Today in Labor History April 20, 1914: National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, they had killed more than 75 people. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but weren’t paid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses.

In the wake of the Ludlow Massacre, bands of armed miners attacked mine guards and anti-union establishments. In nearby Trinidad, they openly distributed arms from the UMWA headquarters. Over the next ten days, miners attacked mines, killing or driving off guards and scabs, and setting building on fire. They also fought sporadic skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard. In June of 1914, a number of anarchists decided to seek revenge on Rockefeller. Alexander Berkman (a friend, and former lover, of Emma Goldman) helped plan the assassination at the New York Ferrer Center. This was also the home to the anarchist Modern School, which Berkman helped create. However, the bomb exploded prematurely, killing three anarchists. These events led to infiltration of the school and center by undercover cops.

You can read my complete article on Ludlow and the Colorado Labor Wars here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/20/the-ludlow-massacre/

And my complete article on the Modern School Movement here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2022/04/30/the-modern-school-movement/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #ludlow #massacre #mining #vigilantes #rockefeller #anarchism #martiallaw #police #policebrutality #bomb #colorado #emmagoldman #alexanderberkman #umw #women #children

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🎯 Direção de Segurança para empresas que exigem conformidade legal.

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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 9, 1911: Frank Little and other free-speech fighters were released from jail in Fresno, California, where they had been fighting for the right to speak to and organize workers on public streets. Little was a Cherokee miner and IWW union organizer. He helped organize oil workers, timber workers and migrant farm workers in California. He participated in free speech fights in Missoula, Spokane and Fresno, and helped pioneer many of the passive resistance techniques later used by the Civil Rights movement. He was also an anti-war activist, calling U.S. soldiers “Uncle Sam’s scabs in uniforms.” 1917, he helped organize the Speculator Mine strike in Butte, Montana. Vigilantes broke into his boarding house, dragged him through the streets while tied to the back of a car, and then lynched him from a railroad trestle. Prior to Little’s assassination, Author Dashiell Hammett had been asked by the Pinkerton Detective Agency to murder him. Hammett declined.

Read my full bio of Frank Little here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/05/frank-little/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #union #strike #freespeech #indigenous #nativeamerican #cherokee #franklittle #civilrights #nonviolence #racism #vigilantes #lynching #author #writer #fiction #books @bookstadon

Anonymous: hacktivism vs cybercrime

https://negativepid.blog/anonymous-hacktivism-vs-cybercrime/

#anonymous #hackers #hackerCollectives #vigilantes #terrorism #Cybersecurity #cyberattacks #cyberThreats #onlineSecurity #negativepid

Today in Labor History February 17, 1936: The United Rubber Workers launched a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. The United Rubber Workers formed in 1935 in response to the depression, low wages and poor working conditions. The union regularly used the sit-down strike. It was particularly effective on the assembly line because workers who refused to work up the line, prevented anyone down the line from working, even if they hadn’t planned to strike. It also kept the workers on the premises, making it harder to bring in scab workers. The IWW tried to organize the rubber workers in the 1910s. However, vigilantes and martial law crushed their organizing drive.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #strike #akron #ohio #SitdownStrike #vigilantes #policebrutality

A little cheer for Donald because he enjoys it so much ✌️😱💩🫶🗽

#meme #renegade #villain #villains #popculture #entertainment #cinema #vision #ideology #evil #fascism #racism #noNazis #usa #America #MAGA #Trump #president #government #politics #future #whitehouse #problem #ethics #movie #doomsday #apocalypse #judgementday #fans #greetings #reminder #protest #resistance

Today in Labor History February 16, 1931: The Harlan County War (AKA Bloody Harlan) began when the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%, leading to a nearly decade-long series of coal strikes, executions, and bombings in Harlan County, Kentucky from 1931-1939. At least 13 coal miners were killed, along with 5 cops and vigilantes working for the coal operators. The bosses also evicted union organizers, and their families, from Company housing. The companies owned every in the entire county. Evicted workers flocked to the three that were independent, particularly Evarts. The scabs were protected by private cops, who were given full police privileges, as well as the right to act with impunity outside the coal properties. The thugs were organized and led by Sheriff Blair.

It was during this strike that Florence Reece composed the famous folk song, “Which Side Are You On?” which has been covered by Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Dropkick Murphys, Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Tom Morello, among many others. She wrote the song after Sheriff Blair and his men had come to her house in search of her husband, Sam, one of the union leaders. She was home alone with their seven children. They ransacked the whole house and then remained outside, waiting to shoot him down when he returned. But he didn't come home that night. Afterward she tore a sheet from a calendar on the wall and wrote the words to “Which Side Are You On?” to an old Baptist hymn: “Lay the Lily Low.” Reece also supported a second wave of strikes in the 1970s, as portrayed in the documentary “Harlan County, USA,” in which she performs "Which Side Are You On?."

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #coal #harlancounty #coal #mining #vigilantes #police #police brutality #florencereece #folk #folkmusic #whichsideareyouon #communism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZHfZt4o6c