Today in Labor History—May 31

Scene at Bossenden Wood

May 31, 1838 -- Kentish peasants clashed with armed British troops at Bosendon Wood. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1905 – The Spanish anarchist Alexander Farras threw a bomb into a procession headed by French President Loubet and the King Alphonso XIII of Spain. The leaders were not hurt, though several people were wounded. Farras was never caught. Four other anarchists were arrested, tried and acquitted. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1906 – Another attempt was made on King Alphonso XIII. This time, anarchist Mateo Morral hid a bomb in a bunch of flowers and threw it at the King during his royal wedding. Because he worked in Modern School’s publishing house and was a friend of Francisco Ferrer (the founder of the first Modern Schools), Ferrer was later arrested and imprisoned as an accomplice.

Protest for Sacco and Vanzetti in London, 1921

May 31, 1921 - The infamous trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, in which the two Italian anarchists were railroaded for a crime they did not commit, began in Dedham, Massachusetts. Judge Webster Thayer’s anti-worker and anti-immigrant opening remarks set the tone for the trial. (From Workday Minnesota)

May 31, 1921 – Over 300 were killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the worst race riot in U.S. history. The violence was precipitated by a false report in the Tulsa Tribune, accusing a black man of attacking a white girl in an elevator. While the headline made the front page, there was an accompanying editorial on the back page calling for a lynching. White Tulsans began shooting blacks, and then looted and burned their homes and businesses, completely destroying the black community of Greenwood. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1955 – The Supreme Court ordered school integration "with all deliberate speed." (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1961 – A U.S. sponsored coup in the Dominican Republic led to the killing of Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Dominicans then voted in Juan Bosch, who incensed the military and the ruling elite by refusing to buy military airplanes, announcing agrarian reforms, legalizing divorce, and increasing workers' wages. Within seven months there was another coup, by the same generals who led the coup against Trujillo, School of the Americas alumni: Generals Imbert and Wessin y Wessin. The U.S. immediately recognized the new government. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1968 –Student protests were spreading throughout the world, with protests on this date in Vienna, in Denmark and Buenos Aires on June 1, and the Yugoslav insurrection beginning soon after. Thousands of students went on strike in Brazil on June 6, followed by protests in Geneva and Turkey, 20. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1986 – The Tiananmen Square demonstrations entered their 18th day, with 100,000 filling the Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 2000 – Protesting teachers burn pamphlets at a fence around the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, as riot police attempted to protect the building. Teachers throughout the country had been protesting for better wages and education reform since May 15.

Today in Labor History—December 11

December 11, 1917 -- Thirteen black soldiers were hanged for alleged participation in a riot in Houston, Texas. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1927 – A Soviet-style Commune began in Canton, but was wiped out after three days by the Russian Communist-supplied Kuo Min Tang. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1951 – An Illinois State mine inspector approved coal dust removal techniques at the New Orient mine in West Frankfurt, Illinois. Ten days later the mine exploded, killing 119 workers, because of coal dust accumulations,. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1981 - More than 500 people were massacred by the Salvadoran military in the village of El Mozote in what may have been the largest 20^th century massacre in Latin America. Men, women and children were tortured and systematically executed by the U.S.-supported regime in their attempt to wipe out unions, leftists and peasant activists. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—October 4

October 4, 1887 – Louisiana sugar workers went on strike, during which 37 unarmed black workers were murdered by Louisiana Militia, aided by bands of vigilantes. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 4, 1910 – 20 year old King Manuel II of Portugal was overthrown in a revolution. On October 7, the anti-church provisional government ordered all nuns and monks to leave the country. A republic was declared and the King fled to England. In 1908, the previous king had been assassinated.

October 4, 1946 – The U.S. Navy took over oil refineries to break a 20-state post-war wildcat strike.

October 4, 1989 - The United Mine Workers of America re-affiliated with the AFL-CIO, after decades of conflict with the organization. The UMWA had left the AFL in the 1930s when they refused to organize the auto and steel industries and played a pivotal role in the formation of the CIO. However, they withdrew from the CIO in 1942 in a dispute over labor-management relations during World War II. They were readmitted to the AFL in 1946, but left after a year when their president, John L. Lewis refused to sign the non-Communist affidavit required by the Taft-Hartley Labor Act. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—May 31

Scene at Bossenden Wood

May 31, 1838 -- Kentish peasants clashed with armed British troops at Bosendon Wood. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1905 – The Spanish anarchist Alexander Farras threw a bomb into a procession headed by French President Loubet and the King Alphonso XIII of Spain. The leaders were not hurt, though several people were wounded. Farras was never caught. Four other anarchists were arrested, tried and acquitted. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1906 – Another attempt was made on King Alphonso XIII. This time, anarchist Mateo Morral hid a bomb in a bunch of flowers and threw it at the King during his royal wedding. Because he worked in Modern School’s publishing house and was a friend of Francisco Ferrer (the founder of the first Modern Schools), Ferrer was later arrested and imprisoned as an accomplice.

Protest for Sacco and Vanzetti in London, 1921

May 31, 1921 - The infamous trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, in which the two Italian anarchists were railroaded for a crime they did not commit, began in Dedham, Massachusetts. Judge Webster Thayer’s anti-worker and anti-immigrant opening remarks set the tone for the trial. (From Workday Minnesota)

May 31, 1921 – Over 300 were killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the worst race riot in U.S. history. The violence was precipitated by a false report in the Tulsa Tribune, accusing a black man of attacking a white girl in an elevator. While the headline made the front page, there was an accompanying editorial on the back page calling for a lynching. White Tulsans began shooting blacks, and then looted and burned their homes and businesses, completely destroying the black community of Greenwood. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1955 – The Supreme Court ordered school integration "with all deliberate speed." (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1961 – A U.S. sponsored coup in the Dominican Republic led to the killing of Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Dominicans then voted in Juan Bosch, who incensed the military and the ruling elite by refusing to buy military airplanes, announcing agrarian reforms, legalizing divorce, and increasing workers' wages. Within seven months there was another coup, by the same generals who led the coup against Trujillo, School of the Americas alumni: Generals Imbert and Wessin y Wessin. The U.S. immediately recognized the new government. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1968 –Student protests were spreading throughout the world, with protests on this date in Vienna, in Denmark and Buenos Aires on June 1, and the Yugoslav insurrection beginning soon after. Thousands of students went on strike in Brazil on June 6, followed by protests in Geneva and Turkey, 20. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 1986 – The Tiananmen Square demonstrations entered their 18th day, with 100,000 filling the Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

May 31, 2000 – Protesting teachers burn pamphlets at a fence around the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, as riot police attempted to protect the building. Teachers throughout the country had been protesting for better wages and education reform since May 15.

Democracy in Action: No Hoodies in Congress

Up Against the Wall Motherfu=*#er (Image from Flickr, by keatssycamore)

A legislator was forcefully removed from Congress  this week for wearing a hoody as he spoke out against racial profiling and the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida by a racist vigilante. Speaker of the House, John Boehner, had Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill) removed by the sergeant at arms because hats and other head coverings are prohibited by the rules of decorum.

What Does Modern School Have Against Democracy?

First, Modern School reserves the right to criticize everything. Nothing is sacred. By criticizing Democracy, I am not condoning any other form of government, or lack thereof. However, I would ask people to consider what they so cherish about Democracy?

Of course the notion that Democracy is the best possible form of government has been inculcated into us from an early age, so it is no surprise that people embrace it uncritically. However, I suspect that what Americans cherish even more than the actual form and practice of Democracy in this country is the notion that we live in a nation governed by “the people,” which is to say that we, the people, the 99%, the masses, have actual power in the decisions that affect our lives, income, personal freedom and living standards, which simply is not true and which should be abundantly clear from the evidence.

The OWS movement and liberals, in general, argue that Democracy is simply broken and needs fixing, and that if it were fixed, we would have power. However, Democracy functions exactly as it was intended and designed: to facilitate the monopolization of power and wealth by those who already have wealth and power.

The rules of decorum in Congress, for example, exist in part to stifle free expression and to limit the boundaries of discourse. By demanding that Rep. Rush remove his hoody and then removing him from Congress, Boehner effectively cut off Rush’s argument that one’s clothing and skin color should not mark him for assassination and that racial profiling is still a significant problem in this country.

Of course the fact that the rich generally do not wear hoodies and are seldom, if ever, profiled by the police or by vigilantes was never even considered a topic worthy of discussion in Congress.

Today in Labor History—December 11

December 11, 1917 -- Thirteen black soldiers were hanged for alleged participation in a riot in Houston, Texas. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1927 – A Soviet-style Commune began in Canton, but was wiped out after three days by the Russian Communist-supplied Kuo Min Tang. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1951 – An Illinois State mine inspector approved coal dust removal techniques at the New Orient mine in West Frankfurt, Illinois. Ten days later the mine exploded, killing 119 workers, because of coal dust accumulations,. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1981 - More than 500 people were massacred by the Salvadoran military in the village of El Mozote in what may have been the largest 20^th century massacre in Latin America. Men, women and children were tortured and systematically executed by the U.S.-supported regime in their attempt to wipe out unions, leftists and peasant activists. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—October 4

October 4, 1887 – Louisiana sugar workers went on strike, during which 37 unarmed black workers were murdered by Louisiana Militia, aided by bands of vigilantes. (From the Daily Bleed)

October 4, 1910 – 20 year old King Manuel II of Portugal was overthrown in a revolution. On October 7, the anti-church provisional government ordered all nuns and monks to leave the country. A republic was declared and the King fled to England. In 1908, the previous king had been assassinated.

October 4, 1946 – The U.S. Navy took over oil refineries to break a 20-state post-war wildcat strike.

October 4, 1989 - The United Mine Workers of America re-affiliated with the AFL-CIO, after decades of conflict with the organization. The UMWA had left the AFL in the 1930s when they refused to organize the auto and steel industries and played a pivotal role in the formation of the CIO. However, they withdrew from the CIO in 1942 in a dispute over labor-management relations during World War II. They were readmitted to the AFL in 1946, but left after a year when their president, John L. Lewis refused to sign the non-Communist affidavit required by the Taft-Hartley Labor Act. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—July 16

Ida B Wells

July 16, 1862 – Ida B Wells was born, Holly Springs, Mississippi. Wells was most famous for her nation-wide anti-lynching campaign, launched after the murder of three black businessmen in Memphis, Tennessee. (From the Daily Bleed)

Burning of the Union Depot

July 16, 1877 -- During the Great Upheaval of 1877 (also known as the Great Strike of 1877) a General Strike that started in West Virginia halted the movement of U.S. railroads and quickly spread across the U.S. Clashes with police, militia and federal troops resulted in riots that lasted well beyond the General Strike. On July 27, at the "Battle of the Viaduct" in Chicago, federal troops (recently returned from an Indian massacre) killed 30 workers and wounded over 100. The capitalist class was so intimidated by the uprising that large stone armories were built around the country to protect them from a people’s revolt (many are still standing).

Blockade of Engines, Martinsburg, W. VA

The country was in the fourth year of a depression that followed years of greed, corruption and capital accumulation by a group of young businessmen that included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Leland Stanford and John Rockefeller. Railroads were the first business to really take off after the Civil War, but many of the smaller ones were going under as a result of the depression, bringing down farms and other businesses with them that relied on rail service to deliver raw materials and their finished goods. Those that remained in business were trying to squeeze workers with large pay cuts, sometimes by as much as 10%. The workday was based on miles, not hours, and these doubled in the period leading up to the strike. There were few successful unions in those days and none were sanctioned by the government, making them all illegal. The Great Strike was really the first large-scale strike in the nation’s history. (From the Daily Bleed and the New York State Library)

July 16, 1894 – Many black mine workers in Alabama were killed by striking white miners. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 16, 1916 – Carlo Tresca and other IWW strike leaders were arrested on charges of inciting the murder of a deputy. This was during a strike of 30,000 iron-ore mine workers of the Mesabi range in northern Minnesota. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 16, 1934—San Francisco General Strike began. The longshoremen’s strike actually started on May 9 and lasted 83 days, leading ultimately to the unionization of all West Coast ports. The strike grew violent quickly, with company goons and police brutalizing longshoremen and sailors. They hired private security to protect the scabs they brought in to load and unload ships, housing them in moored ships and wall compounds that the strikers attacked. In San Pedro, two workers were killed by private security on May 15. Battles also broke out in Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. On July 5, in San Francisco, police attacked strikers with tear gas and with clubs while on horseback and later fired into the crowd, killing two and injuring others. A General Strike was called on July 14 and began on July 16, lasting 4 days. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)