Today in Labor History May 3, 1968: The first battles of the May Upheaval began in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The police arrested 500 students meeting at the University of Sorbonne to protest repression at Nanterre. Revolt broke out along the route taken by police vans, with thousands fighting against the police. Throughout the month of May and part of June, workers and students occupied schools, factories and offices. By mid-May, 10 million workers were on strike.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #paris #strike #revolt #rebellion #occupation #students #police #studentprotest #collegeoccupations

Today in Labor History May 3, 1937: The May Days began in Catalonia. This was a counterrevolution by the Spanish Republican government against radical workers and anarchists. Prior to this, the communists, socialists and anarchists had been allied against Franco’s nationalists. However, anarchist workers and their militias controlled most industries, which they had collectivized, while the communists controlled the central government and finances. As a result, this brought the various groups into conflict. To make matters worse, the Communist Party of Spain was taking orders from Moscow. And they wanted to separate the two struggles: revolution against the ruling class versus war against the nationalists. In contrast, the POUM and the anarchists saw the two struggles as one and the same. The anarchist faction included the Friends of Durruti Group and the CNT (a confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions).

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #civilwar #spain #fascism #antifascism #durruti #communism #Revolution #trotsky #franco #moscow

Today in Labor History May 3, 1920: A young anarchist printer, Andreas Salsedo, “fell” to his death from a 14th story window of an FBI detention room in New York City. He had been arrested during the anti-commie raids launched by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer. The FBI claimed it was suicide. Activists said he was thrown.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #policebrutality #policemurder #fbi #prison #acab #police #newyork

Today in Labor History May 3, 1919: Pete Seeger was born, Patterson, New York. He started his folk singing career in the 1940s, with the Almanac singers. This group included Woodie Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Bess Lomax Hawes. They sang about industrial unionism and racial inclusiveness. In the 1950s, they reconstituted as the Weavers. However, they were blacklisted by the McCarthyites. As a result, radio stations stopped playing their records and their bookings were cancelled. Seeger was a member of the Communist Party USA, but left it in 1949. He was also an early backer of Bob Dylan until he went electric and Seeger threatened to unplug him at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. https://youtu.be/0fhL1E2cvvI

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #peteseeger #communism #folkmusic #woodyguthrie #newyork #mccarthy #bobdylan

Today in Labor History May 3, 1849: A popular rebellion broke out in Dresden, with the militant Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin emerging as a "heroic" leader. He was imprisoned in the Konigstein fortress and condemned to death. He eventually was released. Racist composer
Richard Wagner also participated. He fled to Switzerland to avoid arrest.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #Revolution #bakunin #rebellion

Today in Labor History Nov 2, 1965: Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, set himself on fire in front of the Pentagon, directly below the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war. Fellow Quaker and peace activist Alice Herz had set herself on fire in Detroit, Michigan a few months prior, also to protest the war, as had several Buddhist monks, including Thích Quảng Đức. Morrison had brought his one-year-old daughter, Emily, with him to the self-immolation. He died within minutes of being placed in the ambulance. Demonstrators held a vigil for Morrison, and then occupied the Pentagon for four days until they were removed and arrested. Five days after Morrison’s death, Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu wrote the poem, "Emily, My Child", assuming Morrison’s voice, speaking to Emily and telling her the reasons for his sacrifice. And one week after his death, Roger Allen LaPorte set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in New York. By the end of the war, napalm had killed over 50,000 civilians in Vietnam.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #vietnam #war #communism #anticommunism #napalm #protest #pentagon #selfimmolation #poetry #unitednations

Today in Labor History August 26, 1970: The Women's Strike for Equality celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, giving women in the U.S. the right to vote. Sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW), the national protest had 3 primary goals: free abortion on demand, equal opportunity in the workforce & free childcare. There were many satirical picket signs like Don't iron while the strike is hot & Hardhats for Soft Broads & We have the right to vote for the man of our choice. In Detroit, women staged a sit-in in a men's restroom protesting unequal facilities for men and women staffers. In Pittsburgh, four women threw eggs at a radio host who dared them to show their liberation.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #feminism #equalrights #equalpay #strike #now #abortion #childcare #liberation

Today in Labor History June 15, 1990: Los Angeles cops attacked 500 janitors who were peacefully demonstrating in the Battle of Century City. The event generated public outrage that resulted in recognition of the workers’ union and spurred the creation of an annual June 15 Justice for Janitors Day. Justice For Janitors includes over 200,000 janitors in cities across the U.S. and Canada. The movement is part of the SEIU. Ken Loach’s wonderful film “Bread and Roses” (2000), was based on the Justice For Janitors struggle. Loach turned down the Turin Film Festival award in 2012 because they had fired their custodial staff for opposing a wage cut. He also was part of the group of artists and writers who called on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival "to honour calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not co-sponsoring events with the Israeli consulate."

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #JusticeForJanitors #losangeles #police #policebrutality #lapd #seiu #kenloach #film #BreadAndRoses #lgbtq #palestine #zionism #boycott

Today in Labor History May 3, 1968: The first battles of the May Upheaval began in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The police arrested 500 students meeting at the University of Sorbonne to protest repression at Nanterre. Revolt broke out along the route taken by police vans, with thousands fighting against the police. Throughout the month of May and part of June, workers and students occupied schools, factories and offices. By mid-May, 10 million workers were on strike.

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #paris #strike #revolt #rebellion #occupation #students #police #studentprotest #collegeoccupations

Today in Labor History May 3, 1937: The May Days began in Catalonia. This was a counterrevolution by the Spanish Republican government against radical workers and anarchists. Prior to this, the communists, socialists and anarchists had been allied against Franco’s nationalists. However, anarchist workers and their militias controlled most industries, which they had collectivized, while the communists controlled the central government and finances. As a result, this brought the various groups into conflict. To make matters worse, the Communist Party of Spain was taking orders from Moscow. And they wanted to separate the two struggles: revolution against the ruling class versus war against the nationalists. In contrast, the POUM and the anarchists saw the two struggles as one and the same. The anarchist faction included the Friends of Durruti Group and the CNT (a confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions).

#workingclass #LaborHisotry #anarchism #civilwar #spain #fascism #antifascism #durruti #communism #Revolution #trotsky #franco #moscow