Number 68 June 2026 https://www.onebigunion.ie/post/new-issue-of-wildcat-out-now
#iww #Ireland #labourmovement #organize #solidarity #unions #wildcat
The latest issue of Wildcat #68 is now available online and can be accessed belowIn this issue:– Building Solidarity Through Coordination & Collective Action – Justice for Yves Sakila – Unionising for Migrant Rights – Building a 'Strike Ready' IWW …and more!Happy reading!The Newsletter Committee
Today in Labor History June 4, 1947: The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allows the president of the United States to intervene in labor disputes. Even worse, it banned wildcat strikes, solidarity or secondary strikes, and political strikes, effectively eliminating the General Strike from workers’ arsenal. The law was a direct response to the strike wave of 1945-1946, the largest wave of strikes in U.S. history. It was particularly a response to the Oakland General Strike of 1946, the last General Strike that has occurred in the U.S. And it is one of most effective anti-labor laws ever enacted in the U.S.
#LaborHistory #workingclass #tafthartley #wildcat #strike #GeneralStrike #solidarity #oakland
Today in Labor History June 1, 1916: The predominantly immigrant iron miners of the Mesabi Range, Minnesota, launched a spontaneous strike in response to overpriced housing and goods, long hours and poor pay. The group was led by radical Finns who quickly drew the attention and aid of the IWW, including Carlo Tresca, Frank Little, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.
Bob Dylan’s song, “North Country Blues,” is about this strike. The lyrics reference "iron ore," "red iron," and "red iron pits," all of which likely refer to the Mesabi Range. Dylan's childhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota is located nearby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pid0Ud4y3XY&list=RDpid0Ud4y3XY&start_radio=1
#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #union #strike #wildcat #mesabi #iron #mining #solidarity #immigrant #ElizabethGurleyFlynn #FrankLittle #racism #vigilantes #nativeamerican #indigenous
Today in Labor History June 1, 1916: The predominantly immigrant iron miners of the Mesabi Range, Minnesota, participated in a seemingly spontaneous strike in response to overpriced housing and goods, long hours and poor pay. The group was led by radical Finns who quickly drew the attention and aid of the IWW. Wobbly organizers, including Carlo Tresca, Joe Schmidt, Frank Little, and later Joe Ettor and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, came to help local strike leaders draw up a list of demands which included an 8-hour day, timed from when workers entered the mine until they were outside; a pay-scale based upon the actual hours worked; paydays twice monthly; immediate back-pay for hours worked upon severance; abolition of the Saturday night shift; abolition of the hated contract mining system. In the Contract Mining system, the bosses hired and paid “skilled” miners to do most of the mining. The contract miners then had to hire their own laborers and pay them out of their meagre wages. The contract miners were often native-born people, while the laborers were usually immigrants. This created a racialized two-tiered system that divided the workers and made it harder to organize. The bosses would routinely offer the contract miners a small concession to get them back to work, while offering the even more poorly paid laborers nothing, destroying their solidarity and ending the strike. Flynn would later go on to cofound the American Civil Liberties Union. Tresca would go on to became a leading organizer against both fascism and Stalinism. He was assassinated in 1943, possibly on orders of the Genovese crime family, possibly on orders of Stalin, and possibly Italian fascists. Frank Little, who was Native American, was later murdered by vigilantes during a strike in Butte. You can read my biography of Frank Little here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/05/frank-little/
#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #union #strike #wildcat #mesabi #iron #mining #solidarity #immigrant #ElizabethGurleyFlynn #FrankLittle #racism #vigilantes #nativeamerican #indigenous #fascism #antifascism #soviet #stalin #aclu #mafia
The Borneo Bay Cat 🐱🐈😻 is a rare #wildcat who are unimpressed at being photographed or found. Threats include #palmoil #deforestation and #poaching. Fight for their survival and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔☠️🤮⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife
«Дикие коты» и эра свободных банков в США — Teletype
https://teletype.in/@catx2/HnyEn7TT9aB
> Был в истории США удивительный период с 1837 по 1862 гг., с говорящим названием «эра свободных банков», когда каждый частный банк мог выпускать свой вид долларов.
Это было связано с отсутствием на тот момент центрального финансового органа с регулятивными функциями – будущей Федеральной резервной системы, которая появится только в 1913 году и будет действовать по сей день. По сути, до принятия закона о создании ФРС в банковской сфере царил настоящий дикий запад или Wildcat banking, как этот период называют в США.
The beautiful and elegant #Oncilla is a #wildcat 🐱 found in #SouthAmerica. They are #vulnerable due to #deforestation for #gold and #palmoil 🌴⛔️ and are hunted for their fur 😭 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #BoycottGold4Yanomami
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
Peter Riley
Cloud Manul
MikeDunnAuthor
Palm Oil Detectives
Who Let The Dogs Out 🐾