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/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
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

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 #BlackMastadon

Elon Musk is a scab.

#Labor
#scab

STAGE DIVE SUPPLY DRIVE

St Annes Parish Hall, 270 Gladstone Ave, Friday, June 6 at 07:00 PM EDT

This is a supply drive for The Neighborhood Group that my grassroots zine Licentia will be running, we run fundraiser shows (this being our second one), hoping to show newcomers of the scene that the biggest contribution you can make in punk community is by standing up for those who need it most. Being a member of the scene goes far beyond going to shows, and we try to educate people by handing out mini zines about the causes we fundraise and advocate for. The bands are all local and newer, so I provided what I could with the links. The show is All Ages. You can bring canned goods or hygiene’s essentials to donate for entry, or pay what you can.

https://toronto.askapunk.net/event/stage-dive-supply-drive

Today in Labor History May 5, 1931: The Infamous Battle of Harlan County, Kentucky occurred. Also known as the Battle of Evarts, the strike began in response to wage cuts implemented in February. On May 5, a scab accosted a union worker, resulting in three deaths. Governor Flem Sampson called in the National Guard, which killed several more union miners. The Harlan County class war was the inspiration for Florence Reece's famous union song "Which Side Are You On?" The strike continued for years, with the miners finally winning in 1940.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFY8CwAKU0

#workingclass #LaborHistory #strike #union #florencereece #WhichSideAreYouOn #scab #massacre #harlancounty #kentucky #coal #mining #wages #classwar

De Avond van de Lezer door SCAB was weer een groot succes.

https://janvandenberg.blog/de-avond-van-de-lezer-2025/

#SCAB #Urk

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