Today in Labor History September 3, 1920: Workers took over and occupied nearly all the factories in Spezia, Italy, in opposition to both the bosses and the union leadership. 600,000 workers participated in the occupations. They continued operations, but under their leadership and control, rather than the bosses’. Their goal was to build the movement into a revolutionary General Strike and to create a workers’ socialist republic in which the workers controlled all industry. Union leadership, in collaboration with the government and plant owners, eventually convinced most workers to accept a sell-out deal. And by February, 1921, the owners went on the offensive against the workers, aided by Fascist thugs. #workingclass #LaborHistory #italy #fascism #GeneralStrike #union #occupation #Revolution #socialism

Today in Labor History September 3, 1915: Australian Wobbly (IWW member) Tom Barker was arrested for his anti-war poster. Later that month, 12 other IWW leaders got 5-15 years, each, for opposing World War I. Prior to this, he was forced out of New Zealand for helping to organize the Aukland General Strike. After the Australian authorities arrested him, he was deported to Chile, before traveling the world helping to organize workers. #workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #tombarker #australia #newzealand #chile #union #GeneralStrike #antiwar

Today in Labor History September 3, 1838: Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland to freedom in the north, where he became a leader of the abolitionist movement. During his lifetime, he wrote 3 autobiographies and became a best-selling author. He also fought for women’s suffrage and was the first black man nominated to run for vice president. Douglass opposed colonialism and segregated schools. He was the most photographed American of the 19th century, never smiling once for the camera so as to not play into the racist myth of the happy slave. #workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #Abolition #frederickdouglass #feminism #segregation #education #colonialism #author #writer #biography #books #BlackMastadon @npub1wceq...lzu8

The Trump administration's contract with Israel's Paragon Solutions gives ICE access to one of the most powerful stealth cyberweapons ever created, placing it into the hands of a government agency known to violate due process and human & civil rights. It will be able to hack into any phone, bypass encryption, including Signal, track the user's whereabouts, use the phone's camera and microphone to secretly spy on the phone's owner.

the Guardian

Ice obtains access to Israeli-made spyware that can hack phones and encrypted apps

Trump administration contract with Paragon Solutions gives immigration agency access to one of the most powerful stealth cyberweapons

#Trump #fascism #surveillance #policestate

Italian dock workers threaten to shut down all of Europe if Gaza humanitarian supplies flotilla is blocked.

Italian dockworkers threaten Israel cargo ban if Gaza flotilla blocked – POLITICO

#gaza #Israel #flotilla #solidarity #FreePalestine #union

And those unhoused people, being swept up, arrested, deported by Trump & Newsom are not criminals, nor even dangerous. And they're certainly not on the streets by choice. Just look at the data: Housing market is at its worst in history. And the job market sucks right now, too. Meanwhile, hedge funds and corporate landlords have been buying up much of the housing stock & driving up prices.

And Gavin Newsom, the guy libs and Dems are already touting as our "next president," or the guy who'll "defeat fascism," has virtually the same attitude and policies toward unhoused people as does Trump. Indeed, Trump's sweeps and mass arrests of unhoused people is right out of the Newsom playbook, something he's been doing for 20 years, going back to his days as mayor of San Francisco.

Today in Labor History September 2, 1885: 150 white miners, mostly affiliated with the Knights of Labor, attacked their Chinese fellow workers in the Rock Springs massacre in Wyoming. As a result, they killed 28 Chinese miners, wounded 15 others and forced all the other Chinese to flee town. By the time the federal troops arrived, there were no surviving Chinese people left in town. The bosses had been preferentially hiring the Chinese immigrants at lower wages than the European immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, also contributed by fanning the flames of anti-Asian bigotry. You can read my entire article on the history anti-Asian hate in the U.S. here:

Michael Dunn

America’s Long Sordid History of Anti-Asian Violence - Michael Dunn

History of anti-Asian violence and racism in America

#workingxlass #LaborHistory #strike #massacre #racism #AntiAsianHate #chinese #immigration #mining #wyoming #union