Today in Labor History—June 7

June 7, 1896 – A bomb exploded during a religious parade in Spain, killing a dozen people and wounding 30. The government response was to mass arrest anarchists, torturing hundreds in the Montjuich Prison. The severity of the government’s response sparked international protests. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cripple Creek under martial law, 1894

"Illegal" sheriffs' deputies under arrest, Cripple Creek, 1894

June 7, 1907 – The Colorado state militia was sent to Cripple Creek (again), to suppress a Western Federation of Miners (WFM) strike. A brutal strike occurred in Cripple Creek in 1894, the only time a state militia was called out in support of striking workers. There had been numerous firefights between striking workers and the mine owners’ private security forces, including the use of dynamite. The private cops had been terrorizing union members, their families and even local residents unaffiliated with the mines. The WFM won that strike, but it was short-lived, with the mine owners going on the offensive, particularly in 1903-1904, a period known as the Colorado Labor Wars. During this period, private detectives, goons, vigilantes, state militias and national guards were all used by the mine owners to attack the miners. On June 6, 1904, there was an explosion at the Independence mine that killed several nonunion miners. The Citizen’s Alliance brought in the National Guard, who, on June 7, shot into the WFM’s union hall. The Citizen’s Alliance also set up Kangaroo courts and convicted and deported nearly 240 miners who refused to renounce their union memberships. The Cripple Creek strike officially ended in December, 1907. However, the WFM’s struggle in Colorado helped inspire the creation of the even more radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), in 1905. One of the leaders of the WFM and Cripple Creek struggle, Big Bill Haywood, was also a founding member of the IWW. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

June 7, 1929 – Striking textile workers in Gastonia, North Carolina, fought off a vigilante attack on their union hall. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1968 – Violent clashes occurred between French workers at the Renault plant and police. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that clothing with the words "Fuck the Draft" was protected by the First amendment. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1991 – A three-week General Strike in Albania ended by bringing down the government. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 2001 – George Bush signed a $1.35-trillion tax cut, mostly for the rich. Not long after this “stimulus” plan was put into action, the economy, went further into the tank. (From the Daily Bleed)

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—September 9

September 9, 1891 – The first strike by African-American plantation workers occurred on this date in Georgia & Arkansas. They were fighting for wages of $1.00 a day. They lost the strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

Soldiers marching back from bullring, Etaples, where officers routinely bullied them

 September 9, 1918 – Scottish & Anzac troops at the Etaples army base launched a successful five day mutiny against harsh treatment and bad conditions by attacking the military police and daily demonstrations. (From theDaily Bleed)

MA Militia Attempting to Gain Control of Boston Police Strike

 September 9, 1919 - Boston police walked off the job during the strike wave that was spreading across the country. The police had affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, prompting the police commissioner to suspend 19 of them for their organizing efforts, prompting other to go on strike. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge announced that none of the strikers would be rehired and he called in the state police to crush the strike. An entirely new police force was ultimately created from  unemployed veterans of World War I. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 9, 1943 – 60 striking Filipino workers were run out of Yakima, Washington by state police and vigilantes. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1968 – In a press conference, Mayor Daley admitted what we’ve known all along: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1971 – The Attica prison riot began near Buffalo, New York. Nine prison guards were held hostage, dying along with 31 of their captors when 1,500 state police and other law-enforcement officers stormed the complex shooting indiscriminately. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1981 – The Sandinista government in Nicaragua banned all strikes. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 23

 

August 23, 1900 – Folk and protest singer Malvina Reynolds was born in San Francisco, California. 

Reynolds was denied a diploma by the city’s elite Lowell High School because her parents were opposed to US participation in World War I. She was perhaps best know for her satire of suburbia, "Little Boxes" which was most likely inspired by the tacky sprawl of house in Daly City, just outside of San Francisco.

August 23, 1909 – IWW strikers boarded a streetcar in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania looking for scabs. A deputy sheriff shot at them and was killed in the return fire. A gun battle ensued that killed 11 people.

August 23, 1917 - Black soldiers in Houston who were fed up with Jim Crow laws and ongoing harassment from whites decided to fight back. The gun battle left 17 dead and result in 64 soldiers being tried for murder and mutiny. 13 got death and 40 got life imprisonment. (From Workday Minnesota)

August 23, 1927 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed on this date in Massachusetts, despite their innocence and the outpouring of international support for their release. (From Workday Minnesota)

August 23, 1933 – Vigilantes assaulted 200 migrant workers in Yakima, Washington. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—June 7

June 7, 1896 – A bomb exploded during a religious parade in Spain, killing a dozen people and wounding 30. The government response was to mass arrest anarchists, torturing hundreds in the Montjuich Prison. The severity of the government’s response sparked international protests. (From the Daily Bleed)

Cripple Creek under martial law, 1894

"Illegal" sheriffs' deputies under arrest, Cripple Creek, 1894

June 7, 1907 – The Colorado state militia was sent to Cripple Creek (again), to suppress a Western Federation of Miners (WFM) strike. A brutal strike occurred in Cripple Creek in 1894, the only time a state militia was called out in support of striking workers. There had been numerous firefights between striking workers and the mine owners’ private security forces, including the use of dynamite. The private cops had been terrorizing union members, their families and even local residents unaffiliated with the mines. The WFM won that strike, but it was short-lived, with the mine owners going on the offensive, particularly in 1903-1904, a period known as the Colorado Labor Wars. During this period, private detectives, goons, vigilantes, state militias and national guards were all used by the mine owners to attack the miners. On June 6, 1904, there was an explosion at the Independence mine that killed several nonunion miners. The Citizen’s Alliance brought in the National Guard, who, on June 7, shot into the WFM’s union hall. The Citizen’s Alliance also set up Kangaroo courts and convicted and deported nearly 240 miners who refused to renounce their union memberships. The Cripple Creek strike officially ended in December, 1907. However, the WFM’s struggle in Colorado helped inspire the creation of the even more radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), in 1905. One of the leaders of the WFM and Cripple Creek struggle, Big Bill Haywood, was also a founding member of the IWW. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)

June 7, 1929 – Striking textile workers in Gastonia, North Carolina, fought off a vigilante attack on their union hall. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1968 – Violent clashes occurred between French workers at the Renault plant and police. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that clothing with the words "Fuck the Draft" was protected by the First amendment. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 1991 – A three-week General Strike in Albania ended by bringing down the government. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 7, 2001 – George Bush signed a $1.35-trillion tax cut, mostly for the rich. Not long after this “stimulus” plan was put into action, the economy, went further into the tank. (From the Daily Bleed)

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—September 9

September 9, 1891 – The first strike by African-American plantation workers occurred on this date in Georgia & Arkansas. They were fighting for wages of $1.00 a day. They lost the strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

Soldiers marching back from bullring, Etaples, where officers routinely bullied them

 September 9, 1918 – Scottish & Anzac troops at the Etaples army base launched a successful five day mutiny against harsh treatment and bad conditions by attacking the military police and daily demonstrations. (From the Daily Bleed)

MA Militia Attempting to Gain Control of Boston Police Strike

 September 9, 1919 - Boston police walked off the job during the strike wave that was spreading across the country. The police had affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, prompting the police commissioner to suspend 19 of them for their organizing efforts, prompting other to go on strike. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge announced that none of the strikers would be rehired and he called in the state police to crush the strike. An entirely new police force was ultimately created from  unemployed veterans of World War I. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 9, 1943 – 60 striking Filipino workers were run out of Yakima, Washington by state police and vigilantes. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1968 – In a press conference, Mayor Daley admitted what we’ve known all along: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1971 – The Attica prison riot began near Buffalo, New York. Nine prison guards were held hostage, dying along with 31 of their captors when 1,500 state police and other law-enforcement officers stormed the complex shooting indiscriminately. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 9, 1981 – The Sandinista government in Nicaragua banned all strikes. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 23

August 23, 1900 – Folk and protest singer Malvina Reynolds was born in San Francisco, California. Reynolds was denied a diploma by the city’s elite Lowell High School because her parents were opposed to US participation in World War I. She was perhaps best know for her satire of suburbia, "Little Boxes" which was most likely inspired by the tacky sprawl of house in Daly City, just outside of San Francisco.

August 23, 1909 – IWW strikers boarded a streetcar in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania looking for scabs. A deputy sheriff shot at them and was killed in the return fire. A gun battle ensued that killed 11 people.

August 23, 1917 - Black soldiers in Houston who were fed up with Jim Crow laws and ongoing harassment from whites decided to fight back. The gun battle left 17 dead and result in 64 soldiers being tried for murder and mutiny. 13 got death and 40 got life imprisonment. (From Workday Minnesota)

August 23, 1927 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed on this date in Massachusetts, despite their innocence and the outpouring of international support for their release. (From Workday Minnesota)

August 23, 1933 – Vigilantes assaulted 200 migrant workers in Yakima, Washington. (From the Daily Bleed)