Open Thread WE 10 AUG ~ Strike
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The “Great Strike” of 1877, sparked by starvation wages and brutal working conditions, started among rail workers and then drew in more than half a million others. It alarmed the capitalist rulers. Federal, state and city governments unleashed troops, cops and gangs of thugs on strikers, cheered on by the bosses’ press. Karl Marx wrote that this mighty class battle “could very well be the point of origin for the creation of a serious workers’ party.”
Unions became better organized as well as more competent, and the number of strikes increased. The Knights of Labor grew to be a national organization of predominately Catholic workers, numbering 700,000 by the early 1880s. In the 1880s nearly 10,000 strike actions and lockouts took place. In 1886 nearly 700,000 workers went on strike. Business leaders strengthened their opposition to the unions, often firing men who tried to organize or join them. Nonetheless, the labor movement continued to grow.
The strike reached East St. Louis, Illinois, then a busy railroad hub, on July 22 and crossed the Mississippi into St. Louis proper the following day. Seizing on popular support for the action, members of the socialist Workingmen’s Party (WPUSA) organized a general strike that brought the city to a screeching halt. The strike’s demands grew alongside it, having begun with a focus on an end to child labor and an eight-hour work day and then expanding to include calls for the nationalization of railroads, the provision of food to strikers and several other political, economic and monetary reforms. Within days strikers found themselves in charge of much of the city, and the WPUSA’s Executive Committee attempted to form a workers’ council made up of WPUSA members and labor leaders. Though it’s relatively little-known in modern-day America, this was a momentous step in socialist and labor-oriented politics; it was one of the first of its kind, now seen as a precursor to later workers’ councils (called “soviets” in Russian, this model had some success, especially in St. Petersburg, in the 1905 Russian Revolution and, of course, took on new meaning shortly thereafter).
The time is getting ripe for another show of force by the workers of the US and other nations to diminish the powers of corporate elites. Wage stagnation, climbing inflation, loss of benefits and extreme income discrepancy is a potent
brew. What are chances of forming a more perfect union?
Credits ~
https://themilitant.com/2021/05/15/first-us-general-strike-in-1877-showe...
https://laborguild.com/2020/07/16/this-week-in-labor-history-vol-8-the-g...
https://brewminate.com/labor-organization-and-the-great-railroad-strike-...
https://www.thoughtco.com/great-railroad-strike-of-1877-1773903
Open thread so post away on whatever moves you.
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Comments
Good morning ~
In more recent developments, union organization is building momentum in the US.
and
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/08/how-employers-are-trying-to-thwa...
Workers rights are something worth fighting for.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
Don't forget TPTB called out the military....
to break those strikes.
https://listverse.com/2017/09/14/10-tragic-times-the-us-government-massa...
My hope is to transition to worker owned business or at least worker profit sharing with worker representation on the boards as in Germany. Of course it is a pipe dream, but a goal none the less.
Thanks for the OT and hope everyone is doing well and has a good day!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Yes, the states effected by the strikes
requested and received federal troops to put down the strikes.
No doubt, a similar reaction would be enacted now.
We finally got some rain last night! Badly needed.
cheers!
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
This month we've had relief too...
Already 3.5' this month and it is drizzling again right now. Much needed here too.
Take care and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
On this date in history
In the shameful US empire war files ..
https://sputniknews.com/20220810/august-10th-remembering-a-day-of-traged...
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
To this very day millions of Vietnamese
have to deal with the consequences of this inhumane war crime by the US.
Would you think the US should pay for these damages
to the Vietnamese innocents? Our vets had to fight to get agent orange listed as a debilitating
disease. (Friendly fire). I lost a couple of buddies to that scourge. If the pentagoons and their ilk
were to be forced to pay for their soul-less transgressions, it may knock down their income
stream a notch. Problem is, who is to make them pay? Congress won't. International courts?
Perhaps the governments of Vietnam could file suit, as our vets had to.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
The peoples hope might just lie with the Dutch Farmers
winning this battle against the EU/WEF
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2022/08/debt-rattle-august-9-2022/
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Hola QMS, Seattle geneeral strike February 6, 1919,
was another biggie. Could be a model for how to do it right. Most of the unions joined in and delegates from all of them formed a strike committee that worked to ensure that the ordinary citizens didn't suffer on account of the strike. They set up soup kitchens, saw to it that milk was delivered to families with small kids and stuff like that. It was broken by a massive show of military and police force including a ton of newly hired cops, threats of using cops as scabs and timidity on the part of international and national level union orgs like the AFL who pressured the locals to cave. Naturally, when it was over the state went after the wobblies even though they weren't the primary instigators or organizers.
When thinking of general strikes today, we need to consider the nature of the workforce and of the various professional thugs and their ability to rapidly mobilize against strikers as well as the need for a consumer strike in parallel. It once was that crossing picket lines was anathema to large segments of the populace, even within living memory. Today that seems to be very much not the case, and that spirit needs to be re-kindled.
HUELGA!!
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Dropped Call
in baseball news
Good morning
Here's another article by Patrick Lawrence about our bumbling 'leaders' and the harm they cause.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/08/09/patrick-lawrence-the-pelosi-fallout/
The whole article is a short but worthwhile read.
Thanks for the OT QMS and the history.
Earlier today I read a blurb saying that China had
discovered a new zoonotic virus transmitted by shrews. I seem to recall that they've been an issue since Shakespeare's time.![Wink](https://caucus99percent.com/sites/all/modules/smiley/packs/kolobok/wink.gif)
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Re shrews
Literary bad joke ;-)
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Wishful thinking
fake news indeed, thanks for the chuckle. n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
There is propaganda and then there is reality.
Isn't wonderful to have multiple choices when voting? /S
Changing the narrative
To be anti- union is to be anti-American.
Because America is a union.
All union organizations are exactly like our own government, with elected representatives to voice the concerns of the dues (taxes) paying members.
Generally,they elect a president, vice president (sometimes called a business agent), a financial secretary (collect the taxes or dues), and an executive board (a kind of congress).
They are as American as Mom and apple pie.
Most other organizations we are familiar with are run the same way, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, made up of dues paying corporations.
Big Pharma has its own union with dues paying members, as do the oil corporations, the American Bar Association, and the Screen Actors Guild.
Whatever label is used, they all have one thing in common, they pay for membership. And for their money, they expect those paid leaders to watch out for their interests.
Singling out the labor unions for destruction is discriminatory and un-American.
This is the narrative that we must present.
IMHO
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
In agreement with you on this
We have seen where the executive branch of unions have worked against the
workers interest. We have also seen where the workers have over-riden the
upper echelon's decisions. Voting as a bloc does have some sway.
Generally, the more organized the workers, the better chance they have to fight
against unfair labor practices. Big unions, like big business, hold some power -
but are corruptible.
I have tried to organize small shops and businesses, but it seems to come down to
fear for member's jobs and pressure from their employers to intimidate.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
The larger an organization gets, the more
unwieldy it becomes. Arguably, to even be an organization it must be organized, meaning some sort of rules and structure, else it is some sort of loose association that is always always ad hoc and incapable of committing to anything beyond the moment, essentially a mob. Also it will invariably have to have a process for decision making and it must be able to deal with all kinds of government entities, rules and regulations and it is likely to need some sort of finances for things like obtaining legal counsel and paying bail bondsmen or making cash bail, etc. The instant money gets involved, so do taxing authorities. In the US, and most/all of the several states, as in many countries, the organization most likely to more often than not involve the least hassles, aggravation and busywork will be the corporation, whether it's a union, a church, the starvation army, scouts, or any other not technically criminal enterprise. Corporations are creatures of the state and most states will require certain minimum requirements, even for non-business non=profit entities. These will include a governing body consisting of a board, a president, a secretary, a treasurer, etc. What you enumerated are simply the legal trappings of a legal corporation.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Feel good video of the day
Don't drink and tractor