Working Class Calendar

Estado Novo (1937)

Wed Nov 10, 1937

Image: Advertising poster for the Estado Novo, showing Vargas's face looming over a rally of workers

On this day in 1937, a coup took place in Brazil when President Getúlio Vargas gave a national address declaring a state of emergency and abolishing the constitution. Vargas announced a new state - the "Estado Novo" - based on contemporary fascist governments in Italy and Poland, effectively giving himself autocratic powers.

The coup took place a few months before the end of Vargas's legal term in office and impending elections in 1938. A false rumor of a communist plot to take over the government, known as the "Cohen Plan", was also circulated through the media, although Vargas himself didn't acknowledge it.

The new government greatly expanded the power of police, persecuted political dissidents, de facto banned union activity, and allowed Vargas to rule for the next eight years under what amounted to martial law. Vargas was eventually deposed by the military in a coup launched from his own War Ministry on October 29th, 1945, after the conclusion of World War II.

• Date: 1937-11-10
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Kristallnacht (1938)

Wed Nov 09, 1938

Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was an anti-Semitic pogrom against Jewish people that began on this day in 1938, carried out by the Sturmabteilung, Nazi paramilitary forces, and civilians.

The name Kristallnacht ("Crystal Night") comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues were smashed.

The official pretext for the attacks was the assassination of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old German-born Polish Jew, after Grynszpan learned that his parents had been deported to the Polish frontier. Within hours of Rath's death, the Kristallnacht was launched against Jewish communities in Germany.

Jewish homes, hospitals, and schools were ransacked as attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers. Rioters destroyed 267 synagogues throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. Over 7,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.

Estimates of the amount of people killed vary from 91 to as high as 638. Historians view Kristallnacht as a prelude to the Final Solution and the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

• Date: 1938-11-09
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, encyclopedia.ushmm.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Striking CSN Workers Killed (1988)

Wed Nov 09, 1988

On this day in 1988, a conflict between soldiers and metallurgists on strike at Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil led to the deaths of three workers, with at least thirty-one more injured.

According to author Andrew Costa, the city of Volta Redonda was engaged in a general strike for the implementation of a six-hour shift and the reinstatement of workers dismissed in an earlier 1987 strike. Women in the local neighborhoods prevented CSN vans from picking up their husbands to work with pickets on the street, and the Residents Associations carried out barricades so that CSN busses and other transport could not run while the company was refusing to negotiate with workers.

The conflict on November 9th began when about 600 state soldiers descended on Avenida Independência, in front of CSN, throwing tear gas bombs at a crowd of workers. The crowd responded with by attacking sticks and stones. Three people were killed, and thirty-one were wounded. A monument dedicated to the victims of the violence was later partially destroyed with bombs.

In spite of this violence, workers eventually prevailed, winning their right to six-hour shifts.

• Date: 1988-11-09
• Learn More: almanaque.folha.uol.com.br, subverta.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

New Orleans General Strike (1892)

Tue Nov 08, 1892

Image: Photograph of tracking cotton from steamboat taken in 1891 in New Orleans, Levee. Photo shows dockworkers moving cotton from steamboat to the distribution area.

On this day in 1892, a general strike across racial lines broke out in New Orleans, a city-wide action of solidarity with three unions on strike. After white workers refused racial bribes, workers won their demands in just three days.

The general strike grew out of a strike by three unions who had joined forces to go on strike the two weeks prior. The three unions, collectively known as the "Triple Alliance", were an alliance of black and white workers. The New Orleans Board of Trade announced it would sign contracts agreeing to the terms - but only with the white unions, however this offer was steadfastly refused.

Eventually, other union leaders in the city began calling for a strike in support of the Triple Alliance, and, on this day in 1892, a multi-racial coalition of 25,000 workers across the entire city went on strike. Efforts by the city to find strikebreaking workers, both from within and outside of New Orleans, failed.

After just three days, the Board of Trade agreed to binding arbitration to settle the strike, with employers agreeing to sit down with both white and black union leaders. After 48 hours of negotiations, the employers agreed to the 10-hour day and overtime pay for the Triple Alliance workers. Members of other unions also won reduced hours and higher pay.

• Date: 1892-11-08
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, neworleanshistorical.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #General Strikes.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Ed Boyce (1862 - 1941)

Sat Nov 08, 1862

Ed Boyce, born on this day in 1862, was a radical labor organizer who served as President of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and as a socialist Idaho State Representative. After just one term, Boyce resigned in disgust.

Boyce was arrested for his role in the 1892 Coeur d'Alene labor strike and inspired "Big Bill" Haywood (co-founder of the IWW) to join his first union.

In 1894, Boyce was elected to the Idaho state senate. There, he battled for the eight-hour day for miners, the establishment of an arbitration board to settle labor disputes, an investigation of the 1892 mining war, and the banning of "yellow-dog" contracts (contracts prohibiting workers from joining the union).

Boyce was so disillusioned by the political process that he resigned after one term.

• Date: 1862-11-08
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, scholarworks.umt.edu.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

October Revolution (1917)

Wed Nov 07, 1917

Image: Vladimir Lenin giving a speech to Vsevobuch servicemen on the first anniversary of the foundation of the Soviet armed forces, Red Square, Moscow, 25th May 1919. This photo, brought from Russia by Dr. W.A. Wovschin, shows a view of a mass meeting, when the Soviet leader made an appeal for the men to keep together for the glory and safety of Russia.

On this day in 1917, the October Revolution began in Russia when the Bolsheviks initiated an armed insurrection in Petrograd, seizing the Winter Palace and dissolving the Provisional Government in a coup with minimal violence. The name "October Revolution" comes from the fact that the revolution began on October 25th in the dating convention of the time.

Led by the Bolshevik Party, the revolution took place through an armed insurrection in Petrograd and was instrumental in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917 - 1923. By November 8th, the Winter Palace, the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia, had been captured.

Elections were held on November 12th. In contrast to their majority in the soviets (local council governments), the Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which won 370 seats.

On its first and only day in session, the Constituent Assembly came into conflict with the soviets, and it rejected soviet decrees on peace and land, resulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved by the Bolsheviks in January.

The political situation devolved into a civil war between the Bolsheviks, Whites (counter-revolutionaries), Makhnovists, independence movements, and other socialist factions.

The Bolsheviks eventually defeated all rival parties and formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. Their victory marked the beginning of Marxism-Leninism as a global force.

• Date: 1917-11-07
• Learn More: www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Marxism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Canada Limits War Industry Strikes (1939)

Tue Nov 07, 1939

Image: Asbestos Strike in Canada, from Centre d'archives de la région de Thetford - Fonds Famille Gérard Chamberland

On this day in 1939, Canada extended the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (IDIA) to cover disputes between employers and employees engaged in "war work", severely limiting the contexts in which a strike was legal to initiate.

The IDIA, first passed in 1907, forbade strikes and lockouts in mines and certain public utility industries until a dispute had first been dealt with by a board of conciliation. Before 1939, only forty-one of one thousand applications actually made it to the strike stage.

War work was defined as including "the construction, execution, production, repair, manufacture, transportation, storage or delivery of munitions of war or supplies" and "the construction, remodelling, repair or demolition of defense projects." After the extension of the IDIA, the applications to strike increased six-fold, however only seven strikes (4% of the total) were allowed in the following year and a half.

• Date: 1939-11-07
• Learn More: archive.macleans.ca.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Michael Schwerner (1939 - 1964)

Mon Nov 06, 1939

Image: Photograph of Michael Scwerner with light hair and a goatee, facing the camera

Michael Schwerner, born on this day in 1939, was one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) field/social workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

In the early 1960s Schwerner became active in working for civil rights for black people; he led a local Congress of Racial Equality group on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, called "Downtown CORE." He participated in a 1963 effort to desegregate Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryland. As activism increased in the South, Schwerner and his wife Rita Schwerner Bender volunteered to work for National CORE in Mississippi, helping black people exercise their right to vote.

Michael Scwerner and fellow civil rights workers James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were killed near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.

Arrested by the local sheriff, the trio was released that evening without being allowed to contact anyone. On the road, they were stopped by patrol lights and two carloads of KKK members, kidnapped, tortured, and killed.

The sheriff, along with six others, were indicted and convicted for depriving the three men of their civil rights. No one was held accountable for their murders until 2005, when outspoken white supremacist Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter.

• Date: 1939-11-06
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, mscivilrightsproject.org.
• Tags: #Civil Rights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Hilde Radusch (1903 - 1994)

Fri Nov 06, 1903

Hilde Radusch, born on this day in 1903, was a German communist, anti-fascist, and queer feminist author. Imprisoned by the Nazis, Radusch survived World War II and became a prominent lesbian writer and activist.

In 1924, Radusch became a member of the Communist Party, and from 1929 until 1932 Radusch served as a Communist Party city councilor in Berlin.

Radusch was arrested by the Nazi government on April 6th, 1933, less than a month after returning from a political trip to the Soviet Union. After refusing to sign a contrived confession, she ended up in the Barnim Street women's prison, along with around two hundred other "politicals", those identified by the Nazi government as political prisoners (distinct from "criminals").

Released in September 1933, she went on to run a restaurant with her partner Else "Eddy" Klopsch, which served as a refuge for people wanted by the Nazi regime. After the war, she became the head of the Schöneberg office dedicated to "Victims of Fascism", however she lost the job after being denounced as "lesbian".

Radusch was the editor of "Our Little Newspaper" ("Unserer Kleinen Zeitung"), described by historian Ilona Scheidle as the first lesbian newspaper after World War II. In the 1970s, Radusch co-founded "L74", a Berlin group of older lesbians.

• Date: 1903-11-06
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.spd-fraktion-tempelhof-schoeneberg.de.
• Tags: #Communism, #Birthdays, #Queer, #Fascism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

The Everett Massacre (1916)

Sun Nov 05, 1916

The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an armed confrontation in Everett, Washington between local police, a deputized mob, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union that took place on this day in 1916.

The Seattle IWW sent three hundred of its members up to Everett to demonstrate in solidarity with striking shingle workers there. Upon arriving at the dock, however, they were greeted by Snohomish County Sheriff McRae and two hundred "citizen deputies", who refused to let them land.

Gunfire was exchanged, and at least seven people were killed and forty-three were wounded. Despite this violence, striking workers in Everett continued with their planned demonstration and were promptly taken to jail by McRae.

• Date: 1916-11-05
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, depts.washington.edu.
• Tags: #Labor, #IWW, #Massacre.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Ida Tarbell (1857 - 1944)

Thu Nov 05, 1857

Image: **

Ida Tarbell, born on this day in 1857, was an American investigative journalist and feminist. "The quest of the truth had been born in me - the most tragic and incomplete, as well as the most essential, of man's quests."

Born in Pennsylvania at the onset of the oil boom, Tarbell is possibly best known for her 1904 book, "The History of the Standard Oil Company". Her expose on the practices of Rockefeller's Standard Oil was called a "masterpiece of investigative journalism", by historian J. North Conway, as well as "the single most influential book on business ever published in the United States" by historian Daniel Yergin.

The work would contribute to the dissolution of the Standard Oil monopoly and helped usher in multiple pieces of anti-trust reform, including the Clayton Antitrust Act and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

"The quest of the truth had been born in me - the most tragic and incomplete, as well as the most essential, of man's quests."

- Ida Tarbell

• Date: 1857-11-05
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.smithsonianmag.com, connecticuthistory.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Journalism, #Feminism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

United Farm Workers Office Bombed (1970)

Wed Nov 04, 1970

On this day in 1970, a United Farm Workers (UFW) office was bombed Salinas Valley, California. The bombing took place during the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm workers strike in U.S. history, which had begun on August 23rd of that year.

The Salad Bowl strike was in part a protest against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters winning legal jurisdiction over farm workers in California (the UFW had previously organized these workers). The Salad Bowl Strike caused the price of lettuce to double practically overnight, and lettuce growers lost $500,000 a day.

During the strike UFW leader César Chávez was arrested and imprisoned. When he was visited by athlete Rafer Johnson and Ethel Kennedy, widow of slain Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Johnson and Kennedy were attacked by an anti-union mob on the steps of the jail and police had to suppress the quarrel.

Although the strike ended on March 26th, 1971 when the Teamsters and UFW signed a new jurisdictional agreement reaffirming the UFW's right to organize field workers, jurisdictional labor disputes (and associated violence) would continue for years afterward. These tensions led directly to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975.

• Date: 1970-11-04
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, peoplesworld.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Terrorism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Allende Assumes Office (1970)

Tue Nov 03, 1970

On this day in 1970, Salvador Allende became the first Marxist to serve as elected leader of a Latin American liberal democracy. "We are seeking to overcome [the bourgeois state]...Our objective is total, scientific, Marxist socialism."

As President, Allende sought to nationalize major industries, expand education and improve the living standards of the working class. Specific examples of his policies include giving educational grants to indigenous children, literacy programs in impoverished areas, and establishing a minimum wage for workers of all ages.

On September 11th, 1973, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'état assisted by the Henry Kissinger and the CIA. As troops surrounded La Moneda Palace, he gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day, Allende died of suicide with a gun, according to an investigation conducted by a Chilean court with the assistance of international experts in 2011.

Following Allende's death, General Augusto Pinochet refused to return authority to a civilian government, and Chile was later ruled by a military junta that was in power up until 1990. This junta dissolved the Congress of Chile, suspended the Constitution, and began a persecution of alleged dissidents, in which at least 3,095 civilians disappeared or were killed.

"As for the bourgeois state, at the present moment, we are seeking to overcome it, to overthrow it.… Our objective is total, scientific, Marxist socialism."

- Salvador Allende, as quoted in Conversations With Allende (1970) by French philosopher Régis Debray

• Date: 1970-11-03
• Learn More: www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org, jacobinmag.com.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Marxism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

UK Postal Workers' Strike Ends (2003)

Mon Nov 03, 2003

On this day in 2003, a wildcat strike involving two-thirds of Royal Mail workers in the United Kingdom (around 20,000 people) ended in victory for the striking mail carriers.

In August of that year, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) called for a national strike for higher wages, however the proposition we defeated in a close vote. A few months later, in late October, postal workers engaged in a wildcat strike of their own, indicating a lack of trust between union rank-and-file and leadership.

The strike began when a driver in Dartford, London was sacked and 400 co-workers engaged in a spontaneous work stoppage. Within eleven days, 20,000 to 25,000 workers were out, mostly from London and the South East. More than 16 million letters per day were piling up and, after a few days, 10,000 post boxes across London were sealed off.

On November 3rd, after the management promised that there would be no repression, sackings or local deals, the strike was resolved. On the aims of the workers and why the strike was successful, one worker commented:

"It was a defensive, but successful strike. The issue is we broke the anti strike legislation. In this case even the headquarters union official were not trying very hard to enforce the law and the local union reps were actively working against the law. We broke through the unions officials 'anti-strike' politics again, and we were successful when we did."

• Date: 2003-11-03
• Learn More: libcom.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Norman Morrison Self-Immolation (1965)

Tue Nov 02, 1965

Norman Morrison (1933 - 1965) was a Baltimore Quaker committed suicide via self-immolation in protest of the Vietnam War on this day in 1965. Morrison was 31 and left behind a wife and three children.

The act was a protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and took place directly below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's office at the Pentagon. Morrison was 31 and left behind a wife and three children.

Morrison's death was widely publicized and drew comparisons to Thích Quảng Đức and other Buddhist monks, who burned themselves to death to protest the repression committed by the South Vietnam government in years prior. In Vietnam, Morrison became a folk hero to some, his name rendered as "Mo Ri Xon". On May 9th, 1967, protesters held a vigil for Morrison before occupying the Pentagon for four days until being removed and arrested.

• Date: 1965-11-02
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.theguardian.com.
• Tags: #Imperialism, #Protests.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Plowshares Kitsap Break-in (2007)

Fri Nov 02, 2007

On this day in 2009, five anti-nuclear weapons peace activists who were part of the Plowshares movement broke into the Naval Base Kitsap, a nuclear-submarine base on Hood Canal northwest of Bremerton, Washington.

This "Disarm Now Plowshares" protest was a symbolic disarming of one of the largest nuclear-weapons stockpiles in the United States.

The five activists cut a hole through the perimeter fence surrounding the Bangor submarine base and began walking toward the storage area for nuclear weapons, carrying hammers and vials of their own blood. After making it within 10 yards of where the nukes were stored, they were arrested by Marines at gunpoint.

After being charged with conspiracy, trespass, destruction of property on a naval installation, and depredation of government property, the group was found guilty on December 13th, 2010.

At sentencing, Judge Benjamin Settle considering releasing the defendants while they waited for their prison terms to begin, however all individuals refused and, while singing songs of peace, federal marshals escorted them out of the courtroom and into federal detention.

• Date: 2007-11-02
• Learn More: www.historylink.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Smith Act Trial (1949)

Tue Nov 01, 1949

Image: Defendants charged under the Smith Act Robert Thompson and Benjamin Davis smiling, surrounded by pickets as they leave the Federal Courthouse in New York City in 1949 [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1949, the first trial of communist leaders under the Smith Act began in Manhattan. The trial spanned 10 months at the height of anti-communist hysteria. All 11 defendants were convicted, and all 5 of their attorneys imprisoned.

The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28th, 1940.

The Act set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government by force or violence and required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the federal government. Approximately 215 people were indicted under the legislation, including alleged communists, anarchists, and fascists.

On November 1st, 1949, the first trial of communist leaders began in Manhattan, New York. The trial, lasting ten months, was one of the longest in United States history, and took place at a fever pitch of anti-communist hysteria - the USSR tested its first nuke, communists won the Chinese Civil War, and the House of Un-American Activities Committee began its censorship in Hollywood, all while the trial was underway.

All eleven defendants were convicted under the Smith Act, and all five of their defense attorneys were imprisoned for contempt of court. Two were later disbarred. In the years following, more than 100 additional Communist Party USA (CPUSA) officers were convicted for violating the Smith Act, decimating the leadership of the CPUSA.

The Supreme Court put an end to these types of convictions in Yates v. United States (1957), where it ruled that radical speech was protected under the 1st amendment.

• Date: 1949-11-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, depts.washington.edu.
• Tags: #Communism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

UMW Coal Strike (1919)

Sat Nov 01, 1919

On this day in 1919, the United Mine Workers (UMW) initiated a nationwide strike of more than 400,000 coal miners, demanding better wages and a 30-hour week. The U.S. declared the strike illegal while the media smeared workers as communists.

U.S. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, the same individual behind the infamous Palmer Raids, declared the strike illegal by invoking the Lever Act, a wartime measure that made it a crime to interfere with the production or transportation of necessities.

The law had never been used against a union before, and in fact American Federation of Labor (AFL) founder Samuel Gompers had been promised by President Woodrow Wilson that the Lever Act would not be used to suppress labor actions.

The strike was subject to Red Scare propaganda: coal operators made false charges that Lenin and Trotsky had ordered the strike and were financing it, and some of the press repeated those claims. Others used words like "insurrection" and "Bolshevik revolution". Because of this propaganda and the Attorney General's injunction against the strike, the UMW called the strike off on November 8th.

Many workers ignored this order, however, and the strike continued for over a month, with a final agreement being reached on December 10th. Workers won a 14% wage increase and the creation of an investigatory commission to mediate wage issues.

• Date: 1919-11-01
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Coal Creek Strikers Free Prisoners (1891)

Sat Oct 31, 1891

On this day in 1891, armed Tennessee Coal Miners freed hundreds of prisoners who were being used as strikebreaking convict labor. The raid took place in the context of the "Coal Creek War", a militant labor uprising in the early 1890s.

The Coal Creek War took place primarily, but not exclusively, in Anderson County, Tennessee. This labor conflict ignited in 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed began to remove and replace their company-employed, private coal miners then on the payroll with convict laborers leased out by the Tennessee state prison system, used in this case as strikebreakers.

Coal workers at the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) went on strike on April 1st, 1891, demanding to be paid in cash, not scrip (currency only usable at company stores) and to be allowed to check the weight of their haul (they were paid by weight, but not allowed to check the company's measurement).

Workers initiated a series of raids against the TCMC - on July 14th, armed miners surrounded the stockades where leased convicts were held and sent them by train out of the city. On October 31st, 1891, the miners burned company stockades to the ground and freed hundreds of convicts being held there. On Nov. 2nd, another band attacked stockades in a different location and freed those prisoners as well. From those two events alone, at least 453 convicts were set free.

The strike was forcibly put down by state militia, ending with the arrest of hundreds of miners. All but one were either acquitted or merely fined. Tennessee ended its policy of leasing convict labor, using convicts to work in state-owned mines instead.

• Date: 1891-10-31
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

JJ Foods Strike (1995)

Tue Oct 31, 1995

On this day in 1995, workers at the JJ Fast Food Distribution plant in Tottenham, London walked out to demand the reinstatement of their elected shop steward, beginning a several-month strike at the factory.

The workers were mostly Kurdish and Turkish immigrants, as the food and textile industries were significant employers of immigrant workers.

Working conditions at the plant were difficult - according to the anarchist publication Black Flag, workers were putting in 60-70 hours per week with no overtime, sick, or holiday pay. The day before the strike, the factory manager had fired the elected shop steward in response workers' attempts to organize through the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU).

When arriving to work the next day, workers refused to work, demanding the reinstatement of their elected representative. The boss then demanded union workers leave, and then fighting broke out. The union members then gathered outside the gate and were attacked by police.

The following day, the sacked workers and around 100 supporters again gathered outside the warehouse, attempting to block the access road and again clashing with police. The labor disputes continued for months. After two weeks, an Industrial Tribunal initiated by TGWU ruled that the workers had been sacked for union membership, and ordered them to return to work February 26th.

Despite this apparent victory, when 35 workers returned to their jobs, they were told that their union would not be recognized and that they be forced to work from 5 AM until midnight. This caused another strike, however it was short-lived and ineffective. Only 12 out of the original 42 fired JJ workers returned to work on March 18th.

• Date: 1995-10-31
• Learn More: libcom.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Nat Turner Captured (1831)

Sun Oct 30, 1831

On this day in 1831, Nat Turner, a radical preacher on the run after initiating a slave rebellion, was captured. After being sentenced to death, Turner was asked if he regretted his actions. He responded "Was Christ not crucified?"

Turner (1800 - 1831) was born and raised in Southampton County, Virginia, an area where black people outnumbered whites. He learned how to read and write at a young age and was deeply religious, eventually becoming an influential preacher in the area.

In early 1831, on the basis of religious visions, Nat Turner began preparing a slave insurrection. The rebellion began on August 21st, and rebels traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and killing many of the white people that they encountered.

At least 55 white people were killed, and the slaves killed men, women, and children. The group spared a few homes "because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants 'thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes'".

The rebellion was put down by a combined force of local militia and three companies of artillery. The state executed 56 black people, and militias killed at least 100 more, some of whom were not involved in the rebellion.

Turner went on the run, eluding capture for six weeks. On this day in 1831, a white farmer discovered him hidden among the local Nottoway people in a depression in the earth, created by a large, fallen tree that was covered with fence rails. After being tried and convicted for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection", he was asked if he regretted what he had done. Turner responded "Was Christ not crucified?"

Turner was hanged on November 11th, 1831. His body was dissected and flayed, with his bones and skin being used to create trophies and souvenirs, such as purses.

After Turner's execution, state legislatures passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free black people, restricting rights of assembly and other civil liberties for free black people, and requiring white ministers to be present at all worship services.

• Date: 1831-10-30
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.jacobinmag.com.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Stanleyville Riots (1959)

Fri Oct 30, 1959

On this day in 1959, Congolese residents of Stanleyville rebelled against Belgian colonizers, demanding independence after a speech by Patrice Lumumba. Police suppressed the riot, killing ~70, imposing martial law, and arresting Lumumba.

The day prior, Lumumba called for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience in a speech to the MNC congress, also ordering Congolese people to not collaborate with the Belgian colonial government and announcing that the party would not take part in the upcoming December elections.

The rebellion began on October 30th when the police arrived at the suburb of Mangoba to arrest Lumumba. The uprising was suppressed with military force, including two companies of infantry.

In total, approximately 70 people were killed in the fighting, and up to 200 were wounded. Lumumba himself was arrested by police as the government imposed martial law and banned gatherings of more than five people.

Congo would achieve independence from Belgium on June 30th, 1960, with Lumumba serving as its first Prime Minister. He was assassinated by Belgian forces and their collaborators on January 17th, 1961.

• Date: 1959-10-30
• Learn More: www.theguardian.com, cdnc.ucr.edu, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Assassinations, #Colonialism, #Riots, #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Louis Blanc (1811 - 1882)

Tue Oct 29, 1811

Louis Blanc, born on this day in 1811, was a socialist French politician, historian, and advocate of worker co-operatives. A socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor. Although Blanc's ideas of the workers' cooperatives were never realized, his political and social ideas greatly contributed to the development of socialism in France.

Blanc was a government official in the French Second Republic and key in the formation of its National Workshops, which used land taxes to fund employment services for unemployed workers.

Blanc is sometimes credited as being the first person to use the word capitalism in its modern form, defining the term in 1851 as "the appropriation of capital by some to the exclusion of others".

• Date: 1811-10-29
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
• Tags: #Socialism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Leon Czolgosz Executed (1901)

Tue Oct 29, 1901

Leon Czolgosz was an anarchist steelworker executed by the U.S. government on this day in 1901 after assassinating President William McKinley. The murder led to a widespread crackdown on left wing movements across the country.

Czolgosz (1873 - 1901) was a socialist from a young age, working in factories and mills as a teenager and witnessing labor strife firsthand. He was greatly inspired by Emma Goldman, and met her briefly after a lecture she gave in Cleveland. Czolgosz's direct inspiration to assassinate a national leader possibly came from the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Gaetano Bresci in 1900.

On September 6th, 1901, Czolgosz shot President William McKinley on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley died eight days later of gangrene caused by the wounds and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt in office.

Czolgosz was tried and found guilty just over a month later. Before his execution, Czolgosz explained "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people - the good working people...I am not sorry for my crime".

In the aftermath of the assassination, there was a series of strong reprisals against the anarchist movement. Several anarchists, including Emma Goldman, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack, and vigilantes attacked anarchist colonies and newspapers.

Fear of the movement also led to government creating anarchist surveillance programs, which were eventually consolidated on a federal level when the Bureau of Investigation (BOI, later to become the FBI) was formed in 1908.

• Date: 1901-10-29
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com, jwa.org.
• Tags: #Assassinations, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

Luisa Capetillo (1879 - 1922)

Tue Oct 28, 1879

Luisa Capetillo, born on this day in 1879, was a Puerto Rican labor organizer, feminist, and Christian anarchist. Capetillo advocated for women's suffrage, was arrested for wearing pants in public, and helped raise the minimum wage.

As a labor activist, Capetillo organized workers throughout the United States, worked as a reporter for the FLT (American Federation of Labor), and traveled throughout Puerto Rico, educating and organizing women. Her hometown, Arecibo, became the most unionized area of the country.

Capetillo is considered to be one of Puerto Rico's first suffragists. In 1908, during the FLT convention, Capetillo asked the union to approve a policy for women's suffrage, insisting that all women should have the same right to vote as men. Along with other labor activists, she also helped pass a minimum wage law in the Puerto Rican Legislature.

Today, Capetillo is perhaps best known for being arrested for wearing pants in public, although the charges against her were later dropped.

In 2014, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico honored Capetillo, along with eleven other women, with plaques in the "La Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza in Honor of Puerto Rican Women).

• Date: 1879-10-28
• Learn More: documents.alexanderstreet.com, en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
• Tags: #Labor, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org