Today in Labor History—June 26

June 26, 1894 - The American Railway Union launched a boycott of all trains carrying Pullman cars, turning the Pullman strike into a national strike which was eventually crushed by federal troops and by lack of support from the more conservative American Federation of Labor. Strike leader Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned and many workers were blacklisted for their involvement. (From Workday Minnesota)

Miners, Supporters and Onlookers being deported from Bisbee

 June 26, 1917 – The Bisbee, Arizona IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) miner strike. On July 12, 1,300 strikers, their supporters, and innocent bystanders were illegally deported from Bisbee by 2,000 vigilantes—over 200 miles in cattle cars, without food or water for 16 hours. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

June 26, 1919 – The Winnipeg General Strike, which began on May 15, came to an end as the Winnipeg Labor Council "officially" declared the strike over at 11 o'clock. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 26, 1975 – The FBI provoked a shootout with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) at Oglala, South Dakota. The deadly firefight left two FBI agents and Lakota activist Joe Stuntz dead. Two AIM leaders were prosecuted for the FBI deaths and found innocent. A third AIM activist, Leonard Peltier, who remains in prison to this day, was later framed when much of the same evidence is disallowed in his trial.

Gay Pride march, Taipei, Taiwan, 2005

 June 26, 1977 – Gay Pride marches occurred throughout the country, with 100,000 marching in San Francisco and tens of thousands in NYC.

Pride in Haifa, Israel, 2009

 June 26, 1994 – In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, over one million people marched in New York City in support of LGBT rights.

June 26, 1997 – “The Gentle Giant," Hawaiian protest singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (1959-1997) died. Best known for the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," Kamakawiwo’ole was also an activist for Hawaiian indigenous rights and Hawaiian independence.

Today in Labor History—June 2

Gordon Riots Depicted by Charles Green

June 2, 1780 – The Gordon Riots began on this date in England and lasted through June 9. The riots began as a pogrom against Catholics. However, it grew into a mass worker insurrection that included ex-slaves, impressed sailors and debtors, English, Irish, Italians, Germans and Jews. The insurrectionists liberated two thousand prisoners and destroyed every major prison in London. Rioters also destroyed the homes members of the ruling elite, as well as toll houses and the Bank of England. The rich fled the city in terror. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

Harriet Tubman, c1885

June 2, 1863 – Backed by three gun boats, Harriet Tubman and her forces freed 750 slaves and set fire to the plantations from which they were liberated. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

Cananea

June 2, 1906 –U.S. rangers arrived at Cananea, Sonora, killing 22 striking Mexican miners. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

Bisbee Deportees Rounded Up in Ballpark

June 2, 1916 – The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) Mesabi Iron Range strike began in Minnesota. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM), which organized the 1907 Mesabi Range Strike, was uninterested in organizing miners in 1916, leaving a vacuum that the much more radical IWW gladly filled. The Wobblies sent many of their top organizers to help and succeeded in recruiting many of the people who served as strikebreakers in 1907 to join the current strike. Carlos Tresca, an IWW leader, was arrested for murder in conjunction with the strike, but was released without trial. Tresca went on to oppose Mussolini and the fascists, as well as the Stalinists in the USSR. He was assassinated in 1943. The Mesabi Strike was suppressed violently by police and vigilantes, with numerous strikers being jailed. The struggle was a precursor to the infamous labor deportations, in Bisbee, Arizona in July, 1917, in which 1,300 Wobblies, their supporters, and even innocent bystanders, were rounded up, forced into cattle cars, and dumped in the desert after 16 hours without food or water. (From the Daily Bleed, Minnesota Historical Society and Wikipedia)

 

Palmer Disciplining Labor

June 2, 1919 – Anarchists carried out a series of coordinated bombings across the Eastern United States, damaging the homes of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who had launched the first Red Hunt against unionists, commies and anarchists, as well as then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Rooselvel. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1921 – The IWW hall in Tampico was raided. In response the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) called a general strike, winning the right to have their hall. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1936 – Anastasio Somoza took over Nicaragua as dictator. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1952 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal for President Truman to have the Army seize the nation’s steel mills to prevent a strike. 600,000 CIO steelworkers immediately began a 53-day strike. (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1962 – 7,000 Russian workers marched in Novocherkassk to protest wage cuts and price increases. The military killed at least 24. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1977 – Native American activist Leonard Peltier was sentenced in Fargo, North Dakota, to two consecutive life terms for the killing of two FBI agents, despite the fact that there was no evidence linking him to the deaths. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 2, 1989 – 10,000 soldiers were blocked from entering Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, by 100,000 citizens protecting pro-democracy students. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History: April 18

Clarence Darrow, 1922 (Library of Congress)

April 18, 1857 - Clarence Darrow was born. Darrow was the lawyer who defended Eugene V. Debs and the Wobblies, as well as John Scopes, the teacher who was prosecuted for teaching evolution in the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial." (From Workday Minnesota)

April 18, 1888 - The 260 women laborers at Shotwell, Clerihew & Lothman walked out of the clothing factory in downtown Minneapolis to protest a pay cut. They became known as the “striking maidens of 1888,” inspiring women in the cause of social justice. (From Workday Minnesota)

April 18, 1906--The Great San Francisco earthquake struck, killing over 500 people and making over 250,000 people homeless.

 

April 18, 1908 – The IWW poem We Have Fed You All For A Thousand Years was published in the Industrial Union Bulletin. (From the Daily Bleed and the IWW)

We have fed you all for a thousand years
& you hail us still unfed
Though there's never a dollar of all your wealth
But marks the workers dead
We have yielded our best to give you rest
& you lie on crimson wool
But if blood be the price of all your wealth
Good God we have paid in full...

April 18, 1912 – The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners, initiating one of the most violent strikes in the nation's history (50 people were killed). UMWA miners were demanding to be paid the same as other area miners in the area and to have their union recognized. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 18, 1941-- New York bus companies agreed to hire black workers following a 4-week boycott.
(From the Daily Bleed)

 

April 18, 1977 – Native American activist Leonard Peltier was found guilty of murdering two FBI agents, in a kangaroo court dead set on locking the American Indian Movement activist up for life. Government witnesses testified that he was not even present at the scene of the killings. He was framed by undercover FBI agents who were present on the reservation to conduct counterintelligence. (From the Daily Bleed and the Leonard Peltier site).

Leonard Peltier is still in prison and his health is deteriorating. There is a petition to get him transferred from prison to Mayo clinic in Minnesota.

Today in Labor History—June 26

June 26, 1894 - The American Railway Union launched a boycott of all trains carrying Pullman cars, turning the Pullman strike into a national strike which was eventually crushed by federal troops and by lack of support from the more conservative American Federation of Labor. Strike leader Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned and many workers were blacklisted for their involvement. (From Workday Minnesota)

Miners, Supporters and Onlookers being deported from Bisbee

 June 26, 1917 – The Bisbee, Arizona IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) miner strike. On July 12, 1,300 strikers, their supporters, and innocent bystanders were illegally deported from Bisbee by 2,000 vigilantes—over 200 miles in cattle cars, without food or water for 16 hours. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

June 26, 1919 – The Winnipeg General Strike, which began on May 15, came to an end as the Winnipeg Labor Council "officially" declared the strike over at 11 o'clock. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 26, 1975 – The FBI provoked a shootout with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) at Oglala, South Dakota. The deadly firefight left two FBI agents and Lakota activist Joe Stuntz dead. Two AIM leaders were prosecuted for the FBI deaths and found innocent. A third AIM activist, Leonard Peltier, who remains in prison to this day, was later framed when much of the same evidence is disallowed in his trial.

Gay Pride march, Taipei, Taiwan, 2005

 June 26, 1977 – Gay Pride marches occurred throughout the country, with 100,000 marching in San Francisco and tens of thousands in NYC.

Pride in Haifa, Israel, 2009

 June 26, 1994 – In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, over one million people marched in New York City in support of LGBT rights.

June 26, 1997 – “The Gentle Giant," Hawaiian protest singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (1959-1997) died. Best known for the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," Kamakawiwo’ole was also an activist for Hawaiian indigenous rights and Hawaiian independence.

Today in Labor History: April 18

Clarence Darrow, 1922 (Library of Congress)

April 18, 1857 - Clarence Darrow was born. Darrow was the lawyer who defended Eugene V. Debs and the Wobblies, as well as John Scopes, the teacher who was prosecuted for teaching evolution in the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial." (From Workday Minnesota)

April 18, 1888 - The 260 women laborers at Shotwell, Clerihew & Lothman walked out of the clothing factory in downtown Minneapolis to protest a pay cut. They became known as the “striking maidens of 1888,” inspiring women in the cause of social justice. (From Workday Minnesota)

April 18, 1908 – The IWW poem We Have Fed You All For A Thousand Years was published in the Industrial Union Bulletin. (From the Daily Bleed and the IWW)

We have fed you all for a thousand years
& you hail us still unfed
Though there's never a dollar of all your wealth
But marks the workers dead
We have yielded our best to give you rest
& you lie on crimson wool
But if blood be the price of all your wealth
Good God we have paid in full...

April 18, 1912 – The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners, initiating one of the most violent strikes in the nation's history (50 people were killed). UMWA miners were demanding to be paid the same as other area miners in the area and to have their union recognized. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 18, 1977 – Native American activist Leonard Peltier was found guilty of murdering two FBI agents, in a kangaroo court dead set on locking the American Indian Movement activist up for life. Government witnesses testified that he was not even present at the scene of the killings. He was framed by undercover FBI agents who were present on the reservation to conduct counterintelligence. (From the Daily Bleed and the Leonard Peltier site).

Leonard Peltier is still in prison and his health is deteriorating. There is a petition to get him transferred from prison to Mayo clinic in Minnesota.

Does America Torture Americans? Yes, Especially Native Americans.

65 year-old Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for more than 35 years on trumped charges of killing two FBI agents in 1975, has been placed in solitary confinement for two minor infractions, according to Democracy Now. Peltier has long maintained his innocence and is a political prisoner, being punished for his support and activism within the American Indian Movement (see here for more).

Meanwhile, prisoners in California have entered the third week of a hunger strike against deplorable living conditions. The strike began at Pelican Bay, where many of the state’s most violent prisoners live in SHUs (Security Housing Units) often confined for 23 or more hours a day, in isolation. Prisoners in the SHU are placed in 6-by-10 foot isolation cells. The strikers are calling for an end to the isolation units and the “debriefings” in which prisoners are subjected to lengthy interrogations to determine if they are in gangs. Several of the strikers’ health has deteriorated to critical levels, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.

Today In Labor History—July 1

Bakunin speaking before the International Workingmens Association, Basel Congress, 1869

July 1, 1876 – Anarchist leader Michael Bakunin died in Berne, Switzerland. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 1, 1910 – The ILGWU organized a large strike, known as the "Great Revolt" involving 50,000 cloak-makers that lasted through October. Taking their lead from the women, the mostly male cloak-makers won uniform wages, a shorter work week and paid holidays. As a result of the strikes in 1909 and 1910, the ILGWU swelled in membership. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 1, 1922 – 1,000,000 railroad shop workers walked off their jobs, initiating what became known as the “Big Strike.” They eventually lost and many members were blacklisted. (From Workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

July 1, 1937 – The Hawaiian long shore strike brought together Japanese, Filipino and other ethnic plantation workers into one labor union (ILWU). (From the Daily Bleed)

July 1, 1968 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) under the leadership of Walter Reuther, left the AFL, partly because of conflicts between Reuther and AFL president George Meany. Reuther died (was killed?) in a plane crash in 1970, and the UAW did not rejoin the AFL until 1981. (From Shmoop Labor History)

July 1, 1977 – Native American activist Leonard Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the killing of two FBI agents who died while attacking an American Indian Movement (AIM) encampment, despite the fact that there was no evidence directly linking him to their deaths. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 1, 1983 – Copper miners began a against Phelps-Dodge in Clifton, Arizona, in which Governor Bruce Babbitt repeatedly sent in state police and National Guardsmen to suppress the laborers. (From the Daily Bleed)