Today in Labor History—June 4

1850 – During June of 1850,  Mikhail Bakunin's death sentence in Germany was commuted to life imprisonment. (From the Daily Bleed)

1861 – During June of 1861 Mikhail Bakunin escaped from Siberia via the Amur River, and arrived in Nikolavsk in July, where he boarded an American merchant ship, Vickery, to Hakodate, Japan. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1904 – Members of the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers struck Wisconsin paper mills in. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1906—Francisco Ferrer (founder of the first Modern Schools) was arrested and imprisoned for participating in Mateo Morral’s assassination attempt against Spanish monarch Alfonso XIII. Ferrer was later released due to lack of evidence. Morral worked in Modern School’s publishing house and was a friend of Ferrer’s.

Nestor Makhno during the Ukranian Free Territory, 1919-1921

June 4, 1919 – The 4th (Ukrainian) Congress of Free Soviets, was banned by Leon Trotsky, Bolshevist troops were sent to destroy the Rosa Luxemburg Commune near Provkovski, and the Ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nestor Makhno was declared an outlaw. (From the Daily Bleed)

March in support of the Chilean socialist republic, 1932

June 4, 1932 -- Chilean politicians and the military carried out a coup d'etat, installing Marmaduke Grove, who declared Chile a "socialist republic." However, workers and were given no means to participate. Twelve days later, the military ended the "workers republic." (From the Daily Bleed)

Zoot Suits, 1942 (Library of Congress)

June 4, 1943 – The Zoot Suit riots began on this date in Los Angeles, with white soldiers attacking blacks & Hispanics. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1963 – Jimmy Hoffa and seven other members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, were indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining $20 million in loans from a Teamsters Union Pension Fund. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1979 – The Sandinistas called for an "insurrectional general strike." (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1989 – The Chinese army massacred at least 2,000 peacefully protesting students and workers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--April 14

April 14, 1812 – There was a Luddite food riot in Sheffield, England, in which mostly women and boys seized potatoes and vegetables and attacked a militia arms store. (From the Daily Bleed)

Currency Issued by Limerick Soviet, 1919

April 14, 1919 – In Limerick, Ireland, a General Strike was in full force against the British military occupation. The workers ran the city as a soviet, printing their own newspaper, issuing their own currency, and regulating food supply to prevent profiteering and keep prices below market. (From the Daily Bleed)
 

April 14, 1930 – Over 100 Mexican and Filipino farm workers were arrested for union activities in Imperial Valley, CA, with 8 being convicted of “criminal syndicalism.” (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

April 14, 1939 – John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—January 22

January 22, 1849 – Terence Powderly, leader of the Knights of Labor was born on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)

Farabundo Marti, 1929

January 22, 1932 – A peasant uprising in El Salvador was met with extreme state violence, resulting in the "Matanza Massacre" of 30,000.  Salvadoran communists, peasants and indigenous had rebelled against the military dictatorship, creating the first soviets in the Western hemisphere. The state violence and repression that followed obliterated what was left of the country’s indigenous population, as well as most of its socialists, communists, anarchists and labor organizers. One of the first to go before Martinez’ firing squads was Farabundo Marti. Martinez once said that America was great because it wiped out its Indians and so, too, must El Salvador. (From Daily Bleed, Eduardo Galeano, Memory of Fire)

January 22, 1997 – 150,000 South Korean workers walked off their jobs to protest recent anti-labor legislation. The recent strike wave had already "cost" South Korean corporations about $3 billion in lost production.

Today in Labor History—December 11

December 11, 1917 -- Thirteen black soldiers were hanged for alleged participation in a riot in Houston, Texas. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1927 – A Soviet-style Commune began in Canton, but was wiped out after three days by the Russian Communist-supplied Kuo Min Tang. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1951 – An Illinois State mine inspector approved coal dust removal techniques at the New Orient mine in West Frankfurt, Illinois. Ten days later the mine exploded, killing 119 workers, because of coal dust accumulations,. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1981 - More than 500 people were massacred by the Salvadoran military in the village of El Mozote in what may have been the largest 20^th century massacre in Latin America. Men, women and children were tortured and systematically executed by the U.S.-supported regime in their attempt to wipe out unions, leftists and peasant activists. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—June 4

1850 – During June of 1850,  Mikhail Bakunin's death sentence in Germany was commuted to life imprisonment. (From the Daily Bleed)

1861 – During June of 1861 Mikhail Bakunin escaped from Siberia via the Amur River, and arrived in Nikolavsk in July, where he boarded an American merchant ship, Vickery, to Hakodate, Japan. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1904 – Members of the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers struck Wisconsin paper mills in. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1906—Francisco Ferrer (founder of the first Modern Schools) was arrested and imprisoned for participating in Mateo Morral’s assassination attempt against Spanish monarch Alfonso XIII. Ferrer was later released due to lack of evidence. Morral worked in Modern School’s publishing house and was a friend of Ferrer’s.

Nestor Makhno during the Ukranian Free Territory, 1919-1921

June 4, 1919 – The 4th (Ukrainian) Congress of Free Soviets, was banned by Leon Trotsky, Bolshevist troops were sent to destroy the Rosa Luxemburg Commune near Provkovski, and the Ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nestor Makhno was declared an outlaw. (From the Daily Bleed)

March in support of the Chilean socialist republic, 1932

June 4, 1932 -- Chilean politicians and the military carried out a coup d'etat, installing Marmaduke Grove, who declared Chile a "socialist republic." However, workers and were given no means to participate. Twelve days later, the military ended the "workers republic." (From the Daily Bleed)

Zoot Suits, 1942 (Library of Congress)

June 4, 1943 – The Zoot Suit riots began on this date in Los Angeles, with white soldiers attacking blacks & Hispanics. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1963 – Jimmy Hoffa and seven other members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, were indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining $20 million in loans from a Teamsters Union Pension Fund. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1979 – The Sandinistas called for an "insurrectional general strike." (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1989 – The Chinese army massacred at least 2,000 peacefully protesting students and workers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History--April 14

April 14, 1812 – There was a Luddite food riot in Sheffield, England, in which mostly women and boys seized potatoes and vegetables and attacked a militia arms store. (From the Daily Bleed)

Currency Issued by Limerick Soviet, 1919

April 14, 1919 – In Limerick, Ireland, a General Strike was in full force against the British military occupation. The workers ran the city as a soviet, printing their own newspaper, issuing their own currency, and regulating food supply to prevent profiteering and keep prices below market. (From the Daily Bleed)
 

April 14, 1930 – Over 100 Mexican and Filipino farm workers were arrested for union activities in Imperial Valley, CA, with 8 being convicted of “criminal syndicalism.” (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

April 14, 1939 – John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was published. (From The Unionist and Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—January 22

January 22, 1849 – Terence Powderly, leader of the Knights of Labor was born on this date. (From the Daily Bleed)

Farabundo Marti, 1929

January 22, 1932 – A peasant uprising in El Salvador was met with extreme state violence, resulting in the "Matanza Massacre" of 30,000.  Salvadoran communists, peasants and indigenous had rebelled against the military dictatorship, creating the first soviets in the Western hemisphere. The state violence and repression that followed obliterated what was left of the country’s indigenous population, as well as most of its socialists, communists, anarchists and labor organizers. One of the first to go before Martinez’ firing squads was Farabundo Marti. Martinez once said that America was great because it wiped out its Indians and so, too, must El Salvador. (From Daily Bleed, Eduardo Galeano, Memory of Fire)

January 22, 1997 – 150,000 South Korean workers walked off their jobs to protest recent anti-labor legislation. The recent strike wave had already "cost" South Korean corporations about $3 billion in lost production.

Today in Labor History—December 11

December 11, 1917 -- Thirteen black soldiers were hanged for alleged participation in a riot in Houston, Texas. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1927 – A Soviet-style Commune began in Canton, but was wiped out after three days by the Russian Communist-supplied Kuo Min Tang. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1951 – An Illinois State mine inspector approved coal dust removal techniques at the New Orient mine in West Frankfurt, Illinois. Ten days later the mine exploded, killing 119 workers, because of coal dust accumulations,. (From the Daily Bleed)

December 11, 1981 - More than 500 people were massacred by the Salvadoran military in the village of El Mozote in what may have been the largest 20^th century massacre in Latin America. Men, women and children were tortured and systematically executed by the U.S.-supported regime in their attempt to wipe out unions, leftists and peasant activists. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—June 4

1850 – During June of 1850,  Mikhail Bakunin's death sentence in Germany was commuted to life imprisonment. (From the Daily Bleed)

1861 – During June of 1861 Mikhail Bakunin escaped from Siberia via the Amur River, and arrived in Nikolavsk in July, where he boarded an American merchant ship, Vickery, to Hakodate, Japan. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1904 – Members of the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers struck Wisconsin paper mills in. (From the Daily Bleed)

Nestor Makhno during the Ukranian Free Territory, 1919-1921

June 4, 1919 – The 4th (Ukrainian) Congress of Free Soviets, was banned by Leon Trotsky, Bolshevist troops were sent to destroy the Rosa Luxemburg Commune near Provkovski, and the Ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nestor Makhno was declared an outlaw. (From the Daily Bleed)

March in support of the Chilean socialist republic, 1932

June 4, 1932 -- Chilean politicians and the military carried out a coup d'etat, installing Marmaduke Grove, who declared Chile a "socialist republic." However, workers and were given no means to participate. Twelve days later, the military ended the "workers republic." (From the Daily Bleed)

Zoot Suits, 1942 (Library of Congress)

June 4, 1943 – The Zoot Suit riots began on this date in Los Angeles, with white soldiers attacking blacks & Hispanics. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1963 – Jimmy Hoffa and seven other members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, were indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining $20 million in loans from a Teamsters Union Pension Fund. (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1979 – The Sandinistas called for an "insurrectional general strike." (From the Daily Bleed)

June 4, 1989 – The Chinese army massacred at least 2,000 peacefully protesting students and workers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (From the Daily Bleed)