It's fitting his end came in Utah. Few other places have been as hostile to organized labor, or as willing to use violence to beat down laborers in their fight for basic rights. Despite the burden of an especially hostile ruling class, Utah has a long and proud history of radical worker struggle.

Like a true working-class rebel, Joe Hill keeps fighting even in death. He knew his legacy would live on to inspire millions, and he wanted it that way. Now, more than ever, we need to heed his words: “Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize!”

Union organizing in Utah

The first real union in Utah began among Mormon pioneers, newly established in Salt Lake City, at the First Annual Printers' Festival in 1852. None other than future Governor Brigham Young gave the opening prayer. This would eventually evolve into the Deseret Typographical Union.

During the Civil War years, local elites saw higher pay among workers as a drag on the economy, the same argument that gets pushed today. Unions and other labor associations pushed to keep wages up. More and more workers from outside Utah – especially miners – flooded the territory, which caused alarm among some. But in fact, unions gained more power and independence from these elites due to the influx, putting them on better footing to protect their wages.

An interesting episode happened in 1864 among theater workers. The tradition had been for theatrical labor to go unpaid, as it was considered a form of missionary service. A campaign by the Deseret Dramatic Association eventually forced Brigham Young to cave in and begin paying a wage.

The Knights of Labor began organizing coal mines in the 1880s, rapidly becoming powerful for a short time. As the struggle continued and mining became more important to the area, workers became more militant. The radical Western Federation of Miners and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) later found great success in Utah.

Historian J. Kenneth Davies called Utah at the time “an unofficial headquarters of revolutionary unionism,” a situation that would last until Joe Hill's murder. In fact, it was one of the reasons killing him was so important to the upper class. In 1897, it was widely reported that future IWW co-founder Eugene Debs had chosen Utah as a place to try to establish a socialist cooperative.

At the turn of the 20th century, direct attacks on unions became more frequent and more focused. Local capitalists considered unions an attack on freedom, despite the beatings workers took due to greedy bosses. Working in unsafe and deplorable conditions, a mineworker could only expect to make $3 a day, and even less for surface workers. Often, people looking for a job would have to pay someone as much as $20 to get hired at a mine, and then keep paying a monthly kickback.

Unsurprisingly, this led to a number of strikes. In 1903, miners in Carbon County fought for better conditions and wanted to force the Utah Fuel Company to recognize their union, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW).

Their strike was considered the most important American labor battle of the time, and the famed Mother Jones, another future co-founder of the IWW, came to Utah to support the strikers. After she met with a labor leader afflicted with smallpox, she was quarantined and held captive for 26 days to prevent her from energizing the strikers. Mother Jones nevertheless broke the quarantine several times to rally workers.

Utah Socialist Party organizer A. B. Edler became a lawyer for the miners and went to Carbon County to help. However, he was forced to leave the county after the Utah Fuel Company accused him of slander and he was convicted in a sham trial.

The strike only ended when the governor sent in the entire Utah National Guard to break it on behalf of the Utah Fuel Company. Similar strikes with an allied UMW and IWW met with more success in Bingham Canyon in 1912, leading to wage increases. By 1917, several UMW locals were organized.

Utahns played a prominent role in the founding of the IWW in 1905. The legendary “Big Bill” Haywood was born and raised in Utah. At least seven other Utahns were present at the founding convention as well, with socialist Charles Spiegel serving with the Committee on Rules.

Utah Socialist Party members played important roles in the local labor movement around this time as well, with several having positions in the Utah Federation of Labor and helping to organize workers here. Both socialist and IWW organizers put on street speeches and demonstrations, with one Wobbly, Lee Pratt, calling out, “Let the workers as a class fight the bosses as a class.”

Joe Hill's death

In 1915, the notorious murder of Joe Hill took place. Hill was an organizer with the IWW for some time, and wrote a number of famous songs like There is Power in a Union and The Preacher and the Slave. In fact, he coined the phrase “pie in the sky.” He was equally beloved by workers and reviled by bosses fearful of the good work he was doing through organizing, songwriting and inspiring laborers nationwide.

He had come to Utah in 1915 to work the Silver King mine in Park City. In November, local grocer and sheriff John Morrison and his son were shot. The same night, Joe Hill turned up in a local hospital with a bullet wound, which the doctor falsely presumed was given by Morrison in self-defense.

Despite a total lack of evidence against him, and the suppression of evidence that would have exonerated him, Hill was sentenced to die for shooting Morrison. In fact, Morrison was shot by the jealous ex-fiancé of a woman he was seeing. Joe refused to tell his real alibi, he said, because he didn't want to harm the reputation of the woman.

A nationwide campaign was mounted to set him free by labor organizers and IWW supporters, and gained support from some public officials and even President Woodrow Wilson. But it was no use. Officials in Utah wanted to see the famed singing union organizer dead, and the movement dead along with him. He was executed by firing squad on Nov. 19, 1915. As the firing squad commander called out “Ready! Aim!” Joe called out the order to fire himself. “Fire – go on and fire!”

After Joe Hill

In 1919, a nationwide red scare took its toll on Utah, but labor was able to fight back effectively on some fronts. Laws were passed banning the display of red flags, and this law was even used to prevent circulating IWW literature that used red ink. A so-called anti-sabotage law was passed in order to curb support for the IWW, but the group was still able to mount a miners’ strike that year. The Utah legislature also tried to ban the right to peacefully organize for labor unions, but the bill was defeated after workers flooded the Utah capitol building.

Nevertheless, the repression of IWW and other union organizers that followed the death of Joe Hill proved to be a huge blow to labor in Utah. Internal union conflicts weakened the movement and allowed more conservative elements to attack them. Constant arrests of labor leaders left the movement with fewer resources. Only the Culinary Alliance was able to maintain their hold on workplace power, but the rest of the labor movement was devastated as they were forced into open shops.

Despite the blow, labor continued to move forward, with communists organizing miners in Carbon County under the National Miners Union beginning in 1932. By 1933, they mounted a strike in mines near Helper, but the peaceful strike was broken only by the use of tear gas, fire hoses and calling in the National Guard on behalf of the mine owners. Women and children who helped the miners were also beaten and many were jailed. Local officials were also able to make use of division between the United Mine Workers of America and National Miners Union miners, undermining the long-term strength of the labor movement in Carbon County before the strike even began. Still, some of their demands were met.

Where we are now

Before he died, Joe Hill humorously wrote to “Big Bill” Haywood asking him to take his body and bury it elsewhere, saying, “I don't want to be found dead in Utah.” It's a sentiment Bill would have understood, having left Utah himself.

Joe Hill's memory was recently tarnished again in Utah, when reactionary anti-union vandals painted over a beautiful Joe Hill memorial. In July of this year, local members of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees ) painted a mural of Joe on the side of the union hall, using union money given to them for that purpose. Several days later, vandals painted over the union solidarity mural, replacing it with a poorly done American flag.

Though they may have tried, in a sense, to kill Joe Hill again, the reality is he can't be killed, and he isn't dead in Utah – he is alive and well, in every labor dispute, at every union drive, in every workplace where laborers are exploited and abused. We are the inheritors of his message not to mourn, but to organize, and we can keep him alive by fighting the way he did, as a true rebel worker.

#SaltLakeCityUT #PeoplesStruggles #Utah #history #Strikes #JoeHill #Socialism

The delegation of anti-war activists from the U.S. have been staying at a fancy, old hotel right by Red Square in Moscow. The Metropol is over 100 years old.

In 1917, the October Revolution, led by the Bolsheviks, overthrew the capitalist government in Saint Petersburg. The country's capital was moved to Moscow because the imperialist countries on all sides of the Soviet Union were invading to try to crush the revolution, and Saint Petersburg was closer to the border. When the revolutionaries took power in Moscow, the Metropol, which had been a headquarters for the counter revolutionaries, was appropriated to become the Second House of the Soviets.

We have breakfast each morning at a dining room in an enormous hall. There’s a plaque that states that in 1918 and 1919, that room held Bolshevik party congresses, and Lenin gave many speeches there.

Tiles on the exterior of the Hotel Metropol contain a quote from Lenin. It reads, “Only the dictatorship of proletariat can free mankind from the oppression of capitalism.” On the plaque about the history of the building, it’s also written that Lenin met there with members of the “prodotryad” – revolutionary brigades that compelled the rich people to share their food with the starving workers of the city. Perhaps he had the prodotryad in mind when he wrote that slogan.

#MoscowRussia #Moscow #International #AntiwarMovement #Culture #Socialism #Russia #history

Tampa, FL – It is Cinco de Mayo, or May 5, but before you participate in “Cinco de Drink-o” and yell, “Happy Mexico Independence Day!” read this article.

In the late 1960s the Chicano movement started to commemorate the battle of Puebla and held annual events to mark that history. Over the years the Cinco de Mayo events spread to the point that they reached the ‘mainstream.’ Then U.S. beer companies started to sponsor the Cinco de Mayo events. Eventually Cinco de Mayo increasingly lost its political significance and became a marketing tool for alcohol and other products.

Looking back, it all started around 1862. Mexican President Benito Juárez, of indigenous, Oaxacan descent, declared Mexico would not pay any foreign debts for two years. France reacted by sending in troops to Mexico and demanding payment. What happened on May 5 was the Mexican victory in La Batalla de Puebla, or the Battle of Puebla. The battle was fought in the state of Puebla, Mexico and it was one of the few victories against the French. The poorly-equipped Mexican army defeated the powerful French army.

Just under 15 years earlier, in 1848, Mexico was invaded by another foreign power – the United States. After supporting pro-slavery American settlers who broke Texas away from Mexico, the U.S. took one-third of the land of Mexico, which is now the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and even parts of Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Once-Mexican people would now become trapped in a land that would not acknowledge them as Americans and one that Mexico would shun as non-Mexican. This was in 1848 – the U.S. war and takeover of what is now called the U.S. Southwest would become the homeland of the Chicano nation.

In Mexico, the Battle of Puebla is still remembered and will forever remain a victory for the Mexican people. But Cinco de Mayo is not celebrated in Mexico the way it is commercially celebrated in the U.S. In the U.S., we see major companies and various types of businesses push for parties, drinking, new liquors and ‘Mexican’ memorabilia.

The fact is, Cinco de Mayo is not mentioned in the U.S. as a day when Mexicans fought and won against foreign domination and in particular against France, which is still sending its troops to other countries. Never is the day called “La Batalla de Puebla,” and much less is it ever linked to the Chicano Nation and how it came to exist.

Donning ‘sombreros’ and shaking maracas is just plain incorrect and should not be encouraged. As far as the Independence of Mexico goes, that day is the 16th of September. In 1810 when father Miguel Hidalgo gave the Grito de Dolores, a cry for independence from Spain. And while U.S. beer companies and Dos Equis will keep finding a new beer to market, we remind everyone Cinco de Mayo meant much more to the people than getting drunk. The fifth of May symbolized the day people united to fight back against colonization and against the pillaging of their people by a foreign occupier.

Marisol Marquez is a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Marquez organizes in Tampa with a group called Raices En Tampa. If you wish to contact her, you can message her on her twitter account: twitter.com/elmaryelsol

#TampaFL #Mexico #CincoDeMayo #history #antiimperialism #France #ChicanoMovement #MexicoIndependence #LaBatallaDePuebla #Americas

Los Angeles, CA – A mural commemorating the historic 1968 East LA Chicano high school walkouts was dedicated here, at Lincoln High School, March 25. The mural was created by Lincoln High School students who are part of the Behind the Heights Art Team.

“We are raising awareness in our community through the arts. We made a mural about the walkouts. We did it on a wall next to our school so everyone could see it,” said one of the students who helped do the mural.

Among those in attendance was veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes, who helped lead the 1968 walkouts.

#LosAngelesCA #ChicanoLatino #walkout #CarlosMontes #history #Art #ChicanoMovement #LincolnHighSchool

Los Angeles, CA – Carlos Montes, a nationally respected leader in the Chicano, immigrant rights and anti-war movements, donated his archive collection to California State University, Los Angeles, Jan. 16.

The Montes Collection will be added to the East Los Angeles Archive, which is housed in the University’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.

“I selected Cal State LA Library’s East Archive to donate my personal political files from the Chicano movement because Cal State LA is a local and respected educational institution that will make them available to the community, students, professors and the general public,” said Montes.

Montes was a co-founder of the Brown Berets, a Chicano working-class youth organization in the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s. He was also one of the leaders of the Chicano Blowouts, a series of walkouts of East Los Angeles high schools to protest against racism and inequality in Los Angeles-area high schools. He is portrayed by Fidel Gomez in the 2006 HBO movie, Walkout.

His first submissions to the archive included issues of La Causa, the Brown Beret newspaper, flyers of the political trial for the Biltmore case, legal transcripts of the court proceedings from the East LA high school walkouts prosecution, the Los Angeles Magazine with an article featuring Carlos Montes, and the Biltmore case grand jury indictment.

“Both of the cases addressed political repression against the Chicano movement, specifically the Brown Berets and myself,” Montes explained.

The East LA Archive at Cal State – Los Angeles documents the lives and events of an historical community central to the social, political and cultural history of the Chicano and Latino community in the U.S. It collects, preserves, displays and disseminates documents, artifacts and other materials related to the social and political life of the East Los Angeles region.

“The Montes Collection is an important addition to our East LA Archive, which supports the University’s commitment to civic and community engagement and learning,” said University Librarian Alice Kawakami. “Azalea Camacho, archivist, and Romelia Salinas, librarian liaison to the University’s Department of Chicano Studies, were actively involved in helping to bring this collection to our campus.”

The archive currently consists of The Gloria Arellanes Papers, The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) collection, the “Mexican-American Baseball in Los Angeles” Exhibit Collection, the Jose R. Figueroa Collection and the Claudia Baltazar Poster Collection.

#LosAngelesCA #ChicanoLatino #CarlosMontes #BrownBerets #history #ChicanoMovement #CaliforniaStateUniversityLosAngeles

Minneapolis, MN – On Sept. 1, Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Facebook page will begin a new feature: “Socialist Stamp of the Day.” Every day a socialist-themed postage stamp will be posted. This is part of an ongoing effort to utilize social networking to creatively promote socialism and the heroic struggles and victories of the socialist countries.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization Facebook page has become increasingly popular for its “Today in History” feature. This consists of a daily photo and blurb about events that happened each day in the history of the working class and oppressed peoples’ struggles. Freedom Road’s Socialist Stamp of the Day will be another creative way to learn about the socialist movement, past and present.

Many people throughout the world study and collect postage stamps. Stamps are admired for both their artistic and historical significance. Freedom Road’s “Socialist Stamp of the Day” will promote the artistic and historical contributions of socialist countries (and also some socialist-themed stamps from non-socialist countries) through the medium of their postage stamps.

People can follow the “Socialist Stamp of the Day” by liking Freedom Road’s Facebook page at facebook.com/FreedomRoadSocialistOrg.

#MinneapolisMN #Socialism #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #facebook #history #Art #stamps

Fight Back! is dedicated to reporting “news and views from the people’s struggle,” so we’ve had a lot to write about this year as the people’s fight back against oppression surged around the world.

And just as oppression breeds resistance, it’s also true that when people resist, the powers that be resort to repression against the people. In 2011 Fight Back! has had a lot to write about in the fight against repression too.

Here we’ll highlight Fight Back! coverage of several struggles that made a mark this year, along with links to other similar stories for those that want to dig deeper. As the New Year begins, we recommit ourselves to reporting from the front lines of the people’s struggle against oppression and repression.

11. Fight Back! in the spotlight Fight Back! came into the national spotlight in March, as hated reactionary host Glenn Beck lashed out at Fight Back! and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression for about 15 minutes on his TV show. Our article GlennBeckattacksFightBack!NewsandCommitteetoStopFBIRepression explains where Beck’s twisted coverage comes from and gives the link to his coverage.

10. Labor movement

The labor movement got a jolt in 2011 when Wisconsin’s legislators and Governor Walker went for the jugular by ramming through a bill destroying public sector unions in the state. In the broadest labor mobilization in years, union members and other workers poured into the streets and into an ongoing occupation of the Wisconsin state capitol to try to prevent them from voting on this law. Fight Back! was there reporting from the front lines, including on Feb. 26 when 150,000workerssurroundedthecapitolinthebiggestprotest during the Wisconsin upsurge. On March 11, when the showdown came and protesters battled to hold off police and maintain control of the capitol to prevent legislators from coming in to vote away union rights, Jacob Flom’s photo essay captured thebattleforlabor’sfutureinthecorridorsoftheWisconsincapitol. Fight Back! was on the scene as labor activists from around the world came together in April in Greece for the 16thCongressoftheWorldFederationofTradeUnions(WFTU). Read more about the labor movement here.

9. Student movement

As the movement in Wisconsin blossomed into a protracted occupation of the state capitol in early 2011, students were also at the forefront. In Milwaukee, 3000studentswalkedoutinsupportofpublicworkers, led by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter at UW-Milwaukee. The studentmovementblossomedacrossFlorida in the fall semester, with new student activist groups forming around the state and taking up and winning struggles. In the summer Fight Back! reported from the annualstudentmarchinElSalvadorcommemoratingamassacreofstudentsbythemilitaryin1975. This year 2000 students marched through the streets of San Salvador with high spirits and militancy. And back in the U.S., students continued to oppose U.S. warmakers when they showed up on campuses. In that spirit, in March MilwaukeeSDSmembersdisruptedaCIArecruitmentevent. Read more about the student movement here.

8. Culture

On the serious side, Fight Back! covered an important historical cultural event in 2011 as People’sartistIwaoLewisSuzukiwasrecognizedforhislifetimeofartandactivisminAugust. On a lighter note, Fight Back!’s article by Cooks for a Cause member Steff Yorek, HowtoCookaGreatHolidayTurkey was both popular and practical!

7. Poor people ’ s movement

The Fight Back! article that got the most views this year was an article about a bizarre and draconian Minnesota Republican proposal to attack people on welfare. The article MinnesotaRepublicanssay:Poorpeoplewithmoneyshouldbeoutlaws generated over 46,000 reads and dozens of comments. See more coverage of poor people’s movements here.

6. International

As in past years, Fight Back!’s international coverage was insightful and unique. Fight Back! was one of the few media outlets to cover the case of twoSomaliwomenhumanitarianworkerswhowereunjustlyconvictedon ‘terrorism’ charges in October. In June when Colombia’s ultra-right-wing former President Uribe showed up in Utah, Fight Back! reported on UtahstudentsprotestofUribe,Colombia'sdeathsquadex-president. When militant trade unionists from all over the world met in April, Fight Back! was one of the few U.S.-based media outlets to report on the 16thCongressoftheWorldFederationofTradeUnions(WFTU). One international story that did get a lot of coverage in the media was the nucleardisasterinJapan in the spring. But Fight Back!’s coverage stood out in that it brought an anti-capitalist perspective to this terrible disaster. See more international coverage here.

5. Immigrant rights movement

In 2011, the immigrant rights movement continued to mobilize around the country. Many of the fights were defensive. For example in Alabama, immigrantsandsupportersfoughtbackagainstHB56,theharshestanti-immigrantstatelawyet. In Georgia, 8undocumentedyouthwerearrestedprotestingashundredsmarchedtoprotestGeorgia’soutrageouseducationban for undocumented students. This was part of the national movement of undocumented youth coming out as “undocumented and unafraid.” The most successful push nationally was against the ‘Secure Communities’ deportation program, which is responsible for record numbers of deportations and separation of families. After winning the battle in several states, activists pushed to expose the FBI’s role behind this nefarious program when they exposed internal FBI documents that laid bare the FBI'srolebehind ‘SecureCommunities’ immigrantdeportationprogram. And as in every year since 2006, immigrants led the push for massive International Workers Day marches on May 1. One of the biggest this year was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Fight Back! reported on the scene from the massiveMilwaukeeMayDaymarchforimmigrantandworkersrights. See more immigrant rights coverage here. 4. US/NATO invasion of Libya

In 2011, the U.S. and NATO invaded to overthrow the sovereign government of Libya. The anti-war movement in the U.S. sprung into motion to stop U.S. intervention. Fight Back! provided crucial analysis about the war against Libya and why it was necessary to oppose intervention. For example Fight Back! covered an important panel in Milwaukee featuring speakers from SDS,FRSO, and the NationofIslam analyzing thewaragainstLibya. And while the capitalist media reported lie after lie about Libya, Fight Back! provided facts about the reality of the U.S./NATO bombings, for example analyzing the waronLibya asU.S.airstrikes andcruisemissileattacksbegan. See more Libya coverage here.

3. Crisis of capitalism Fight Back! continued to provide sharp and clear analysis of the crisis of capitalism. As the Occupy movement popularized the struggle of the 99% against the 1%, Fight Back! published two articles breaking down in Marxist terms whoaretheonepercent? and whoarethe99%. See more analysis of capitalism and the economy here.

2. Occupy Wall Street

In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement spread like wildfire around the U.S. One of the key flashpoints was on Oct. 1 in New York City, when the Police Department trapped and arrested 700 Occupy protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. In response to this outrageous repression, new Occupy encampments sprouted up in hundreds of cities around the country.  This Fight Back! photo essay captures the spirit of the Oct. 1 march in New York. Another huge day for the Occupy movement was on Nov. 2 in Oakland, California, when the Occupy movement called for a general strike. They mobilized tens of thousands of people and shut down the port for the day. Fight Back's photo essay from Oakland's dayofactionNov. 2 tells the story. See more Fight Back! coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement around the country here. 1. Resistance to FBI repression Fight Back!’s most extensive coverage in 2011 was of the ongoing struggle to stop FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists. On Sept. 24, 2010 several activists’ homes were raided by the FBI in Chicago and Minneapolis and 23 activists were called before a grand jury investigating “material support for terrorism” charges. They all refused to testify, and so far nobody has been indicted or jailed. The movement to defend the anti-war and solidarity activists is a high priority for Fight Back!. On May 18, Fight Back! reported on the UnveilingofsecretdocumentstheFBIaccidentallyleftbehindatoneoftheactivists’ homestheyraided last September. The documents gave their operational plans and a series of McCarthyistic questions they planned to ask people about their relationship to Freedom Road Socialist Organization and other groups. A day later, the number of targeted activists grew to 24 and Fight Back! reported on a new raid related to the September 2010 raids, when the FBIandLASheriffdeputiesFBIandLosAngelesCountySheriffraidedthehomeofveteranChicanoactivistCarlosMontes. We then reported on the immediate protests by supportersofCarlosMontesdenouncingtheFBI/Sheriff'sraid,anddemandingthatallchargesbedropped.

Fight Back! gave political analysis of the FBI raids, their context, and the struggle ahead as the one year anniversary of the 2010 raids came. First was a statement on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks: September11tenyearslater:Pretextforwarandrepression. Then was a statement calling for people to standagainstrepression,dropthechargesagainstCarlosMontesandprepareformorechallengesahead. Finally there was a statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, OneyearsincetheSeptember24FBIraidsandGrandJurysubpoenas.

The movement to stop FBI repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists is a grassroots movement. One highlight of the grassroots protests was a protest in Chicago where activistsdirectlyconfrontedU.S.AttorneyFitzgeraldonhisgrandjurywitchhunt. But in 2011 the movement’s influence reached from the streets into the halls of the U.S. Congress as around a dozen members of Congress issued statements against the FBI repression. One of the sharpest of those statements was Rep.Kucinich’slettertoAttorneyGeneralHolderinJulychallengingFBIrepressionofanti-warandsolidarityactivists. As the laws of repression have worsened, Fight Back! reported on it to our readers, such as when the FBIrelaxedrulesfortheirdomesticspyingoperationsintheir2011handbook.

And finally Fight Back! made the connections between the current FBI repression of anti-war activists and the thousands of other people, mostly Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians, who have been targeted by the FBI since 9/11. Fight Back! reported from a conference in Atlanta in May that brought together people fighting back against many cases of such repression, the “Lawasaweaponofwar” people’sassembly. And in November, Fight Back! reported on the successfulandinspiringnationalconferenceoftheCommitteetoStopFBIRepression. At that conference a renewed commitment was made to fight the repression against Carlos Montes as his trial nears, to stop any indictments or jailing of the 24 anti-war anti-war activists and to build a united front against all such cases of government repression. The coverage of the movement to stop FBI repression will continue to be a large focus for Fight Back! in the coming year. See more coverage of the struggle against FBI repression here.

#UnitedStates #history #YearInReview

As the day went on, the parade included contingents from the Manufacturing Shoemakers Union No. 1 (wearing blue badges), and an especially well-received contingent from the Big 6 – Typographical Union No. 6 – whose 700-strong delegation marched with military precision (they had practiced beforehand.) The Friendly Society of Operative Masons marched with their band. They were followed by 250 members of the Clothing Cutters Benevolent and Protective Union, the Dress and Cloak Makers Union, the Decorative Masons, and the Bureau of United Carpenters (who marched with a decorated wagon).

The parade was filled with banners: “Labor Built the Republic – Labor Shall Rule It”; “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth”; “Down with the Competitive System”; “Down with Convict Contract Labor”; “Down with the Railroad Monopoly”; and “Children in School and Not in Factories,” among others. The members of the Socialist Singing Society carried a red flag with a yellow lyre in its center. The banner which perhaps summed up the entire procession best was carried by members of the American Machinists, Engineers, and Blacksmiths Union (who wore heavy leather aprons and working clothes). It read simply: “Let Labor Unite.”

It was the first Labor Day parade – and it took place on a Tuesday.

Labor Day became official in this country when the U.S. Congress passed a law in 1894 making the first Monday in September a legal holiday. But this holiday was not simply given to the workers of the United States by the government as some act of charity. The tradition of publicly honoring labor’s contribution to society is a custom established by the workers themselves.

The first Labor Day parade in the United States was held in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882. More than 10,000 workers marched. It was organized by the Central Labor Union, a body representing 60 unions and over 80,000 people. The CLU was a secret lodge of the Knights of Labor, the major national union of the time.

To really appreciate the September 1882 labor parade, it’s important to keep in mind the profound changes that this country had gone through in the 17 years before it took place. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the capitalists of the North emerged triumphant. They went on the offensive, bitterly opposing labor’s demands. By the time the depression of 1873 took place, any lingering unity between the different forces which had united in opposition to slavery had been torn apart.

On Saturday, July 21, 1877, 17 workers involved in a nationwide railroad strike were shot dead in Pittsburgh. The next day, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, a New York Protestant minister who had been one of the most eloquent orators against slavery, preached these words:

“God had intended the great to be great and the little to be little…The trade unions, originated under the European system, destroy liberty…I do not say that a dollar a day is enough to support a man and five children if he insists on smoking and drinking beer…[b]ut the man who cannot live on bread and water is not fit to live.”

The 1882 labor parade was the culmination of more than ten years of agitating and organizing by dedicated labor activists in New York. These activists were deeply committed to the fight for the eight-hour day and against the repressive tactics of the employers. They also worked closely with the leaders of what were at that time New York’s largest immigrant communities to assist the fight for justice in three countries: Ireland, France and Germany.

The 1882 parade took place in a city which had seen militiamen open fire on Irish-American Catholic demonstrators in 1871; where thousands demonstrated for the eight-hour day in 1872; and where three demonstrations had already taken place in 1882 to demand justice for Ireland in its fight against British rule. (All three demonstrations had been jointly sponsored by labor organizations and organizations fighting for Irish freedom.)

Because the 1882 labor parade was held on a work day, most of the participants had to give up a day’s pay in order to march. (The CLU even levied a fine on non-participants.) In all, the workers involved forfeited about $75,000 in lost wages.

The parade was scheduled to coincide with a national conference of the Knights of Labor being held in New York. This explains why almost the entire national leadership of the Knights of Labor was present on the parade’s reviewing stand in Union Square. However, the affiliation of these leaders with the Knights of Labor was discreetly hidden from the press that day. (At the time, the Knights of Labor was still a semi-secret society.) For instance, the top leader of the Knights of Labor – “Grand Master Workman” Terence Powderly – was introduced only as the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania (which he was).

The vibrant character of the labor movement of that time can be seen by looking at three extraordinary people present on the reviewing stand at the 1882 parade:

Patrick Ford was the publisher and editor of the Irish World, a newspaper which strongly supported labor and the fight for Irish freedom. He had been brought to Boston from Ireland in 1842 at the age of seven. Ford had served his printing apprenticeship with newspaper editor William Lloyd Garrison, America’s leading opponent of slavery, before the Civil War. In 1870, Ford founded the Irish World, a newspaper which was regularly suppressed when it was shipped to Ireland.

John Swinton was the chief editorial writer of the New York Sun. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he had moved to New York in 1850 and worked as a printer and became an abolitionist. Swinton had been with John Brown when he made his famous raid on Osawatomie, Kansas in 1857. Swinton would go on to start his own pro-labor newspaper in 1883.

Carl Daniel Adolf Douai was the publisher and editor of the New Yorker Volkszeitung, a socialist German-language daily. Douai was a German immigrant who had been threatened with lynching when he spoke out against slavery while publishing in Texas. In 1860, he moved to New York where he became active in socialist, abolitionist, and Republican Party activities.

The presence of these three men on the reviewing stand – and the presence of Irish, French, and German flags (in addition to the U.S. flag) at the picnic which closed the day – illustrates the wide scope of labor’s concerns at that time. These leaders’ involvement with the parade (and the militant banners carried by the marchers) show that from its very beginning, the U.S. labor movement has been about more than just getting its members a few cents more an hour in wages. From its inception, the labor movement in this country has included both native and foreign-born leaders and immigrant workers have always played an important role in the labor movement. From the very beginning, the U.S. labor movement has included elements who have not been afraid to challenge the legitimacy of the wages system itself.

That’s definitely worth remembering this Labor Day.

#UnitedStates #LaborDay #history

As 2010 ends and a new year begins, we look back to learn from the past and to get inspiration to continue and expand the struggle in 2011. If there are other articles you liked that aren’t listed here, leave a comment!

Government Repression of the Anti-War & International Solidarity Movements Homeland Security harasses Haiti activists by Tom Burke, January 2010

Facebook censors Ricardo Palmera group by Josh Sykes, July 2010

Activists denounce FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity activists homes; Subpoenas, searches, and FBI visits carried out in cities across the country by Staff, September 24, 2010

FRSO statement condemning FBI Raids, Grand Jury witch hunt by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, October 2010

New York meeting builds movement against Grand Jury, FBI repression of anti-war activists by Maureen Murphy, November 2010

Statement from Angela Davis against FBI and Grand Jury repression, November 2010

The Continuing Crisis of Capitalism MN foreclosure moratorium at Senate and House hearings by Staff, January 2010

St. Paul, MN protest demands moratorium on foreclosures, tax the rich, no cutbacks by Staff, February 2010

Parent responds to TV attack on school kids joining protest by Jess Sundin, March 2010

New Jersey protest demands banks be held responsible for housing crisis by David Hungerford, April 2010

Almost a million lose benefits while layoffs continue and businesses refuse to hire the unemployed by Masao Suzuki, June 2010

Labor Movement UIC Graduate employees vote to authorize strike by Joe Iosbaker, February 2010

Tuscaloosa Crimson Ride bus drivers get first contract by Jenae Stainer, March 2010

Interview with Sal Rosselli, leader of National Union of Healthcare Workers Fight Back! reporters interviewed Sal Rosselli on April 21, 2010

One Nation' rally brings 175,000 to Washington, DC with demands for jobs, education, and civil rights by Kati Ketz, October 2010

Ongoing U.S. Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan Afghan civilians in bus gunned down by U.S. troops by Kosta Harlan, April 2010

Leaked video shows U.S. military murdering over one dozen Iraqis by Kosta Harlan, April 2010

10 NATO troops killed in Afghanistan, U.S. occupation crumbling by Kosta Harlan, June 2010

U.S. scrambles to conceal video of Afghanistan massacre; Whistleblower fears for his life by Jacob Flom, June 2010

Occupation of Iraq to continue, we must oppose it: Interview with Meredith Aby, August 2010

International Iran celebrates 31 years of sovereignty by Kosta Harlan, February 2010

Electric shock “trial,” sickening violation of Ricardo Palmera’s human rights by Staff, March 2010

Serfs Emancipation Day celebrated in Tibet by Staff, March 2010

Revolutionaries Deal Setback to India’s ‘Operation Green Hunt’ by David Hungerford, April 2010

Minnesotans Protest the Zionist Lobby, AIPAC, and U.S. Aid to Israel by Meredith Aby, July 2010

Colombia Action Network says “No to U.S. bases in Colombia” by Colombia Action Network, August 2010

Chicagoan arrested calling for boycott of Israel’s Guantanamo by Staff, September 2010

Is the FARC-EP (really) a terrorist organization? by James Brittain, November 2010

Immigrant Rights Movement Continuing the struggle for immigrant rights in 2010: Year one of the new administration saw change but not progress editorial by Fight Back! editors, February 2010

March 21 DC immigrant rights protest photo essay by Kosta Harlan, March 2010

Eyewitness Arizona: report from the frontlines by James Jordan, April 2010

Students take the streets of Arizona for immigrant rights and against racism by James Jordan, May 2010

Lines Drawn over SB1070 in Arizona by James Jordan, May 2010

Photo Essay: Over 250,000 march for immigrant rights in Los Angeles, denounce Arizona’s SB1070 by Kosta Harlan and Eric Gardner, May 1, 2010

Three North Carolina immigrant youth on hunger strike in Raleigh, demanding Senator Kay Hagan support DREAM Act by Kosta Harlan, June 2010

Say no to border militarization by Fight Back! Editors, July 2010

Jimmy John’s franchise owner condemns SB1070 under pressure from boycott by Brad Sigal, July 2010

Immigrant rights potesters confront baseball bigwigs, 5 arrested by Brad Sigal, August 2010

Right wing seeks to overturn historic Civil Rights case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark by Masao Suzuki, August 2010

Support the legalization of undocumented students and youth! statement by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, August 2010

Latino Chipotle workers speak out after mass immigration firings in Minnesota by Staff, December 2010

Oppressed Nationalities MLK Day in Birmingham, saying no to war and poverty by Jenae Stainer, January 2010

Gainesville students demand justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong by Jared Hamil, April 2010

Hundreds rally, bogus charges against black student accused of stealing chicken nuggets dropped by Jacob Flom, July 2010

Over 1000 Chicanos march in East Los Angeles against war and racism by Carlos Montes, August 2010

Hundreds march against threatened Koran burning in Gainesville by Staff, September 2010

Manuel Jamines, Guatemalan day laborer killed by LA police by Staff, September 2010

Waukesha SDS stands up to campus racism by Chance Zombor, October 2010

On the passing of Ray Sosa, an outstanding community leader and revolutionary by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, November 2010

Education Rights Movement March 4 education protests rock the nation by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, March 2010

UCLA: Students storm administration building by Eric Gardner, March 2010

Interview with FRSO student leader on the campus movement and October 7 protests, September 2010

SDS holds 5th National Convention, lays plans to build student movement by Mike Gold, October 2010

October 7: Thousands across the country protest against cuts to education by Chapin Gray, October 2010

LGBTQ Movement Hundreds march in Asheville to protest hate crimes by Jeremy Miller, May 2010

Target targeted for contribution to anti-gay and anti-immigrant candidate Tom Emmer by Brad Sigal, August 2010

Women’s Movement International Women’s Day celebrated in Minneapolis by Staff, March 2010

Environment Make BP pay! Florida protests Gulf Oil spill by Fernando Figueroa, May 2010

Culture Why communists love the World Cup by Foster Richards, June 2010

Review of Capitalism: A Love Story by Doug Michel, October 2010

#UnitedStates #FightBack #history #YearInReview