Today in Labor History May 20, 1946: The U.S. government took over control of the coal mines (again). On April 1, 400,000 UMWA coal miners from 26 states went on strike for safer conditions, health benefits and increased wages. WWII had recently ended and President Truman saw the strike as counterproductive to economic recovery. In response, he seized the mines, making the miners temporarily federal employees. He ended the strike by offering them a deal that included healthcare and retirement security.

The coal strike was part of the strike wave of 1945-1946, the biggest strike wave in U.S. history. During WWII, most of the major unions collaborated with the U.S. war effort by enforcing labor “discipline” and preventing strikes. In exchange, the U.S. government supported closed shop policies under which employers at unionized companies agreed to hire only union members. While the closed shop gave unions more power within a particular company, the no-strike policy made that power virtually meaningless.

When the war ended, inflation soared and veterans flooded the labor market. As a result, frustrated workers began a series of wildcat strikes. Many grew into national, union-supported strikes. In November 1945, 225,000 UAW members went on strike. In January 1946, 174,000 electric workers struck. That same month, 750,000 steel workers joined them. Then, in April, the coal strike began. 250,000 railroad workers struck in May. In total, 4.3 million workers went on strike. It was the closest the U.S. came to a national General Strike in the 20th century. And in December 1946, Oakland, California did have a General Strike, the last in U.S. history.

Then, in 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which severely restricted the powers and activities of unions. It also banned General Strikes, stripping away the most powerful tool workers had. And there hasn’t been a General Strike in the U.S. since.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #coal #mining #strike #GeneralStrike #wildcat #ww2 #union #WorldWarTwo #tafthartley #uaw #oakland

UAW President Shawn Fain emphasizes the power of labor, stating that “without our labor, nothing moves.” He calls for unity among workers to combat wealth inequality and the divisive tactics used by the rich. #LaborMovement #UAW #WorkersUnite

Fain highlights that wealth inequality today is worse than during the Great Depression. He points out that the top 25 companies represented by UAW made $563... https://instagr.am/p/DYOZBR6F0b6/

Today in Labor History May 2, 1968: Workers walked out of the Hamtramck Dodge auto plant, in Detroit, in protest of management-mandated speed-ups there. Several of the black workers met across the street to form the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM). At the time, over 70% of the workers at the Hamtramck plant were African American, yet leadership of their UAW local was dominated by older Polish Americans. Walter Reuther, head of the UAW at the time, had been an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement, but was pretty much asleep at the wheel in terms of prejudice against black workers by their own union. One of DRUM’s first demands was that Reuther be replaced by a black leader. They also demanded that the UAW end its collaborations with the FBI and the CIA. And they called on the UAW to organize a General Strike to end the war in Vietnam. In July, DRUM led a 2-day wildcat strike against the Hamtramck plant in which 4,000 workers walked out. DRUM’s militancy, and their willingness to stand up to the old guard at the UAW, inspired similar movements in the auto industry, including FRUM (Ford Revolutionary Union Movement) at the Ford River Rouge Plant, and ELRUM (Eldon Avenue Revolutionary Union Movement) at the Chrysler Eldon Avenue plant. In 1969, these groups united to form the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW).

DRUM was created by veteran organizers who were also communists, internationalists, and revolutionaries who had been organizing as early as 1963, when they formed the UHURU student group at Wayne State. One of the organizers was General Baker, who wrote the following: “When the Detroit rebellion took place (1967), and the National Guard and 101st Airborne was sent in, and they imposed curfew, if you got sick, you couldn’t go to the doctor. If you got hungry, you couldn’t get no food. But if you had a badge from Chrysler, Ford or General Motors, you could get through the police line, the National Guard line, the army line, all of them to take your butt to work. The conclusion we draw from that was that the only place in this society that Black people had any value was at a point of production. That’s why, after the rebellion, we turned all our efforts into organizing inside the plants. Believe it or not, like an accident of history in one year from that time, DRUM was born."

You can read more about this movement in “Motown and the Making of Black Revolutionaries,” by Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott; and Read @JamesTracy excellent review of this book here: https://convergencemag.com/articles/book-review-motown-and-the-making-of-black-revolutionaries/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #drum #frum #elrum #racism #union #strike #wildcat #uaw #Revolutionary #fbi #cia #generalstrike #rebellion #detroit #BlackMastodon

The Guardian | Working Americans are taking the streets for May Day. Will Democrats pay attention? | Claire Valdez by Claire Valdez

AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information.

May Day on May 1, 2026 saw more than 3,000 protests across the United States as workers, students and families demanded a strike that halts school, work and shopping while ending billionaire rule. Claire Valdez, a New York assemblymember, union organizer and Democratic socialist running for Congress, argues that both the Republican and Democratic establishments have abandoned the working class—exemplified by policies that ignore the cost‑of‑living crisis, fund overseas conflicts, and deregulate labor protections. She links today’s struggle to the historic fight for the eight‑hour day, noting that modern oligarchs such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are undermining workers’ rights while private‑equity gutts hospitals and pensions. Valdez calls for organized action, quoting UAW president Shawn Fain that it is time to decide the world we want and what we are willing to do, and urges unions to set contracts to expire on May 1 2028 and prepare for a general strike and a progressive electoral surge. The piece frames May Day as both beautiful and devastating—a reminder of the high stakes and the power of collective action to secure dignified wages, benefits, housing, healthcare and a good life for ordinary Americans.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/01/may-day-protests-democrats-working-class

#ClaireValdez #UAW #DemocraticParty #activism #usunions #ElonMusk #JeffBezos #ShawnFain #ZohranMamdani

May 1st / May Day 2028
https://may1.uaw.org/

#LabourMovement #May1 #MayDay #organize #solidarity #strikes #UAW #unions

A general strike will only emerge through the development of a movement of rank-and-file workers in every factory and workplace—in a rebellion against ...

If the American union bureaucracy, which for over a century was openly hostile to May Day, is now partly changing its tune, it is because they want to get in front of the growing movement to the left, dilute the radicalization and divert it into harm…#MayDay #MayDayStrong #unions #strike #Haymarket #Minneapolis #CTU #UAW
US unions’ “May Day Strong” seeks to neuter May Day