Today in Labor History December 30, 1905: Governor Frank Steunenberg of Idaho was assassinated by a bomb. Steunenberg had been elected on a Populist Party "defend the working man" ticket. But then he called on federal troops to crush the 1899 miners’ strike. Authorities promptly blamed members of the radical WFM, including Big Bill Haywood, who would later go on to cofound the IWW. The actual assassin was Harry Orchard, a WFM union member who was also a paid informant and agent provocateur for the Cripple Creek Mine Owners’ Association. The investigation was conducted by Pinkerton agent James McParland, the same man who infiltrated the Ancient Order of Hibernians in eastern Pennsylvania and acted as an agent provocateur, leading to the wrongful executions of 20 Irish miners. After interrogation by McParland, Orchard signed a 64-page typed confession claiming that he had been hired to kill Steunenberg by the WFM leadership ("Big Bill" Haywood; General Secretary, Charles Moyer; and President George Pettibone). Superstar labor lawyer Clarence Darrow got all three WFM defendants acquitted. Orchard pled guilty and received a death sentence in a separate trial, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison. McParland also plays prominently in my novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” about the period leading up to the wrongful executions of the Irish miners. Read more about the Western Federation of Miners here:

Michael Dunn

The Western Federation of Miners - Michael Dunn

The Western Federation of Miners formed today, May 13, 1893, in Butte, Montana.

Read more about the Pinkertons here:

Michael Dunn

Union Busting and the Pinkertons - Michael Dunn

Union Busting by the Pinkertons was key to the rapid accumulation of wealth by the robber barons like Gowen, Carnegie, Rockefeller

Read more about the wrongfully convicted Irish miners here:

Michael Dunn

The Myth of the Molly Maguires - Michael Dunn

The Myth of the Molly Maguires was created by the mine owners to destroy the union

Pick up a copy of my novel, Anywhere But Schuylkill, here:

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Today in Labor History December 30, 1936: Auto workers began their historic sit-down strike at the GM Fisher plant in Flint, Michigan. The protest effectively changed the United Automobile Workers (UAW) from a collection of small local unions into a major national labor union. It also led to the unionization of the domestic automobile industry. By occupying the plant, they prevented management from bringing in scabs and keeping the plant running and making money. Furthermore, by occupying the plant, they weren’t forced to picked outside in the snow. On January 11, police armed with guns and tear gas tried to storm the plant. Strikers repeatedly repelled them by throwing hinges, bottles and bolts at them. Fourteen strikers were injured by police gunfire during the strike. In February, GM got an injunction against the union by Judge Edward Black, who owned over three thousand shares of GM. The strikers ignored the injunction. And when the UAW found out about the conflict of interests, they got the judge disbarred. The strike ended after 44 days with GM recognizing the union and giving its workers a 5% raise. Filmmaker Michael Moore’s uncle participated in the strike. The first documented sit-down strike in the U.S. occurred when the IWW engaged in a sit-down strike against General Electric, in Schenectady, NY, in 1909. #workingclass #LaborHistory #uaw #sitdownstrike #strike #union #gm #generalmotors #flint #michigan #IWW #newyork #generalelectric

Municipalize PG&E Now! In the last two decades, PG&E has blown up a quaint Peninsula town, triggered some of California’s most lethal and destructive wildfires, entered into a pair of bankruptcies, been convicted of multiple felonies and has been accused by a federal judge of engaging in a “crime spree” while acting as a “continuing menace to California.” Now, according to this article, San Francisco may be on the verge of buying PG&E and municipalizing it, whether PG&E accepts their offer or not.

Mission Local

'Fire sale': S.F. moving to buy out PG&E — even, potentially, if PG&E says no

Public power: It’s not just for lefty conspiracy theorists anymore. Could San Francisco use eminent domain to break up with PG&E and municipalize...

More Americans, especially Black adults, are dying before they can access Medicare benefits. Workers pay into the system over their lifetimes with the expectation that they will be able to access affordable health care when they turn 65. But a growing number of Americans, especially Black Americans, are dying before they hit 65. From 2012 to 2022, deaths among adults ages 18-64 increased by 27%. For African Americans, it was a 38% increase.

Brown University

More Americans, especially Black adults, are dying before they can access Medicare benefits

A study by researchers at Brown University and Harvard University shows that a rising premature death rate means Medicare isn’t helping as many p...

#workingclass #classwar #publichealth #medicare

And create a world worth living in, with significant and effective solutions to the climate crisis; freedom, safety & respect for all trans folks and other marginalized communities; an end to genocide and imperialistic wars, instead of this increasingly dystopic world the rich are building.

MAGA: Put 'em in camps. Force 'em to work for free.