#BlueCollarWriter Labor News Update - April 8, 2026:
https://www.bluecollarwriter.com/home/labor-news-update

#1u #UnionStrong #UnionYes #ItsBetterInAUnion #LaborHistory #NLRB #Jobs #Economy

Today In Labor History April 8, 1943: The Nazis executed Otto and Elise Hampel for making anti-Nazi postcards and leaving them in public places. They were an anti-fascist working-class couple. After finding out that Elise's brother had been killed in action, they began to organize against the Third Reich. From September 1940 until their arrest in the fall of 1942, they hand-wrote over 287 postcards, which they left in mailboxes and stairwells in Berlin. The messages in these postcards urged people to refuse cooperation with the Nazis, to refuse military service, and to overthrow Hitler. The Nazis imprisoned and beheaded them in Berlin's Plötzensee Prison. Hans Fallada wrote about them in his 1947 novel, Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin in the UK). The story was filmed in 2016 as Alone in Berlin.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #nazis #berlin #antifa #antifascist #fascism #resistance #hampel #novel #fiction #film #books #author #writer @bookstadon

Today In Labor History April 8, 1935: Oscar Zeta Acosta was born on this day. Acosta was a Chicano lawyer, writer and activist in the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973). He was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson, who called him “My Samoan Attorney,” in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Acosta disappeared in Mexico in 1974. He is assumed dead.

Acosta studied creative writing at San Francisco State, before turning to the study of law. He moved to east Los Angeles in 1968, where he become active in the Chicano Movement as an activist attorney. He defended The Chicano 13, during the East LA Walkouts, as well as boxer and activist Corky Gonzalez. He once ran for sheriff vowing to abolish the sheriff’s department if elected. He came in second, with over 100,000 votes.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #chicano #OscarZetaOcosta #HunterSThompson #mexico #literature #fiction #writer #books #author #writer #losangeles @bookstadon

Today In Labor History April 8, 1864: The 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, banning chattel slavery. However, it permitted a continuation of wage slavery, and the forced labor of convicts without pay, labor rights, or the right to unionize. And on this date in 1911, 128 convict miners, mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses, were killed by a massive explosion at the Banner coalmine near Birmingham, Alabama. While the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which occurred just two weeks earlier, elicited massive public attention and support for the plight of immigrant women working in sweatshop conditions, the Banner explosion garnered almost no public sympathy, probably due to racism and the fact that they were prisoners.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #prisonlabor #racism #coal #mine #immigrants #prisoner #thirteenthamendment #slavelabor #slavery #workplacesafety #alabama #BlackMastodon #triangleshirtwaist #fire #explosion

Today In Labor History April 8, 1896: Songwriter Yip Harburg was born. Harburg was known for the social commentaries of his lyrics. He supported racial, sexual, gender equality, and labor unionism. HUAC had him blacklisted for his radical politics. Consequently, he couldn’t travel or work in Hollywood for many years. Some of his most famous songs include: It’s Only Paper Moon and Brother Can You Spare a Dime, as well as all of the songs from the film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Harburg was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in New York’s Lower East Side. His nickname, “Yip,” was likely taken from the socialist organization he belonged to, the Young People's Socialist League, also known as "yipsels.” He attended high school with Ira Gershwin, where they developed a lifelong friendship. Gershwin was the one who really pushed him to start writing lyrics. During World War One, he moved to Uruguay to avoid the draft because he opposed the war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuStRWuYptQ

#workingclass #LaborHistory #music #yipharburg #huac #blacklist #communism #anticommunism #antiwar #musicals #gershwin

#BlueCollarWriter Labor News Update - April 7, 2026:
https://www.bluecollarwriter.com/home/labor-news-update

#1u #UnionStrong #UnionYes #ItsBetterInAUnion #LaborHistory #NLRB #Jobs #Economy

Today In Labor History April 7, 2020: Folk music legend, John Prine, died of Covid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNTEbU-a9TE

#workingclass #LaborHistory #johnprine #covid #CovidIsNotOver #folkmusic #marijuana #pandemic #COVID19 #publichealth
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Today In Labor History April 7, 1947: The National Federation of Telephone Workers (NFTW) launched the first nationwide strike against AT&T and Bell. 350,000 telephone workers, mostly women switchboard operators, walked off the job. Both the AFL and the CIO supported the strike, hoping to bring the telephone workers into their fold. This support provided extra strike funds to help the workers survive their time off the job. By mid-May, 37 of the 39 member unions had won new contracts with raises. NFTW became the Communications Workers of America later that year.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #bell #women #CommunicationWorkersOfAmerica

Today In Labor History April 7, 1933: Prohibition ended for beer. Once again, unions could freely organize workers in the bars and workers could drink freely.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #organizing #prohibition #OscarWilde #union

Image of Oscar Wilde with the quote: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes"