Today in Labor History June 8, 1904: A battle between the Colorado state militia and striking miners occurred in Dunnville, Colorado. As a result, six union members died and 15 were taken prisoner. The authorities deported 79 of the strikers to Kansas. Most of this was done under the auspices of Rockefeller, who effectively owned the state government and militia.

This incident occurred during the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903-1904. Big Bill Haywood and the Western Federation of Labor (WFM) led the strikes. However, they were violently suppressed by Pinkerton and Baldwin-Felts detectives, local cops and militias. Scholars have said “There is no episode in American labor history in which violence was as systematically used by employers as in the Colorado labor war of 1903 and 1904.”
James McParland ran the Pinkerton agency in Denver. He had served as an agent provocateur in the Pennsylvania miners’ union in the 1870s. The state convicted and executed 20 innocent Irish coal miners because of his false testimony. (I depict that story in my novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill.”) McParland also tried to sabotage the WFM, in Colorado, by placing spies and agents provocateur within the union. And he unsuccessfully tried to get Big Bill Haywood convicted for murdering former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. Haywood was innocent.

You can read more on the Pinkertons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/04/union-busting-by-the-pinkertons/

You can pick up my novel here:
https://www.keplers.com/
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https://christophersbooks.com/
https://boundtogether.org//
https://www.historiumpress.com/michael-dunn

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

#workingclass #LaborHistory #colorado #laborwars #bigbillhaywood #wfm #union #strike #Pinkertons
#scab #solidarity #jamesmcparland #books #novel #historicalfiction #author #writer #AnywhereButSchuylkill @bookstadon

A recent study shows gig workers at rideshare companies are making less than minimum wage in the US; to stop it, we need to fight capitalism in the streets.

https://www.ninaillingworth.com/2024/09/07/nina-bytes-exploitation-as-a-business-model/

Nina-Bytes: Exploitation as a Business Model

"So how do rideshare and other gig economy companies get away with this? Mostly by selectively cooking the data to make it appear as if rideshare drivers and other gig workers are making more than they actually are, classifying gig labor as independent contractors to skirt existing labor regulations, and spending fuck tons of money lobbying governments at all levels to exempt their workers from the types of labor laws that say you’re not allowed to pay workers less than half the minimum wage in your region. Why do politicians and governments agree to this exploitative bullshit? Mostly because they’re absolutely on the take, don’t give a damn about the labor class whatsoever, and are ideologically aligned with a capitalist order that demands maximum profits and endless growth regardless of how many people that hurts."

#Capitalism #GigEconomy #Labor #LaborRights #Rideshare #MinimumWage #Exploitation #Unions #LaborWars #Prop22 #LateCapitalism