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 Prohibition was repealed within a year.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 10

May 10 1887 -- UMW organizer Ginger Goodwin was born on this date. He was murdered by a private cop sparking Canada's first General Strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1894 -- Pullman fired 3 workers for being on the grievance committee, leading to a strike that shut down the company a day later. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1898 -- U.S. and Canadian workers formed the Western Labor Union. (From the Daily Bleed)
 
May 10, 1920 – Dock workers in England refused to load armaments for use by Allies against Russia. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1922 – 200 labor leaders were arrested in Chicago for complicity in the murder of two policemen and the bombing of factories. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1980 – 50,000 marched for passage of Equal Rights Amendment. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1980 – 20,000 marched in a funeral procession for slain protesters in San Salvador, El Salvador. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

May 10, 1993 -- UMW struck at selected U.S. mines.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—February 28

February 28, 1921 – Shoemakers won their strike for higher wages, leading to a government crackdown. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 28, 1986 - The entire workforce of the 3M factory in Elandsfontein, South Africa, went on strike in support of the 450 members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union being laid off at a 3M plant in New Jersey. The South African worker, all of whom were black, were among the hundreds of thousands of union members whose militancy helped bring down the apartheid system. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—January 22

January 22, 1849 – Terence Powderly, leader of the Knights of Labor was born on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)

Farabundo Marti, 1929

January 22, 1932 – A peasant uprising in El Salvador was met with extreme state violence, resulting in the "Matanza Massacre" of 30,000.  Salvadoran communists, peasants and indigenous had rebelled against the military dictatorship, creating the first soviets in the Western hemisphere. The state violence and repression that followed obliterated what was left of the country’s indigenous population, as well as most of its socialists, communists, anarchists and labor organizers. One of the first to go before Martinez’ firing squads was Farabundo Marti. Martinez once said that America was great because it wiped out its Indians and so, too, must El Salvador. (From Daily Bleed, Eduardo Galeano, Memory of Fire)

January 22, 1997 – 150,000 South Korean workers walked off their jobs to protest recent anti-labor legislation. The recent strike wave had already "cost" South Korean corporations about $3 billion in lost production.

Today in Labor History—January 16

January 16, 1919 – Semaine Sanglante ("Bloody Week") ended on this date in Buenos Aires. The General Strike was crushed, with as many as 700 dead and 2000 wounded. The militant Argentinean anarchist movement is decimated by the repression which follows & trade union reformists gain control of the workers' movement. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 16, 1991 – U.S. invaded Kuwait and Iraq. By the end, an estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis died from bombings and the effects of the following five years of U.S.-led global economic embargo. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 16, 1992 – The government of El Salvador and the FMLN rebels signed a peace accord, formally ending a 12-year-old civil war that killed 75,000, mostly civilians. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 16

British Press Gang, 1780 (wiki commons)

November 16, 1747 – The Knowles Riot occurred in Boston, with hundreds of sailors, laborers and free blacks rising up against British Navy Press Gangs. Commodore Knowles routinely had Bostonians kidnapped and forced to work on his ships. Protestors were able to kidnap several of Knowles’ officers, holding them hostage until all Bostonians were freed from his ships. (From theDaily Bleed)

Dostoevsky, 1879 (public domain)

November 16, 1849 -- Russia: Author Fyodor Dostoevsky receives a death sentence for engaging in socialist activities; later commuted to four years hard labor in Siberia. (From the Daily Bleed)

Élisée Reclus (public domain)

 November 16, 1871 -- France: Élisée Reclus is sentenced to transportation for life for his role in the Paris Commune; but, largely at the instance of influential deputations from England, the famed geographer & anarchist had his sentence commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment. (From theDaily Bleed)

November 16, 1989 - Six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated in El Salvador. They were among thousands killed by the military and right-wing death squads for speaking out for economic and social justice. (From Workday Minnesota)

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 10

May 10, 1920 – Dock workers in England refused to load armaments for use by Allies against Russia. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1922 – 200 labor leaders were arrested in Chicago for complicity in the murder of two policemen and the bombing of factories. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 10, 1980 – 50,000 marched for passage of Equal Rights Amendment. (From the Daily Bleed)


May 10, 1980 – 20,000 marched in a funeral procession for slain protesters in San Salvador, El Salvador. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—February 28

February 28, 1921 – Shoemakers won their strike for higher wages, leading to a government crackdown. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 28, 1986 - The entire workforce of the 3M factory in Elandsfontein, South Africa, went on strike in support of the 450 members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union being laid off at a 3M plant in New Jersey. The South African worker, all of whom were black, were among the hundreds of thousands of union members whose militancy helped bring down the apartheid system. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—January 22

January 22, 1849 – Terence Powderly, leader of the Knights of Labor was born on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)

Farabundo Marti, 1929

January 22, 1932 – A peasant uprising in El Salvador was met with extreme state violence, resulting in the "Matanza Massacre" of 30,000.  Salvadoran communists, peasants and indigenous had rebelled against the military dictatorship, creating the first soviets in the Western hemisphere. The state violence and repression that followed obliterated what was left of the country’s indigenous population, as well as most of its socialists, communists, anarchists and labor organizers. One of the first to go before Martinez’ firing squads was Farabundo Marti. Martinez once said that America was great because it wiped out its Indians and so, too, must El Salvador. (From Daily Bleed, Eduardo Galeano, Memory of Fire)

January 22, 1997 – 150,000 South Korean workers walked off their jobs to protest recent anti-labor legislation. The recent strike wave had already "cost" South Korean corporations about $3 billion in lost production.

Today in Labor History—January 16

January 16, 1919 – Semaine Sanglante ("Bloody Week") ended on this date in Buenos Aires. The General Strike was crushed, with as many as 700 dead and 2000 wounded. The militant Argentinean anarchist movement is decimated by the repression which follows & trade union reformists gain control of the workers' movement. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 16, 1991 – U.S. invaded Kuwait and Iraq. By the end, an estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis died from bombings and the effects of the following five years of U.S.-led global economic embargo. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 16, 1992 – The government of El Salvador and the FMLN rebels signed a peace accord, formally ending a 12-year-old civil war that killed 75,000, mostly civilians. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 16

British Press Gang, 1780 (wiki commons)

November 16, 1747 – The Knowles Riot occurred in Boston, with hundreds of sailors, laborers and free blacks rising up against British Navy Press Gangs. Commodore Knowles routinely had Bostonians kidnapped and forced to work on his ships. Protestors were able to kidnap several of Knowles’ officers, holding them hostage until all Bostonians were freed from his ships. (From the Daily Bleed)

Dostoevsky, 1879 (public domain)

November 16, 1849 -- Russia: Author Fyodor Dostoevsky receives a death sentence for engaging in socialist activities; later commuted to four years hard labor in Siberia. (From the Daily Bleed)

Élisée Reclus (public domain)

 November 16, 1871 -- France: Élisée Reclus is sentenced to transportation for life for his role in the Paris Commune; but, largely at the instance of influential deputations from England, the famed geographer & anarchist had his sentence commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 16, 1989 - Six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated in El Salvador. They were among thousands killed by the military and right-wing death squads for speaking out for economic and social justice. (From Workday Minnesota)