Assassination: A hired private policeman shot United Mine Workers Organizer Ginger Goodwin outside Cumberland, B.C. (Source: AFGE)

1919    Fannie Sellins Assassination: Company guards gunned down United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. (Source: AFGE)

Chaos during Boston police strike and riot

1919    Boston Police Strike and Riot: On September 19, looting, rioting, and sporadic violence broke out in downtown and South Boston after 1,117 policemen declared a work stoppage. Governor Calvin Coolidge brought in the entire state militia to put down the strike. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)

1919    The Great Steel Strike: nearly 400,000 steelworkers went on strike for union recognition on September 22, ultimately failing. Martial law was declared in Gary, IN. Troops were called to several cities. (Sources: AFGE, Rense.com)

1919    Centralia Massacre: Legionnaires attacked a Centralia, Washington IWW hall and then lynched IWW organizer Wesley Everest. (Sources: AFGE, Wikipedia, IWW)

Newspaper clipping during Seattle General Strike

1919    Seattle General Strike: After two years of frozen wages due to the war, over 65,000 workers went on strike in Seattle for higher wages, joined by members of both the AFL and the IWW. The strike was a virtual commune, with the General Strike Committee taking over most governmental functions, including providing food and security. Mayor Hanson brought the strike to an end by threatening violence with soldiers, cops and several thousand deputized UW students. (Sources: Wikipedia, Seattle General Strike Project, Seattle Times, Lib com)

1919    Red Scare Begins—Approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare," or “Palmer Raids.” Woodrow Wilson's Attorney General,  A. Mitchell Palmer, ultimately arrested nearly 6,000 people on suspicion of "communism." Those who were not U.S. citizens were deported as "undesirable aliens." (Sources: AFGE, Workday Minnesota,Daily Bleed)

1920    Anaconda Road Massacre: On April, 21, Anaconda Copper company guards in Butte, Montana opened fire on striking IWW miners, killing 1 and injuring 16 others. (Sources: Wikipedia)

1920    Matewan Battle: Ten people were killed when coal company officials in Matewan, West Virginia, tried to remove striking union workers from coal company housing. They sent in agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency who evicted several families before trying to hop on a train out of town. Sheriff Hatfield, who supported the miners’ right to organize, tried to arrest the detectives who, in turn, tried to arrest Hatfield. Unbeknownst to the detectives, they had been surrounded by miners. No one knows who shot first, but when the smoke had cleared, there were 7 dead detectives (including Albert and Lee Felts) and 4 dead townspeople. Miners were typically forced to live in company towns and purchase living necessities from company stores at inflated prices. They were paid in scrip, which was useless outside of the company towns. In the time leading up to the Battle of Matewan, numerous miners had been assassinated by vigilantes, goons or detectives. In the aftermath of the massacre, the miners went on strike and were treated to even more violence. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia,Daily Bleed, Modern School and Matewanwv.com)

1920    Alabama Coal Strike: This was a statewide strike by the United Mine Workers that was marred by racial violence and ended in defeat for the union. UMW was already integrated by this time, which was offensive both to white racists, and black assimilationists. Several people were killed during the strike, most of whom were black workers. (Sources: Wikipedia)

Miners with bomb that had been dropped on them 

1921    Battle of Blair Mountain: Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were murdered by Baldwin-Feltz private cops for their role in the Matewan labor battle in 1920, when two Feltz family thugs were killed by Hatfield and his deputies. They were executed on the Welch County court house steps in front of their wives, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain, where 20,000 coal miners marched to the anti-union stronghold Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the first time that American citizens were aerially bombarded by their own government. (Sources: the Daily Bleed, Wikipedia,Workday Minnesota)

1922    The Herrin Massacre (June 22): striking coal miners killed 20 guards and strikebreakers in Herrin, Illinois in retaliation for the murder of three of their own. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)

A. Phillip Randolph, 1946

1925    The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded by A. Phillip Randolph and others, was the nation's first African American union. The AFL, which proclaimed support for Randolph's efforts, historically excluded African Americans from its membership. (Source: AFGE)

1927    Columbine Massacre: 6 unarmed mine workers were machine-gunned down in Serene, Colorado, either by police or company guards, during a weeks-long strike at the Columbine Mine. (Sources: Wikipedia)

Today in Labor History—September 2

September 2, 1872 – 1,200 workers struck the Cavite shipyards and arsenal in the Philippines — the first recorded strike in the nation's history. (From theDaily Bleed)

September 2, 1917 – Wobblies, (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) were mass arrested on orders of Attorney General Palmer. (From theDaily Bleed)

 

Sheriffs Getting Ready to Attack Miners During the Battle of Blair Mountain

One of the Bombs Dropped on Striking Miners

September 2, 1921 – The Battle of Blair Mountain ended on this date in 1921, with the U.S. government bombing striking coal miners by plane, the first time the U.S. government used planes to bomb its own citizens. The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in U.S. history and the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. The uprising lasted 5 days and involved 10,000-15,000 coal miners confronting an army of scabs and police. The battle came as mine owners tried to crush attempts by coal miners to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. From the late 1800s, mine owners forced workers to live in company towns, where rent was deducted from their wages and they were paid in scrip, which was accepted only at the overpriced company stores and was worthless everywhere else. The work was very dangerous and safety equipment and precautions were minimal. The mine owners had a long tradition of using private detectives and goons to spy on workers, infiltrate their meetings, rough them up, and block any attempts to unionize. The battle began after Sheriff Sid Hatfield (an ally of the miners and hero from the Battle of Matewan) was assassinated by Baldwin-Felts agents. Much of the region was still under martial law as a result of the Battle of Matewan. Miners began to leave the mountains armed and ready for battle. Mother Jones tried to dissuade them from marching into Logan and Mingo Counties, fearing a bloodbath. Many accused her of losing her nerve. The miners ignored her and a battle ensued between miners and cops, private detectives, scabs and eventually the U.S. military. (From Workday Minnesota,Wikipedia and the Daily Bleed)

September 1936-May 1937 – There were 477 sit-down strikes, involving 500,000 American workers, between September 1936 and May 1937. (From the Daily Bleed)
September 2, 1936 – The Macbeth Mine exploded killing 10 workers at the Hutchinson Coal Company mine in Logan County, West Virginia (See Battle of Blair Mountain, above). Six months later it exploded again, on March 11, killing 18 more. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1945 -- Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent from France. (From the Daily Bleed)
September 2, 1956 – National Guardsmen were dispatched to Clinton, Tennessee after a series of violent demonstrations made it impossible to carry out desegregation. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1963 – Alabama governor George C. Wallace blocked the integration of Tuskegee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, by encircling the building with state troopers. Eight days later, President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard, forcing Wallace to abandon his efforts to block the desegregation. (From the Daily Bleed)

Sep 2, 1974 – The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted, setting minimum standards for most private-sector pension and health plans. (From Shmoop Labor History Calendar)

Hamlet Chicken Plant Disaster: Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra

September 2, 1991 - Twenty-five workers were killed by a fire at the nonunion Imperial Foods poultry processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Bosses had locked and blocked the doors in violation of the law, leaving the workers no escape. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—August 7

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

August 7, 1890 - Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was born in Concord, New Hampshire. Flynn was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World and author of Sabotage: the Conscious Withdrawal of Workers Efficiency.  (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

Flynn was the inspiration for Joe Hill's classic "Rebel Girl"

August 7, 1894 – Eugene Debs and three other union leaders were arrested following the Pullman Strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1900 – The anarchist periodical "Regeneración" made its debut in Mexico. It was published by the Flores Magón brothers (Jesus & Ricardo), along with Licenciado Antonio Horcasitas; edited by Jesus Flores Magón & Eugene L. Arnoux. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cover of the September 3, 1910 issue of Regeneracion

August 7, 1919 – A month-long actors' strike shut down all theatres. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1919 – The Republic of the Councils of Hungary in Budapest was crushed by foreign reactionaries. On August 5, 30,000 Romanian troops entered the capital and began a reign of terror. They massacred a thousand workers in Csepel, on August 10. Thousands of Communists, socialists, unionists and innocent civilians were rounded up by fascist gangs, and then beaten, tortured and killed. (From the Daily Bleed)

Bela Kun, a leader of the 1919 Soviet Revolution

August 7, 1921 – One thousand miners presented West Virginia Governor Morgan with a resolution calling for an end to martial law in Mingo County. Over the course of 1921 West Virginia miners had been fighting with mine guards, police, hired thugs and federal troops, including the Matewan massacre and the Battle of Blair Mountain. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1931 – Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led a strike at the Boulder Canyon Project. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1973 – Four thousand Guatemalans marched in solidarity with striking teachers, sparking widespread union organizing in Guatemala City. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 1

Frank Little, IWW Organizer

August 1, 1917 – IWW organizer Frank Little was lynched in Butte, Montana. Little, a Native American, was kidnapped from his home by six Anaconda Copper Company thugs, dragged by a car and hanged from a railroad trestle. (From Workday Minnesota)

Striking miners display a bomb dropped by anti-union sheriff Don Chafin

August 1, 1921 – Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were murdered by Baldwin-Feltz private cops their part in the Matewan labor battle in 1920, when two Feltz family thugs were killed by Hatfield and his deputies. They were executed on the Welch County court house steps in front of their wives. This led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, where 20,000 coal miners marched to the anti-union stronghold Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. The Battle of Blair Mountain started in September 1921. Coal company thugs dropped bombs on the miners from planes on September 2. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 1, 1938 - Police opened fire on 200 unarmed trade unionists protesting the unloading of a ship in Hilo Harbor, on the Big Island of Hawaii, in what became known as "the Hilo Massacre." The protest was in support of striking waterfront workers. 50 workers were injured. Police also used tear gas and bayonets. (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

Is The OWS Movement Too Nice?

OWS Poster (Image from Flickr, by Takomabibelot)

Aside from the few allegations of protesters throwing paint, smashing windows, or spray painting buildings, the tactics of the OWS have been pretty peaceful, mellow and nice. Sure, it troubles some that they have persistently tried to live outdoors in public where their frustration and anger are clearly visible to all, or that they have shut down a few terminals of a few ports for a few hours, costing a few companies a few million dollars. But let’s be honest, when compared with protests of the past, particularly those occurring during the Great Depression and the numerous violent mining and train strikes between 1870s and 1920s, the OWS movement has been pretty damned pleasant and nonthreatening. Consider the following historical examples:

The Great Upheaval of 1877

“There was a time in the history of France when the poor found themselves oppressed to such an extent that forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and hundreds of heads tumbled into the basket. That time may have arrived with us.”

These words were spoken by a cooper to a crowd of 10,000 workers in St. Louis, armed with lathes and clubs, participating in the national wave of strikes known as the Great Upheaval.  Other speakers in St. Louis openly called for the use of arms and violence, not only to defend themselves against the violence of the militias and police hired by the bosses to suppress the Great Strike, but for outright revolutionary aims:

“All you have to do. . .” said one speaker, “is to unite on one idea—that the workingmen shall rule this country. What man makes, belongs to him, and the workingmen made this country.”

St. Louis Commune, 1877 Great Upheaval

The Great Upheaval began in the fourth year of the nation’s worst depression in history. It came in the wake of great accumulation and concentration of wealth by a few major capitalists, particularly the railroad owners. In 1862, Congress granted them huge swaths of land. In 1863, they passed the National Banking Act, which greatly increased the wealth and power of financial capitalists.

The Great Upheaval began in Martinsburg, WV, on July 16, 1877, when the B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad slashed wages by 10%. The train crews refused to work, drove out the police and occupied the rail yards. Local townspeople backed the strikers. When the militia was sent in to run the trains, the strikers and their supporters derailed the trains and guarded the switches at gunpoint. While they halted all freight movement, they continued to move mail and passengers, thus maintaining public support. When militia reinforcements were sent in, most mutinied or refused to fight, as they were sympathetic to the workers. (For more, see here, here and here).

1892    Frisco Mine was dynamited by striking Coeur D’Alene miners after they discovered they had been infiltrated by Pinkertons and after one of their members had been shot. Prior to this, the mine owners had increased work hours, decreased pay and brought in a bunch of scabs to replace striking workers. Ultimately, over 600 striking miners were imprisoned without charge by the military in order to crush the strike. (Sources: Wikipedia; Fire in the Hole)

1899    Bunker Hill: Bloody strikes had been going on at this and other Idaho mines over the course of the 1890s. The mine owners had been using scabs, Pinkertons, armed goons, soldiers, lock-outs and other tactics to squeeze the workers and crush their union. In retaliation, the miners loaded a train with dynamite and delivered it to the Bunker Hill mine in 1899, killing one scab and one WFM member. (Sources: Laborers.org; Wikipedia)

1920    Matewan Battle: Ten people were killed when coal company officials in Matewan, West Virginia, tried to remove striking union workers from company housing, sending agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency. Sheriff Hatfield, who supported the miners’ right to organize, tried to arrest the detectives who, in turn, tried to arrest Hatfield. Unbeknownst to the detectives, they had been surrounded by miners. When the smoke had cleared, there were 7 dead detectives (including Albert and Lee Felts) and 4 dead townspeople. In the time leading up to the Battle of Matewan, numerous miners had been assassinated by vigilantes, goons or detectives. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia, Daily Bleed and Matewanwv.com)

Miners with Bomb Dropped by U.S.

1921    the Battle of Blair Mountain: 20,000 coal miners marched to the anti-union stronghold Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in U.S. history and the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War, lasting 5 days and involving 10,000-15,000 coal miners confronting an army of scabs and police. The battle began after Sheriff Sid Hatfield (an ally of the miners and hero from the Battle of Matewan) was assassinated by Baldwin-Felts agents. Much of the region was still under martial law as a result of the Battle of Matewan. Miners began to leave the mountains armed and ready for battle. Mother Jones tried to dissuade them from marching into Logan and Mingo Counties, fearing a bloodbath. Many accused her of losing her nerve. The miners ignored her and a battle ensued between miners and cops, private detectives, scabs and eventually the U.S. military. The uprising was quashed after aerial bombardment by the U.S. government. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia and the Daily Bleed) (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 4, 1933 – Angered by increasing farm foreclosures, members of Iowa's Farmers Holiday Association threatened to lynch banking representatives and law officials who instituted foreclosure proceedings for the duration of the Depression. In April, 600 farmers battled the sheriff and his deputies to prevent a foreclosure. A group of farmers dragged a district judge from his chair, put a rope around his neck, and threaten to hang him unless he promised not to issue any more eviction notices. That same month, state officers in Crawford County were beaten, prompting the Iowa governor to declare martial law in three counties and send in the National Guard. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 2

September 2, 1872 – 1,200 workers struck the Cavite shipyards and arsenal in the Philippines — the first recorded strike in the nation's history. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1917 – Wobblies, (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) were mass arrested on orders of Attorney General Palmer. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

Sheriffs Getting Ready to Attack Miners During the Battle of Blair Mountain

One of the Bombs Dropped on Striking Miners

September 2, 1921 – The Battle of Blair Mountain ended on this date in 1921, with the U.S. government bombing striking coal miners by plane, the first time the U.S. government used planes to bomb its own citizens. The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in U.S. history and the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. The uprising lasted 5 days and involved 10,000-15,000 coal miners confronting an army of scabs and police. The battle came as mine owners tried to crush attempts by coal miners to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. From the late 1800s, mine owners forced workers to live in company towns, where rent was deducted from their wages and they were paid in scrip, which was accepted only at the overpriced company stores and was worthless everywhere else. The work was very dangerous and safety equipment and precautions were minimal. The mine owners had a long tradition of using private detectives and goons to spy on workers, infiltrate their meetings, rough them up, and block any attempts to unionize. The battle began after Sheriff Sid Hatfield (an ally of the miners and hero from the Battle of Matewan) was assassinated by Baldwin-Felts agents. Much of the region was still under martial law as a result of the Battle of Matewan. Miners began to leave the mountains armed and ready for battle. Mother Jones tried to dissuade them from marching into Logan and Mingo Counties, fearing a bloodbath. Many accused her of losing her nerve. The miners ignored her and a battle ensued between miners and cops, private detectives, scabs and eventually the U.S. military. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia and the Daily Bleed)

September 1936-May 1937 – There were 477 sit-down strikes, involving 500,000 American workers, between September 1936 and May 1937. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1936 – The Macbeth Mine exploded killing 10 workers at the Hutchinson Coal Company mine in Logan County, West Virginia (See Battle of Blair Mountain, above). Six months later it exploded again, on March 11, killing 18 more. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1945 -- Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent from France. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1956 – National Guardsmen were dispatched to Clinton, Tennessee after a series of violent demonstrations made it impossible to carry out desegregation. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 2, 1963 – Alabama governor George C. Wallace blocked the integration of Tuskegee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, by encircling the building with state troopers. Eight days later, President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard, forcing Wallace to abandon his efforts to block the desegregation. (From the Daily Bleed)

Sep 2, 1974 – The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted, setting minimum standards for most private-sector pension and health plans. (From Shmoop Labor History Calendar)

Hamlet Chicken Plant Disaster: Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra

September 2, 1991 - Twenty-five workers were killed by a fire at the nonunion Imperial Foods poultry processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Bosses had locked and blocked the doors in violation of the law, leaving the workers no escape. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—August 7

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

August 7, 1890 - Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was born in Concord, New Hampshire. Flynn was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World and author of Sabotage: the Conscious Withdrawal of Workers Efficiency.  (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

Flynn was the inspiration for Joe Hill's classic "Rebel Girl"

August 7, 1894 – Eugene Debs and three other union leaders were arrested following the Pullman Strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1900 – The anarchist periodical "Regeneración" made its debut in Mexico. It was published by the Flores Magón brothers (Jesus & Ricardo), along with Licenciado Antonio Horcasitas; edited by Jesus Flores Magón & Eugene L. Arnoux. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cover of the September 3, 1910 issue of Regeneracion

August 7, 1919 – A month-long actors' strike shut down all theatres. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1919 – The Republic of the Councils of Hungary in Budapest was crushed by foreign reactionaries. On August 5, 30,000 Romanian troops entered the capital and began a reign of terror. They massacred a thousand workers in Csepel, on August 10. Thousands of Communists, socialists, unionists and innocent civilians were rounded up by fascist gangs, and then beaten, tortured and killed. (From the Daily Bleed)

Bela Kun, a leader of the 1919 Soviet Revolution

August 7, 1921 – One thousand miners presented West Virginia Governor Morgan with a resolution calling for an end to martial law in Mingo County. Over the course of 1921 West Virginia miners had been fighting with mine guards, police, hired thugs and federal troops, including the Matewan massacre and the Battle of Blair Mountain. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1931 – Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led a strike at the Boulder Canyon Project. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 7, 1973 – Four thousand Guatemalans marched in solidarity with striking teachers, sparking widespread union organizing in Guatemala City. (From the Daily Bleed)