Today in Labor History June 19, 1937: The Women's Day Massacre. During the Great Ohio Steel Strike of 1937, there were numerous street battles between workers and police, including the Youngstown Riots and Poland Avenue Riot on June 21st. On June 19th, there were smaller battles that some believe were initiated by the cops to test the likely extent of union resistance in a real fight. When the cops in Youngstown couldn't find any union leaders to beat up, they went after women picketers who were sitting in chairs to support the strike. They fired tear gas and, when the women refused to leave, began firing live rounds at them, killing 2. Over the course of the entire strike, police killed 16 workers, many of whom were shot in the back as they ran away.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #steel #strike #union #women #feminism #womensrights #police #policebrutality #policemurder #acab #massacre #ohio #Riot #youngstown

https://theintercept.com/2026/06/18/police-killing-michigan-john-jenuwine/

Police Chased the Wrong Man, Then Shot Him and Watched as He Bled Out

Sheriff’s deputies in Michigan fired 27 shots at John Jenuwine. “He was not the guy that they were supposed to be chasing,” said the victim’s father.

#ACAB #PoliceShooting #PoliceMurder #PoliceBrutality #PoliceKilling #EndQualifiedImmunity #QualifiedImmunity #BadCops #BluePussies #DefundThePolice

Today in Labor History June 14, 2006: Mexican state police attacked 50,000 striking teachers occupying streets Zocalo of Oaxaca. No one died on this date, but over one hundred teachers were hospitalized. It led to mass protests and the occupation of Oaxaca city, led by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). Overall, the protests lasted seven months and at least 17 people were killed. The Mexican government used death squads and summary executions, and was accused of violating the Geneva Conventions.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #oaxaca #mexico #police #policebrutality #policemurder #deathsquads #teachers #union #strike #appo

From 2009 and still true today.

#ACAB #BadCops #BluePussies #PoliceBrutality #PoliceMisconduct
#PoliceMurder #CopsLie
#bodycam #ProtectandServe #FreedomOfSpeech

Today in Labor History June 3, 1913: IWW Marine Transport Workers Union in New Orleans continued their strike against United Fruit Company (now known as Chiquita) after wages were cut by five dollars per month. The strike, which started on June 2, turned deadly on June 13, when police opened fire on strikers trying to stop scabs from loading a ship, killing two of them. The IWW lost this strike. However, they were highly successful in other longshore strikes up and down the Eastern Seaboard. At this time, the IWW controlled all but 2 of the Philadelphia docks. Their multiracial union was led by Ben Fletcher, an African-American docker. Fletcher was also instrumental in organizing the Baltimore dockers.

You can read my longer article about Ben Fletcher here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/05/13/ben-fletcher-and-the-iww-dockers/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #wobblies #union #strike #racism #neworleans #philadelphia #police #policebrutality #acab #policemurder #scab #antiracism #solidarity #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History May 30, 1937: Police attacked striking steelworkers at the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago, shooting many in the back. They killed 10 and wounded 100 in what became known as the Memorial Day Massacre. The press called it the “Red Massacre,” as if to justify police violence and murder of working-class people. The police opened fired on the crowd of 1,500-2,000 workers after a some of demonstrators tried to defend their right to march, and continued to shoot at them after they started to flee. No cops were ever prosecuted. A Coroner's Jury called it "justifiable homicide." President Franklin Roosevelt’s response was: "A plague on both your houses."

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

#workingclass #LaborHistory #MemorialDay #massacre #strike #union #policebrutality #policemurder #police #acab #chicago #steel

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 April 26, 1960: Students and workers forced South Korean President Syngman Rhee to resign after 12 years of dictatorial rule. The protests began on April 11 after the police killed a high school student. The student’s skull had been split by a tear gas canister. On April 19, the police shot into a demonstration of 100,000 people in Seoul, killing 180 people. They killed 186 people, overall, during the two weeks of demonstrations. Rhee fled to the U.S.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #students #protest #demonstration #korea #dictator #massacre #police #PoliceAbuse #policemurder

Today in Labor History April 19, 1913: Modestino Valentino, a bystander, was shot and killed by company detectives during a conflict between IWW strikers and scabs in Patterson, N.J., during the infamous Silk Strike, which the workers ultimately lost on July 28, 1913. During the strike, 1,850 workers were arrested, including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Big Bill Haywood.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #patterson #strike #union #police #policebrutality #policemurder #BigBillHaywood #ElizabethGurleyFlynn #newjersey