Today in Labor History—June 7

June 7, 1896 – A bomb exploded during a religious parade in Spain, killing a dozen people and wounding 30. The government response was to mass arrest anarchists, torturing hundreds in the Montjuich Prison. The severity of the government’s response sparked international protests. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cripple Creek under martial law, 1894

"Illegal" sheriffs' deputies under arrest, Cripple Creek, 1894

June 7, 1907 – The Colorado state militia was sent to Cripple Creek (again), to suppress a Western Federation of Miners (WFM) strike. A brutal strike occurred in Cripple Creek in 1894, the only time a state militia was called out in support of striking workers. There had been numerous firefights between striking workers and the mine owners’ private security forces, including the use of dynamite. The private cops had been terrorizing union members, their families and even local residents unaffiliated with the mines. The WFM won that strike, but it was short-lived, with the mine owners going on the offensive, particularly in 1903-1904, a period known as the Colorado Labor Wars. During this period, private detectives, goons, vigilantes, state militias and national guards were all used by the mine owners to attack the miners. On June 6, 1904, there was an explosion at the Independence mine that killed several nonunion miners. The Citizen’s Alliance brought in the National Guard, who, on June 7, shot into the WFM’s union hall. The Citizen’s Alliance also set up Kangaroo courts and convicted and deported nearly 240 miners who refused to renounce their union memberships. The Cripple Creek strike officially ended in December, 1907. However, the WFM’s struggle in Colorado helped inspire the creation of the even more radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), in 1905. One of the leaders of the WFM and Cripple Creek struggle, Big Bill Haywood, was also a founding member of the IWW. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

June 7, 1929 – Striking textile workers in Gastonia, North Carolina, fought off a vigilante attack on their union hall. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1968 – Violent clashes occurred between French workers at the Renault plant and police. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that clothing with the words "Fuck the Draft" was protected by the First amendment. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1991 – A three-week General Strike in Albania ended by bringing down the government. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 2001 – George Bush signed a $1.35-trillion tax cut, mostly for the rich. Not long after this “stimulus” plan was put into action, the economy, went further into the tank. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today In Labor History: April 3

April 3, 1913 - Pietro Botto, socialist mayor of Haledon, N.J., invited the Paterson silk mill strikers to assemble in front of his house. 20,000 showed up to hear speakers from the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Upton Sinclair, John Reed and others, who urged them to remain strong in their fight. (From Work Day Minnesota)

Strike leaders Patrick L. Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Bill Haywood.

 The Patterson strike lasted from Feb. 1 until July 28, 1913. Workers were fighting for the eight-hour workday and better working conditions. Over 1800 workers were arrested during the strike, including IWW leaders Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Five were killed. Overall, the strike was poorly organized and confined to Paterson. The IWW, the main organizer of the strike, eventually gave up. (From the IWW: Its First Seventy Years, by Fred Thompson and Patrick Murfin).

April 3, 1917 – After the U.S. declared war, sailors, escorted by police, destroyed the IWW building in Kansas City. The action inspired similar attacks in Detroit, Duluth and other towns that had a large IWW presence. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 3, 1948 – Cheju Massacre in Korea. Between1948 and 1949, one of the 20th century’s least known genocides occurred. On the island of Cheju-do, 30,000 civilians were massacred (10% of the island’s population) by the South Korean army, Cheju-do police and the U.S. military, in the name of fighting communism. However, the governor of Cheju told American intelligence that the real number was closer to 60,000. (From the Daily Bleed, with more information here and here.)

Today in Labor History—March 23

March 23, 1871 – Communes were proclaimed in Lyon and Marseilles. The Paris Commune began the day before. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 23, 1918 – 101 Wobblies (members of the Industrial Workers of the World, IWW) went on trial in Chicago for opposing World War I. They were tried for violating the Espionage Act. In September, 1917, 165 IWW leaders were arrested for conspiring to subvert the draft, and encourage desertion. Their trial lasted five months, the longest criminal trial in American history up to that time. The jury found them all guilty. The judge sentenced Big Bill Haywood and 14 others to 20 years in prison. 33 others were given 10 years each. They were also fined a total of $2,500,000. The trial virtually destroyed the IWW. Haywood jumped bail and fled to the USSR, where he remained until his death 10 years later. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 23, 1932—The Norris-La Guardia Act  proclaimed that yellow-dog contracts requiring workers to promise not to join a union were unenforceable. The law also limited the courts' ability to issue injunctions against strikes. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 23, 1970 - President Richard Nixon declared a national emergency and ordered 30,000 troops to New York City to break the first nationwide postal strike. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—February 17, 2012

February 17, 1879 – Russian nihilists unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Czar Alexander in St. Petersburg.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Big Bill Haywood

 February 17, 1906 - "Big Bill" Haywood and two others were arrested (kidnapped) for the murder of former Idaho Governor Frank Stuenenberg. Clarence Darrow successfully defended them, telling jurors, "If at the behest of this mob you should kill Bill Haywood, he is mortal, he will die, but I want to say that a million men will grab up the banner of labor where at the open grave Haywood lays it down . . ." (From Workday Minnesota)

Florence Kelley

 February 17, 1932 – Florence Kelley (b.1859) died on this date. Kelley was a social and political reformer who worked against sweatshops and fought for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays and children’s rights. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 17, 1936 – The United Rubber Workers launched a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 17, 1937 – Workers at Fansteel Corporation staged a sit-down strike for union recognition. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 17, 1996 – A 3-day UAW wildcat strike began at the Chrysler truck plant in Warren, Michigan. (From the Daily Bleed)

Labor History Timeline--Rise of IWW, Garment Workers and State/Employer Violence

Lucy Parsons

1905    The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) was founded on June 27, 1905, by Big Bill Hayward, Daniel De Leon, Eugene Debs, Lucy Parsons, Father Haggarty, Mother Jones, Ralph Chaplin and others, in part in response to the defeats of the WFM in Colorado, Utah and Idaho and in opposition to the conservative AFL. The IWW was not just a labor union fighting for better conditions for working people, but a revolutionary organization out to abolish the wage system and employer class completely. Like the Knights of Labor, they organized all workers into one big union and were inclusive of all workers, regardless of race, gender or national origin. Unlike the Knights, they eschewed political action, favoring direct action like strikes, slow-downs, work-to-rule and sabotage. (Sources: The IWW;Wikipedia; Libcom.org; Helen Keller; Harry Siitonen; Sabotage, by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Western Mining History; Lucy Parsons Project)

1905    Chicago Teamsters Strike: 21 workers were killed in what would escalate into a General Strike. Riots continued on a near daily basis from April through July. The Teamsters had attempted to end the strike by bribing members of the Employers Association, leading to allegations of corruption that would weaken the union in the following years. (Sources:Wikipedia; Chicago’s Strike Ordeal, Stanley Powers, 1905)

GE in 1907

1906    First Sit-Down Strike: America’s first sit-down strike was organized by the Wobblies (IWW) at General Electric, in Schenectady, NY. 3,000 workers participated in the occupation of the facilities for 65 hours, bringing production to a standstill.(Sources: UHWO, Wikipedia)

1907    Nation’s Worst Mining Disaster: 361 coal miners were killed in Monongah, West Virginia. (Sources: UHWO)

2 Picketers Among the Uprising of 20,000

1909    Uprising of 20,000: The Lady Garment Workers Strike in New York (AKA the Shirtwaist Strike) was a strike by mostly Jewish women and girls against sweatshop working conditions. 700 were arrested in just one month. Male goons were hired to intimidate and assault the women. A judge told the women they were striking against God. However, the women remained resolute and public sentiment turned in the favor. The strike ended in 1910 with increased wages and improved working conditions and hours. (Sources: Wikipedia; AFL-CIO; Jewish Women’s Archive)

The Little Red Song Book

1909    The Little Red Song Book, from the IWW, was first published in Spokane and included songs by Joe Hill, Ralph Chaplin, T-Bone Slim, and others. The early editions contained many of the labor songs that are still famous, such as "The Red Flag," "The Internationale," and "Solidarity Forever," while later editions included such classics as “Rebel Girl,” “Mr. Block,” and “The Preacher and the Slave.” You can see video versions of some of these on the Labor Music Video Page. (Sources: IWW; The Sacred Chao)

LA Times Building After Bombing

1910    Llewellyn Ironworks and Los Angeles Times bombings: A bomb destroyed the LA Times building in October, killing 21 employees and injuring over 100, and another destroyed a portion of the Llewellyn Ironworks in December. The Iron Workers had been engaged in a brutal and protracted battle with U.S. Steel and the American Bridge Company, which had been successfully busting their union through the use of spies, informants, scabs and agents provocateur, as well as propaganda by their friend Harrison Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times. James McNamara and his brother, John McNamara, secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, were convicted after being kidnapped and allegedly framed by private cops.(Sources: Modern School; Workday Minnesota)

1910-1911       Westmoreland Coal Strike: 16 workers and family members were killed during this strike by the UMWA. The strike lasted from March, 1910 through July, 1911, encompassing 65 mines and 15,000 miners, with the miners and the UMWA losing the strike. Miners’ wives showed up to support their husbands, harassing scabs and getting arrested. Because they couldn’t afford the fines, the women were forced to serve a month in jail with their babies and children. (Sources: Wikipedia;patheoldminer; Jones, Mary Harris: The Autobiography of Mother Jones. 4th ed. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 1996)

Triangle Shirtwaist Building, March 11, 1911

1911    Triangle Shirtwaist fire: 147 women and girls died (mostly Jewish and Italian immigrants) in this tragic fire, many because the managers had locked all the doors, preventing escape. The company’s owners were acquitted of any crimes, but were forced to pay nominal civil damages of $75 per victim. (Sources:Remembering the Triangle Fire; Wikipedia; Democracy Now)

1912    Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike in West Virginia lasted from April, 1912, until July 1913, and resulted in 50 workers’ deaths through violence, plus numerous more deaths from starvation. The strike and resulting violence were a prelude to the later Matewan massacre and Battle of Blair Mountain. The miners were striking for union recognition, free speech, an end to blacklisting and cribbing, among other demands. Beatings, sniper attacks and sabotage against the workers were routine. The Baldwin-Felts private police were called in by the mine owners. (Sources: Wikipedia; “History is a Weapon,” Mother Jones speech to striking coal miners; “The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike,” San Francisco Bulletin, March 21, 1913)

Lawrence Strike

1912    Lawrence Textile Strike (AKA The Bread and Roses Strike, because the women were demanding not only a living wage, so they could feed their families, but a better quality of life, too). This IWW-led strike was the first known strike to implement the moving picket line, so as to avoid arrests for loitering. The strike was also unique in that the workers spoke 22 different languages and came from 24 different nationalities, prompting the IWW to give each language group a delegate on the strike committee and complete autonomy. (Sources: The Lucy Parsons Project; Libcom.org; Bread and Roses Centenial;Rense.com)

1912    IWW struck Galloway Lumber Company in Grabow, LA. Also known as the Graybow Riot (July 7), four workers were killed, 50 were wounded, and 58 were arrested. (Sources: IWW)

1913    Calumet Christmas massacre (AKA the Italian Hall Disaster): 73 men, women and children, mostly striking miners and their families, were crushed to death on Christmas Eve at during a party at the Italian Hall in Calumet, MI, when someone falsely yelled “fire.” Company thugs have been blamed for the false cry and for blocking the doors in a deliberate attempt to crush the union. (Sources: Wikipedia; the Italian Hall Disaster; Daily Kos)

Strike leaders Patrick L. Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Bill Haywood.

1913    Patterson Silk Strike was an IWW-supported strike for better working conditions and the 8-hour day. Nearly 2,000 workers were arrested, including IWW members Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Big Bill Haywood. (Sources: The Masses (John Reed);Wikipedia; The Lucy Parsons Project; Patterson Friends of the Great Falls; Sabotage, by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn)

1913    United Fruit Strike: New Orleans: police shot three IWW members, killing one. United went on to be one of the dominant neocolonial powers in Central America (along with Standard Fruit), supporting Banana Republic dictators and their violent anti-labor policies. United Fruit is now known as Chiquita. (Sources: Rense.com, Wikipedia, the Daily Bleed)

1913    Wheatland Riots: Hop pickers struck against Durst Ranch in Wheatland, CA, when Durst advertised for twice as many workers as he needed in order to drive down wages. Over 100 vigilantes arrived and shot into the crowd, killing 2 workers, a deputy and a district attorney. IWW organizers Ford and Suhr were blamed and sentenced to 15 years in prison.. (Sources:IWW; Wikipedia; libcom.org; Labor.net)

Ludlow

1914    Ludlow Massacre: John D. Rockefeller and other mine operators engaged company goons and the Colorado State Militia to crush 10,000 striking miners in Ludlow, Colorado. The militia attacked a tent camp with machine guns and then set it ablaze, killing 5 men, 2 women and 12 children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. (Sources: Howard Zinn; Colorado Coalfields War Project; Wikipedia; AFGE;Modern School)

1914    The Montana militia crushed a strike by WFM miners in Butte. (Source: AFGE, ButteAmerica.com)

Roosevelt Massacre

1915    Factory guards shot 20 rioting strikers in Roosevelt, New Jersey, killing several of them. (Source: AFGE)

1916    Youngstown Massacre (January 6): Company guards at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube plant attacked a crowd of striking workers and their wives and children with tear gas bombs and live fire, killing three strikers and wounding 25 others. (Source:  Daily Bleed)

Joe Hill, executed, with Bullet Holes

1916    Joe Hill (1879-1915) was executed on trumped up murder charges. Hill was a Swedish immigrant who became an IWW organizer and prolific song writer (Rebel Girl, Preacher and the Slave, The Tramp, Casey Jones the Union Scab). (Sources:Wikipedia, Joe Hill Project)

1916    Everett Massacre: 7 workers were killed and 50 injured when vigilantes hired by local businesses fired upon IWW members arriving in Everett by boat from Seattle. 75 Wobblies (IWW) were later arrested for murder. (Sources: Wikipedia; Everett Public Library; UW Everett Collection; IWW; Rense.com)

1916    "Preparedness Day" parade bombing occurred in San Francisco, killing 10 and injuring 40. Labor organizer Thomas J. Mooney and Shoe Worker Warren K. Billings, both IWW members, were convicted, spending years in prison before being pardoned in 1939. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia, Modern School)

Striking miners and others rounded up by the armed posse

1917    Bisbee Deportation: On July 12, 1,300 striking IWW miners, their supporters, and innocent bystanders were illegally deported from Bisbee, AZ,  by 2,000 vigilantes—over 200 miles in cattle cars, without food or water for 16 hours. (Sources: the Daily Bleed, Modern School, IWW, and Wikipedia)

Frank Little, 1907

1917    Frank Little Lynching: On August 1, 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. He had also been advocating that workers refuse to collaborate with the capitalists by fighting in WWI. (Sources:Workday Minnesota, IWW, Wikipedia)

Newspaper cartoon of woman pleading for democracy during East St. Louis Riot

1917    East St. Louis Labor and Race Riot (40-200 deaths): The “Great Migration” north was already well underway, with African Americans moving to industrial cities like Chicago seeking work. In East St. Louis, resentful white mobs frequently attacked black workers and their families, culminating in a riot on July 2 that killed as many as 200 African Americans and left thousands of them homeless. Many of the unions fed the racism not only by generalizing all black workers as scabs, but by doing little to organize them or build solidarity with them. (Sources: Wikipedia,the Black Past)

1917    IWW Offices Raided in 48 U.S. Cities. Roughly 165-300 IWW members were arrested initially, but within six months, 2,000 were in jail and sentenced to lengthy terms. In Spokane, martial law was declared. Virtually every IWW union hall in the country was busted. The raids and arrests were so extensive that the union never regained its strength or influence. (Sources:HistoryLink.org, IWW, History Matters)

Labor History Timeline: Early Industrial Capitalism, Abolition and the Nascent Labor Movement

1800    Gabriel Prosser Uprising: Prosser was a literate, enslaved blacksmith who planned a large slave uprising in Richmond, Virginia but was betrayed and executed before the revolt was launched. At the time, 39% of Virginia’s population was enslaved, thus the potential damage from a slave revolt was significant. It is estimated that 100 co-conspirators were involved in Gabriel’s Uprising, including several whites who he likely met working in the foundries. (Sources: Wikipedia)

Denmark Vessey

1822    The Vessey Conspiracy: Denmark Vessey, a Caribbean slave inspired by the 1791 Haitian revolution, purchased his freedom and then plotted what would have been the largest slave insurrection in U.S. history. However, turncoats reported him and the other conspirators, leading to their execution. (Sources:Wikipedia)

1825    First Women’s Union: United Tailoresses of New York. (Sources: UHWO)

Nat Turner captured by Mr. Benjamin Phipps

1831    Nat Turner’s Rebellion: Also known as the Southampton Insurrection, the Rebellion was a slave revolt in Virginia in which slaves killed 55-65 whites, the highest number of white casualties of any slave revolt in U.S. history. The insurrection was put down by authorities within a few days, but Turner managed to evade capture for several months. Between 100 and 200 slaves were executed by the courts or by white mobs in retaliation. (Sources: Wikipedia)

1834    Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Workers Riot: On January 29, canal workers rioted, prompting President Jackson to send in troops, the first time American troops were used to suppress a domestic labor dispute. Workers were rebelling because of terrible working conditions and low pay. Construction teams were made up mostly of Irish, German, Dutch and black workers who toiled long hours for low wages in dangerous conditions. The use of federal troops set a dangerous precedent that gave business leaders the confidence that they could count on the federal government to quash labor unrest in the future. (Sources: the Daily Bleed and History.com)

1835    Philadelphia General Strike:  Workers struck for the 10-hour day in what was probably the nation’s first General Strike. In all, 20,000 workers walked off the job. After one week, the city caved to the workers’ demands, granting all city employees a 10-hour day that ran from 6 am to 6 pm, with an hour lunch and an hour for dinner. Their success inspired a wave of strikes and ultimately led to the 10-hour day in many other cities (Sources:UHWO, Socialist Webzine)

1835    Children Struck for 11-Hour Day: In the Patterson silk mills, children went on strike for an 11-hour day and a 6-day work week. (Source: AFGE)

1838    Caulkers Association Founded: One of the first black unions, the Caulkers Association began in the Baltimore shipyards, where Frederick Douglas worked before escaping to freedom. The union bargained collectively and often won wage increases for its members. (Sources: APWU)

The Last Moments of John Brown, by Thomas Hovenden

1859    Harpers Ferry: John Brown led an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, WV, in an attempt to provoke a slave revolt and provide weapons to them. The raid ultimately led to his arrest and execution. (Sources: Wikipedia)

1863    Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln, ordering the freeing of all slaves held in the Confederate states. (Sources: UHWO)

1865    13^th Amendment: Abolished slavery. (Sources: UHWO)

1867    Chicago General Strike for 8-Hour Day: The 1-week strike to enforce the state’s new 8-hour day law ultimately failed, as militia were brought in to force workers back to work, general for 10-12 hour shifts. The 8-hour day movement started in earnest in 1864 and was inspired by the abolition of slavery (shorter day meant a little more freedom). The movement was about leisure, freedom and personal growth, each of which requires less time at work. (Sources: AFGE, Encyclopedia of Chicago, Truth Out)

Terence Powderly, Grand Master Workman of the Knights of Labor  

1869    The Knights of Labor (KOL), officially known as the "Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor," was founded on December 28, 1869, when both American capitalism and the labor movement were young and relatively disorganized. It began as a secret society, but quickly grew into the largest and most significant labor organization in the U.S. by the 1880s. The Knights are considered by many to be a predecessor to the more well-known Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Like its more radical cousin, the IWW, the KOL called for the abolition of the wage system and fought to organize all workers into one big union, including women, blacks and immigrants. And, like the IWW, one of the KOL’s slogans was, “An Injury to One is the Concern of All.” (Sources: Modern School; The Knights of Labor;The Lucy Parsons Project; Libcom.org; The Samuel Gompers Papers;Wikipedia)

National Colored Union, Harpers

1869    First National Black Union: The Black National Labor Union was founded in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of Isaac Myers (later ceded to Frederick Douglas). Myers was born to free African Americans in Baltimore in 1835 and was a member of the Caulkers Association (see 1838, above), where he worked with Douglas. (Sources: AFGE, APWU)

6th Regiment Repressing Workers, Baltimore, 1877

1877    The Great Upheaval (AKA: The St. Louis Commune, St. Louis General Strike, The Great Strike, The Great Train Strike)—As many as 100 workers were killed and over 200 were injured in the wave of strikes occurring throughout the country. The strike united diverse workers, including black and white, as well as skilled and unskilled. The Great Upheaval began in Martinsburg, WV, on July 16, when the B&O Railroad slashed wages by 10%, the second wage cut in 8 months. The train crews refused to work, drove out the police and occupied the rail yards. Local townspeople backed the strikers and came to their defense. When the militia was sent in to run the trains, the strikers and their supporters defended themselves with guns, 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.  Throughout the country, similar scenarios unfolded, with workers taking over the railroads and other businesses, and attacking police and militias when they tried to take them back or to bring in and defend strikebreakers.  In numerous towns, the soldiers fraternized with locals, refused to fight them and sometimes joined their struggle.(Soures: Modern School; UE News; Howard Zinn; Brecher, Jeremy., Strike!, 1997. ISBN 0-89608-570-8)

1877    Ten coal-mining activists ("Molly Maguires") were hanged in Pennsylvania. The Mollys were an Irish secret society of coal miners accused of kidnapping and other acts of violence. They were convicted based on the testimony of one Pinkerton private cop and various witnesses were believed by many to have been bribed or coerced. (Sources: Lutins.org; Wikipedia; Spartacus)

Chinese Railroad Workers in the Snow

1882    Chinese Exclusion Act: Chinese men had been encouraged to immigrate to the U.S. from 1848 to 1869 to work in California’s gold fields and on the transcontinental railroad. They worked for low wages and put little pressure on state infrastructure, in part because they were single males, but also because of restrictive and racist laws and the threat of attack by whites. By the 1870s, racist attacks against the Chinese were on the rise and white citizens were complaining that the Chinese were taking their jobs. The Chinese Exclusion Act, one of America’s most restrictive anti-immigrant laws ever, remained in place until 1943, when the U.S. needed China’s assistance in its war with Japan. (Sources: Wikipedia, Harvard University Library).

Rock Springs Massacre

1885    Rock Springs Race Riot and Massacre—28 Chinese Americans killed by white miners in a dispute stemming from Union Pacific Coal Company’s practice of paying Chinese laborers a fraction of what they paid white workers. In a particularly negative blot on U.S. labor history, the Knights of Labor not only helped organize the white workers, but many of their members participated in the attacks on the Chinese workers. (Sources: Wikipedia; History Matters)

1886    Bay View Massacre 6 workers and 1 child were killed at the Milwaukee Iron Company Rolling Mill while fighting for the 8-hour day. (Sources: Wikipedia; Links to the Past; Wisconsin Labor History Society; libcom.org)

1886    American Federation of Labor: The AFL was founded in 1886 in Columbus, OH, with Samuel Gompers as its leader. The AFL emerged in response to turf wars with the Knights of Labor, particularly after a cigar makers strike in New York. (Gompers had been the head of one of the rival cigar makers unions.) The union, which was always staunchly anti-communist, began to make alliances with the Democratic Party in 1907 and was an enthusiastic supporter of World War I, WWII, the Korean and Cold Wars. (Sources: AFGE, Wikipedia, Marxists.org)

Haymarket Rioters, Harpers

1887    The Haymarket Affair 8 cops died, mostly from friendly fire, plus an unknown number of civilians, when a bomb was thrown at a public meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago, during planning for a General Strike to win the 8-hour day. 8 anarchists were arrested and convicted in a kangaroo court, despite the fact none was present at the bombing. 4 were executed and one committed suicide in jail to “cheat” the state out of its revenge on him. May 1^st is celebrated as International Workers Day in virtually every country of the world (except the U.S.) to commemorate this struggle. (Sources: Modern School; IWW;Lucy Parsons Project; Recollection Books; Libcom.org)

1887    The Thibodaux Massacre: The Louisiana Militia and bands of whites shot at least 35 unarmed black sugar workers and lynched two strike leaders. Some sources place the death toll at over 300. The massacre came during a 3-week labor dispute that had been organized by the Knights of Labor. Gov. Sam McEnery eventually brought in 10 companies of infantry to break the strike. (Sources: Lutins.org; Wikipedia, Libcom.org)

Shield Used by Striking Homestead Workers

1892    Homestead Steel Strike and Massacre: Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania was owned by Andrew Carnegie and managed by Henry Clay Frick. Amalgamated Association of Steel and Iron Workers (AA) had won a bitter and violent strike against Homestead in 1882, and Frick and Carnegie vowed to crush the union, which they ultimately did. In January, Carnegie slashed wages, while Frick imposed speedups and hired 300 Pinkertons. In July, Frick laid off the entire Homestead workforce, effectively ending collective bargaining. The workers fought back, taking over the town’s political authority and running its infrastructure. 10,000 strikers temporarily held off the Pinkertons and scabs with sticks and a few guns. However, 40 strikers were shot and nine killed, while 120 Pinkertons were shot and seven killed. (Sources: Modern School, Part I; Modern School, Part II; Wikipedia; Strike! by Jeremy Brecher, South End Press, Boston, 1972)

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. These events led to the formation of the Western Federation of Miners, one of the more radical unions of its day. (Sources: Wikipedia; Fire in the Hole)

Big Bill Haywood

1893    Western Federation of Miners (WFM) formed in May of this year, in Butte, Montana, representing 15 unions in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah and South Dakota. Big Bill Haywood became a leader of the organization by 1902 and vigorously espoused industrial unionism, in which all workers in a given industry are organized in one big union in order to maximize solidarity and power. In response to the mass arrests and imprisonment of its members during the 1890s, Haywood began to call for the complete abolition of the wage system. (Sources:Wikipedia; Strike! by Jeremy Brecher, South End Press, Boston, 1972)

1894    Cripple Creek Strike and Waite Agreement: Cripple Creek mine owners in Colorado attempted the same attacks on Colorado miners (e.g., longer hours and pay cuts) and organized a private army to enforce their will. The private army terrorized citizens, as well as miners, and was ultimately disbanded by the mine owners under threat of martial law in what was known as the Waite Agreement, which last for ten years. The WFM were also able to win the 8-hour day for their members. The peace and victory would be a short-lived precursor to the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903-1904—See Below. (Sources: Wikipedia;Strike! by Jeremy Brecher, South End Press, Boston, 1972)

Pullman Strike

1894    Pullman Strike: 34 workers were killed in this nationwide rail strike led by Eugene Debs. The strike began in Pullman, IL, as a wildcat response to wage cuts. The strike escalated to involve over 250,000 workers across 27 states, with 12,000 army soldiers being sent in to quash the strike. The rail workers ultimately signed a no-union pledge that kept the lines union-free until the Great Depression. (Sources: Wikipedia; Strike! by Jeremy Brecher, South End Press, Boston, 1972; Recollection Books)

Protest March After the Lattimer Massacre

1897    Lattimer Massacre: 19 unarmed immigrant miners were killed by a sheriff’s posse during a strike in Luzerne County, PA. (Sources: Wikipedia; UMWA)

1898    Virden Massacre: 25 workers were killed in a battle with armed guards transporting black strikebreakers in from Alabama. The strikers succeeded in turning away the train and winning wage increases. (Sources: Wikipedia; Remember Virden; Illinois Labor History)

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)

1902    8-Hour Days Were Created by State Amendments in Utah and Colorado. In Colorado, the law was passed with the support of 72% of voters and the backing of the WFM. However, under pressure from the mining companies, the legislature ignored the referendum and the miners decided to strike (see Colorado Labor Wars, below). (Sources: Wikipedia)

1902    Pennsylvania Mining Strike (AKA The Coal Strike): Anthracite coal miners (UMWA) in Eastern Pennsylvania were striking for higher wages, shorter hours and union recognition. Teddy Roosevelt intervened (the first time a president had done so), threatening to send in the military after negotiations failed to end the conflict. The strike finally ended  with a a raise and shorter hours, but still no union recognition. (Sources: Wikipedia;Stfrancis.edu)

1902    Pana Massacre: 14 workers were killed, martial law was declared, and the town of Pana, IL, was occupied by National Guards in an attempt to break the UMWA. (Sources: Lutins.org;Wikipedia; Rense.com)

1903-1904       Colorado Labor Wars: The National Guards, Pinkertons and vigilantes were used by the mine owners to intimidate miners. Hundreds of striking WFM miners were arrested and held in stockades. Many were deported. Children were arrested for chiding soldiers. General Sherman Bell, of the National Guards and a former mine manager, upon hearing that imprisoned WFM miners were asking for writs of habeas corpus, said “Habeas corpus be damned. We’ll give them post mortems.” (Sources: Wikipedia; Colorado’s War on Militant Unionism, George Suggs; Lucy Parsons Project)

1904    Dunnville Battle: 6 workers were killed and more than 70 were deported in the continuation of the Colorado Labor Wars. (Sources: Rense.com