Today in Labor History—September 16

Miguel Hidalgo's execution, from Mural by Aaron Pina Mora

September 16, 1810 - The Mexican War of Independence began after Miguel Hidalgo issued a revolutionary tract calling for the end of 300 years of Spanish rule of Mexico, redistribution of land and racial equality. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1838 - James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railroad, was born. Hill went on to become one of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful men. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1920 – A bomb exploded outside the J.P. Morgan Company on New York's Wall Street, killing 30 and injuring over 100. Authorities blamed "anarchists," forcing many to flee to Russia. (From the Daily Bleed)

Aftermath of Wall Street bombing, 1920

September 16, 1936 - Members of the Fruit and Vegetable Workers’ Union blocked downtown Salinas streets to stop a convoy of trucks carrying produce harvested by strikebreakers. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1945 – 43,000 oil workers went on strike in 20 states, immediately after World War II ended. The end of the war saw a wave of strikes across the country, as workers who had patriotically sacrificed any resistance to workplace injustices during the war no longer had any excuses not to fight for decent pay and benefits. Soon after the oil workers walked off the job, 200,000 coalminers, 44,000 NW lumber workers, 70,000 Midwest truck drivers, and 40,000 machinists in San Francisco and Oakland joined them. East coast longshoremen and New England textile workers also struck.(From the Daily Bleed)

September 16, 1963 – A five-day strike began at Folsom state prison, California. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 16, 1963 -- A crowd of 100,000 burned down the British Embassy as Malaysia declared its independent. (From the Daily Bleed)

 
September 16, 1982 – Phalangist and Israeli massacre of more than 1000 Palestinian civilian refugees at the Shatila and Sabra camps began. (From theDaily Bleed)

September 16, 1989 – Thousands protested the anti-union contractor, BE&K, in St. Paul, Minnesota, which wanted to build a paper plant there, the largest demonstration ever held in the state. (From Workday Minnesota)

Automatic Union Recognition When Bosses Misbehave, Or Just A Little Red Tape?

This weekend, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law that will allow state regulators to automatically certify union elections by farmworkers if it can be shown that growers used threats or intimidation toward workers in the election process.

The United Farm Workers (UFW) membership has been declining over the past decade, in part because of intimidation and dirty tricks by growers.  However, the new law will not end intimidation by employers. UFW President Arturo Rodriguez called the new law an “improvement,” not a remedy, according to the Washington Post.

The UFW has been fighting for card-check balloting, which would allow workers to vote by signing petitions away from the fields. Farmers and growers’ associations have vigorously fought the move, arguing that union officials would use the method to rig elections. However, the growers and farmers don’t really care about whether the unions are corrupt (they will corrupt the unions themselves, when given the chance). What the growers want is the cheapest labor possible, which means either no union at all, or a company union in the pockets of the bosses.

Legislation that would have given farmworkers the right to card-check elections was vetoed by Gov. Brown in June. Brown has tried to portray the new law as a victory for workers, but it is nothing more than a weak compromise that gives the workers little and the bosses a relatively large hoop to jump through.

Growers nonetheless cried foul, complaining that the new law could easily trip them up. However, if they leave their workers alone and allow them to organize freely and without any intimidation or intervention, they have nothing to fear from the law. They can probably even continue with most of their dirty tricks without fear of legal consequences. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board said that misconduct by growers would have to be “egregious and include pervasive threats” for an election to be automatically certified, according to the WaPo article.

Today in Labor History—September 16

Miguel Hidalgo's execution, from Mural by Aaron Pina Mora

September 16, 1810 - The Mexican War of Independence began after Miguel Hidalgo issued a revolutionary tract calling for the end of 300 years of Spanish rule of Mexico, redistribution of land and racial equality. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1838 - James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railroad, was born. Hill went on to become one of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful men. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1920 – A bomb exploded outside the J.P. Morgan Company on New York's Wall Street, killing 30 and injuring over 100. Authorities blamed "anarchists," forcing many to flee to Russia. (From the Daily Bleed)

Aftermath of Wall Street bombing, 1920

September 16, 1936 - Members of the Fruit and Vegetable Workers’ Union blocked downtown Salinas streets to stop a convoy of trucks carrying produce harvested by strikebreakers. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 16, 1945 – 43,000 oil workers went on strike in 20 states, immediately after World War II ended. The end of the war saw a wave of strikes across the country, as workers who had patriotically sacrificed any resistance to workplace injustices during the war no longer had any excuses not to fight for decent pay and benefits. Soon after the oil workers walked off the job, 200,000 coalminers, 44,000 NW lumber workers, 70,000 Midwest truck drivers, and 40,000 machinists in San Francisco and Oakland joined them. East coast longshoremen and New England textile workers also struck. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 16, 1963 – A five-day strike began at Folsom state prison, California. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 16, 1963 -- A crowd of 100,000 burned down the British Embassy as Malaysia declared its independent. (From the Daily Bleed)

 
September 16, 1982 – Phalangist and Israeli massacre of more than 1000 Palestinian civilian refugees at the Shatila and Sabra camps began. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 16, 1989 – Thousands protested the anti-union contractor, BE&K, in St. Paul, Minnesota, which wanted to build a paper plant there, the largest demonstration ever held in the state. (From Workday Minnesota)