Today in Labor History—March 31

March 31, 1927: Birth of Cesar Chavez.

March 31, 1941: Wisconsin state troopers attack striking auto workers in Milwaukee. The strikers succeed in holding off scabs.

March 31, 1949 – Last great strike of the Canadian Seaman's Union.

March 31, 1966: Two day boycott of Seattle schools protesting de facto segregation.

(Sources: Daily Bleed, and Workaday Minnesota).

Today In Labor History: March 27

March 27, 1912: Start of the 8-month Northern railway strike in Canada by the IWW. Wobblies picketed employment offices in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Tacoma and Minneapolis in order to block the hiring of scabs.

Fellow workers pay attention to what I'm going to mention,
For it is the fixed intention of the Workers of the World.
And I hope you'll all be ready, true-hearted, brave and steady,
To gather 'round our standard when the red flag is unfurled.

CHORUS:
Where the Fraser river flows, each fellow worker knows,
They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our union grows.
And we're going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and better pay, boys
And we're going to win the day, boys, where the river Fraser flows.

For these gunny-sack contractors have all been dirty actors,
And they're not our benefactors, each fellow worker knows.
So we've got to stick together in fine or dirty weather,
And we will show no white feather, where the Fraser river flows.

Now the boss the law is stretching, bulls and pimps he's fetching,
And they are a fine collection, as Jesus only knows.
But why their mothers reared them, and why the devil spared them,
Are questions we can't answer, where the Fraser River flows.

(Lyrics by Joe Hill, 1912, to the tune of “Where the River Shannon Flows.”)

(Sources: IWW, Its First Seventy Year, by Fred Thompson and Patrick Murfin, and Daily Bleed).

Today in Labor History—February 27

Guards' cannon dragged to Montmartre During Paris Commune (contemporary sketch)

February 27, 1871 – The Paris Commune began when regular soldiers, sent to confiscate cannon from the National Guard militia in Paris, were confronted by the crowd and then decided to fraternize with them. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cartoon showing US Socialist Presidential candidate, Eugen V. Debs, who ran from in prison in the 1920 election.

 February 27, 1875 – Eugene V. Debs became a charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. By 1880, he had become grand secretary of the national Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and editor of the Locomotive Fireman's Magazine. He later led the bitter Pullman strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 1902 – John Steinbeck was born on this date in Salinas, California. Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962, wrote numerous novels from the perspective of farmers and the working class, including The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Tortilla Flats, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row & East of Eden. (1952). (From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 1912 – “The Times" of London published a lead story about a "conspiracy" of unions to take over ownership of British coal mines. The piece was based on a pamphlet, "The Miner's Next Step," which had been printed in Tonypandy, a scene of recent bloodshed between strikers and police. The pamphlet, written by the South Wales Miner's Federation, called for direct action and industrial solidarity. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 1933 – Berlin's Reichstag parliament building was torched. The Nazi's tried to blame it on communists as a ploy in their steady consolidation of total power. (From the Daily Bleed)

Jarama Valley, Woody Guthrie

February 27, 1937 – Lincoln Brigadiers attacked Pingarrón Hill ("Suicide Hill") in Jarama Valley, Spain. Of the 500 who fought in this infamous battle, over 300 were killed or wounded. The Lincoln Brigade was made up of Americans who went to Spain (in violation of U.S. law) to help fight Franco and the fascists. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 1939 - Following a decade of sit-down strikes, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sit-down strikes were illegal. (From Workday Minnesota)

February 27, 1942 – The Seattle School Board accepted the forced resignation of Japanese-American teachers. (From the Daily Bleed)


February 27, 1943 – A mine disaster killed 74 workers at Red Lodge, Montana. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 1973 – 300 Oglala Sioux American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) activists liberated and occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota (the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux by the U.S. cavalry), in response to a campaign of terror by tribal and FBI officials. From the Daily Bleed)

February 27, 2001 – Seattle ACORN workers went on strike. Their office shut was down after their employer refused to recognize Public Interest Workers IU 670 union of the IWW. From the Daily Bleed)

Labor History Timeline--Insurrection, Palmer Raids and WWI

1918    Ginger Goodwin Assassination: A hired private policeman shot United Mine Workers Organizer Ginger Goodwin outside Cumberland, B.C. (Source: AFGE)

1919    Fannie Sellins Assassination: Company guards gunned down United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. (Source: AFGE)

Chaos during Boston police strike and riot

1919    Boston Police Strike and Riot: On September 19, looting, rioting, and sporadic violence broke out in downtown and South Boston after 1,117 policemen declared a work stoppage. Governor Calvin Coolidge brought in the entire state militia to put down the strike. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)

1919    The Great Steel Strike: nearly 400,000 steelworkers went on strike for union recognition on September 22, ultimately failing. Martial law was declared in Gary, IN. Troops were called to several cities. (Sources: AFGE, Rense.com)

1919    Centralia Massacre: Legionnaires attacked a Centralia, Washington IWW hall and then lynched IWW organizer Wesley Everest. (Sources: AFGE, Wikipedia, IWW)

Newspaper clipping during Seattle General Strike

1919    Seattle General Strike: After two years of frozen wages due to the war, over 65,000 workers went on strike in Seattle for higher wages, joined by members of both the AFL and the IWW. The strike was a virtual commune, with the General Strike Committee taking over most governmental functions, including providing food and security. Mayor Hanson brought the strike to an end by threatening violence with soldiers, cops and several thousand deputized UW students. (Sources: Wikipedia, Seattle General Strike Project, Seattle Times, Lib com)

1919    Red Scare Begins—Approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare," or “Palmer Raids.” Woodrow Wilson's Attorney General,  A. Mitchell Palmer, ultimately arrested nearly 6,000 people on suspicion of "communism." Those who were not U.S. citizens were deported as "undesirable aliens." (Sources: AFGE, Workday Minnesota,Daily Bleed)

1920    Anaconda Road Massacre: On April, 21, Anaconda Copper company guards in Butte, Montana opened fire on striking IWW miners, killing 1 and injuring 16 others. (Sources: Wikipedia)

1920    Matewan Battle: Ten people were killed when coal company officials in Matewan, West Virginia, tried to remove striking union workers from coal company housing. They sent in agents from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency who evicted several families before trying to hop on a train out of town. Sheriff Hatfield, who supported the miners’ right to organize, tried to arrest the detectives who, in turn, tried to arrest Hatfield. Unbeknownst to the detectives, they had been surrounded by miners. No one knows who shot first, but when the smoke had cleared, there were 7 dead detectives (including Albert and Lee Felts) and 4 dead townspeople. Miners were typically forced to live in company towns and purchase living necessities from company stores at inflated prices. They were paid in scrip, which was useless outside of the company towns. In the time leading up to the Battle of Matewan, numerous miners had been assassinated by vigilantes, goons or detectives. In the aftermath of the massacre, the miners went on strike and were treated to even more violence. (From Workday Minnesota, Wikipedia,Daily Bleed, Modern School and Matewanwv.com)

1920    Alabama Coal Strike: This was a statewide strike by the United Mine Workers that was marred by racial violence and ended in defeat for the union. UMW was already integrated by this time, which was offensive both to white racists, and black assimilationists. Several people were killed during the strike, most of whom were black workers. (Sources: Wikipedia)

Miners with bomb that had been dropped on them 

1921    Battle of Blair Mountain: Sheriff Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were murdered by Baldwin-Feltz private cops for their role in the Matewan labor battle in 1920, when two Feltz family thugs were killed by Hatfield and his deputies. They were executed on the Welch County court house steps in front of their wives, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain, where 20,000 coal miners marched to the anti-union stronghold Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the first time that American citizens were aerially bombarded by their own government. (Sources: the Daily Bleed, Wikipedia,Workday Minnesota)

1922    The Herrin Massacre (June 22): striking coal miners killed 20 guards and strikebreakers in Herrin, Illinois in retaliation for the murder of three of their own. (Source: AFGE, Wikipedia)

A. Phillip Randolph, 1946

1925    The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded by A. Phillip Randolph and others, was the nation's first African American union. The AFL, which proclaimed support for Randolph's efforts, historically excluded African Americans from its membership. (Source: AFGE)

1927    Columbine Massacre: 6 unarmed mine workers were machine-gunned down in Serene, Colorado, either by police or company guards, during a weeks-long strike at the Columbine Mine. (Sources: Wikipedia)

Today in Labor History—March 31

March 31, 1927: Birth of Cesar Chavez.

March 31, 1941: Wisconsin state troopers attack striking auto workers in Milwaukee. The strikers succeed in holding off scabs.

March 31, 1949 – Last great strike of the Canadian Seaman's Union.

March 31, 1966: Two day boycott of Seattle schools protesting de facto segregation.

(Sources: Daily Bleed, and Workaday Minnesota).

Today In Labor History: March 27

March 27, 1912: Start of the 8-month Northern railway strike in Canada by the IWW. Wobblies picketed employment offices in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Tacoma and Minneapolis in order to block the hiring of scabs.

Fellow workers pay attention to what I'm going to mention,
For it is the fixed intention of the Workers of the World.
And I hope you'll all be ready, true-hearted, brave and steady,
To gather 'round our standard when the red flag is unfurled.

CHORUS:
Where the Fraser river flows, each fellow worker knows,
They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our union grows.
And we're going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and better pay, boys
And we're going to win the day, boys, where the river Fraser flows.

For these gunny-sack contractors have all been dirty actors,
And they're not our benefactors, each fellow worker knows.
So we've got to stick together in fine or dirty weather,
And we will show no white feather, where the Fraser river flows.

Now the boss the law is stretching, bulls and pimps he's fetching,
And they are a fine collection, as Jesus only knows.
But why their mothers reared them, and why the devil spared them,
Are questions we can't answer, where the Fraser River flows.

(Lyrics by Joe Hill, 1912, to the tune of “Where the River Shannon Flows.”)

(Sources: IWW, Its First Seventy Year, by Fred Thompson and Patrick Murfin, and Daily Bleed).