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)

Exchange Students Win $200K Settlement for Exploitation at Hershey Plant

Last year there was strike at Hershey Chocolate by 300 foreign students living here on J-1 work-study visas. According to Democracy Now, it was the first time that foreign students had engaged in a strike against their employer.

Their actions are now starting to pay off. Over 1,000 students from Eastern Europe and Asia recently won more than $200,000 in back wages for their work at Hershey in a settlement with the U.S. Labor Department, according to the Huffington Post. The feds have also imposed fines on three groups involved in staffing for minimum wage, overtime and safety violations: SHS Group, a temporary workers firm; Exel, Inc, the company that oversaw the plant; and the Council for Educational Travel-USA, a nonprofit that imports foreign students on J-1 travel visas.

Hershey, however, has so far gotten off without consequences, even though they benefited financially from the exploitation of the students.

The students had to pay between $3,000 and $6,000 to participate in the “cultural exchange program,” a modern day form of job sharking run by the U.S. government. In reality, many were forced to do heavy lifting from 11:00 pm until 7:00 am and toil under sweat shop conditions, when they were supposed to be sleeping and studying for their day classes. They were also forced to live in company housing with rents far above market value, similar to the company towns of the early 20^th century, where workers were paid in scrip.

Interestingly, they did learn a lot about American culture, just not the white-washed American Dream fantasy that the program had hoped for. They not only learned that American capitalism will take advantage of every opportunity to abuse people for private gain, but they also learned that Americans themselves are hungry, homeless, unemployed and desperate for a stable income. (The student workers were given jobs at minimum and sub-minimum wage, while local residents were suffering high rates of unemployment and poverty).

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)

Foreign Youth Give American Workers Lesson in Solidarity

The strike at Hershey by 300 foreign students here on J-1 work-study visas has been going on for two weeks now. According to Democracy Now, it is the first time that foreign students have engaged in a strike against their employer. Federal agencies have begun four separate investigations into the allegations of exploitation.

The students are now demanding that they be refunded the $3,000 to $6,000 they paid for the cultural exchange program (and the right to be exploited by Hershey) and that their jobs be given to local workers at a living wage.

The students came mostly from Eastern Europe and Asia. The fees they paid were supposedly to allow them to participate in a cultural exchange program. Instead, they became slaves of the Hershey Corporation. They were forced to do heavy lifting and work from 11:00 pm until 7:00 am, even though they were also supposed to be taking classes and studying.

Interestingly, they did learn a lot about American culture, just not the white-washed American Dream fantasy that the program had hoped for. They not only learned that American capitalism will take advantage of every opportunity to abuse people for private gain, but they also learned that Americans themselves are hungry, homeless, unemployed and desperate for a stable income.

While they were being kicked around by Hershey, they witnessed local residents who couldn’t make ends meet and realized that this was exacerbated by their exploitation by Hershey. If foreign exchange students could be forced to work long hours at lower pay, Hershey could avoid hiring local residents at union or local rates.

The J-1 visa program, which started as, and continues to be billed as, a cultural exchange program, has become the largest guest worker program in the country, according to Democracy Now. The $3,000 to $5,000 students pay to participate is a de facto bribe to legally work in the country, like the old system of job sharking that was so common in the early 20^th century, when unemployed workers paid large ransoms to job sharks to get them in with an employer. Like the old system of job sharking, the J-1 ransom is a large sum of money for a low-income immigrant and like the job sharks or yore, when the money does result in a job, it is typically at very low wages and terrible working conditions. Workers at the Hershey plant were making roughly $8 per hour.

There are other parallels with early 20^th century exploitation. The J-1 guest workers were forced to live in company housing with rents far above market value, similar to the company towns of the early 20^th century, where workers were paid in scrip.