Today in Labor History December 21, 1919: U.S. immigration deported anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman to Russia. The authorities deported, arrested and killed hundreds of anarchists, communists, labor leaders and radicals during the Palmer Raids (also known as the First Red Scare). It virtually destroyed the revolutionary union IWW.
I have TheDigitalWorkersUnion.org and thedwu.org coming up for renewal do you know anyone who A) would want them and B) would steward them towards a digital workers union?
Today in Labor History December 14, 1852: Daniel DeLeon was born on this date in Curacao, West Indies. DeLeon was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the Socialist Labor Party of America. He was also a leader of the Political action faction within the IWW that hoped to create socialism through the ballot box. Soon after the founding of the IWW, his faction lost out to the Direct Action faction, led by Big Bill Haywood, and eventually broke off to form the short-lived Workers International Industrial Union. His philosophy and writings influenced Social Labor Parties in Canada, the UK and Australia.
Today in Labor History December 10, 1906: The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) launched the first sit-down strike in the U.S. at a General Electric plant in Schenectady, New York. Their method was later adopted by the labor movement in the 1930s, with the Flint Sit-Down Strike being the most well-known.
Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Alber Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, which a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy. The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, came out in September, 2023, from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/it/michael-dunn and https://michaeldunnauthor.com/
Solidarity project: Management released a shout-out system for recognition at work. Nominate fellow workers for going "above and beyond". Gonna organize the crew to collectively nominate whichever fellow worker has the most write-up for the month. This is gonna be the organizing equivalent of dry fire drills. #IWW
This tactic is dedicated to Jimmy. He was our high-school weed dealer. He got expelled his senior year so we organized to give him the Most School Spirit superlative in the yearbook, because fuck 'em. #IWW
Update: a fellow worker suggested we all give the group a thing we're proud of and then we each nominate all our coworkers for that thing. So now that's what we're doing. Fucking genius solidarity building strat. #IWW
Update: watching my coworkers struggle to think of anything they felt theyd done well this month and then seeing coworkers jump in to give them ideas was pretty awesome. Everyone has now submitted a form to management praising all their coworkers for something they did well. Normalizing pride in our work and collaboratively lifting each other up is a big step towards collective action. Solidarity building takes a lot of different shapes. #IWW
Today in Labor History December 1, 1914: The famous labor song, "Solidarity Forever," was written on this date by IWW songwriter Ralph Chaplin. He wrote the song for a hunger march to be led by Lucy Parsons in Chicago (on January 17, 1915).
Today in Labor History December 1, 1912: The rustling card system was put into place by the Anaconda Mining and Smelter Company. Rustling cards verified employees’ identities and employment status. The company used spies to identify union agitators and refused them rustling cards and jobs. In 1920, the IWW called a strike at the mines around Butte. They demanded the end of the rustling cards system, and the implementation of the 8-hour day and higher wages. On 4/21/1920, guards opened fire on unarmed picketers, killing one and injuring sixteen. Dashiell Hammett depicted the strike in his first novel, “Red Harvest.”
Today in Labor History November 26, 1911: Paul Lafargue, Cuban-French revolutionary and son-in-law of Karl Marx, died. Lafargue wrote “The Right to Be Lazy” in 1893 while in prison. Lafargue had Jewish, French, Indian, Creole and African ancestry. When IWW cofounder Daniel De Leon asked him about his origins, he replied that he was proudest of his “negro” ancestry. In his youth, Lefargue participated in the International Students Congress in 1865. Consequently, the government banned him from all French universities. So, he moved to London, where he became a frequent visitor to Marx’s house, ultimately marrying his daughter, Laura. Lafargue was a member of the General Council of the First International. He also participated in the Paris Commune.
Today in Labor History November 21, 1921: The original Columbine Massacre occurred in Serine, Colorado. State police and company thugs used machine guns against the unarmed miners, slaughtering six striking IWW members, all of whom were unarmed. Dozens more were injured.
Today in Labor History November 20, 1922: Ricardo Flores Magón died in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Magon, with his brother Enrique, founded and edited the anarchist paper Regeneracion, founded the Partido Liberal de Mexico, and organized with the IWW. Magon was one of the major intellectual forces inspiring the Mexican Revolution, and he launched a short-lived revolution in Baja California, in which many IWW members from participated. In 1918, the U.S. arrested him under the 1917 Anti-Espionage Act, for publishing an anti-war manifesto. This was part of the First Red Scare, also known as the Palmer Raids, which also swept up Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman. Ricardo Flores Magon died 4 years later, in Leavenworth Prison.
Today in Labor History November 19, 1915: Joe Hill, IWW organizer and song writer was executed by a Utah firing squad after being convicted of murder on trumped-up charges. His final message from prison was “Don’t mourn, Organize!” His ashes were supposedly sprinkled in every state of the union, except Utah, because he had said, "I don't want to be found dead in Utah." They were also sprinkled in Canada, Sweden, Australia and Canada. Some of his most famous songs were “The Preacher and the Slave,” “The Rebel Girl,” “There is Power in a Union,” “Casey Jones, the Union Scab,” and “Mr. Block.” In 1988, an envelope containing his remaining ashes was discovered. Abbie Hoffman suggested that folksinger Billy Bragg should consume them and he supposedly did, washed down, of course, with copious beer.
Today in Labor History November 15, 1919: The main headquarters of the New York City Wobblies (IWW) was ransacked and destroyed by agents acting under the US Attorney General Palmer. The Palmer raids were part of the first U.S. communist witch hunt, starting well before the more well-known McCarthy purges. It was also where J. Edgar Hoover cut his baby teeth. Between 1917 and 1919, the IWW membership had plummeted from 300,000 in the U.S. to around 30,000, due in large part to the mass arrests, murders and deportations of IWW members, anarchists, and other radicals during the Palmer raids.
Boss emailed the team asking them to chip in and buy a fake tree to decorate the lobby.
I replied-all with a link to the company 990s (nonprofit corp tax docs are public record fyi) and, citing the $11mil net revenue, suggested the corp can afford decorations w/o asking us for donations. #IWW
Polling shows:
•66% of Americans & 80% of Democrats demand ceasefire—yet they aren’t being listened to.
•73% of Palestinians in Gaza demand peaceful resolution contrary to Hamas—yet they aren’t being listened to.
•76% of Israelis demand Netanyahu resign—yet they aren’t being listened to
John Oliver perhaps said it best in his last episode—we need new leadership if we expect peace and Justice to prevail over war and death.
@QasimRashid "And here let me emphasize the fact—and it cannot be repeated too often—that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace." Eugene V. Debs #IWW
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine rocked a red and black #IWW hat as Rage Against the Machine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He said:
"Rage is not here, but you are. The job we set out to do is not over. Now you are the ones that must testify. If you've got a boss, join a union. If you're a student, start an underground paper. If you're an anarchist throw a brick, if you're a soldier...follow your conscience, not your orders."
Today in Labor History November 7, 1912: Ernest Riebe's "Mr. Block," IWW labor comic strip first appeared in print. Mr. Block was one of the best-loved features in the Wobbly press. Joe Hill wrote a song about "Mr. Block," who was a boss-loving, American Dream-believing, self-sabotaging knucklehead. Some call Riebe the first "underground" comic book artist.
Mr. Block (by Joe Hill)
Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you
A man who is a credit to the ["Our] old Red White and Blue["]
His head is made of lumber and solid as a rock
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block
And Block [he] thinks he may be premier [President] some day
Chorus
Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake
You take the cake, you make me ache
[Go] tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake!
Yes, Mr. Block is lucky - he got a job, by gee!
The shark got seven dollars for job and fare and fee
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck
But when he tried to find his job he sure was out of luck
He shouted, "That's too raw! I'll fix them with the law!"
Block hiked back to the city but wasn't doing well
He said "I'll join the union, the great AF of L".
He got a job that morning, got fired by the night
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right!"
Sam Gompers said, "You see, you've got our sympathy."
Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"
The comrade got elected [and] he happy was for fair
But after the election he got an awful shock
[When] a great big socialistic bull did rap him on the block
And Comrade Block did sob, "I helped him get his job!"
Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate
He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one thing I'd like to tell
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockerfell!"
Old Pete said, "Is that so? You'll meet them down below!"
Tune: It Looks to me Like a Big Time Tonight. from Al Grierson,
by Joe Hill, in 13th ed. of the Little Red Songbook
Today in Labor History November 5, 1916: The Everett Massacre occurred in Everett, Washington. 300 IWW members arrived by boat in Everett to help support the shingle workers’ strike that had been going on for the past 5 months. Prior attempts to support the strikers were met with vigilante beatings with axe handles. As the boat pulled in, Sheriff McRae called out, “Who’s your leader?” The Wobblies answered, “We’re all leaders!” The sheriff pulled his gun and said, “You can’t land.” A Wobbly yelled back, “Like hell we can’t.” Gunfire erupted, most of it from the 200 vigilantes on the dock. When the smoke cleared, two of the sheriff’s deputies were dead, shot in the back by their own men, along with 5-12 Wobblies on the boat. Dozens more were wounded. The authorities arrested 74 Wobblies. After a trial, all charges were dropped against the IWW members. The event was mentioned in John Dos Passos’s “USA Trilogy.”