Today in Labor History—June 28

Frame-Breaking by Luddites, 1812 (Frame-breaking was outlawed in 1721

)

June 28, 1816 –Luddites attacked the Heathcoat and Boden's Mill at Loughborough, smashing 53 frames worth £6,000. Troops were sent in. Six Luddites were executed. The attack was part of a general revival of violence and sabotage of machinery following a bad harvest. At this same time, 'Swing' riots erupted in the countryside as a protest against low wages, unemployment & the Game Laws.

Monument to the Potemkin Mutineers in Odessa

June 28, 1905 -- The mutinous crew of the battleship "Potemkin" entered the port of Odessa, which had been taken by revolutionaries. Workers' Councils formed.

June 28, 1914 – Austria's Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian anarchist Gavrilo Princip, whose attentat was said to have set off World War I, which killed between 5 and 10 million soldiers.

June 28, 1916 – 50,000 workers staged a one day protest strike against the trial of Karl Leibnecht.

June 28, 1956 – 100,000 workers struck in Poznañ, Poland, shouting "Bread & Freedom. The protests were violently suppressed, with at least 67 workers killed. The government sends 10,000 soldiers to the city. The next day, another 70 would be killed, 700 would be arrested, and hundreds more would be wounded.

June 28, 1969 – Gay activists demonstrated in Sheridan Square and in front of the Stonewall Inn, where a riot occurred at 3 am earlier this morning when police raided the bar. Demonstrators were confronted by NYC Tactical Police.

(All from the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History: April 20

April 20, 1812— Luddites attacked factories in Middleton, Manchester, Bolton, Ashton,  Oldham and Cheshire England in protest of new technologies that were throwing them out of work. (From the Daily Bleed)

Ruins of the Ludlow Mining Camp

April 20, 1914—Ludlow Massacre, Colorado. National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who were temporarily sworn into the State Militia for the occasion. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Armored “Death Car” With Mounted Machine Guns

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but were unpaid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses. (From Labor History, The Daily Bleed, Wikipedia and Workday Minnesota)

National Guard Arrive in Ludlow

 April 20, 1948 - United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. He survived and ultimately died in a plane crash in 1970. Reuther also survived an attempted kidnapping in April, 1938, while his brother Victor was shot and nearly killed by police in 1949. The UAW headquarters was also bombed in 1949. Both Walter and Victor were again nearly killed in a small private plane near Dulles Airport. Despite this history of attempts on his life, virtually no media addressed the possibility that his actual death may have been an assassination. (From The Daily Bleed, and Workday Minnesota)

April 20, 1985 - 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., to protest US policy in Central America. (From The Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--April 14

April 14, 1812 – There was a Luddite food riot in Sheffield, England, in which mostly women and boys seized potatoes and vegetables and attacked a militia arms store. (From the Daily Bleed)

Currency Issued by Limerick Soviet, 1919

April 14, 1919 – In Limerick, Ireland, a General Strike was in full force against the British military occupation. The workers ran the city as a soviet, printing their own newspaper, issuing their own currency, and regulating food supply to prevent profiteering and keep prices below market. (From the Daily Bleed)
 

April 14, 1930 – Over 100 Mexican and Filipino farm workers were arrested for union activities in Imperial Valley, CA, with 8 being convicted of “criminal syndicalism.” (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

April 14, 1939 – John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

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: April 4

Luddite Leader Ned Ludd (engraving, 1812, from Wikipedia)

April 4, 1812 – Luddites rioted at Stockport, England, to tried and halt the advancement of machines that would replace workers. (From Luddite Chonology and the Daily Bleed)

April 4, 1950 – Longshoremen union leader Harry Bridges was convicted of lying about being a Communist. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—January 19

Joe Hill

January 19, 1812 – Luddites torched Oatlands Mill in Yorkshire, England. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 19, 1915—Joe Hill was arrested on this date in Salt Lake City and later convicted on trumped up murder charges. He was executed 21 months later despite worldwide protests and two attempts to intervene by President Woodrow Wilson. In a letter to Bill Haywood shortly before his death he penned the famous words, "Don't mourn - organize!" (From Lutins.org, Wikipedia, Joe Hill Project)

January 19, 1915 – 20 rioting striking workers were shot by factory guards at Roosevelt, New Jersey. (From the Daily Bleed)

January 19, 1932 – An armed miners' uprising occurred in Barcelona region as part of the general anarchist uprisings in Catalonia. "Libertarian communism" was declared, including the abolition of money and property, followed by general strikes and armed uprisings throughout Spain for the next five days.

Today in Labor History—November 2

Luddites in action, 1812

November 2, 1811 – Luddite weavers and knitters destroyed machines in Sutton and Ashfield, England.  (From the Daily Bleed)

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn soapboxing during a free speech fight

 November 2, 1909 – The I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) free-speech fight in Spokane, Washington began on this date. Local organizer James P. Thompson was yanked from the speaker's platform by the police. Other Wobblies swarmed to take his place, leading to the arrests of 150 men and women. The IWW union hall was also raided. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 2, 1920 - Labor leader Eugene V. Debs received nearly 1 million votes for president – while running from a prison cell. He had been jailed for opposing World War I. (From Workday Minnesota)

November 2, 1928 – Police fired on striking dock workers in Melbourne, Australia, killing one man. (From the Daily Bleed)

November 2, 1950 – Following an attempt on President Truman’s life by two Puerto Rican nationalists, all known Puerto Rican nationalists and communists were arrested on the island. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

November 2, 1955 – Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" first appeared on the charts, going on to become one of the biggest selling singles of its time. The lyrics struck a sympathetic chord with millions of people "Another day older and deeper in debt, St. Peter don't you call me cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store..." (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—July 14

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Prise de la Bastille, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel.

July 14, 1789 – Parisians stormed the Bastille, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a symbol of tyranny, feudal authority and the "divine" rights of kings. The revolution sparked optimism among working people throughout the world. However, only the middle-classes gained control. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 14, 1798 – The Federalist-sponsored Alien and Sedition Acts made it a crime to write, utter or publish "any false, scandalous, & malicious" statements about the government, Congress, or the President. Republicans arrested, including newspaper editors and one member of Congress. Jefferson denounced the laws as a violation of the 1^st Amendment. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

July 14, 1811 -- England: Luddites attacked machines in Sunnon-in-Ashuano. (From the Daily Bleed)

Buenaventura Durruti

July 14, 1896 – Legendary Spanish anarchist and military strategist Buenaventura Durruti was born. Durruti helped organize attacks on the government of dictator Miguel Primo de Riviera in 1923. He was influential in the anarchist federation FAI and the syndicalist union CNT. Durruti is probably best known for leading thousands of anarchist troops (the Durruti Column) against the Franco dictatorship. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

Woody Guthrie's Guitar Kills Fascists, Library of Congress

 July 14, 1912 – Folk singer Woody Guthrie was born. (From Workday Minnesota)

July 14, 1921 – The Sacco and Vanzetti case went to the jury. At 7:30 pm the jury returned its verdict: both were both found guilty of murder in the first degree. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—June 28

Frame-Breaking by Luddites, 1812 (Frame-breaking was outlawed in 1721

)

June 28, 1816 –Luddites attacked the Heathcoat and Boden's Mill at Loughborough, smashing 53 frames worth £6,000. Troops were sent in. Six Luddites were executed. The attack was part of a general revival of violence and sabotage of machinery following a bad harvest. At this same time, 'Swing' riots erupted in the countryside as a protest against low wages, unemployment & the Game Laws.

Monument to the Potemkin Mutineers in Odessa

June 28, 1905 -- The mutinous crew of the battleship "Potemkin" entered the port of Odessa, which had been taken by revolutionaries. Workers' Councils formed.

June 28, 1914 – Austria's Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by the Serbian anarchist Gavrilo Princip, whose attentat was said to have set off World War I, which killed between 5 and 10 million soldiers.

June 28, 1916 – 50,000 workers staged a one day protest strike against the trial of Karl Leibnecht.

June 28, 1956 – 100,000 workers struck in Poznañ, Poland, shouting "Bread & Freedom. The protests were violently suppressed, with at least 67 workers killed. The government sends 10,000 soldiers to the city. The next day, another 70 would be killed, 700 would be arrested, and hundreds more would be wounded.

June 28, 1969 – Gay activists demonstrated in Sheridan Square and in front of the Stonewall Inn, where a riot occurred at 3 am earlier this morning when police raided the bar. Demonstrators were confronted by NYC Tactical Police.

(All from the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History: April 20

April 20, 1812— Luddites attacked factories in Middleton, Manchester, Bolton, Ashton,  Oldham and Cheshire England in protest of new technologies that were throwing them out of work. (From the Daily Bleed)

Ruins of the Ludlow Mining Camp

April 20, 1914—Ludlow Massacre, Colorado. National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who were temporarily sworn into the State Militia for the occasion. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Armored “Death Car” With Mounted Machine Guns

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but were unpaid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses. (From Labor History, The Daily Bleed, Wikipedia and Workday Minnesota)

National Guard Arrive in Ludlow

 April 20, 1948 - United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. He survived and ultimately died in a plane crash in 1970. Reuther also survived an attempted kidnapping in April, 1938, while his brother Victor was shot and nearly killed by police in 1949. The UAW headquarters was also bombed in 1949. Both Walter and Victor were again nearly killed in a small private plane near Dulles Airport. Despite this history of attempts on his life, virtually no media addressed the possibility that his actual death may have been an assassination. (From The Daily Bleed, and Workday Minnesota)

April 20, 1985 - 250,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., to protest US policy in Central America. (From The Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--April 14

April 14, 1812 – There was a Luddite food riot in Sheffield, England, in which mostly women and boys seized potatoes and vegetables and attacked a militia arms store. (From the Daily Bleed)

Currency Issued by Limerick Soviet, 1919

April 14, 1919 – In Limerick, Ireland, a General Strike was in full force against the British military occupation. The workers ran the city as a soviet, printing their own newspaper, issuing their own currency, and regulating food supply to prevent profiteering and keep prices below market. (From the Daily Bleed)
 

April 14, 1930 – Over 100 Mexican and Filipino farm workers were arrested for union activities in Imperial Valley, CA, with 8 being convicted of “criminal syndicalism.” (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

April 14, 1939 – John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)