Today in Labor History March 17, 1966: 100 striking Mexican American and Filipino farmworkers marched from Delano, California to Sacramento to pressure the growers and the state government to answer their demands for better working conditions and higher wages, which were, at the time, below the federal minimum wage. By the time the marchers arrived, on Easter Sunday, April 11, the crowd had grown to 10,000 protesters and their supporters. A few months later, the two unions that represented them, the National Farm Workers Association, led by César Chávez, and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, joined to form the United Farm Workers. The strike was launched on September 8, 1965, by Filipino grape pickers. Mexicans were initially hired as scabs. So, Filipino strike leader Larry Itliong approached Cesar Chavez to get the support of the National Farm Workers Association, and on September 16, 1965, the Mexican farm workers joined the strike. During the strike, the growers and their vigilantes would physically assault the workers and drive their cars and trucks into the picket lines. They also sprayed strikers with pesticides. The strikers persevered nonviolently. They went to the Oakland docks and convinced the longshore workers to support them by refusing to load grapes. This resulted in the spoilage of 1,000 ten-ton cases of grapes. The success of this tactic led to the decision to launch a national grape boycott, which would ultimately help them win the struggle against the growers.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #cesarchavez #ufw #delano #grapestrike #mexican #filipino #union #strike #boycott #protest #scab #farmworkers #vigilantes #larryitliong #sacramento

Today in Labor History March 2, 1990: Over 6,000 bus drivers went on strike against Greyhound Lines. The company declared an “impasse” in negotiations and fired nearly every one of the drivers, who they replaced with scabs. During the strike, there were numerous reports of sniping incidents, with unknown assailants shooting at, or into, Greyhound buses that were being driven by scabs. The bosses, to no ones surprise, blamed the union leaders for orchestrating the shootings.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #greyhound #strike #union #scab #solidarity #union #bus #police #shooting

Today in Labor History February 26, 1941: 14,000 workers struck at Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna mill in Buffalo, New York. As a defense contractor, the company had $1.5 billion worth of armament orders, but refused to pay the minimum wage mandated for government contracts. Furthermore, they had recently fired 1,000 workers, blaming their last work stoppage for damaging some coke ovens. The pickets effectively stopped scabs from getting in. After less than 2 days, the company agreed to rehire the fired men and began talks on a raise and union recognition. However, a month later, they reneged.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #strike #bethlehem #steel #minimumwage #scab #wwii #newyork #buffalo #union #wages

Today in Labor History February 14, 1949: Canadian asbestos workers began a six-month strike. It also marked the beginning of the Quiet Revolution, a period of intense socio-political change in Quebec. The strike began at midnight on February 14, when miners walked off the job at four asbestos mines. Most of the mines were owned by American or English-Canadian companies, but most of the workers were francophones. The largest company was the American Johns-Manville firm. The workers’ demands included the elimination of asbestos dust inside and outside of the mill and a small raise. Six weeks into the strike, Johns-Manville hired scabs to keep the mines open. 5,000 strikers attacked the scabs, destroying their property and intimidating them through force. Miners and police fought on the picket line. They arrested hundreds of miners. On March 14, someone blew up a part of a railroad track leading into the Johns-Manville property. On May 5, the strikers barricaded a mine and every road into and out of town. They only backed down when the police pledged to open fire on them. The next day, the police beat miners and began mass-arresting them. This intimidated the union leadership to the point that they gave in and agreed to return to work with few gains.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #PoliceBrutality #strike #scab #asbestos #quebec #mining

Today in Labor History January 25, 1915: The Supreme Court upheld "yellow dog" contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. The United Mine Workers Journal wrote, in 1921: “This agreement has been well named… It reduces to the level of a yellow dog any man that signs it, for he signs away every right he possesses under the Constitution and laws of the land and makes himself the truckling, helpless slave of the employer.” Yellow dog contracts remained valid until the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #unionbusting #scab #mining

Today in Labor History January 23, 1913: Joe Hill's song "Mr. Block" first appeared in the Wobbly (IWW) newspaper the "Industrial Worker."

Mr. Block (by Joe Hill)
1. Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you
A man who is a credit to the old Red White and Blue
His head is made of lumber and solid as a rock
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block
And Block thinks he may be President some day

Chorus
Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake
You take the cake, you make me ache
[Go] tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake!

2. Yes, Mr. Block is lucky - he got a job, by gee!
The shark got seven dollars for job and fare and fee
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck
But when he tried to find his job he sure was out of luck
He shouted, "That's too raw! I'll fix them with the law!"

3. Block hiked back to the city but wasn't doing well
He said "I'll join the union, the great AF of L".
He got a job that morning, got fired by the night
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right!"
Sam Gompers said, "You see, you've got our sympathy."

4. Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"
The comrade got elected [and] he happy was for fair
But after the election he got an awful shock
[When] a great big socialistic bull did rap him on the block
And Comrade Block did sob, "I helped him get his job!"

5. Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate
He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one thing I'd like to tell
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockerfell!"
Old Pete said, "Is that so? You'll meet them down below!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wqEhj73urg

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #joehill #mrblock #scab