Today in Labor History—January 11

Blake's "Lovers' Whirlwind" Illustration for Dante's Inferno (from Wikipedia)

January 11, 1804 -- The Sussex Examiner reported that English poet William Blake was tried for sedition for saying "Damn the king and damn his soldiers." (From the Daily Bleed)

January 11, 1908 – A General Strike occurred in Buenos Aires Argentina.(From the Daily Bleed)

New York Modern School, 1911

January 11, 1911 – The first American "Modern School," based on ideas of Francisco Ferrer, was founded by a group including Leonard Abbott, Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, in New York City. (From the Daily Bleed)

Children of Striking Textile Workers Being Sent to Live With Family in NY

January 11, 1912 – The IWW-organized (Industrial Workers of the World) "Bread & Roses" textile strike of 32,000 women and children began on this date in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The first to walk out were a group of Polish women who, upon collecting their pay, exclaimed that they had been cheated & promptly abandoned their looms. The Strike lasted 10 weeks, beginning after the legislature cut maximum working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours per week and the employers cut their pay along with the hours. Many sent their children to live with family or comrades in New York during the strike. The Modern School organizers and parents took in many of these children. (From the Daily Bleed)

January, 11, 1936 – Auto workers engaged in a sit-down strike at General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 28

Terence Powderly, Grand Master of Knights of Labor, 1890

December 28, 1869 - The Knights of Labor (KOL) was founded on this date. Though the leadership often denounced socialists and anarchists, the KOL attracted and spawned many, including Daniel DeLeon, who would go on to later cofound the IWW and the Socialist Labor Party, as well as two of the Haymarket martyrs. The KOL also denounced strikes, yet, like its more radical cousin, the IWW, it called for the abolition of the wage system and fought to organize all workers into one big union, including women and immigrants. And, like the IWW, one of the KOL’s slogans was, “An Injury to One is the Concern of All.” The KOL was one of the main organizations behind the Great Upheavaland one of the first labor organization not only to take on the Robber Barons, but to defeat them (if only temporarily). (From Workday Minnesota, the Daily Bleed, and the Lucy Parsons Project).

Flint Sit-Down Strike

 December 28, 1936 - The great sit-down strike against General Motors in Flint, Michigan, was preceded by two days when workers at the Fisher Body plant in Cleveland engaged in a sit-down strike. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 28, 1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Army to seize the executive offices of Montgomery Ward and Company after the patriotic corporation failed to comply with a National War Labor Board directive regarding union shops.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 21

Revolte des Canuts - Lyon 1831(public domain)

November 21, 1831 – Silk workers went on strike in Lyon, France. However, the entire city rose in insurrection when the National Guard killed several workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1863 – Workers across the country were striking and protesting against high prices during the Civil War. (From Workday Minnesota)

November 21, 1870 -- Alexander Berkman was born on this date in Vilna, Russia (Lithuania). One-time lover and life-long comrade of Emma Goldman, Berkman wrote Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, after serving time for attempting to murder Henry Clay Frick, architect of the massacre of striking Homestead/Carnegie Steel workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1921 – The original Columbine Massacre occurred in Serine, Colorado, with six striking IWW miners slaughtered by state police and company thugs. The police and guards used machine guns against the unarmed miners. Dozens were injured. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1945 – 200,000 United Auto Workers went on strike against General Motors. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 18

November 18, 1918 – A major workers' insurrection occurred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, involving over 6,000 workers and a plot to overthrow the government. (From the Daily Bleed)

Strikers Guarding a Window During the Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1937 (Library of Congress)

 November 18, 1936 - Workers at the General Motors plant in Atlanta engaged in one of the many sit-down strikes that occurred during the organizing waves of the 1930s. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—January 11

Blake's "Lovers' Whirlwind" Illustration for Dante's Inferno (from Wikipedia)

January 11, 1804 -- The Sussex Examiner reported that English poet William Blake was tried for sedition for saying "Damn the king and damn his soldiers." (From the Daily Bleed)

January 11, 1908 – A General Strike occurred in Buenos Aires Argentina. (From the Daily Bleed)
 

New York Modern School, 1911

January 11, 1911 – The first American "Modern School," based on ideas of Francisco Ferrer, was founded by a group including Leonard Abbott, Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, in New York City. (From the Daily Bleed)

Children of Striking Textile Workers Being Sent to Live With Family in NY

 January 11, 1912 – The IWW-organized (Industrial Workers of the World) "Bread & Roses" textile strike of 32,000 women and children began on this date in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The first to walk out were a group of Polish women who, upon collecting their pay, exclaimed that they had been cheated & promptly abandoned their looms. The Strike lasted 10 weeks, beginning after the legislature cut maximum working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours per week and the employers cut their pay along with the hours. (From the Daily Bleed)

January, 11, 1936 – Auto workers engaged in a sit-down strike at General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan. (From the Daily Bleed)

Leaders of the 1913 Paterson Strike (From left, Patrick Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Bill Haywood)

 January 11, 1943 – Labor organizer and anarchist militant Carlo Tresca was assassinated in New York City by an unknown assailant.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 28

Terence Powderly, Grand Master of Knights of Labor, 1890

December 28, 1869 - The Knights of Labor (KOL) was founded on this date. Though the leadership often denounced socialists and anarchists, the KOL attracted and spawned many, including Daniel DeLeon, who would go on to later cofound the IWW and the Socialist Labor Party, as well as two of the Haymarket martyrs. The KOL also denounced strikes, yet, like its more radical cousin, the IWW, it called for the abolition of the wage system and fought to organize all workers into one big union, including women and immigrants. And, like the IWW, one of the KOL’s slogans was, “An Injury to One is the Concern of All.” The KOL was one of the main organizations behind the Great Upheaval and one of the first labor organization not only to take on the Robber Barons, but to defeat them (if only temporarily). (From Workday Minnesota, the Daily Bleed, and the Lucy Parsons Project).

Flint Sit-Down Strike

 December 28, 1936 - The great sit-down strike against General Motors in Flint, Michigan, was preceded by two days when workers at the Fisher Body plant in Cleveland engaged in a sit-down strike. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 28, 1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Army to seize the executive offices of Montgomery Ward and Company after the patriotic corporation failed to comply with a National War Labor Board directive regarding union shops.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 21

Revolte des Canuts - Lyon 1831(public domain)

November 21, 1831 – Silk workers went on strike in Lyon, France. However, the entire city rose in insurrection when the National Guard killed several workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1863 – Workers across the country were striking and protesting against high prices during the Civil War. (From Workday Minnesota)

November 21, 1870 -- Alexander Berkman was born on this date in Vilna, Russia (Lithuania). One-time lover and life-long comrade of Emma Goldman, Berkman wrote Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, after serving time for attempting to murder Henry Clay Frick, architect of the massacre of striking Homestead/Carnegie Steel workers. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1921 – The original Columbine Massacre occurred in Serine, Colorado, with six striking IWW miners slaughtered by state police and company thugs. The police and guards used machine guns against the unarmed miners. Dozens were injured. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 21, 1945 – 200,000 United Auto Workers went on strike against General Motors. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—November 18

November 18, 1918 – A major workers' insurrection occurred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, involving over 6,000 workers and a plot to overthrow the government. (From the Daily Bleed)

Strikers Guarding a Window During the Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1937 (Library of Congress)

 November 18, 1936 - Workers at the General Motors plant in Atlanta engaged in one of the many sit-down strikes that occurred during the organizing waves of the 1930s. (From Workday Minnesota)

What’s Good for GM Is Good for American Kids, Not

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, like an increasing number of politicians across the country, has placed a business executive with no experience running a public school district in charge of Detroit Public Schools (DPS). The incompetent and corrupt Bob Bobb will be replaced by a former General Motors executive Roy S. Roberts as the new Emergency Manager of DPS, with the power to nullify teacher contracts, fire all teachers and privatize DPS schools to his heart’s content under Michigan’s financial martial law.

Roberts, like Bobb, has a similar sounding name and a history of serving the interests of capital. Unlike Bobb, Roberts has no direct connection with Eli Broad, which means his $250,000 salary won’t be further bloated with donations from the Broad Foundation (Bobb’s salary, including foundation support, was $425,000). It should be pointed out, though, that after his stint at GM, Roberts worked for Reliant Equity Investors, alongside Thomas Darden, who did attend the Broad Superintendent’s Academy before being hired as an administrator in Philadelphia (See Broad Academy website). Presumably they shared notes from time to time?

However, the lack of official Broad support will probably mean very little when it comes time to close the DPS budget gap. Roberts will be under the same pressure as Bobb to get results in a district that has a rapidly shrinking student population and funding stream and shares Bobb’s cockiness. The Wall Street Journal quoted him saying, "I'm not going to let anybody in this state deter me." Roberts, like Bobb, is fully invested in the reform mania plaguing the nation.

The WSJ said that Bobb’s agenda of closing and privatizing schools was being called into question, especially by the governor, implying this was the reason for the change of guard. However, considering the governor’s love for big business, a more likely explanation for Snyder’s displeasure with Bobb was his failure to close the district’s budget gap, stabilize enrollment or win the support of parents. Perhaps Bobb was not ruthless enough in his attacks on teachers, and Snyder wants someone with more business experience to be his axe man in Detroit. Roberts would certainly be the man for the job, having served as Vice President in charge of personnel at GM in 1987.

Roberts himself lends credibility to this hypothesis, saying he intends to continue with Bobb’s plan to close 14 schools and convert up to 45 others to charter schools by next year, according to the Detroit Free Press, a move that demonstrates his allegiance to private business and his disdain for teachers.