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#generalstrike

21 posts14 participants7 posts today
Replied in thread
Levka

@MichaelM @Geri

If that's true, which I doubt, especially since Luigi, that's a shame. But if it is true, let's disabuse them of their delusions. Peacefully, of course, with a mighty show of numbers that makes No Kings day look trivial. Save the violence. We may need it later. I hope not, but it never hurts to have a backup plan.

In the meantime, #GeneralStrike

"If the workers are organized, all they have to do is to put their hands in their pockets and they have got the capitalist class whipped." -- Big Bill Haywood

MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History July 20, 1934: Police shot at picketing strikers on Bloody Friday of the Minneapolis General Strike, killing two and wounding 67. The teamsters strike had begun in May. While the teamsters’ national leadership was conservative and opposed to strikes, Local 574, in Minneapolis, was affiliated with the Communist Party, and Local 544 was connected with the Trotskyist Communist League. They began organizing their members for a strike in spite of the national leadership. They effectively shut down nearly all transport in the city, except for food, which they permitted to prevent starvation. The police, and vigilantes working for the bosses, routinely attacked them on the picket line. Consequently, workers in other industries joined them in solidarity, leading to a General Strike. On July 20, as the cops tried escort scabs onto a worksite, picketers with clubs tried to block them. The cops opened fire with shotguns. An eyewitness said he saw a man stepping on his own intestines and another carrying his own severed hand.
youtube.com/watch?v=hr7cTjkAY1

YouTubeStrike Riots In Minneapolis (1934)By British Pathé
#workingclass#LaborHistory#minneapolis
MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History July 20 1877: In the midst of the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike), the Maryland state militia fired on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing over 20, including children. The strike had started on July 14, in Martinsburg, WV, at the B&O Railroad yards. It quickly spread into Charleston, WV and Baltimore and Cumberland, MD. In Baltimore, as the 5th Regiment marched toward Camden Station with fixed bayonets on their Springfield rifles, crowds attacked them with bricks. Miraculously, no serious injuries occurred. However, when the 6th Regiment began their march, the crowds drove them off with paving stones and fists. Without orders, they began firing at the crowd, killing several. When the two regiments met at Camden Station, the crowds again hurled stones and bricks, disabling locomotives, tearing up tracks and driving off the engineers. They set fire to railroad cars and buildings and cut the firemen’s hoses when they tried to douse the flames.

The Great Upheaval came in the middle of the Long Depression, one of the worst depressions the U.S. has ever faced. My novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” takes place in the years leading up to the Great Strike and is Part I of “The Great Upheaval” trilogy. I am currently working on Book II: “Red Hot Summer in the Smoky City.”

You can get a copy here:

keplers.com/
greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

Read my full article on the Great Upheaval here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #baltimore #massacre #children #GeneralStrike #AnywhereButSchuylkill #novel #books #fiction #historicalfiction #writer #author #wildcat @bookstadon

MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History July 19, 1877: In the midst of the Great Train Strike of 1877, Pittsburgh workers drove soldiers out of town. Trainmen took control of the railroads in Pittsburgh to protest wage cuts. Two days later, National Guard moved in, killing 20 people.

In Lebanon, Pennsylvania a National Guard company mutinied. In Altoona, Pennsylvania strikers surrounded the troops and sabotaged the engines, forcing the soldiers to surrender. The soldiers then fraternized with the striking workers and marched home to the accompaniment of singers from an African-American militia company. In Harrisburg, the state capital, teenagers made up a large part of the multi-ethnic crowd.

In Pittsburgh, workers struck against the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad, the largest corporation in the world. Young boys and men from the mills and factories joined in. Again, the militia refused to attack the workers. Many soldiers joined the strikers. So, the Governor brought in the Philadelphia militia. The battle-hardened soldiers from the Civil and Indian Wars had no ties to the Pittsburgh community, and no qualms about shooting civilians. They opened fire on the crowd, killing twenty workers in five minutes.
The crowd retreated, but returned with their own militia. They burned the rail yards to the ground, holding off firefighters at gunpoint. The Philadelphia militia hid in the roundhouse, but the fire forced them to flee. The workers and police fired on them as they ran. In nearby Allegheny, strikers looted the armory. They dug trenches, took over the telegraph and railroad, and controlled all economic and political functions.

Read my full article on the Great Upheaval here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/

My novel, Anywhere But Schuylkill, takes place in the period leading up to the Great Train Strike and is the first book in my Great Upheaval trilogy. You can get a copy here:

keplers.com/
greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

#workingclass #LaborHistory #railroad #strike #GeneralStrike #pittsburgh #massacre #pittsburgh #pennsylvania #civilians #mutiny #sabotage #wages #novel #books #authors #historicalfiction #writingcommunity @bookstadon

MikeDunnAuthor

The San Francisco General Strike began on July 16, 1934 in response to the police murders of two longshoremen, Howard Sperry and Nick Bourdoise, July 5, 1934, on Rincon Hill, near the Ferry Building, during the West Coast Maritime Strike.

This sidewalk mural commemorates these events. It is located in front of the ILWU Hall, near Fishermens Wharf.

I remember taking my son to Pier 39 once when he was about six or seven, to play games at the arcade there. On our way back to the car, we passed this mural. He was intrigued. As I was explaining it to him, describing the history, a young longshoreman came out and asked if we'd like to come inside, see the other murals and statues. He gave us the full tour, explaining everything, and my son was completely mesmerized, as was I.

#sanfrancisco#GeneralStrike#ilwu
MikeDunnAuthor

Plaque commemorating the 1934 San Francisco General Strike.

Reads: In memory of Howard Sperry and Nick Bourdoise, who gave their lives on Bloody Thursday July 5, 1934 so that all working people might enjoy a greater measure of dignity and security.

Sperry and Bordoise were fatally shot by San Francisco police at the intersection of Mission and Steuart Streets, when longshoremen and seamen attempted to stop maritime employers from breaking their joint strike. Community outrage at these killings sparked a General Strike by all San Francisco unions.

The maritime strike continued through the middle of summer, concluding with a union victory which brought decent conditions to the shipping industry and set the stage for the rebirth of a strong and democratic labor movement on the west coast.

"An Injury to One is an Injury to All"

#workingclass#LaborHistory#sanfrancisco
MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History July 16, 1934: The San Francisco General Strike began, with 150,000 workers participating. The longshoremen’s strike actually started on May 9 and lasted 83 days, leading ultimately to the unionization of all West Coast ports. The strike grew violent quickly, with company goons and police brutalizing longshoremen and sailors. They hired private security to protect the scabs they brought in to load and unload ships, housing them in moored ships and wall compounds that the strikers attacked. In San Pedro, two workers were killed by private security on May 15. Battles also broke out in Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. On Bloody Thursday, July 5, in San Francisco, police attacked strikers with tear gas and with clubs while on horseback and later fired into the crowd, killing two and injuring others. A General Strike was called on July 14 and began on July 16, lasting 4 days. Many non-unionized workers joined the strike. Movie theaters and night clubs shut down. Many small businesses shut down & posted signs in solidarity with the strikers.

On July 17, the cops arrested 300 people they accused of being communists, radicals or subversives. The National Guard also blocked both ends of Jackson Street that day with machine gun-mounted trucks to aid vigilante attacks on the Marine Workers Industrial Union headquarters and the ILA soup kitchen. They raided many other union halls and communist organizations. Vigilantes kidnapped and beat a lawyer for the ACLU, as well as 13 radicals from San Jose, CA.

#workingclass#LaborHistory#GeneralStrike
MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History 7/16/1877: The Great Railway Strike (Great Upheaval) began in Martinsburg, WV, with strikes spreading across the country, despite the unions, which tried to block it. Boatmen, steelers, miners & workers of all ages, genders & races joined in. Militias & national guards were deployed. For the 1st time ever, federal troops were used to crush a strike. Workers fought back with rocks & bricks. They sabotaged equipment. Dumped railroad cars. Rerouted engines. Many of the poorly paid soldiers went AWOL & joined the strikers. In Lebanon, PA, they mutinied. Karl Marx called it “the first uprising against the oligarchy of capital since the Civil War.”

In Chicago & St. Louis, strikes were led by the communist Workingmen’s Party, affiliated with the First International. In Chicago, future Haymarket martyr, Albert Parsons, gave a fiery speech. In St. Louis, workers took over & ran the city for a week in what became known as the St. Louis Commune (after the Paris Commune of 1871). At a huge meeting in St. Louis, a black man asked: “Will you stand with us regardless of color?” The crowd replied: “We will!”

The Great Upheaval ended after 45 days, with over 100 workers slaughtered. In Pittsburgh, the militia killed 20 workers in 5 minutes. In Chicago, they killed another 20. In Scranton, up to 50 were killed. In the aftermath, unions became better organized, particularly the new Knights of Labor, which mushroomed in size. But the bosses learned many lessons, too. Many of the old stone armories we see across the country today were built after the Great Upheaval to provide cities with greater fire power for the next great strikes.

My novel, "Anywhere But Schuylkill," is part of the "Great Upheaval" trilogy. You can get a copy from these indie booksellers:
keplers.com/
greenapplebooks.com/
christophersbooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

You can read my full article on the Great Upheaval here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #strike #wildcat #GeneralStrike #railroad #union #marx #uprising #rebellion #KnightsOfLabor #chicago #pittsburgh #saintlouis #pariscommune #communism #police #policebrutality #books #fiction #historicalfiction #novel #write #author @bookstadon

Replied in thread
Levka

@cferdinandi @libramoon @gerrymcgovern

(1.) #Mondragon is a multi-million dollar, multi-national concern. So, yeah, it *is* scalable.

(2.) There is no way we can rip the rug out from under capitalism short of a permanent #GeneralStrike, and even that needs a what comes next strategy. But we can make capitalism irrelevant by building the #LibertarianSocialist alternative to the point that everyone's needs are met. Then capitalism will collapse under it's own weight.

Rob Zazueta

Power perverts like Marc Andreesen and the folks at the WSJ have frequently pointed to the summer of 2020 - you know, when communities got sick and tired of cops killing their members and protested en mass - as a turning point for them.

It terrified them.

Because they *actually* saw that their power could be taken away.

MAKE THEM LIVE IN THE FEAR THEY MAKE US LIVE IN.

If this isn't a clear indicator that a #GeneralStrike will be effective, I don't know what is.

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