𝗦𝗼 .... 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳'𝘴 #AndyBurnham, who's 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 had a '𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳' job, is gonna 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 against a '𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴' person - a self-Employed Plumber (and ex-NHS Specialist Technician), who's also an 𝗲𝘅-𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝘆 reservist!

#LabourLeadershipContest #MakerfieldByElection #WorkingClass #UKLabour

Today in Labor History May 19, 1989: Trinidadian Marxist historian and journalist C.L.R. James died. James was the author of The Black Jacobins (1938), Breaking a Boundary (1963), numerous articles and essays on class and race antagonism, West Indian self-determination, cricket, Marxism, & aesthetics. In 1933, he published the pamphlet The Case for West-Indian Self Government. He was a champion of Pan-Africanism and a member of the Friends of Ethiopia, an organization opposed to fascism and the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. He also wrote a play about the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History. Paul Robeson starred in the 1936 British production.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #CLRJames #marxism #trinidad #westindies #haiti #revolution #history #books #author #writing #BlackMastodon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History May 19, 1950: 31 dockworkers died and 350 were injured when four barges carrying 420 tons of ammunition blew up at South Amboy, New Jersey. The blast destroyed nearby businesses and homes and caused $10 million in property damage. The men were loading anti-tank and anti-personnel mines destined for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Three years later, they unearthed sixty-two live mines scattered throughout the waterfront area. Kilgore Manufacturing Company was later charged with 9,000 counts of munitions violations. The indictment documents weighed thirty pounds. The Coast Guard was also cited with negligence in supervising the loading.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #munitions #explosion #disaster #NewJersey #mines #workerdeaths #imperialism #pakistan #afghanistan #southamboy #newjersey

Today in Labor History May 19, 1850: Four thousand Mexican and Peruvian workers gathered in Sonora, California, to protest the "Foreign Miners' Tax," enacted to drive them from gold fields. 500 armed vigilantes (mostly tax collectors and Anglo miners), chased them off by firing into the crowd. The tax was imposed during the height of the 1849 Gold Rush, and in the wake of the Mexican-American War (1848), in which the U.S. seized California from Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Feb 1848) gave U.S. citizenship to Mexican nationals who were living in California at the time the treaty was signed. However, the U.S. denied citizenship to Indigenous Peoples until the 1930s, even if they had also been Mexican nationals prior to the war. Meanwhile, English, Irish, and German immigrants protested the new tax and got it amended to exempt any miner who was a “free white person.” The effects of the tax, and the racist violence that accompanied it, was to drive large numbers of Latin American and Chinese miners from the gold fields. This exodus, in turn, caused a sharp drop in rents and commerce for the landlords and store owners who catered to the miners. They lobbied for repealing the tax, and were successful in 1851.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mexicanamerican #immigration #racism #mining #california #gold #mexico #vigilantes #peruvian #chinese #guadalupehidalgo #indigenous

Today in Labor History May 19, 1928: A coal-mine exploded in Mather, Pennsylvania, killing 195. It was the seventh worst mining disaster in U.S. history and the second worst in Pennsylvania history. The disaster was likely caused by a methane and dust explosion triggered by an arc from a battery-powered locomotive.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #disaster #WorkplaceDeaths #disaster #pennsylvania

BATTLE OF MATEWAN

Today in Labor History May 18, 1920: The Battle of Matewan occurred in the town of Matewan, Mingo County, West Virginia. It started when the mine bosses fired miners for joining the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and evicted them from their company housing. Sheriff Sid Hatfield supported the miners’ right to organize and tried to arrest the detectives. The detectives, in turn, tried to arrest Hatfield. Unbeknownst to the detectives, armed miners had surrounded them. No one knows who shot first, but when the smoke had cleared, there were 7 dead detectives, including Albert and Lee Felts, and 4 dead townspeople, including the mayor. The episode became known as the Matewan Massacre, and is depicted in John Sayles’ film Matewan. West Virginia bluegrass singer and labor activist Hazel Dickens sings the film's title track, "Fire in the Hole."

Mining was, and still is, one of the most dangerous and corrupt industries around. Owners typically forced the miners to live in company towns and purchase living necessities from their company stores at inflated prices. They paid the men in scrip, which was useless outside of the company towns. In the time leading up to the Battle of Matewan, miners in other parts of the country had won a 27% wage increase. The time was ripe for organizing southern Appalachia. The UMWA sent in their best organizers, including Mother Jones. 3,000 men signed union cards in the early spring of 1920. Yet, at the same time, vigilantes, detectives and goons were murdering miners in the region. And the company was evicting anyone who signed up. So, hundreds of miners and their families were living in the Stony Mountain Camp Tent Colony.

On August 1, 1921, surviving members of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency assassinated Sheriff Sid Hatfield, in broad daylight, on the steps of Welch County courthouse, as his wife watched in horror. As news of his death spread, miners began arming themselves, leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain. the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War, and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. 10,000-15,000 coal miners battled 3,000 cops, private cops and vigilantes, who were backed by the coal bosses. Up to 100 miners died in the fighting, along with 10-30 Baldwin-Felts detectives and three national guards. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. One million rounds were fired. And the government bombed striking coal miners by air, using homemade bombs and poison gas left over from World War I.

You can read my complete article on the Battle of Blair Mountain here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/14/the-battle-of-blair-mountain/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #matewan #miners #strike #union #massacre #film #motherjones #westvirginia #appalachia #privatepolice #detectives #hazeldickens #folk #folkmusic

GWANGJU UPRISING

Today in Labor History May 18, 1980: Koreans rose up in Gwangju against the repressive U.S.-supported government. The uprising lasted from May 18 to May 27. According to official reports, 165 civilians were killed and 3,515 were injured in the uprising. 37 soldiers and 4 cops were killed and 253 were injured. Another 14 soldiers died from “friendly” fire. However, Gwangju’s death records for May of 1980 were 2,300 above normal. Many believe the actual death toll from the uprising is closer to 2,000. In addition to the casualties from the uprising, nearly 1,400 people were arrested and 7 were given death sentences. 12 were sentenced to life in prison.

The background for the uprising is complex. However, the country had been living under the 18-year dictatorship of Park Chun-hee, who was assassinated on October 26, 1979. A series of pro-democracy demonstrations developed in the wake of his death. But on December 12, Chun Doo-hwan led a military coup in order to quell the protests. He did not officially take over as “president” until after the Gwangju Uprising. But he was acting as the de facto ruler and the country was still under martial law from the coup.

In March, protests picked up again. People wanted democratization, human rights, minimum wage increases, freedom of the press, and an end to martial law. On May 15, 100,000 people demonstrated at Seoul Station. Chun Doo-hwan responded by extending martial law to the entire nation, closing the universities, banning all political activities and further curtailing the press. Furthermore, he dispatched troops throughout the country to suppress any potential demonstrations.

On May 18, students demonstrated at Chonnam University in defiance of its closing. At first, there were only 30 paratroopers and hundreds of students. They started to clash. By afternoon, at least 2,000 people had joined the protest. The government sent in hundreds of troops. Soldiers started to club demonstrators and onlookers. They attacked with bayonets and raped people, and they beat a deaf man to death. Outraged, the number of protesters swelled to over 10,000. Street battles continued for days, climaxing on May 21, when soldiers fired into a crowd of protesters. In response, citizens took up arms by robbing local armories and police stations, arming themselves with M1 rifles and carbines. By afternoon, there were bloody gunfights between ad hoc civilian militias and the army. By 5:30, the citizens militias had obtained two machine guns and used them, forcing the army to retreat.

The troops retreated to the suburbs to await reinforcements. However, they also blocked all routes and communications leading into and out of the city. Meanwhile, inside of Liberated Gwangju, the Citizens’ Settlement Committee negotiated with the army, demanding the release of arrested citizens, compensation for the victims, and a prohibition of retaliation in exchange for disarming themselves. The army demanded immediate surrender and some in the committee were willing to give it to them. But those who wanted to resist until their demands were met took control of the committee.

On May 27, at 4 am, troops from five divisions moved on the protesters and defeated the civilian militias within 90 minutes.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #korea #massacre #Gwangju #imperialism #dictatorship #uprising #humanrights #freespeech #demonstration #censorship #police

Today in Labor History May 18, 1979: An Oklahoma jury ruled in favor of the estate of atomic worker Karen Silkwood. Kerr-McGee Nuclear Company was ordered to pay $505,000 in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages for negligence leading to Silkwood’s plutonium contamination. On appeal, the court reduced the settlement to a pitiful $5,000, the estimated value of her property losses. In 1984, the Supreme Court restored the original verdict, but Kerr-McGee again threatened to appeal. Ultimately, Silkwood’s family settled out of court for $1.38 million and the company never had to admit any wrongdoing.

Silkwood first started working at Kerr-McGee in 1972. She joined the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers union and participated in a strike. After the strike, her comrades elected her to the union’s bargaining committee. She was the first woman to attain that status at Kerr-McGee. In this role, one of her duties was to investigate health and safety issues. Not surprisingly, she discovered numerous violations, including exposure of workers to radioactive contamination. The union accused Kerr-McGee of falsifying inspection records, manufacturing faulty fuel rods and other safety violations. After testifying to the Atomic Energy Commission, Silkwood discovered that her own body and home were contaminated with radiation. Her body contained 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination and she was expelling contaminated air from her lungs. Her house was so contaminated they had to destroy much of her personal property.

Later, she decided to go public with documentation proving the company’s negligence. She left a meeting with union officials in order to meet a New York Times journalist. She brought a binder and packet of documents supporting her allegations with her. However, she never made it, dying in a suspicious car crash. The documents were never found. Some journalists believe she was rammed from behind by another vehicle. Investigators noted damage to the rear of her car that would be consistent with this hypothesis. She had also received death threats shortly before her death. However, no one has yet substantiated the claims of foul play.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #silkwood #union #atomic #nuclear #radioactive #contamination #murder #unionbusting #assassination #strike #organizer

Today in Labor History May 18, 1928: Big Bill Haywood died in exile in the Soviet Union. He was a founding member and leader of both the Western Federation of Miners and the IWW (the Wobblies). During the first two decades of the 20th century, he participated in the Colorado Labor Wars and the textiles strikes in Lawrence and Patterson. The Pinkertons tried, but failed, to bust him for the murder of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg. However, in 1918, the feds used the Espionage Act to convict him, and 101 other Wobblies, for their anti-war activity. As a result, they sentenced him to twenty years in prison. But instead of serving the time, he fled to the Soviet Union, damaging his image as a hero among the Wobblies. He ultimately died from a stroke related to his alcoholism and diabetes. Half his ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. The other half of his ashes were sent to Chicago and buried near the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument.

You can read my full article on union busting by the Pinkertons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/04/union-busting-by-the-pinkertons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #union #strike #BigBillHaywood #soviet #haymarket #kremlin #sabotage #mining