Today in Labor History June 20, 1893: Eugene Debs formed the American Railway Union (ARU), one of the first unions to organize by industry and regardless of race (along with the Knights of Labor and IWW, which he cofounded in 1905). Within a few months the union was leading an 18-day strike against the Great Northern Railroad, successfully forcing management to reverse three wage cuts, despite the fact that the nation was in the midst of a terrible depression. The victory set the union on a remarkable course in which it averaged 2,000 new members a day. Debs was jailed during World War I for making antiwar speeches. He ran for president from jail, as a socialist, and won 4% of the vote. The photograph shows union leaders who were jailed during the 1894 Pullman Strike, including Debs.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #strike #union #eugenedebs #socialism #IWW #railroad #prison #worldwarone #antiwar #railroad

Today in Labor History June 15, 1917: President Woodrow Wilson signed the Espionage Act into law. The law targeted leftist, anti-war and labor organizations, especially the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which was devastated because of the arrests and deportations of its members. When Eugene Debs spoke against the draft in Canton, Ohio, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He ran for president from prison in 1920, winning nearly 1 million votes (3.4%). The government used the law to arrest anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman and depart them to the Soviet Union. They used the law against the Rosenbergs, whom they executed. They also used it against Daniel Ellsberg, whose “Pentagon Papers” were published by the NY Times 52 years ago. The Espionage Act is still on the books and was used recently to prosecute Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #espionageact #redscare #freespeech #anarchism #prison #policestate #repression #soviet #emmagoldman #rosenbergs #edwardsnowden #chelseamanning #eugenedebs #IWW #warcrimes #imperialism

Today in Labor History May 11, 1894: The Pullman Railroad Strike began in Chicago, Illinois, when 4,000 workers walked off the job. It began as a wildcat strike and quickly escalated into the largest industrial strike to date in the U.S. Nearly 260,000 railroad workers participated. The strike and boycott halted nearly all rail traffic west of Detroit. The strike began during a severe depression. George Pullman lowered wages and began laying off workers, without reducing rent in his company town of Pullman, Illinois, where most of the workers lived. Eugene Debs rose to prominence as a labor leader during this strike. The American Federation of Labor refused solidarity because they thought Debs was stealing their members, as the American Railway Union was not an AFofL member. The government sent in federal troops to suppress the strike. 30 workers were killed in Chicago, alone. Over 40 more were killed in other parts of the country. Property damage exceeded $80 million. Debs would go on to run for president four times, as a socialist, running some of his campaigns from prison. He was also a founding member of the radical IWW, along with Lucy Parsons, Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, and Easter Rising martyr, James Connolly.

#LaborHistory #workingclass #eugenedebs #pullman #strike #union #railroad #massacre #wildcat #socialism #boycott #IWW #motherjones #lucyparsons #jamesconnolly #bigbillhaywood #chicago

Today in labor history April 29, 1899: Members of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) seized a train, loaded it with 3,000 pounds of dynamite, and drove it into the Bunker Hill mine in Wardner, Idaho because the mine owners refused to respect their demand to hire only union men. They completely destroyed the $250,000 colliery. President McKinley responded by sending in black soldiers from Brownsville, Texas. He ordered them to round up the miners and imprison them in specially built "bullpens." From 1899 to 1901, the U.S. Army occupied most of the Coeur d'Alene mining region in Idaho. The WFM was led by Big Bill Haywood, who would go on to cofound the more radical IWW, in 1905, along with Mother Jones, Lucy Parsons, Eugene Debs, and others.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #union #strike #sabotage #dynamite #prison #racism #IWW #bigbillhaywood #motherjones #lucyparsons #eugenedebs #socialism #anarchism

Today in Labor History April 13, 1894: The Great Northern rail strike began in Helena, Montana. It quickly spread to St. Paul. The strike was led Eugene V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union. Workers succeeded in shutting down most of the critical rail links. Consequently, the owners gave in to nearly all of the union’s demands. The successful strike led to thousands of rail workers joining the new union. Debs would go on to lead numerous other strikes, run for president of the U.S. several times, including from his prison cell, and to co-found the revolutionary union IWW, along with Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, Lucy Parsons, and others.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #eugenedebs #railroad #solidarity #potus #IWW #motherjones #socialism #lucyparsons #bigbillhaywood

Today in Labor History March 7, 1942: IWW cofounder and anarchist labor organizer Lucy Parsons died on this date in Chicago, Illinois. Lucy Parsons was part African American and part Native American. Her mother had been a slave. In 1871, she married Albert Parsons, a Confederate soldier, in Waco, Texas. Soon after, they were forced to flee due to racism, moving to Chicago. There they participated in the Great Upheaval of worker rebellions that swept across the U.S. in 1877. They were also active in the movement for the 8-hour day and other worker movements. In 1887, the authorities executed Albert, along with several other anarchists, for the Haymarket bombing, even most hadn’t been present at the bombing. In 1905, Lucy Parsons cofounded the IWW, along with Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood and others. In 1915, she organized the Chicago Hunger Demonstrations. They were so effective that they pushed the AFL, the Socialist Labor Party and the Hull House to participate. In 1925, she participated in the International Labor Defense, which defended workers, communists, the Scottsboro Nine and others.

You can read my complete bio of Lucy here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#LaborHistory #workingclass #lucyparsons #IWW #haymarket #anarchism #communism #racism #womenshistorymonth #rebellion #8HourDay #motherjones #eugenedebs #execution #bigbillhaywood #union #scottsboro #chicago #waco #texas #slavery #civilwar #africanamerican #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History February 27, 1875: Eugene V. Debs became a charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. By 1880, he had become the grand secretary of the union and editor of the Locomotive Fireman’s Magazine. He later led the bitter Pullman strike. After that, he cofounded the IWW and ran for President of the US as a socialist while in prison.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #socialism #potus #EugeneDebs #union #strike #prison

Tribune libre et opinion : Pourquoi Zohran Mamdani cite Eugene Debs ?

https://www.clp-kvd.org/2026/02/tribune-libre-et-opinion-pourquoi-zohran-mamdani-cite-eugene-debs/

How the Wobblies Smashed Racism - OVER A CENTURY AGO!

https://peertube.gravitywell.xyz/w/1e4rfKQbfHHLeFij4qwXWj