Most of the San Diego press cheered on the violence … The vigilantes represented the bankers and merchants. ibid.
‘The insurrectional fact, destined to affirm socialist principles by deed, is the most efficacious means of propaganda … It is therefore necessary to destroy with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence which denies these means to the workers.’ ibid. Erico Malatesta, 1876
‘Remember that you are fighting more than your own fight. You are fighting for the entire working class and you must stand together.’ ibid. Big Bill Haywood, IWW leader
The Lawrence Textile strike of 1912 which involved immigrants from over forty different nationalities, both men and women … Before long, police began attacking the picket lines. ibid.
‘Your violent and chaotic society always bears within it war as a sleeping cloud bears a storm.’ Plutocracy III: Class War, Jean Jaures, French socialist leader, 2017
Massive wealth inequality remained. Between the years 1800 and 1920 economic inequality in the United States increased more than a hundred-fold. ibid.
The most notorious of the battles occurred in Ludlow, Colorado, 1914 … ‘owned by the Rockefeller trust … The National Guard fired into the tents.’ The killing of their [strikers’] families caused national outrage. Protests erupted across the country. ibid.
An expression of growing working-class solidarity. ibid.
The Socialist Party was also experiencing national growth. ibid.
Joe Hill had a unique weapon in his arsenal: not just speech but song. ibid.
Another important labor Leader imprisoned under the Espionage Act was the anarchist Ricardo Flores Magon. ibid.
‘IWW stood for Industrial Workers of the World. Work, Good Wages & Respect – that’s what they wanted for the workers.’ The Wobblies, woman, 1979
At the turn of the century America was changing rapidly from a basically rural society to an urban industrial one … One of the striking features of the period was the rapid growth of the enormous corporations which began to control the basic industries. ibid.
The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system. ibid. Preamble
‘The IWW was the only thing that was accepting Negro or black workers.’ ibid. black worker
A year after the Lawrence Strike another strike broke out in Paterson, New Jersey, 1913 … They were defeated in their demands for an eight-hour day and higher wages. ibid.
‘You either had to stop living or become a rebel.’ ibid. Woman
They would use the soapboxes as recruiting stations. ibid.
‘Rebellious slaves – that’s what we were.’ ibid. old bo
A devastating series of strikes brought the country to a halt and changed the face of British politics for ever. Revolution indeed: Labour was cast into the wilderness for nineteen years and union power was smashed. It was called the Winter of Discontent. Secret History s6e8: Winter of Discontent, Channel 4 1998
The trades unions were fed up after three years of incomes policy. ibid.
The first big test came with the pay negotiations at Ford … The workers wanted 30%, inside, management offered 5%. ibid.
The 5% pay limit was being ignored by almost everyone except the government. ibid.
Strikes by ambulanceman and hospital ancillary staff soon meant that nearly half the country’s hospitals could handle emergencies only. ibid.
In Liverpool even the gravediggers went on strike. ibid.
Council workers were now going on strike. ibid.
The rubbish was piling up. ibid.
It were 1920 in the south-west field and things was tough. The miners were trying to bring the union to West Virginia, and the coal operators and their gun thugs were set on keeping ’em out. Matewan ***** 1987 starring Chris Cooper & James Earl Jones & Mary McDonnell & Will Oldham & David Strathairn & Ken Jenkins & Gordon Clapp & Bob Gunton & John Mostel & Kevin Tighe & John Sayles et al, director John Sayles
We did it, Mamma. We’re going to have the union. ibid. miner
You don’t want to go there, mister. Ain’t nuttin’ but crazy people. ibid. train guard
These picks and shovels are to be considered a loan from the Stone Mountain Coal Company. Their cost will be deducted from the first month’s pay. ibid. company man
I was with the Wobblies. ibid. Convenor
If you stand alone, you’re just so much shit to those people. ibid.
You work, they don’t: that’s all you got to know about the enemy. ibid.
The union didn’t have too much it could give to the people back then. All we got in common is our misery. ibid. commentary
A new day coming: sometimes I could just about see it. But it were a dangerous living for a union man and you didn’t dare turn you back. It was hard time. It was hungry times too. The union relief was spread thin, and hope of a new day could feed your soul but leave your belly rumbling. ibid.
On May 13th the trade unions announced a general strike … The workers had their own objectives … By May 22nd that figure had swollen to ten million. Vive le Revolution! Joan Bakewell on May 1968
While Martin Luther King junior was leading the charge in the South, one Californian woman was fighting on the front line for workers’ rights … She might well be the most vocal activist you’ve never heard of. Dolores, news bulletin, 2017
‘But when it came time then to make it a union, the CSO decided not to support us.’ ibid. Dolores
‘The feudal wage slavery of agro-business is just an extention of the attitude that has existed in the country.’ ibid. activist
1962: ‘We had 1,000 members. We had benefits. We had a life insurance plan. We had an office. We started a credit union.’ ibid. Dolores
‘There was so much violence against the Filipinos.’ ibid.
‘Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez felt it was possible to organise farm workers when no-one believed that that was possible.’ ibid. Angela Davis
‘It was total government interference. So this was very clearly not only a battle against the growers, it was a battle against the government and their support of the growers.’ ibid. Angela Davis
Montreal, 2012: A student strike in opposition to a tuition hike rocked the streets of the city for over six months … The numbers on the streets would reach over 100,000. Police routinely clubbed students and their allies. Street Politics 101, 2013
The students would take over the streets … ibid.
Quebec: Over 200,000 people filled the streets of the city. ibid.
Unionized Nova Scotia crane operators strike: Strike affecting 100 workers began Wednesday morning and could last as long as 21 days. CBC News online 24 October 2018, cited The Curse of Oak Island s6e19: Striking Distance
In the summer of 1917, World War I was raging and the Queen of the Copper camps, Bisbee, Arizona, was crucial to the war effort. Copper was essential for munitions, and the mining companies were making record profits.
The miners, many of them immigrants, grew tired of the unsafe working conditions, imbalance of power and the discrimination they faced in the camp.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) seized upon this opportunity and came to Bisbee, to radicalize the workers and help cripple the war effort.
The IWW called a strike and the townspeople were forced to choose between the strikers and the mining companies.
Then on July 12 1917 a posse of two thousand men, led by Sheriff Harry Wheeler, rounded up the strikers at gunpoint, threw them onto cattle cars and shipped them to the barren desert of New Mexico, leaving them to die.
This event came to be known as the Bisbee Deportation. Bisbee ’17, captions, 2018
Thank you for riding the deportation express. ibid. coach tour
The Bisbee deportations seemed to disappear from the town’s history. The story was rarely told or mentioned. ibid.