Today in Labor History: April 11

Luddites Smashing Looms (from Cotton Times)

April 11, 1812 – 300 Luddites attacked Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg., in Rawfords Hill, England, to destroy the machinery that was replacing them and throwing them out of work. Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg. was set ablaze, while Wm Cartwright's mill in Liversedge was attacked by mobs. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1934 - Frank Norman, who had the gall to organize all citrus workers, regardless of their race, was kidnapped from his home in Florida and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_11_2011

April 11, 1938 – Richard Whitney, the five-term president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sentenced to 5-10 years for grand larceny. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1941 - The Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with the United Auto Workers. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1947 - Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1968 – the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law barring racial discrimination in housing & other areas. The Act also made it a crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot, giving the government a new tool to prosecute labor and other protest organizers. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1974 - United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder for ordering the 1969 assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski.  (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1980 – Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City Transit Authority workers for higher wages ended with management agreeing to a 9% raise in the 1st year and 8% in the 2^nd. During this same year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibited sexual harassment of workers by supervisors in the workplace. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1986 – 17 were arrested on felony riot charges after police tear-gas striking Hormel meatpacking workers in Austin, Minn. The following day, 6,000 people demonstrated against Hormel and the police (nearly one-third of the city’s entire population). The strike was eventually suppressed by Hormel, with the collaboration of the state, and the workers’ own union. (From The Daily Bleed and the Unionist)

April 11, 1997 - 25,000 people marched in Watsonville, CA in support of the United Farm Workers organizing campaign for strawberry workers. (From the Unionist)

Today in Labor History—November 10

Louis Lingg (Public Domain)

November 10, 1887 -- Chicago Haymarket martyr Louis Lingg, 22, “cheated” the state the day before his scheduled execution by committing suicide in his prison cell by exploding a dynamite cap in his mouth. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 10, 1898 – 400 white Democratic Party activists in Wilmington, North Carolina launched a coup d’état by slaughtering black residents and political leaders. Between 30 and 100 were killed in the massacre. They then overthrew the mayor and forced all remaining black officials to resign, installing a new government by force. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 10, 1933 - Members of the Independent Union of All Workers occupied the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, in what may have been the first sit-down. Workers occupied the plant for three days, demanding a raise. An agreement was brokered by Governor Floyd B. Olson. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—September 23

September 23, 1864 – The International Workers Association was founded on this date during a London solidarity meeting with Polish "January Uprising." (From the Daily Bleed)

September 23, 1933 - Jay Hormel agreed to recognize the Independent Union of All Workers after workers at the front gate of the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota, and refused to go in. However, it was not until a sit-down strike three months later that the company gave a wage increase. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 23, 1957 – Nine black students were forced to withdraw from Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas because a white mob had formed outside. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 17, 1985

August 17, 1861 – Coal miners in Australia refused to accept a 20% wage cut and walk out. (From the Daily Bleed)

Striking garment workers, New York, 1909 Shirt waist strike

August- 17, 1910 – Women strikers broke through police lines and demolished a New York garment factory that tried to open in defiance of a strike. Garment workers were toiling as much as 15 hours per day for as little as 50 cents. They tossed sewing machines out the windows and smashed furniture. The industry-wide strike had begun in June and quickly spread, with 60,000 striking up and down the east coast. (From the Daily Bleed)

IWW anti-conscription poster from Australia, 1916

 August 17, 1918 – 95 Wobblies (members of the IWW—Industrial Workers of the World) were sent to prison for up to 20 years for resisting the war. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 17, 1985 – Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in Austin, Minnesota, went on strike against Hormel, makers of SPAM. They ignored the advice of their national union and struck anyway. Workers continued to strike even after the company tried to reopen the plant with replacement workers, including some union members who crossed the picket lines. After ten months the strike ended, with no gains for union members. (From Shmoop Labor History)

Today in Labor History: April 11

Luddites Smashing Looms (from Cotton Times)

April 11, 1812 – 300 Luddites attacked Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg., in Rawfords Hill, England, to destroy the machinery that was replacing them and throwing them out of work. Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg. was set ablaze, while Wm Cartwright's mill in Liversedge was attacked by mobs. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1934 - Frank Norman, who had the gall to organize all citrus workers, regardless of their race, was kidnapped from his home in Florida and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_11_2011

April 11, 1938 – Richard Whitney, the five-term president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sentenced to 5-10 years for grand larceny. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1941 - The Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with the United Auto Workers. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1947 - Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1968 – the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law barring racial discrimination in housing & other areas. The Act also made it a crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot, giving the government a new tool to prosecute labor and other protest organizers. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1974 - United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder for ordering the 1969 assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski.  (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1980 – Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City Transit Authority workers for higher wages ended with management agreeing to a 9% raise in the 1st year and 8% in the 2^nd. During this same year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibited sexual harassment of workers by supervisors in the workplace. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1986 – 17 were arrested on felony riot charges after police tear-gas striking Hormel meatpacking workers in Austin, Minn. The following day, 6,000 people demonstrated against Hormel and the police (nearly one-third of the city’s entire population). The strike was eventually suppressed by Hormel, with the collaboration of the state, and the workers’ own union. (From The Daily Bleed and the Unionist)

April 11, 1997 - 25,000 people marched in Watsonville, CA in support of the United Farm Workers organizing campaign for strawberry workers. (From the Unionist)

Today in Labor History—November 10

Louis Lingg (Public Domain)

November 10, 1887 -- Chicago Haymarket martyr Louis Lingg, 22, “cheated” the state the day before his scheduled execution by committing suicide in his prison cell by exploding a dynamite cap in his mouth. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 10, 1898 – 400 white Democratic Party activists in Wilmington, North Carolina launched a coup d’état by slaughtering black residents and political leaders. Between 30 and 100 were killed in the massacre. They then overthrew the mayor and forced all remaining black officials to resign, installing a new government by force. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 10, 1933 - Members of the Independent Union of All Workers occupied the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, in what may have been the first sit-down. Workers occupied the plant for three days, demanding a raise. An agreement was brokered by Governor Floyd B. Olson. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—September 23

September 23, 1864 – The International Workers Association was founded on this date during a London solidarity meeting with Polish "January Uprising." (From the Daily Bleed)

September 23, 1933 - Jay Hormel agreed to recognize the Independent Union of All Workers after workers at the front gate of the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota, and refused to go in. However, it was not until a sit-down strike three months later that the company gave a wage increase. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 23, 1957 – Nine black students were forced to withdraw from Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas because a white mob had formed outside. (From the Daily Bleed)